She obeyed, though the adrenaline pumping through her body made her want to do the exact opposite. The instant her feet touched the ground, she swiveled around to push him in the chest, her palms sizzling at the contact with his bare skin. "That's your idea of teaching? I could've been splattered from here to Manhattan!"
"You were never in any danger." His eyes gleamed with laughter and that just made her madder. "That's how young angels learn to fly - they're pushed out of the aeries before they have a chance to develop a fear of it."
Her fury came to a screeching halt, though her heart continued to ricochet violently in her chest. "You push babies out into thin air?"
"How do you think birds learn to fly?"
"Huh." She folded her arms, the shirt clammy against her sweat-soaked skin. "You know, I'm an adult - I already know fear."
"That's why I didn't give you any warning. Instinct did what it was supposed to."
Wiping her hands across her cheeks in an effort to cool them down, she took a deep breath, tied the tails of the shirt at her side and walked back. "Okay, push me again."
"You can step off yourself."
Elena had long ago learned to keep her fears to herself, seeing them only as weaknesses that could be used against her, but this time, there was nothing to do but admit it. "I'm too chickenshit."
Raphael pressed a kiss to her nape, put his hands on her waist again. "This time, snap your wings out as soon as possible."
Nodding, she was barely in position when he pushed. It took her at least three seconds to snap out her wings. Too slow. Raphael brought her up again. And again. And again.
"Once more," she said, her muscles crying with exhaustion. "I need to get it."
Raphael's face was all austere lines, but he nodded. "Once more."
Knowing her body would give out even if her will wouldn't, Elena took a few steps back from the edge. "It won't be as bad if I run."
"Remember, you must unfold your wings the instant you become airborne, or the downward momentum will be too strong to stop."
She nodded, pushing sweat-soaked strands of hair off her face. Then, filling her mind with the image of her body in flight, she began to race over the plateau. She went airborne seconds later, and it was only when she felt the hard pull of muscle in her shoulders that she realized her wings were out. There was even, for a single moment, a slight upward drive before she began to fall again. Except this time, she felt a sense of control.
Her landing was nowhere even remotely close to Raphael's grace. She came down bruisingly hard on her knees, her momentum throwing her face forward, but she was grinning when she lifted that face from the powder. "I did it!"
The archangel crouching in front of her had eyes filled with a fierce kind of pride. "I had no doubts you would." He watched her dust off her face. "You'll hurt as if you've been beaten tomorrow, but you must continue to train."
"I know. Same principle as applies to normal training."
"However, if you feel true pain, let me know." Fingers on her chin. "It's better to wait for minor injuries to heal than turn them into major ones."
"Especially since we're on a deadline." She met his gaze, so brilliant even in the snowy dark. "You think Lijuan will use my inexperience in handling my new body against me."
A curt nod as he released her chin. "She'll use every weapon she can."
"Why?"
"A break from ennui." His lips flattened into a thin line. "If asked, she'll say it's about power, about politics, but in the end, it's about nothing but her own amusement. You're a new toy, one that's caught her interest."
"And we must play." Aching in every muscle, she got to her feet.
Raphael rose with her, seeming not to feel the cold at all, in spite of the fact that he was magnificently shirtless. "At another time, I may have declined the offer of the ball" - an unspoken reminder that he, too, was an archangel - "but we must attend this one."
She nodded. "You need to see how far Lijuan's devolved." According to what she'd heard, the oldest of the archangels was no longer willing to leave her homeland, even to meet with the Cadre.
"If she unleashes her reborn on the world, there'll be no going back."
The idea of the dead walking, their souls trapped in those horrific shells made Elena shiver. As she did, fine traces of gold glittered in the air. "Will you fly for me, Raphael?"
she asked, deciding to hold on to the wonder tonight. "I want to see the angel dust coming off your wings."
Raphael flared out his wings, making her breath catch. The patterns that marked his wings as unique were indistinct in the dark, but she knew the bright sunburst on his left wing down to the last streak, the last line. It was a scar, made by a weapon she'd shot.
He'd been so very cold that night. "Will you ever go Quiet again?" she found herself asking.
His answer was potent with memory, with the knowledge of how close he'd come to the precipice of evil. "The need would have to be very great." And then he lifted off in a tempest of the finest snow and wind, his power making her dig her feet into the powder to keep herself upright. Ecstasy soaked into her tongue a moment later, and she realized he'd flickered the aphrodisiac dust on her as he rose.
The special blend.
Her entire body beginning to hum with need, she watched as he rose ever higher, becoming a silhouette in the night sky. When he started to descend, it was in a series of slow, almost lazy dives, as if he was riding the air currents. Streamers of gold tracked his every movement, a wondrous light show against the velvet black sky.