Excerpt from Archangel’s Resurrection by Nalini Singh Copyright © 2022
Alexander was already a seasoned member of a junior squadron under Akhia-Solay when he graduated to adulthood at a hundred years of age. Callie, having hit the century milestone before him, was also well established—as an angelic courier for another court. Not Rumaia’s, for Callie was too clever not to see the fetid corrosion of that court.
No, she flew under the banner of Archangel Sha-yi, she who was old enough to be termed an Ancient, and who had eyes so deep and wise that even Alexander found himself unsettled around her.
“You’re not in a squadron?” he’d asked when Callie first told him of her position.
“Every fledgling warrior that joins my sire’s court must first serve a decade as a courier alongside our usual physical training,” she’d explained. “It’s to ensure that we know all flight paths inside out, and have scouted our own emergency landing sites when it comes to the longer flights over water.”
Struck by the importance of both pieces of knowledge, Alexander made sure to volunteer as a courier for his court when the call went out. And he didn’t only take from Callie—he shared his knowledge with her too, so that their information was pooled, and they both became better, stronger.
“You have so much ambition that, when we were younger, I expected you to hoard all you learned,” Callie said to him many years down the road. “Why do you share?”
Alexander had to think about that. “Perhaps because I have a brother and parents who’ve always shared what they know with me?” He rubbed his jaw. “And . . . I think it’s also because when I look around at the most powerful among our kind, I see teams. Very few archangels and senior angels are true loners. Having bonds of trust on which you can rely is an important aspect of long-term power.”
Caliane looked at him with those eyes so blue they outshone the rare gems coveted by mortals and immortals both. “Sometimes, Alex, you scare me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re just gentler in how you wear your ambition, Callie. Neither one of us will be content to remain mere foot soldiers. We’ll be generals.”
He was proven both right and wrong.
He was the one who became a general, while Caliane became second to Sha-yi. They argued over it over a mug of mead now and then, whether he’d been right or not. He pointed out that being second was an even higher position than being a general, and she pointed out that she still wasn’t a general.
Along the way, he made other friends, built other bonds of trust. But in all of this, he remained unbound by the heart, a powerful man who took lovers when the urge struck, and who treated them with kindness, but felt no desire to tie himself down.
Then fate laughed at him.
A Guild Hunter Novel # 15
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into the dangerous, haunting world of archangels . . . and a love that is legend.
For thousands of years, the passion between Alexander, Archangel of Persia, and Zanaya, Queen of the Nile, burned furious and bright, seemingly without end. But to be an archangel is to be bound to power violent and demanding. Driven by its primal energy, Alexander and Zanaya fought as fiercely as they loved, locked in an endless cycle of devotion and heartbreak. It is only Zanaya’s decision to Sleep that ends their love story.
Eons later, the Cascade of Death wakens them both. The passion between them a flame that yet burns, Alexander and Zanaya stand together in one last battle against the ultimate darkness. But even a warrior archangel cannot win every war. Alexander’s scream shatters the world as Zanaya falls, broken and silent . . . only to rise again in a miracle that may be a devastating curse. For is it truly the Queen of the Nile who has been resurrected?
Only one thing is clear: This is the last beat of their passionate, angry dance. The final song for Alexander and his Zani . . .
Science Fiction | Romance Paranormal [Berkley, On Sale: October 25, 2022, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593198162 / eISBN: 9780593198179]
Archangel's can fall in love!
Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Nalini has been writing as long as she can remember. Her stories always held a thread of romance (even when she was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). She loves creating unique characters, loves giving them happy endings and she even loves the voices in her head. There's no other job she would rather be doing.
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