Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
GAbrIEL
It all happened quickly after I called Sarah Murakami.
Agents of the SCU arrived in four blue vans fifteen minutes after I reported the incident.
Men and woman in black body armor, armed to the teeth with weapons and anti-magic devices, swept the cottage grounds. They found nothing but proceeded to make us leave the premises.
Before I knew it, we were bundled into a van and driven to Cardiff airport. From there, we were transferred onto a plane and flown down to London.
The only information the agents would give was that this was by order of the High Alpha for our own protection.
Aki didn’t say a word, clinging to me tightly. He was trembling, and far too pale for my liking.
I comforted him, held him, made sure he knew I was here for him every step of the way. But I struggled to wrestle with this, especially over the loss of his katanas.
It didn’t make any sense.
The first phase of the Cherry Moon was underway, its pale pink light shining brightly against a lilac-washed sky. Cherry blossoms floated through air—below the plane, above it, around it.
“Praise the tenshi,” I whispered.
A giant butterfly fluttered toward the plane, its wings patterned with the shapes of cherry blossoms. It was clearly an effect of the magic in the air, a fact made obvious when I noticed a pair of pink sunglasses where it’s eyes would normally be.
“Hello, butterfly!” I called. “Good to see you! Shall we go for a pint of nectar some time?”
The singing umbrellas would always be the weirdest occurrence during the Cherry Moon for me. This butterfly wasn’t strange enough to take the crown.
It plunged back to the ground, leaving behind a cluster of pink particles.
These magical oddities were never harmful, only quirky.
So, where did the mazoku-made creature’s talk of cherries and blossoms for all play into it?
I sipped on coffee, eyes fixed to the window.
It wasn’t long before the lights of London glittered below.
So much of the capital city had been rebuilt, though it still bore scars in certain areas. The tenshi’s cherry blessing or not, the amount of destruction London endured would take plenty more years to fix.
But the folks in charge of repairs were doing an incredibly good job. The city was back on its feet, tourism booming again. Even the skytube ran properly again, its colorful streams of light crisscrossing above the city as the trains shuffled people around.
I spotted Hyde Park, a dark smudge in the blanket of lights. It was a mazoku prison still, its anti-magic field working hard to keep the trapped scum sealed inside.
My poor Aki.
“Almost there,” I said to him.
It looked like we were heading for London City Airport, and not Murakami Airfield just outside of the city. Meaning the private airfield wasn’t necessarily the best place for us to land.
Unease squirmed in my stomach. It was always the best place to land, so it must have been compromised in some way.
“Can you see it?” Aki asked, lifting his head from my shoulder.
I stroked his dark hair, hand bumping his famous man bun. “See what?”
“The Spire.” He sniffed. “Or whatever it is now.”
The former huge tube of frosted glass that was once the home and symbol of the High Alpha’s power had reduced to rubble in a vicious attack resulting in Hitoshi Murakami’s death.
Aki knew it’d been rebuilt, but we never spoke about it. It was too painful for him. Being away from the cottage was too painful for him.
Is he becoming too sheltered?
I leaned closer to the window, looking in the direction of Green Park.
In place of the tube stood a smaller yet wider cylindrical tower with the same wolf’s head on top, now called Wolf Heart. Still made of frosted glass, and still the seat of global werewolf power.
A dome of pale golden light surrounded it, reflecting the hues of the moon. An anti-magic field, a weapon used against all sorts of magical attacks. The SCU also used bullets infused with it, the power deadly and effective.
Its presence around Wolf Heart kept the High Alpha and her son safe. A greater protection, lessons of the past learned.
But for how long?
I hated thinking so negatively. But here we were, on this plane with Aki’s swords gone, and fear choking the air.
“I can see it,” I answered Aki.
He didn’t say anything, returning his head to my shoulder.
I rested my head against his, closing my eyes. His unique scent of citrus caramel soothed the squirming in my belly, a perfumed scarf coiling around me, chasing my troubles away.
“I love you,” I told him.
“Love you too,” he whispered, snuggling closer.
