Chapter Six #2
Ah. The humans didn’t have this. They had odd, moving mechanical objects designed as curiosities or rich men’s toys, gracing shelves and littered with jewels. But they didn’t have this.
The light blossomed into a sort of sphere, and a portrait of twelve seraphim shifted in the light.
The breeze blowing from the open door to my right made the light shimmer and ripple, as if a reflection in water.
In muted tones, the seraphim emerged. Me, on the left, arms crossed and wearing the military-issued leather vest and thick trousers.
A torc clipped on the crest of my right wing, signifying my command within the army.
To my right, the seraphim warriors formed two loose rows as we leaned against one another.
We’d been standing in a meadow, one of the few wide, flat areas in our realm.
My second in command, Daniel, grinned as he threw his arm over Castiel, my third.
Their wings brushed one another, showing how close their relationship had been.
Before we Fell and Daniel disappeared on a mission a decade ago.
Then the others: the cousins who looked like brothers, the two women side by side, stiff and silent Azrael, and the rest. My friends, my warriors, my comrades. My failures. The pride I used to feel at this image twisted and inverted, turning to barbed shame that caught in my flesh and stung.
Eve reached out and touched the light with a finger, as if expecting the sphere to be solid.
I smiled, pushing away the shame and focusing on the wonder in her eyes. “It’s projected light. Not a physical painting.” My arousal had not abated, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat to relieve the pressure.
“Marvelous,” she whispered. “Is this sort of thing normal in your world?”
“Yes.” I rotated the amulet so she could get a better look at the image.
“And these are all your men?” Her eyes widened. “Are those…women? Female seraphim? Are they soldiers?”
In many ways our societies were the same—classism, especially. But in some ways we were different. “We have many women in our flights. The custom is for second children, not just second sons.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “If I had that option, that freedom….”
I cleared my throat, admiring the sight of her slender hand so near mine. What was this compulsion to be near her? Why did the ache in my chest grow when she grew near but the rest of me relaxed?
But at the sound Eve jerked her hand away and glanced up guiltily, as if she’d done something wrong. I didn’t like that look on her. My hand spasmed, almost reaching out to wipe the tension from her lips with my thumb. Skies, why did my body want to touch her so badly?
“Pardon,” she muttered. “I shouldn’t pry.” Eve glanced away, and her gaze caught on the map painted on the wall. “Who did that? It’s gorgeous.” She stood and walked to the wall.
I couldn’t help but admire the way her skirt swirled and her hips swayed. She didn’t wear a bonnet, thankfully, and I could appreciate the artistic knot she’d tied her hair in at the nape of her neck. Perhaps that was why I was allowing her such familiarity and endless questions.
“Turail, one of my warriors.” I stood and moved around the chair, tightening my wings up so they wouldn’t trail in the dust. I turned my body away from her so she wouldn’t see the tent in my trousers.
“When we realized we needed a home base to rest and plan, rather than hiding in the highlands.” I shuddered. “It was so wet in those caves.”
Her index finger reached out and touched what the humans called the Channel, a body of water separating Anglia from the rest of the continent. “Where have you searched?”
I pointed to Anglia, to the highlands of Alba, Cymru, and Krenow, a peninsula jutting off Anglia just below Cymru. Then Eriu, a green place still full of latent magic. We’d expected to find a crack there, but hadn’t.
Franka, Aleman, Hispania—all along the continent.
“Even here?” Her fingertips traced the northern countries, those filled with ice and snow.
I nodded. “We’ve searched this entire continent and much of the land to the east.” My hand swept downward.
“And this continent, Afrik. It is large and the terrain varied so we could have missed something. But we searched as thoroughly as we could.” My warriors had flown across the Savannah several times.
Some loved the wide open air above it, for it reminded them of home.
The others found the flat land surreal and uncomfortable because we had no such place in our home.
As I drew my hand back up, my fingers brushed hers.
A shock went through me, and my heart panged.
I sucked in a breath at the unexpectedly strong sensation.
Her sweet scent filled my nostrils. Blood pounded in my ears, and images of her naked body twined around me filled my head.
I held my breath, wondering how I could avoid this in the future.
Unaware of my shameful lust, her brow furrowed. “But what about over here?” Eve pointed to what we’d called the New World, based on scant conversations with mariners and traders.
I tensed. She was drawing close to information about our people we had sworn to keep secret.
“It’s far away,” I answered. “Daniel, my second, flew that way years ago and we never heard from him again.” She had an awful amount of questions.
Suspicion seized me. “You’re not a reporter for one of those newspaper rags, are you? ”