Chapter 32 Sunny #2
Hope gently took the baby and the sword from my hands and passed them to Feather, before turning back to me, grabbing my upper arms in her hands.
“If you ever do anything that stupid, that reckless again, I won’t survive it.
” She wrapped her arms around my waist and lifted me off the floor, pulling me into a hard hug.
I loved how strong she was, both physically and spiritually, and I let her see that love in my eyes when I pulled away.
“I can’t make any promises,” I choked out. “Feather is my best friend.”
“Fair,” Hope agreed, and then she was kissing me, her lips soft on mine, her tongue tasting me.
Blessing me. Every kiss with Hope was like being reborn into perfection.
The world went quiet and pure, like clear water running in a stream.
Like infinite possibilities, each more wonderful than the next, could be found in her lips, in her arms. “I love you, Sunny,” she said after a long moment, taking my hands in hers.
“And I will make you my soulmate as soon as Gavriel allows it.”
“Allows it?” Mikhail grumbled. “What fresh hell is this?”
“A very fresh one,” Hope snarked back. “I’m sure Feather will catch you up.
” She pulled away. “I need to go find Heart and Glory and make sure they have whatever they need to keep healing.” The hall shook the tiniest bit.
“And then I’ll go sing at the gate. Gavriel will have his hands full with everything else.
The last thing we need is the Abyss breaking through. ”
And none of us trusted Tradition to sing for Sanctuary.
Even though he’d seemed ignorant of so much of what had happened here, I still wasn’t sure I bought it.
There was an Earth saying about one bad apple, and we had far more than that.
If Tradition was the only good apple in the Guides’ rotten bushel, I would be surprised indeed.
“Right, time to take care of this little demon baby.” I tickled her under her chin, and she stared up at me, gurgling in a language that made my ears itch inside. “Where did you come from, little cutie? What’s your name?”
“A very good question indeed,” Mikhail said, crossing his burly arms over his chest. “I wonder if anyone here might know something about that.”
“Precious,” Feather muttered. “I’m glad that’s the part that stuck.
” She stood, and adjusted her ripped toga around her, not making eye contact with anyone.
“So, you know she called me Mama?” We all nodded.
Righteous smiled up at Feather from where he sat near her feet, but backed away a few inches when Mikhail curled his lip at him.
“The thing is, when Gavriel made Growly go down to Las Vegas, and I was left in the maker space—”
“Maker Hall,” Mikhail corrected.
“Yeah.” She grabbed a cloth, rubbing it over her skin roughly. Glitter flew up in clouds as the smut hit the ground. Righteous sneezed, as did the toddler.
Singer bless her, that was the cutest sound I’d ever heard. I jogged her on my hip, and gave her the edge of my toga to play with.
“Anyway, I was not touching anything—and I swear I did not touch her Novice jelly ball, not on purpose!” We all groaned, and Feather’s chin jutted out.
“But there was glitter in there, and it had gotten on her. I used the tweezers to get it off, honestly, but there was this one stubborn piece, and I might have rubbed at it a tiny bit.”
Mikhail made a disbelieving sound. “Were you singing when you did this?”
“Yeah, probably?” Feather said, batting her clumpy eyelashes. She wiped the cloth over her face, and what looked like half the smut came away. “One of Rumple’s songs, most likely. They’re my go-to for cleaning.”
Mikhail’s eyes goggled, like someone had smacked him on the side of the head. “You hum those songs when you’re doing housework?”
Feather shrugged. “Yeah, they’re catchy. This one is great for dishes.” She took a breath and began to sing a melody that made me feel like I’d just slammed fourteen shots of espresso.
Mikhail pressed a massive hand gently over her mouth. “That’s a very potent song, sweet soul. Best not to throw that power about at present, hm?” She gave a thumbs up, and he pulled his hand away. “And the naming? What did you name her?”
“I didn’t know I was naming her,” she insisted, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing as she squirmed.
No one got into trouble better and deeper and faster than my best birch.
“I just talked to it. Let me think. I thought I was talking to the glitter. I called it little glitter. Then I called it perfectly shiny and lovely, and stubborn... um, and glitter baby.”
“And?” Mikhail lifted one eyebrow.
Feather’s shoulders slumped, and more clay went flopping off her wings to the floor. “I called her a little devil, and my precious.”
“The last words were your ‘precious.’” His brow furrowed. “She answers to Precious. That part of her name should have a stronger pull on her nature. She should be more… baby-ish. Sweet and gentle.”
I snatched the sword back out of Precious’s mouth when he shot me an exasperated look.
I wasn’t sure he was worried about the baby, though.
The sword had some weird, pitted marks. I had been taught a Celestial sword was unbreakable.
Was her drool rusting it? I broke the decorative knob off the top of a chair and handed it to her instead.
She reached for it with an avid, mostly toothless smile.
