Chapter 36
Gavriel
Ilay trembling on the bed for a long moment, wondering if this was it. Is this where I give up? I couldn’t survive without my beloved, though the energy I carried would keep me alive for much longer than I would before it left me a cold husk. Like her. Like her other mates.
Her other mates. I could almost hear her mischievous voice emphasizing that last word. Almost see her eyebrows wiggling in that ridiculous, exaggerated fashion, her tongue creeping out to wet her pink lips. She truly was my beloved antagonist, even in dea… in sleep.
Oh, fuck it, I had to try. I climbed over Feather’s form—I would not think of it as her corpse, though her spirit was gone, from what I could sense—and reached for Mikhail. I placed one of the other feathers on his chest and placed my lips right over his.
“This is weird. But it will work,” I vowed, and pressed my mouth to his, while singing his name and mine. I had my eyes closed but I felt the feather sink into his chest.
And then, I was inside his thoughts. No, his soul.
Mikhail’s soul was a replica of his workshop in Sanctuary: filled with tools and tables, but lit with brilliant strings of lights, glitter on every surface. It smelled of spice and roses, and in one corner, there was an enormous… Is that a chocolate fountain?
You like it, Gav? His soul laughed as it brushed against mine. I’ve been redecorating.
I do like it. It’s perfect for you.
You woke me up, brother, he said, and his soul song harmonized with mine as we merged. It felt completely right, like resting in a favorite chair after a long journey. Like falling asleep in my own bed…
And then Mikhail began to fade as well, his spirit pulling away. What’s happening? I asked, desperate as his inner light began to dim.
Righteous, was all I heard before Mikhail’s soul was once again closed to me. When I opened my eyes, though, the feather I’d placed in Mik’s chest was still there.
Quickly, already feeling the drain of yet another soulmate pulling on my reserves, I moved my mouth to Righteous.
“Righteous Arm of Justice, Head Protector of Sanctuary who shall henceforth be known as Anaconda Pants, I am Gavriel the Grumpy Lightbearer, Soulmate to Feather, the Beautiful Sacrifice, my Chief Antagonist and Adored Nemesis; and mate-friend to you and Mikhail the Great-Souled.”
His lips were still for a moment, and then, they moved.
Softened. I felt an unmistakable movement—his soul opened like a bloom in the sun, the scent of roses almost overbearingly sweet and heady around us both.
I parted my lips to take a quick breath at the splendor that was Righteous’s soul—the silvers and greens all the shades of our mutual beloved—and felt the unmistakable intrusion of a probing tongue in my mouth.
And a hand on my ass.
My eyes flew open, and I found myself staring into his bright gold, laughing eyes. “I knew you liked me, Gavriel,” Righteous said, one eyebrow arching up. “But not this much.” He batted his eyelashes. “You didn’t even ask.”
I snorted, and pushed back. “You’re the one who slipped me the tongue.”
His pale cheeks flushed as he shrugged. “How’s—”
Before he could finish, Mikhail’s tortured cry split the room. “Feather! My sweet soul, is she…” I turned to see Feather lying as still as ever, with Mikhail hovering over her.
“I tried,” I explained, clutching her thin shoulders. “I put the feather on her chest, but it fell off, just like Arabella’s.”
Righteous shoved me aside to get to her, and the two men locked her in an embrace.
“Kiss her,” he demanded. “It worked for you and me when Gavriel did it. Maybe she needs physical touch.” Their hands moved over her body, and their lips as well, pressing as if there were a hidden spot that would bring her back to life.
No, that would awaken her. She had to be alive, even though she didn’t look like it. If we were all still breathing, it couldn’t be my feathers alone keeping us conscious. I refused to believe it.
“You said it was like Arabella’s feather,” Righteous said, his voice raw. “Why did that one fall? Did you ever figure it out?”
“It was because she was never mine,” I answered automatically.
“I already had a mate, a true love, who carried my feather deep inside her soul. Feather.” I felt a tiny rush of emotion—affection, with a touch of amusement.
My own heart swelled, and I knew why the feather had fallen.
She already had one feather inside her; there was no room for two.
The words double feather penetration drifted through my thoughts, but I wasn’t certain where they’d originated. I had a fairly good idea, though.
“She’s always been mine… my adored antagonist. My nemesis. My eternal prankster.” I thought, who needs a spanking.
And then, I saw the corner of her mouth twitch. I was right.
