Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
BEN
“A-are you s-sure he’ll l-like this one, sugar? It’s about a p-priest,” I asked Rosie under my breath as I followed her across the room toward her quarry.
Gabriel was deep in conversation with Lilith, Crombie, Caleb, and Gavin.
The five of them had their heads bowed close together and were chatting in hushed tones while looking over something Gavin had marked up for them.
The fact that they were out here and not locked away in Lilith’s office meant it wasn’t necessarily a private conversation, though their body language indicated otherwise.
We’d adopted this space as a sort of living area, furniture arranged in conversational pods, all put together piecemeal using small bits of magic from those who had extra to spare.
Alek’s mother, Lina, offered to weave a space—her power giving her the ability to permanently alter reality however she wanted—but after a pretty heated discussion, it was determined that no one should use excessive amounts of their power.
Period. We didn’t know when we might be called on to fight, and the last thing we could afford was to have the most powerful among us at a disadvantage in any way.
“Remi said he’d love it. Apparently Gabriel has a touch of bad boy in him no one knew about.” Rosie squeezed my hand.
She knew I wasn’t just worried about her offending an angel.
I didn’t trust anyone new to our group. It had grown larger than I could manage.
Too many alpha personalities in one space.
Add in an archangel with a bit of a God complex, and I worried we were asking for internal conflict.
The last thing any of us needed was a ticking time bomb around our pregnant mates.
“Did I hear my name?” Remi asked, sauntering over to join us.
Rosie smirked at him. “You did.”
He leaned down to give her a quick kiss. “You were sharing good things, I hope, baby girl.”
“Mmm, doubtful,” she teased. “That would require you to behave.”
“Yeah, fair enough.”
We shared a laugh before Remi spotted the novel in Rosie’s hands. “You haven’t given it to him yet?”
“W-we’re going n-now,” I grumbled, gesturing at the group a little ways away.
Remi’s eyes widened as he looked at the paperback more closely. “Who took out my tabs? I marked all the best parts for him.”
The way Rosie’s cheeks turned pink gave her away. “I thought those were for me. Things you wanted to reenact.”
Remi winked at her, dropping his voice to a seductive croon. “I mean, yes. Absolutely. But they were also for leather feathers. How else is he going to know where the good bits are?”
“I-I’m s-sure he c-can figure it o-out.”
“Siiiigh. You two are no fun.” He yanked the book out of Rosie’s grip. “Now I have to mark it up all over again.”
Before he could turn to leave, the air shifted in the room, putting us all on edge at the exact same time. I saw it in the collective tensing of everyone’s posture. They felt it too. The pressure change that made my ears pop, and the weight of power.
“Who the devil is that?” Rosie whispered, halting her steps before I had to stop her.
“I h-have no idea, sugar. Get behind me.” My voice went from human to wolf as I put myself in front of her.
Several things happened at once.
Caleb and Gavin tensed, ready for a fight.
Lilith stood carefully, surprise lifting her eyebrows nearly to her hairline.
Crombie joined her with barely leashed power crackling around him.
But it was Gabriel who pulled my focus. His arms were folded across his chest, eyes narrowed, fury written on his features.
“Michael, how very unlike you to grace us with your presence.” Then he added under his breath, “Finally.”
“You know what they say, brother. Better late than never.” The stranger—Michael—said, his lips curling in a smug grin.
He was dressed like someone who’d been living on the streets, his clothing tattered and stained.
Hardly what you’d expect from an angel, but then, Gabriel and his motorcycle leathers didn’t fit the bill either.
“That remains to be seen. We’ve gotten along just fine without you all these years.”
“Is that any way to say hello?”
“I take it this is some sort of family spat?” Remi said, speaking close to my ear.
“L-looks like,” I said, my wolf stepping down now that it seemed we weren’t actually under attack.
Michael took a step forward, and I swear, if vampires really did hiss, Caleb and Gavin would have. Unsettled wasn’t a strong enough word to describe their energy.
“Lilypad, I need you to tell me if this angel is a threat or a friend before I vaporize him,” Crombie warned. “He’s already too close to you for comfort.”
“As Gabriel said, that remains to be seen, pet. But for the moment, I think we’re safe.”
“You know what they say about assuming,” Remi offered unhelpfully.
“Remington, be a dear, and shut up,” Lilith snapped, then returned her attention to Michael. “Why are you here?”