Darn it. I just wanted to get him off this plane, out of London, and back to our cottage. Forget this blip, hold him in our bed and tell the world to shove it.
But the mazoku’s creation had come for him, its words a warning rolled in a threat.
Things were changing.
My beloved was a target.
I sighed, throwing my arm around him.
“I’m sorry, G.” His voice was such a soft, defeated tone.
“For what?” I asked.
“Crying like that.”
I kissed his head. “You went through a traumatic experience.”
“That’s my whole life’s MO.”
“Don’t say that.” I kissed him again. “You’re not a magnet for these things.”
“Feels like it.” He snuggled closer.
Being trapped on a plane and left in the dark poked at the embers of my anger.
I’d love nothing more than to be locked in a room with whatever mazoku masterminded this attack so I could kick ten tons of crap out of their smoky asses.
Make them scream for daring to come for the other half of my heart.
Mine.
Mine to love.
Mine to kill for.
The captain announced our descent into London City Airport. We put our seatbelts on, bracing ourselves for the landing.
Aki tensed after releasing a long breath. “Shit.”
I kept my arm around him. “I’m right here. You’re not alone.”
“Fuck today.”
The pink light of the moon brightened, pouring into the plane. It did that over the course of the nights, increasing its glow and the density of the blossoms.
“Think we’ll be married in seven days?” Aki questioned.
I didn’t like the exhaustion in his tone. “Of course we will.”
He faced me, giving me a soft smile that didn’t reach his lovely brown eyes flecked with the golden sparkle of a wolf.
“Aki.” I traced my pinky finger down his light olive cheek, stopping at his lips.
He let out a shaky breath.
His beauty made we want to cry. He was so strong yet so precious, my everything and more.
“I’ll keep you safe,” I said, my other hand sliding to the back of his head.
“Likewise.”
I knew he’d say that. And for all my stressing about protecting him, I also felt safe with him. Who wouldn’t? The guy had white-hot inner fires in many, many respects.
“We will be getting married,” I emphasized, twirling a loose strand of his hair with my index finger.
He cupped my right cheek. “I’m holding you to that.”
“No pressure, then?”
“Scratch that. I’m holding us both to that.” His throat bobbed. “As long we don’t have to do it here.” His nostrils flared as he glanced at the window.
“We won’t, Aki. I promise.”
How could I possibly promise that?
Once we landed, I had some calls to make. My parents shouldn’t be anywhere near here until absolute safety was guaranteed.
How goes that promise you just made?
Aki sighed. “Can’t wait to hear all the info about me being mazoku enemy number one again.”
His sarcasm came with a cold bite.
“Sorry. My big gob is just spewing crap,” he said.
“Spew away.”
“Thanks, honey bunny.”
A horrible thought hit me. Did the Cherry Moon somehow provide a means for the mazoku to strike us? Did it strengthen them in some way? Darn it. I couldn’t make sense of it.
“Somebody call the tenshi,” Aki muttered.
“Sorry?”
“You’re thinking what I’m thinking, right? That this healing is having an adverse effect on things? They’re using it to do something bad. Because there’s always consequences to these things.”
“Read my mind.”
He dipped his head. “Seeing her face again really hit me here.” He touched the area over his heart.
“Made me feel too many things. Like how much I still hate her, and how much I miss her. You know, before she cut off my arm and tried to destroy the world.” He wiped at the side of his mouth.
“I know it wasn’t the real her, but it doesn’t take away the sting.
” With an exasperated breath, he undid his man bun.
“Fuck. Listen to me. Whine, whine, whine.”
“Vent away,” I responded. “This is a safe space.”
His hair fell around his face, the tips brushing his shoulders. My goodness, it only heightened his handsome features and tugged at my lust, my heartstrings, all of it.
I took his left hand, planting a kiss on his ring finger.
He did the same to me.
“Mushy, ain’t we?” he said.
“You love mushy.”
“I do.” He did it again.
The plane approached the ground.
“This is it,” he said, interlocking his fingers with mine. “This is fucking it.”