Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
“What’s wrong?” Raphael asked sharply.
There were a lot of people milling around in the open-air rotunda or on their way elsewhere, and many stopped to see who we were, but everyone, including the angels, went down on one knee as two angels dressed in armor like Evangeline, though far more elaborate with carved cuirass and gold wings, came striding forward.
“I’m so sorry,” Anahel barely got out. “They’ve been here, waiting, and I didn’t understand why until right this second.”
Raphael nodded and stepped in front of me, whispering to me to kneel as Evangeline and the others knelt as well and my fellow warders and their mates followed suit.
The first angel, with red hair, beard, and a mustache, stopped a few feet from Raphael, looked him up and down, and laughed. It wasn’t evil or mean, more like he was actually amused. “This is all it took? This simple guise?”
Raphael took a breath.
“You’re telling me that every angel who has ever looked for you, including my own guard, was fooled by this?”
My mate remained quiet.
“Why are you baiting him?” asked the second angel, who was a bit smaller, with jet-black hair and eyes, his skin like alabaster. He moved around the first and walked forward with his arms open.
Raphael immediately pulled him close, and the hug was like the one he’d given Anahel, warm and genuine. The difference was, the stranger closed his eyes and trembled.
“I missed you,” the dark-haired angel murmured as his hands slid over Raphael’s skin.
I wished Raphael could get rid of his wings so he could put his T-shirt and hoodie back on. Others touching him was not something I enjoyed.
“I missed you as well,” Raphael whispered, pressing his face down into the angel’s shoulder. Clearly, they were close.
“Step back,” the first angel grumbled, moving up beside them, separating them, and then clutching Raphael tight. “I missed you too.”
Raphael chuckled, and the angel gave him a last squeeze before shoving him out to arm’s length. “I will not lose you again.”
I watched Raphael shake his head.
“Only humans have free will,” the angel intoned, his voice deep and strong.
“My lord Gabriel, forgive me,” Evangeline began from where she was kneeling near the other angels. “But the kyrie Raphael is not an angel and therefore has free will.”
He scoffed and looked to Raphael. “If you don’t brush off this artifice, I’ll do it for you.”
Raphael glanced over his shoulder at me, then back to Gabriel. He lifted his head and closed his eyes, and an orb of light appeared above his head, then dropped over him, bringing with it the same short tunic the others wore that showed off his chiseled thighs, over which was the carved gold cuirass, the short skirt of heavy leather, and the sandals that laced up over his sculpted calves. The biggest change was his wings, no longer those of a blackbird, but gold like Gabriel’s.
Evangeline gasped. “You’re a Seraphim.”
“No. Look again. He’s an archangel,” Gabriel intoned, slapping a hand down on my mate’s shoulder. “He is the archangel Raphael, the healer of God.”
I could barely breathe.
Raphael moved quickly to kneel beside me, and I wasn’t sure if I should touch him in front of the others.
“You’re my mate,” he reminded me, and I saw that his bracelet was still around his wrist. “Nothing breaks our bond.”
When I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, the black-haired angel came and knelt down beside us.
“You’ve claimed a human mate,” he said, almost sadly. “How do you imagine that—”
“Warder,” Raphael corrected. “He’s a warder, Uriel. Really look.”
Uriel’s eyes searched my face, and then he suddenly smiled, and it was dazzling. I couldn’t help smiling in return.
“Of course he’s a warder.” Gabriel joined us, not kneeling but glancing over at Leith and Ryan as well. “Raphael would have killed him if he were human when they first joined.” He looked at my mate then. “How did you keep the disguise for so long? Did you drink their blood? Do you drink his? Is that why you picked a kyrie to be, so there would be a reason?”
Raphael didn’t answer.
“I know you. You probably saw him, knew he was yours, and what, claimed him and then thought, I can drink his blood forever and never have to confess my divinity?”
“Raph?” I leaned back to look into his eyes.
“It’s not that simple,” he told me.
“Clear out,” Gabriel demanded, and the hundreds of people milling about rushed from the rotunda. We all stood up as Gabriel faced Leith and Ryan. “I need you here to help hold this heaven against the onslaught that’s coming. But your hearths, now healed, would be in danger. Humans are too frail for this realm. What say you?”
There was only one answer. The angels had healed Simon and Julian. The only response was yes.