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“Where the hell have you been, buttwipe?” asked the gold-winged warrior Remiel who stood splay-legged beside Dominion, his thick arms folded over his chest in defiance.
“Minding everyone’s business.” Despite the heaviness in his heart, Ohngel grinned. “Good to see you’ve mellowed, Remy.”
The ice-winged warrior Elysium flicked his nails with the blade of his knife, his piercing blue eyes a startling contrast to his bronze skin. “That’s your problem. You should concern yourself with assassin business only.”
“Where’s the fun in that? Actually, brothers, I come seeking advice.”
Dominion’s feathers ruffled. “Iron balls. That’s what you’ve got. We shall not involve ourselves in your meddling. You fucked up this time, Ohngel. Gahya and Gabriel are spreading rumors to anyone who’ll listen.”
Ohngel shrugged. “Probably not rumors.”
“I was afraid of that.” Dom’s upper lip curled in a disapproving sneer.
Ohngel met his hard gaze. “I need your help.”
“No. We’ve been ordered to stand down,” said Remy. “Unlike you, we follow orders.”
A white light appeared in the distance, a small bright spot which grew larger as it neared. The four males shielded their eyes from the glare. The Bearer of Death landed, his wings folded tight to his back.
Dominion snapped out his feathers, the edges onyx razors. “What the fuck do you want, Michael?” Dom had never liked the arrogant, powerful immortal. The two mixed like a match set to kerosene at a barbecue.
“Nice to see you, too, black-winged asshat. Since I heard Ohngel had returned, I came to visit my friend. Greetings.”
“Michael. Maybe you can help me,” said Ohngel.
“How?”
Remy shifted his legs, assuming a wide stance, his hand on his sword hilt. “The OneCreator forbids interference in this matter.”
Michael eyed the warrior’s defensive position closely. “It never hurts to listen. Ohngel?”
“Fifteen hundred years ago, the Blood Coven divided the world into three realms. Earth, Scath, and Darque. You may have heard. They separated them by the Whorl. The only access from one to the other was through controlled portals. They’re destroyed now. Gahya’s creations, the Aeternals, are free to storm across Earth. It’s a bloodbath and likely to continue unless the gateways can be re-established.”
Remy shrugged. “She won the bet. It is the right of her Aeternals to dominate other species. So be it.”
“True though wrong,” said Ohngel, “Both should flourish.”
“Right. Wrong,” said Dom, flipping a palm up and then down. “Who gives a shit? My job is simple. Go after Vast’s lawbreakers. Cage them or kill them as decided by the OneCreator. No thinking. Action only.”
“A warrior needs a conscience,” said Ohngel.
Ely paused from skimming his knife under his nails. “Why? We have done well without one these many millennia.”
“What advice do you seek, Ohngel?” asked Michael. “Philosophy, right and wrong. Not our gig. Unlike you, none of us has ever shown a tendency toward a conscience. Even yours is liquid, flowing here and there, shaped by its container, pulled out of your ass when you deem it advantageous.”
“I admit to my sins, my profligacy, my shortcomings, my selfishness, my disregard for life. Hell. Even now, I doubt I am doing this for the good of humans and Aeternals. I probably want this to work because I don’t like to lose.”
Michael cocked a brow.
“I gathered descendants of the original Blood Coven, hoping they could repair the damage, re-create the separation. They could not. What did I miss?”
Dominion scrubbed a fist across his jaw. “You missed an important structural consideration. Where something breaks, the fracture becomes a weak point. More difficult to fortify.”
Michael nodded. “True. To shore up the break is more difficult than simply reinforcing it. Gahya’s Cerberus ruptured the schism, the division between the realms. To repair the fracture requires power beyond the skills of mere Aeternals, beyond that of the original Blood Coven who had only to create. The new coven’s task is far more complicated. It can be done, but it has what may be unacceptable consequences.”
“Order must be restored,” said Ohngel.
“Must? To restore order is interference.” Michael’s bright wings snapped out and resettled when he shrugged.