Mentally, I smacked myself, suddenly understanding what had happened. “I think I can explain, Mikhail. There is a series of books, written by an English author named Tolkien.”
Mikhail perked up. “Ronald? I loved his books. We spoke of them on one of my trips to Earth.”
I frowned. It sounded like Mikhail’s trips to Earth were vacations. Why didn’t any of the rest of us get that?
Mikhail buried his shaggy head in his hands as comprehension dawned. “You didn’t.”
Feather smiled weakly. “Didn’t what, exactly?”
He ground his teeth together before saying, “You held her ball of soul light up and called it your precious, while thinking of the One Ring? Good gracious, it’s no wonder she’s so powerful and small, and deeply, deeply ev—”
“And perfect,” I said firmly, over Feather’s protests that she’d only held the speck of glitter up.
The damage was done, and it was time for me to fulfill my vow.
“And she’s getting tired. I need to find her some food, and somewhere to sleep.
” Mikhail looked like he might interrupt, but I waved him off.
“You three need to go to the baths and get as clean as you can. Then go to the Maker Hall and sleep.”
“Us three?” Feather repeated.
Behind her, Righteous cleared his throat. “I believe Mikhail needs to hear an explanation for more than just Precious.” The feather on his forearm glinted.
Feather swallowed audibly. “Yeah, that’s the truth.”
“Talk it out, then sleep,” I said, nudging her and thinking at her, It won’t be so bad.
Just tell them both how you feel about them.
They know your name, right? You had to share it to merge deeply enough for…
however you got that second feather. She gave a tiny nod.
So my guess is they already have a pretty good idea.
You literally added those feelings into your name.
Feather mimed zipping her lips shut, and I rolled my eyes.
As I walked out of the Assembly Hall, I reminded myself to ask how she’d mated Righteous without intending to, without cutting a part of herself out.
Just in case Hope asked me to be her soulmate again.
Though with the smut on my hands, I wasn’t sure…
I fought the wave of guilt and fear that threatened, and flew the rest of the way to my room, then to a place I was sure Gavriel would never send Guides or Protectors to look for me, or the baby.
It was close to sacrilege to use the room I had in mind, but I had a sacred vow to fulfill, and once he figured out I’d tricked him, hiding would be my very best option.
I grabbed what I needed from my room, then slipped as quickly as possible through some of the less-traveled back tunnels I’d discovered when I was rounding up the resistance, to the room I had in mind.
Precious woke up when we entered. “Mama?” she mumbled sleepily, as I carried her across the room. She perked up, pointing to something. “Mama?”
“No honey,” I said gently. “That’s Arabella. She’s sleeping, so we need to be very quiet. Can you do that?”
She never looked away from Arabella’s lightly glowing form, laid out in the clear, crystal casket.
And she never tried to touch her, while I found a way to make a small tent out of some of the long, gauzy curtains that hung from the ceiling to the floor.
In minutes, Precious was chewing on some grapes in a tiny nest of pillows and blankets, and I was relaxing…
until I noticed she had something stuck in her hair.
Something silver and glittering, but not small enough to be glitter.
“Come here, sweetness,” I coaxed, scooting over to her. “Let me get this out of your hair.” I plucked at it, but she let out a screech and grabbed it herself.
It was a feather, bright silver and small. The size of the ones Novices molted immediately after gaining their wings. They always disintegrated when they made contact with the floor, though. Otherwise, Sanctuary would look like the inside of a down pillow.
Wait. Was it the same feather Righteous had dropped weeks ago?
“Mama!” Precious said clearly and flung it up into the air, where an odd, burst of warm air caught it and sent it spinning across the room. It landed on top of Arabella. I held my breath, but nothing happened. I wasn’t sure why I’d expected something. Maybe it had just been that sort of day.
I wanted to examine it more closely, and I knew I needed to pick it off her. Gavriel would definitely notice it the next time he came into the room, which I hoped was a week from now. I was tired enough to sleep that long.
I started to stand to get it, but Precious began fussing, and when I rocked her, she blinked up at me and said, “Tata?” A tiny wave of love pulsed from her to me, and I felt her meaning. Auntie. Aunt. She was… adopting me?
I felt tears burn the backs of my eyes. “Yes, Precious. I’ll be your Tata Sunny. And I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
“Tata,” she whispered, and I knew she’d understood me. I held her, my heart expanding again the way it had when I’d ascended, but this time, with joy.
I sang a lullaby I’d learned from my own Tante Marguerite in one of my earthly lives, as the baby nestled in my arms, a warm, soft bundle of shimmering starlight.
I sniffed at her head, avoiding the tiny horns that jutted up.
She smelled like a campfire and marshmallows and…
dandelions? Something green and fresh and new.
Whatever it was, it made me feel hopeful. How unexpected.
In less than a minute, we were both asleep.