Page 24 of Trick Of Light

Raphael didn’t answer.

“I know you. You probably saw him, knew he was yours, and what, claimed him and then thought, I can drink his blood forever and never have to confess my divinity?”

“Raph?” I leaned back to look into his eyes.

“It’s not that simple,” he told me.

“Clear out,” Gabriel demanded, and the hundreds of people milling about rushed from the rotunda. We all stood up as Gabriel faced Leith and Ryan. “I need you here to help hold this heaven against the onslaught that’s coming. But your hearths, now healed, would be in danger. Humans are too frail for this realm. What say you?”

There was only one answer. The angels had healed Simon and Julian. The only response was yes.

“Yes,” Leith said with tears in his eyes.

“Yes,” Ryan whispered.

Gabriel looked at Simon and Julian, and suddenly they were gone. He passed his hand in front of Leith and Ryan, and then they were clad just as the other Cherubim were, except in silver instead of gold.

“You will remain with Evangeline,” he told them, then to Evangeline, “Mammon, the great celestial builder, has bridged the sea and sent riders across. We couldn’t stop them, and now they are here. We cannot let them pass.”

Evangeline was reeling with the news, it was evident in her catch of breath and the way she instinctively reached for Leith and grabbed his hand, her eyes full of terror. “How, my lord?”

“These things take eons, but evil is patient, yes?”

She nodded.

“Now, go to the gate, take your charges, keep them fed, and make sure they drink. Their divinity is not as great as yours. Remember that.”

Before they could go, Gabriel addressed Raphael. “Do you want him home, or with his friends, or with you at the front line?”

Raphael was torn, I could see it on his face.

“I’ll stay with you,” I said, taking hold of his hand, knowing it was insanity even as the words left my lips. He couldn’t protect me and fight; that was madness. But we couldn’t be parted. I was terrified I’d never see him again.

“He has to remain at my side,” Raphael replied, but he sounded unsure.

“How?” Gabriel asked. “He barely endured fighting racer demons over that dimensional rift. If the witch ever got a hold of him, he wouldn’t survive. And if he dies, since he’s holding your grace, then you die too? It’s absurd. He may be a warder, but he’s not even as strong as his friends.”

Beats of time went by and Gabriel’s words echoed in my head. How did he know all those things about me and about the past?

“What witch?” Raphael asked woodenly.

“Explain about the grace,” I ordered my mate.

But he put up his hand to quiet me as he prodded the archangel Gabriel. “Speak.”

Gabriel stared at him, and Raphael held his gaze.

“We don’t have time for this.” Gabriel clipped the words, turning away.

Raphael moved so fast, beside me one moment, in front of Gabriel the next, bringing him up short, facing him. “There is always time to discuss treachery.”

Gabriel laughed. “Treachery? You’re deluded.”

“Tell me now,” Raphael demanded. “Tell us all now.”

Gabriel shook his head, still smiling.

“Now, or I’ll leave the way I came.”