Chapter 2 #3
As if on cue, Mikhail came flying through the clouds on his great bronze wings, an armful of white cloth bundled under one arm.
“I have clothing,” he said once he’d landed and kissed me thoroughly enough that Sunny started making retching sounds.
“It was my homecoming gift. Only things I was sad about leaving in Sanctuary—the only objects, that is.” His eyes flashed with sudden grief, and I knew he must be thinking of Gavriel.
I dropped my gaze, knowing I had to tell him and Righteous about my birthmark sooner rather than later, and my eyes fell on the clothing he was carrying.
I squealed. “My t-shirts? The ones I made for you?” He unfolded them with a proud grin, showing off the designs I’d hot glue-gunned onto the fronts with sequins and…
“Oh, sweet Mother of us all,” Sabriel sighed. “This isn’t going to go over well.”
“What?” I asked, showing her the one that said Daddy Bear Fits Just Right.
Haneul joined us, and she was the one who answered. “Well, it’s the first sign.”
“What is? Sign of what?” I set the vibe down, pulling a t-shirt over my head that said Feather’s Snack, Get Your Own. Once I was dressed, I blinked up at Sabriel, who was now whispering with Haneul. “Come on, what’s the sign? Sign of the times? Astrological sign?”
Sabriel pointed at my arms, where a few flakes of gold and pink glitter were scattered across my skin. She rolled her eyes. “It’s an old myth, about glitter.”
Haneul mumbled, “Old prophecy about how we all die,” but Sabriel kicked her in the shin. “My apologies, Sabriel. I’ll go prepare their rooms.” She bowed low before flying away.
“Glitter?” I shook my head as she left. “Who doesn’t love glitter?”
As if she’d been summoned, Precious flapped clumsily through the cloudbank, burbling happily.
“Mama!” she shouted, slamming right into me.
I was still weak, and fell to the fluffy ground with her on top of me.
She babbled and drooled on my shirt, her tiny fingers poking at the sequined letters.
Glitter filled the air around us, a few sprinkles landing on her face. Not that anyone would notice.
Precious, my Glitter Baby, was as colorful as ever.
Her hair was a deep shade of purple, with charcoal gray horns poking through adorably.
Her skin was covered with her usual sheen of dark glitter, and her eyes…
“Oh, Precious, your eyes have changed!” They’d looked like Rumple’s at first, but now, they had swirls of turquoise, black, gold and my own bright green in them.
“No one knows why,” Sunny said. “Not that they cared. They said they were going to isolate her. To keep her smut from ‘contaminating the realm.’”
“Um, too late?” We both laughed nervously. Precious extended her wings, and I noted a tiny gap in one. “What happened there?” If anyone hurt her, I’ll… I peered down at the controls of my vibe, checking for a stun setting.
Sunny shook her head. No one pulled her feather out, or cut it off. It just dropped off as she came through the Great Gate.
“Huh.” I squinted at Precious’s wing again. She seemed fine. “They didn’t lock her up, though?”
Her lips tightened. “Just between us, they tried. She can’t be contained.
” Sunny stopped talking as more Celestials emerged from the clouds.
These ones looked taller, and sterner, and it was incredibly hard not to stare at their private parts with everything just hanging out there.
But the balls of soulfire in their hands made it a little easier to ignore the other balls.
They held the glowing golden orbs as if they were weapons of some sort, and stood in lines with their shoulders back, like soldiers.
Mikhail and Righteous moved to stand between us and the soldiers, who were now bowing to Sabriel.
“Healer,” they all said in unison.
Sabriel’s mouth twitched as she acknowledged them. She peered down at me. “What do you think of the welcoming committee?”
I hummed noncommittally. They didn’t seem very welcoming to me.
“Where is the creature from the Abyss?” one of the soldiers demanded as he stepped forward.
He was extra tall and shiny, and the Mother of All Sausages had blessed him, indeed.
I shoved my head between Righteous and Mikhail to make sure I was seeing this correctly.
Did every guy up here have a pocket anaconda?
“She is not from the Abyss,” Sunny shouted, stalking toward the guy. “She is a Novice, a refugee from Sanctuary. I am her soul-vowed caregiver—”
“Tata!” Precious agreed from my arms. Her eyes were on Sunny, but the puppy Ry was still holding suddenly let out a plaintive howl, a sound filled with grief and pain. The whole area fell silent. Then all the Celestial soldiers dropped to their knees and began… praying?
“What’s happening?” I hissed, motioning for Ry to hand me the puppy. It was squirming away from him, making these pathetic little noises.
When he deposited it into my arms, Precious reached out and picked the little fellow up, squishing him against her bare chest. “My!” she mumbled, kissing his wrinkled neck. He yipped in obvious agreement and began slobbering all over her while she giggled.
Huh. Maybe he wasn’t my gift after all.
Did she get a gift when she entered? I thought to Sunny.
No, she replied, glaring at the soldiers. My chest swelled with righteous indignation.
Well, this puppy is hers, then.
Great strings of glitter-flecked drool dripped to the cloud floor and, when the puppy shook his head, went flying everywhere, landing on the kneeling, praying soldiers.
The leader made a strangled noise as he wiped a long drool trail from his face, his eyes fixed on the Precious-colored glitter that remained on his hand.
More than one soldier murmured, “Shadow beast.” I was certain they weren’t talking about the dog, though.
“Take the small one to isolation and the puppy back to the temple,” the head guy gritted out.
“The fuck you will,” Sunny shouted, raising both fists.
Stepping toward the leader, Mikhail growled, “You can try.” Righteous just bounced on his heels in front of me, getting ready to fight the bad guys.
But these were the Celestials. This was Heaven.
“Are we the bad guys?” I whispered.
Precious snuggled closer into me, muttering, “Dado, my Dado,” and I shivered.
Suddenly, the soldiers stood down. From the distance, Celestial music started up, thousands of harps and violins and cellos, and bells of every kind.
And then, someone powerful—as powerful as Rumple had always felt—landed right in front of me. Someone tall, glowing, and slightly terrifying.
And super fudging sexy, too.