26. Raelyna #2
He was silent for a moment before he answered.
“To do something meaningful with my life? To know that I’m fighting for what’s right?
Yes, I think so. It doesn’t mean that I don’t hate my job some days—the things that I’ve had to do to become who I am.
But the looks on the faces of those the Guild is able to rescue, to protect, to share the light with .
. . to know that I’m following the Eternal and walking in the light. Yes, I’d say it’s worth it.”
“And the gold coloring?” I questioned, shifting the conversation as I pointed to a cabinet above my head, indicating toward the mugs in a silent question. I unscrewed the lid to the shaker, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, mixed with orange blossom honey, filled the air.
“The gold color of the markings is what everyone’s markings appear like in Aurum Quarter, and many in Lumara and Noctem have them too. It is the affinity color that was first gifted by Aeternus.”
“They’re all gold?” I asked, studying his markings closely.
“Yes,” he answered earnestly. “As are our wings.”
My eyes flashed in surprise at that. “Can I see?”
His teeth ground at my question, a heavy silence falling over my kitchen before he finally nodded his head, his hair bobbing at the movement. I held my breath as he called his own wings forward, golden wings emerging from his back as they took over the space in my kitchen.
An awed breath of air slipped from my lips as I took in his wings. They were massive, spanning half my kitchen when they were at rest. I reached out, gently touching the golden feathers of his wings, marveling at the gleam of each feather.
“They’re stunning,” I whispered as my fingers stroked along the feathers, watching as his wings rippled from my touch.
I looked up at him, finding his gaze fastened on me, his eyes at half-mast as my fingers delicately stroked his feathers.
“So this is why you didn’t have your wings on display at the court. ”
“Yes,” he replied with a laugh. “They would have blown my cover.”
“Why are they gold, when ours are black?”
“When the Eternal created Aurelia, he gifted us with the affinities. It’s why our Marking Day ceremony is so different from yours—stemming from worship and prayer rather than being restrained in a chair in a High Temple.”
I nodded, still trying to grasp the pieces of our history we’d lost. “Your Marking Day ceremony is different?”
He nodded in confirmation. “It is just the beginning of the differences between our Quarter and yours.”
I swallowed before asking, “You worship the Eternal during your Marking Day?”
A dark shadow flashed through his eyes, and for a moment, I feared he wouldn’t reply, but he eventually spoke.
“It’s a day of reverence and faith—the day when we choose the Eternal and pray to the God who created Aurelia.
We believe whatever is injected at the beginning of your Marking Day messes with the connection that should be made with Aeternus during the marking. ”
“Changing our markings to black,” I mused. “Will they stay black forever?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Though I have reason to believe that there’s still a chance they can change.”
“How?” I asked as I studied him.
“Through faith in Aeternus,” he stated. “I think a change can still be made to alter your future.” He hesitated before adding, “I think it’s why you get those episodes—why you’ve been questioning things. Your markings want to break free from the corruption in Solis.”
I hadn’t felt Callum move closer until I tensed as a warm body pressed against mine slightly, reaching over me to grab three mugs from the highest shelf in my kitchen—the one I typically had to use a stepping stool to reach. But why do that, when I had two towering angels in my apartment?
My heart beat frantically in my chest as the scent of amber and leather wrapped around me, and every fiber of my being longed to sink into the warmth emanating from his muscular form.
Stars-be-damned.
He set the cups down without a word, withdrawing from me in a slow motion that nearly had me protesting the loss of heat against my skin. I could feel heat rising on my cheeks and ducked my head, praying that the color would fade as I poured the three drinks.
“We need to discuss what happens next,” I stated as I finally turned, my mind reeling from the information, as I handed one of the mugs to him. Callum took the outstretched mug, his fingers wrapping around the hand-painted ceramic material as he regarded me, and I took a minute.
He stood there in my kitchen, one leg crossed over the other as he leaned against my island.
Gray sweatpants hung low on his hips as they clung to muscular thighs.
He wore an Aurelite Guards T-shirt, the faded coloring worn in certain spots.
His thick, jet-black hair was tousled in various places, with a few strands falling across his forehead, contrasting against his dark, olive-hued skin.
As he raised the mug to his mouth, I nearly lost my breath at how he looked standing in my kitchen, gazing at me over the rim of his coffee mug.
It really should be a crime to look like that . . .
“What exactly are we needing to discuss?” he asked as he watched me.
“Your plans for getting out of Solis now that Lucanus is searching for you,” I replied matter-of-factly.
He smiled, and that button dimple appeared on his cheek at the movement. Only his words were a contrast to his grin as he stated, “You do realize that Axel and I are known as the Shade of the Aurelian Guild. We will be fine.”
It was my turn to laugh now, and amber eyes narrowed on me at the action.
“That is where you are wrong.”
“Oh?” He frowned. “I didn’t realize I no longer worked for the Guild.”
“Ha. Ha,” I said. “I just meant that yes, you and Axel may be part of the illustrious Guild. But I know Solis Quarter far better than you. And I know how you can get past The Wall and across The Rift without being detected.”
He studied me with an intense look before pushing off the counter and walking toward my living room. For a moment, I simply stared, confused as to whether he would accept the help I was offering.
“Well . . .” His voice was a low drawl as he walked away. “Are you coming? I’m interested to hear what information you have, seeing as you seem to believe we can’t escape on our own.”
I began following after him, smiling softly at the glowing silver paw prints that glimmered on my tile floors.
That stars-damned fox.
Settling onto the sofa across from the one Axel had taken claim of, I studied both males.
Axel, currently reclining on my couch watching the highlight reels from yesterday’s match, and Callum, leaning against the edge of the same sofa, Loxl pawing at the hem of his sweatpants until Callum reluctantly bent down, scratching the creature between his ears as he purred in delight.
“What’d I miss?” Axel spoke up as he turned the volume down on the display, glancing between Cal and me.
“Raelyna says she knows the best course of action for us to get past The Wall undetected,” Callum eventually stated as he shifted against the sofa.
“And you trust her on this?” Axel questioned in reply, and my head snapped toward him, nose scrunching in annoyance.
Trust me? I’m literally your best choice.
“Yes,” Callum’s reply had me smiling. “She hid us when Lucanus’s guards came searching.”
Axel nodded his head while the two appeared to have a silent conversation in their head.
“Eh-hm,” I cleared my throat, eyes shifting between the two males. “I would be eternally grateful if the two of you stopped the habit of talking about me as though I’m not in the same room. I’m literally right here, you know.”
“Well,” Axel answered me. “Perhaps if you weren’t always right here, then we wouldn’t have to do it.”