Archangel's Enigma - Nalini Singh

“PARANORMAL ROMANCE DOESN’T GET BETTER THAN THIS.”

—Love Vampires

PRAISE FOR THE GUILD HUNTER NOVELS OF NALINI SINGH

“Intense, vivid, and sexually charged.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[A] heart-pounding, action-packed story line of love and loss; death and destruction; family and friends; intrigue and suspense.”

—The Reading Cafe

“It’s dark and edgy, and so atmospheric.”

—Book Chick City

“Mesmerizing . . . Fascinating world-building.”

—Bitten by Books

“The Guild Hunter series is not set in a peaceful world and Singh doesn’t pull any punches.”

—The Book Pushers

“[A] remarkable urban fantasy series.”

—RT Book Reviews (Top Pick)

“Completely awe-inspiring.”

—Fallen Angel Reviews

“Stunning, original, beautiful, intriguing, and mesmerizing.”

—Errant Dreams Reviews

“[Ms. Singh] has a knack for writing characters that are truly believable, and admirably strong and resilient.”

—Dark Faerie Tales

“One of the most immersive and consistently creative works in urban fantasy.”

—Grave Tells

“World-building that blew my socks off.”

—Meljean Brook, New York Times bestselling author

“A fabulous addition to the paranormal world.”

—Fresh Fiction

“[A] powerful, riveting novel. I found myself wholly absorbed.”

—Dear Author

“Dark, lush urban fantasy, steeped in violence and power.”

—HeroesandHeartbreakers

Berkley titles by Nalini Singh

Psy-Changeling Series

SLAVE TO SENSATION

VISIONS OF HEAT

CARESSED BY ICE

MINE TO POSSESS

HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE

BRANDED BY FIRE

BLAZE OF MEMORY

BONDS OF JUSTICE

PLAY OF PASSION

KISS OF SNOW

TANGLE OF NEED

HEART OF OBSIDIAN

SHIELD OF WINTER

SHARDS OF HOPE

Guild Hunter Series

ANGELS’ BLOOD

ARCHANGEL’S KISS

ARCHANGEL’S CONSORT

ARCHANGEL’S BLADE

ARCHANGEL’S STORM

ARCHANGEL’S LEGION

ARCHANGEL’S SHADOWS

ARCHANGEL’S ENIGMA

Anthologies

AN ENCHANTED SEASON

(with Maggie Shayne, Erin McCarthy, and Jean Johnson)

THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS CAT

(with Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, and Linda Winstead Jones)

MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS

(with Charlaine Harris, Ilona Andrews, and Meljean Brook)

BURNING UP

(with Angela Knight, Virginia Kantra, and Meljean Brook)

ANGELS OF DARKNESS

(with Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, and Sharon Shinn)

ANGELS’ FLIGHT

WILD INVITATION

Specials

ANGELS’ PAWN

ANGELS’ DANCE

TEXTURE OF INTIMACY

DECLARATION OF COURTSHIP

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

ARCHANGEL’S ENIGMA

A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author

© 2015 by Nalini Singh.

Excerpt from Slave to Sensation © 2006 by Nalini Singh.

Penguin supports . fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

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eBook : 978-1-101-62890-4

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Jove mass-market edition / September 2015

Cover art by Tony Mauro.

Cover design by George Long.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

Praise for the Guild Hunter novels of Nalini Singh

Berkley titles by Nalini Singh

Title Page

Prophecy

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Epilogue

Special Excerpt from Slave to Sensation

Prophecy

Zhou Lijuan stared into the large metal disk that hung on the far wall opposite her throne. It was a piece of art given to her by an admirer long, long ago. The admirer was lost in the mists of her millennia-old memory, but she’d kept the gift—there was something about the sleek shine of the disk, the way the carvings on the edges had been done with such delicacy, that spoke to her.

Even after thousands of years of having it in the throne room of her innermost stronghold, she found it fascinating. Perhaps because that disk reflected her as clearly as any mirror, and yet was not fragile. The metal disk might dent but it would never break. It had reflected her strength and ambition as a young archangel, wisdom and power as she grew older. Today, it showed her the ravages of war.

Many in the world still thought her dead and it suited her to allow them to believe such, so long as they kept their hands off her territory. Her generals were taking care of security, though she didn’t think even Michaela was arrogant enough to attempt an incursion. All feared her.

Good.

But for the fear to remain, they could not see the woman in the metal mirror. Not yet. That woman had hair of a familiar icy white; Zhou Lijuan had been born with hair as black as night, but the color had faded with the growth of her power, as if her strength had