Read Online Archangel's Storm by Nalini Singh - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nalini Singh
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seagulls cawing and fighting overhead.
Stretching out his wings with that truth in mind, he flew off Guardian Fort and along the ridgeline before winging his way high into the dark gray skies, the clouds yet heavy enough to conceal him from detection. It was here, far above land, that he felt more at home than anywhere else in the world.
“Slower, Jason!” A hand gripping firmly at his ankle as he tangled his wings and threatened to plummet.
“Father!”
“I have you, son. Spread out your wings slowly . . . yes, like that.”
Catching his other ankle, his father pulled him farther into the sky. “I’m going to release you again. Ready?”
Taking a deep breath, Jason said, “Yes,” and felt his stomach tumble as his father opened his fingers.
He was falling!
Except this time, instead of fighting the wind, he turned into it, allowing it to sweep him out over the sparkling waters that surrounded their home, a shimmering blue green so clear he could see the darting orange and red stripes of the fish swimming through the coral reef.
Above him, he heard his father’s joyful exclamation, and he laughed.
It wasn’t that Jason couldn’t fly. He’d just never had need to practice the more advanced techniques, to go any farther than the roof of their home or up over the trees. However, if he wanted to accompany his father to the small uninhabited island he could just see in the distance—where his father harvested fruits his mother particularly liked—he would have to learn to ride the currents and conserve his energy.
“Father!” It was a delighted cry this time. “I’m doing it! Can you see me?”
“I knew you could do it, son! Well done!” His father swept out in front of him on wings of pure black but for the deep brown at the tips of his primaries, angled against the wind for a second before sliding into another updraft and circling back to their atoll.
Copying him, Jason found that it wasn’t hard at all if he did what his father had taught him and thought first.
“Efficient flight is as much about intelligent choices as brute strength.”
Now Jason made a conscious decision to change his angle when he realized his father’s greater size gave him an advantage . . . and it worked! Until he felt like he was being carried on the winds. He couldn’t wait to show his mother, and when he saw the pale purple of her tunic in the distance as she flew up to join them, he pushed himself to go even faster, his wings shining blue black in the sunlight. His father said Jason was meant to be a night scout, like he had been in his youth, before he decided to pursue his passion for music and the instruments that created it.
Jason wondered when he’d be allowed to fly alone during the night. He thought he might like chasing the stars, but it would get lonely after a while. Cold and lonely.
8
S tanding on the railingless balcony outside his Tower office, Raphael considered the report he’d just had from Naasir. The vampire was currently stationed in the formerly lost city of Amanat, risen to new life in a mountainous region of Japan, a city controlled by Raphael’s mother, an archangel so old, she was a true Ancient.
The reawakening of Amanat has gathered speed
, he said to the woman with hair so pale it was white-gold, the strands catching the light from the surrounding skyscrapers as she flew in a zigzag pattern a short distance from the Tower.
We expected as much.
Elena dipped left.
Gimme a second. Ransom asked me to help him trail a troublesome vam—gotcha!
His vision acute as a raptor’s, he watched as she spoke into a cell phone, caught the wave of her exultation when the hunter on the ground made the capture. Angelic consorts were a rare breed. Other than Elena, only Elijah’s Hannah could truly carry that title. Even before Eris’s death and though it was polite to refer to him as such, the position occupied by Neha’s husband had been nothing akin to that of either of the women. That
Stretching out his wings with that truth in mind, he flew off Guardian Fort and along the ridgeline before winging his way high into the dark gray skies, the clouds yet heavy enough to conceal him from detection. It was here, far above land, that he felt more at home than anywhere else in the world.
“Slower, Jason!” A hand gripping firmly at his ankle as he tangled his wings and threatened to plummet.
“Father!”
“I have you, son. Spread out your wings slowly . . . yes, like that.”
Catching his other ankle, his father pulled him farther into the sky. “I’m going to release you again. Ready?”
Taking a deep breath, Jason said, “Yes,” and felt his stomach tumble as his father opened his fingers.
He was falling!
Except this time, instead of fighting the wind, he turned into it, allowing it to sweep him out over the sparkling waters that surrounded their home, a shimmering blue green so clear he could see the darting orange and red stripes of the fish swimming through the coral reef.
Above him, he heard his father’s joyful exclamation, and he laughed.
It wasn’t that Jason couldn’t fly. He’d just never had need to practice the more advanced techniques, to go any farther than the roof of their home or up over the trees. However, if he wanted to accompany his father to the small uninhabited island he could just see in the distance—where his father harvested fruits his mother particularly liked—he would have to learn to ride the currents and conserve his energy.
“Father!” It was a delighted cry this time. “I’m doing it! Can you see me?”
“I knew you could do it, son! Well done!” His father swept out in front of him on wings of pure black but for the deep brown at the tips of his primaries, angled against the wind for a second before sliding into another updraft and circling back to their atoll.
Copying him, Jason found that it wasn’t hard at all if he did what his father had taught him and thought first.
“Efficient flight is as much about intelligent choices as brute strength.”
Now Jason made a conscious decision to change his angle when he realized his father’s greater size gave him an advantage . . . and it worked! Until he felt like he was being carried on the winds. He couldn’t wait to show his mother, and when he saw the pale purple of her tunic in the distance as she flew up to join them, he pushed himself to go even faster, his wings shining blue black in the sunlight. His father said Jason was meant to be a night scout, like he had been in his youth, before he decided to pursue his passion for music and the instruments that created it.
Jason wondered when he’d be allowed to fly alone during the night. He thought he might like chasing the stars, but it would get lonely after a while. Cold and lonely.
8
S tanding on the railingless balcony outside his Tower office, Raphael considered the report he’d just had from Naasir. The vampire was currently stationed in the formerly lost city of Amanat, risen to new life in a mountainous region of Japan, a city controlled by Raphael’s mother, an archangel so old, she was a true Ancient.
The reawakening of Amanat has gathered speed
, he said to the woman with hair so pale it was white-gold, the strands catching the light from the surrounding skyscrapers as she flew in a zigzag pattern a short distance from the Tower.
We expected as much.
Elena dipped left.
Gimme a second. Ransom asked me to help him trail a troublesome vam—gotcha!
His vision acute as a raptor’s, he watched as she spoke into a cell phone, caught the wave of her exultation when the hunter on the ground made the capture. Angelic consorts were a rare breed. Other than Elena, only Elijah’s Hannah could truly carry that title. Even before Eris’s death and though it was polite to refer to him as such, the position occupied by Neha’s husband had been nothing akin to that of either of the women. That
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