The little faker. “She’s pretending,” I muttered. Mikhail growled and kept kissing.
Righteous cursed. “Why aren’t you helping? Maybe it’s all three of us she needs. All at once.” The corner of her mouth twitched even harder.
“Yes, I imagine that would do it. If all three of us kissed her… hmmm. Maybe there’s a spot we’re missing. Some magical place where, if we kiss right there, she’ll wake up.”
Mikhail’s eyes met mine, and the humor I saw there—along with the renewing energy—made my heart sing.
I reached into the well of energy inside me, letting more of Sanctuary’s light flow through me, and by extension, through my created feathers.
The ones in Mikhail’s and Righteous’s chests, and the original one in Feather’s.
An answering glow also came from the floor. The third feather I’d created from light flared bright before vanishing, its energy returning to the vast well of energy inside me as it went.
So is there a special place you’d like us to kiss, my darling nemesis?
On me, or on Righteous again? Her answer was weak, and I could sense her humor was more bravado than anything else. But Mikhail and Righteous, who were both still merged with me, heard her, too. And when she sent that thought, their souls rejoiced.
My sweet soul, Mikhail growled. Can you open your eyes? I need to see that you are well.
Keep… kissing… she thought, but there was more truth in that light request than I liked.
The physical connection was doing something material to bring her back.
I nodded at them, and we all began pressing our lips to her, everywhere we could reach, creating a net of golden and blue light over her too-still form.
Wake up, Sleeping Beauty, Righteous urged. He’d started peppering kisses down her sternum and over her ribs, and was working on her left hip. We won’t make all your fantasies come true if you’re not even going to open your eyes to watch them happen.
“All my fantasies?” she croaked, her pink tongue darting out to wet her lips.
I leaned to the side of the bed for the cup of blue liquid there, gathered her in my arms, and lifted the glass to her mouth.
Eyes still shut, she drank in slow, jerky swallows.
Half of the liquid spilled down the sides of her mouth, and after a moment, she closed her lips to signal she was done.
“Did Righteous really say all my fantasies?”
Mikhail cupped her face in his scarred hands, and answered as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Yes, my love. He did. If you come back to us, stay with us, we’ll give you everything you ask.”
“The chocolate sauce?” she whispered. “The caramel, too?”
Righteous was there as well, kissing her forehead. “As much as you can eat off our bodies.”
“What about the other stuff? The massages and the foot rubs…” She made a pathetic moaning sound, and her jaw went slack for a moment, like she was losing her energy again.
After a second, she rasped, “And Gavriel, will he really get the Jacob’s ladder piercings I’ve dreamed about?
” Both the others turned to stare at me expectantly.
Oh fuck. “Yes, you little monster. I will get my damn dick pierced up and down like a fucking xylophone if you just open your eyes.”
“Yessss,” she hissed, and began to blink as if the soft blue light hurt her. Her eyes were still foggy, the green mixed with a white mist I did not like the look of. “I want you to know, deathbed vows like those are sacred. No backsies.”
“What do you need, Scrap?” Righteous asked. “Anything you ask.”
A sudden sob swept the humor away like a cold wind.
“I need Rumple,” she whispered. “I left him. He left me.” The energy that had begun to fill the room with joy and brightness, dimmed suddenly as I felt the heaviness of grief surging from all three of my soulmates, though the greatest pain emanated from Feather and Mikhail.
“He had no choice, beloved,” I said gently as Mikhail held her. I quickly showed the other men what had occurred.
Righteous’s eyes shone with emotion. “He sacrificed himself for the Earth. And for you.”
Mikhail just rocked her back and forth as she wept. After a few minutes, he spoke. “There is a chance that he is not unmade. Not entirely.” The room went utterly still for a moment, none of us even breathing.
“What do you mean?” Righteous asked as Feather scrambled back to peer into the Maker’s face. “He could be alive?”
Mik shook his head. “We spoke of the Flight Hall many times. If there was some other sacrifice there… someone else to pay the cost to seal the doors, or if he had something besides his own life to give—”
“Like when I gave my Celestial gift to Revel?” Feather interrupted. “That was how I got back into Sanctuary. Maybe Rumple got out the same way.”
Mikhail shook his head. “He would have had to exit from the Flight Hall, sweet soul. But yes, Rafe could have taken the portal to Earth.”
“You mean, gone to Earth to live as a human,” Feather whispered, the smallest edge of her lips curling. “Given up his wings to live a blameless life?”