Archangel's Heart(128)

Her body vibrating with rage, she somehow managed to keep her blade from leaving her hand. Then, as Gervais and the other angel walked away, the wall beginning to shut behind them, she and Raphael moved. Not so fast as to create a gust of air that would alert the two Luminata, but not so slow that they’d miss the door. And then they were in and at the top of a flight of stairs that wasn’t as steep as it should’ve been.

The door shut behind them in smoothly oiled silence. However, what was a seamless part of the wall on the hallway side was clearly a door from this side. Having separated from Raphael so that they could move independently, she tucked her wings back tight against her spine. The staircase was easy to navigate side by side, the lights on the walls guiding their way.

And then they reached the bottom.

Raphael’s fingers clamped on to her forearm. Since she’d begun to fling out that same arm against his chest in an unconsciously protective move, she figured they were even. Both steady now, they looked over the edge of the doorway into nothingness. The only way to tell that they were looking down a deep shaft dug into the earth were the lights placed a regular distance apart going down.

“We’re next to the Gallery,” she said, the words a whisper. “Why would the builders dig a hole but not utilize all of it?” This shaft was nowhere near the diameter of the Gallery—maybe a tenth the size—but it was significant. And while it had exposed beams, it was structurally shored up.

“I think it was to provide a back way for the archivists to enter different levels of the Gallery.” Raphael pointed out what looked like an old door across the way, the wood a little warped and not appearing as if it had been opened anytime recently. “It may have been specifically created so the archivists could reach the final, hidden section without disturbing any guests in the Gallery.”

Elena blinked. “This shaft is an angelic elevator?” Which meant that final level had once had a legitimate use, likely for handy Gallery storage as Laric had assumed when he saw the staircase.

“Aptly put.” He turned to take her into his arms. “We arrive together.”

“Done.”

With that, Raphael jumped off the edge and opened his wings in silence. The lights flashed up one after the other and they landed on square paving stones in a matter of seconds, the pavers set neatly into the dirt, as if they’d just been laid—though it was clear from the discoloration that they were old. The door to the hidden level was propped open with a rock, the corridor stretching out beyond well made but narrow.

Too narrow for Elena and Raphael to walk down it together.

Elena pulled out her gun, aimed it forward as she took the first step. I am not going second this time, Raphael, she said when she felt him shift behind her. Don’t even try it.

A pause. If there is danger you cannot handle, drop.

That I can do. It’d give him a clear line of sight.

The passage was clean of dust and well maintained, clearly a place that was used often. Other than professionally installed electric lights every two feet—lights that told her some poor, hardworking electrician probably lay buried nearby, since this was a place no one outside a clandestine group could know—there wasn’t anything on the walls or on the floor to give them any clues. Definitely none of the faint carvings that marked the navigation pathways around the rest of Lumia.

Then she caught the first hint of a scent. Perfume, she said to Raphael.

Female, he replied. Heavy enough to linger—or to sink into another’s skin during intimate contact.

Elena thought of the two Luminata who’d recently exited, felt her jaw go tight. Musk, she said, breaking down the scent in an effort to think past the anger that lay hot and heavy in her gut, rich on the oils, expensive. It was the kind of scent that was overwhelmingly opulent, the kind you simply couldn’t ignore. Getting used to it took a little doing for a born hunter, since scent was her business, her nose more sensitive to it even when it had nothing to do with identifying a vampire, but Elena had a lot of experience.

Pushing it aside so it no longer dominated her senses, she carried on.

And came to a halt at the outline of a door on the right-hand side of the passageway. Be helpful if you could see through stone walls.

I can scan mortal minds with ease.

Elena shook her head at the implied offer. No, we don’t cross that line. Not even if it would make this easier—some lines were bright lines, and this one, the two of them had negotiated during a prior investigation. And while it was important to Elena’s sense of honor, it was also important in keeping Raphael “human.” Can you tell if there are mortal minds behind the door without scanning them?