His appearance changed as we all watched on, the torn and stained clothing turning into a meticulously tailored three-piece suit in charcoal gray.
The rough beard and matted hair morphed into slicked-back dark locks and a clean-shaven jaw.
His eyes were the only things that didn’t change. They remained molten gold.
“Angels really are beautiful,” Rosie murmured, and if I’d been less secure in our relationship, I might’ve been jealous.
“And dickless. Don’t forget dickless,” Remi said.
“Th-that wasn’t c-confirmed,” I reminded him.
“Challenge accepted.”
“No, Remi,” Rosie said.
My twin pouted. “Fine. Nobody lets me have any fun.”
“Think how Asher would feel about you getting that up close and personal with another male,” Rosie pointed out.
Remi took a second to consider it. “You’re right. Dickless or not, I’d feel pretty murdery if he was in range of another dude’s crotch.”
I cocked a brow at that. We’d all been in range of plenty of dicks during our group time with Rosie.
Catching my expression, he waved a hand. “Present company excluded. Members of the group chat don’t count.”
While we’d been side chatting, Michael had moved closer to the others. His eyes lingered on Gabriel, though he seemed to be addressing Lilith.
“I have a message for you.”
“Wait, isn’t that Gabe’s job?” Remi whispered loudly before shouting, “Gabe! He took your job too?”
Gabriel flinched, but didn’t respond, his eyes carefully leveled on Michael. “Go on then.”
“The horsemen are currently just outside of Iniquity. They were searching for you, Lilith. The final battle is on the horizon. It’s time for everyone to come together.”
Caleb cleared his throat. “Can I ask what might be seen as a daft question?”
“That’s usually my job,” Remi murmured.
Michael stared Caleb down. “Go on, priest.”
“Why are you suddenly involving yourself in all this?”
Gabriel nodded. “Yes, why? You’ve been firmly against our interference. I believe the words, on your own head be it, were used when I gave Caleb his mark.”
“Yes, well. Times have changed, haven’t they?
The apocalypse looms, war is brewing . .
.” He sighed and gave Gabriel a pointed look.
“And I haven’t been as removed as you might believe.
Did you really think I didn’t know you had my sword?
That I couldn’t have taken it from you at any time I so desired? ”
“You expect me to believe that when you left me to rot at Lucifer’s hand?” Gabriel spat, his temper flaring.
“We all have our parts to play.”
Remi nudged me. “Burn. But also . . . Oh no, he didn’t.”
Gavin blurred across the distance until he loomed over my twin. “Remington, if you do not shut the fuck up, I will make you.”
“Oh yeah? How you gonna do that, Daddy G?”
Gavin’s teeth ground together. “I’d threaten to shut you up with my dick in your mouth, but you’d enjoy it too much.”
Remi was momentarily stunned, his mouth gaping open.
Rosie put her hand on his chest, her arousal scenting the air. “Careful, my lord. We don’t have the capacity for that level of privacy.”
“Oh, she means the sexy dungeon,” Remi whispered to me. “God, I miss the sexy dungeon.”
I shook my head at my twin. He’d hinted more than once that he wanted to play with Gavin. For the plot, he’d said. I’m pretty sure he was just a horny fuck, but if Asher and Rosie were okay with it, then who was I to say so?
“If you four are quite finished with whatever is happening over there, we have the small matter of the horsemen to attend to,” Lilith said, the steel in her voice effectively cutting through our banter.
“Where do you need us?” Caleb asked.
“At her side, of course,” Crombie scoffed. “Are they alone?”
Michael nodded. “Aside from the human stragglers, they are alone. I’m not sure how much longer they will be outside the club. They were quite . . . frustrated.”
“About what?” Gavin asked.
“Lucifer. He has Merri.”
“And you didn’t think to lead with that?” Lilith snarled, her fury making me tense. If I’d been in my wolf form, my tail would have been tucked firmly between my legs.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Michael snapped. “A guy can’t win for trying. You should be thanking me. If I hadn’t been keeping watch, you wouldn’t know any of this. Where’s my thank you?”
“They rarely say thank you,” Gabriel murmured.
Lilith’s gaze snapped to us. “Rosie, darling, you can’t come on this mission. Be a love and go get Hades for me? The rest of you, get ready. We are going to wrangle some horsemen.”