Chapter 2
Orion Blake
“Gabriel?” I blinked twice to be sure it wasn’t a hologram. “What are you doing here?”
He gave me one of his most disarming smiles. “Would you believe I was in the neighborhood and decided to pay you a visit?”
My old friend was many things, but he didn’t just drop in for shits and giggles. “Why are you here?”
“Can I come in or should we go sit in my car?” He gave me his best, “don’t be a dickhead” eyebrow raise.
His Maserati was nicer than my two-bedroom bungalow, but I probably had better beer. I stepped back. “Come in.”
I watched him take in my modest home. I’d had a dozen bigger homes in my lifetime, but right now this suited me. Small, unassuming, and off the beaten path. It was clean, well kept, and the furniture was high-end.
“This is nice,” he said. “You never did like ostentatious displays, did you?”
I ignored the reference to my first visit to Gabriel’s chalet in Switzerland. “I also don’t like mindless small talk. Why are you here?”
“No need to be rude,” Gabriel said as he sat on my couch and leaned back. “Manners are still in fashion.”
It had been borderline insubordinate. Gabriel and his brothers were the leaders of our kind. Good thing we didn’t have laws punishing such a thing. “Fine. Want a beer?”
“I would love one.”
The way he answered reminded me of a time eight hundred years prior when we’d been fighting to keep the Mongols out of Western Europe. When the battle was over, I found a barrel of beer and asked him if he wanted a mug. He gave me the same answer that day.
Trying not to reminisce too much, I went to the kitchen. I grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and handed Gabriel one when I returned. “Better?”
He took a long pull from his bottle, closed his eyes, and smiled. “Much.”
I laughed despite myself. Behind his fancy clothes and expensive cars, Gabriel was still a warrior at heart. “Have I shown enough manners for you to tell me why you’re sitting on my couch, drinking beer?”
“I need your help.”
I knew that before I let him into my house. The fact he came himself meant he knew I probably wouldn’t be inclined to help. “With?”
“Michael’s sending a kid to investigate Drevlin energy readings. I want you to protect him.”
Called that right. This was a clear and easy decline. I set my bottle down and stood. “Well, you’ve had your drink, and you knew I’d say no before you arrived. Time to go.”
“It’s Ares Masterson’s youngest.”
That explained the personal visit. “You bastard. Both of you.”
“Ori. I swear I tried to talk him out of it, but you know Michael.”
I wish I hadn’t met Gabe’s older brother. The angel was laser-focused on protecting our kind and didn’t care who got hurt in the process. “Yeah, I know him. He’s a cold-hearted bastard.”
“He’s doing what he thinks is best.”
I didn’t believe Michael picked Ares’s boy because he was the most qualified. He had other reasons. “Even you don’t believe this is the right move.”
“Zeke’s a good detective, but that was only part of why he was chosen. Michael picked Zeke so I’d come to you begging for help.”
Hearing him say out loud what we both knew was true stifled my planned response. I should’ve known Gabe would give it to me straight. “Why? I can’t believe he’d risk Ares’s son to get me out of retirement.”
“The Drevlin are coming, and we need you for the fight. Michael wants to show you that you can still be useful.”
If they’d come to me fifty or sixty years ago, I’d have jumped at the idea. A soldier’s life depended on others having your back. I found isolation difficult. It took me decades to find things to replace my sword.
“This is where Michael needs to get his head out of his ass. Just because he doesn’t understand my life doesn’t mean he gets to define me. I am useful.”
“You teach self-defense classes and spend your nights playing vigilante.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Protecting others is in your blood, Ori.”
My new life wasn’t built to save others; I needed to save my heart. Even close friendships were painful after the betrayal. “I can’t.”
Gabriel nodded slowly. He understood better than anyone. “I’m sorry, Ori. I shouldn’t have come. I’ll find a different solution.”
I appreciated his apology, but it was the words he didn’t say that took hold. Gabe wouldn’t have come if he wasn’t desperate. There wasn’t a different solution that would ensure Ares’s son was safe. He knew I hadn’t changed, but he couldn’t stop his brother from hurting one of his best friends.
Someone who was like a father to me.
Gabriel got up to leave, but I raised my hand. “Hold on.”
Through hooded eyes, he watched me. He wanted to know if I’d healed enough. I hadn’t, but I owed Ares too much to ever repay.
Shaking his head, Gabriel set his beer down. “No, Ori. I shouldn’t have asked. A true friend would’ve known better.”
I wanted to hate Michael for manipulating us both, but I’d been a soldier for too long. The best commanders looked at the big picture, not individual soldiers. It didn’t matter this would hurt the angel Michael loved most. Not even Gabriel escaped the “big picture.”
No, I couldn’t be mad at Michael. If he’d asked me first, I’d have declined, and he’d have sent Gabriel. This fell squarely on me.
I grabbed Gabriel’s arm before he walked away. “I’ll do it.”
“Ori.” He put his hand over mine. “It’s okay. Ares or I can go with him.”
Like always, he tried to protect me. If it was that easy, he’d never have asked.
They couldn’t do it, and I was the best after those two.
Gabe had come to spare Ares having to beg.
“You’ve always been a shit liar. Comes from having such a big heart.
I’m the right angel for the job. I need to step up. ”
I kept my head down so he couldn’t see how much I didn’t want to accept. For more than seventy years I’d avoided my friends and family. I didn’t want their sympathy or useless words of encouragement. I needed to heal before I could accept anything from them.
As the years turned to decades, the solitude calmed my soul. I healed by realizing all I needed was myself. Soon I found intrusions irritating and unwanted.
Agreeing to this mission washed away that hard-won calm.
Gabriel surprised me by yanking me to my feet and pulling me into a hug. His aura was a mess of relief, sadness, fear, and a hint of anger.
He’d had to choose which of his two best friends would get hurt. I’d have made the same decision he did and hated it just as much.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “It means the world to me. Ares, too.”
Hugging him back, I pushed aside my fears. Ares had been a father figure to me, and I’d have died for him. This only felt like dying. “Give me the mission briefing before I kick you out.”
Ifinished reading the limited intel on the energy surges a few times before I had the courage to open the file on Ezekiel.
I met him a few times but couldn’t remember a thing about him.
The tall, lanky kid with a mop of wavy brown hair staring at me in the picture looked like his mother, not his father.
He was also cute in a way that made my dick twitch.
Another reason I shouldn’t have accepted the mission.
The business he’d started was moderately successful, and he’d built a good reputation for getting results. He might not be the best choice, but he wasn’t a bad one, either.
I could tell by his smirk he could be a handful. So was I at his age. Served Ares right having a son who pushed his buttons like I did.
According to the report Ezekiel, was smart, didn’t get in trouble, and had no interest in angel politics. Everything I’d expect from the son of Ares. I skimmed the rest of the file and was about to put it down when a sentence caught my eye.
Ezekiel’s last three relationships were with men. Gabriel and Ares might not have made the connection, but Michael knew. He was trying to do more than show me I could be useful.
I flipped through the file again, looking for reasons to dislike Ezekiel, but nothing stuck out. Michael knew exactly what he was doing.
Except he didn’t know me as well as he thought. I’d make sure Ezekiel was safe, but once we finished the job, I’d go home. Alone.