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“No. I really haven’t. Not since the night my parents died.” The red wash of remembered blood spilled across Daniel, and his stomach flipped. The brush of El’s hand against Daniel’s pulled him sharply from the memory. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“Perhaps I should instead apologize for causing you to remember such a difficult time in your life. Perhaps the most difficult. It’s hard to lose someone close to us, even harder when it’s a family member.”
“You watched a lot of people die in that war, including your brothers.”
“I did. Judah’s death hit all of us very hard. Our reunion was a blessing I can never repay Him for.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You fight. You keep all of us down here safe.”
Walt slapped Theo’s upper back. “Great. Hop on the bike for a few minutes. I’ll have the guys bring the hand wraps.” Theo and Sy waved and left for the warm-up room down the hall.
Daniel desperately wanted to hear Glen’s professional opinion. He filled the space Theo had just vacated. “How’s he looking?”
“Surprisingly fine. The cuts and bruises are all there, but they seem superficial. Any swelling he had is completely gone.” Glen looked directly at El. “Any reason how that could be?”
“I could tell you,” El said, “but then I’d have to kill you.”
Glen’s bottom lip dropped. He stared at El, a mix of skepticism and horror written across his face. “Really?”
“Heavens, no.” El laughed. “But I still can’t tell you. Insider secrets.” He winked to take the sting from his refusal to elaborate.
When Glen turned to stare at Daniel, he held up his hands. “Sorry, but I can’t tell you either.”
“Fine,” Glen huffed. He began methodically cleaning up his area, not looking at either of them when he said, “I saw the guy Troy brought in to fight Theo. He’s big.”
“Bigger than Aussie?” Daniel asked. He’d been seriously impressed by that guy’s size in comparison to Theo.
Glen nodded. “A lot bigger. Guy’s almost three hundred pounds with muscles for days, and the tattoos…” He shuddered. “He gave off bad vibes, if you know what I mean.”
El snapped upright from where he’d been slouching against the table. “Bad vibes… I’ll go see what I can find out.” He hurried from the locker room.
Glen watched him go. “Does your friend even know where to go? I’ve never seen him before.”
“El and Sy have a knack for finding out stuff. Jay, Theo’s friend that was here yesterday, those are his younger brothers. Private investigators or something, I think.”
“So they are helping?”
Daniel stuck his hands in his slacks and kept his mouth shut.
“I get it,” Glen grumbled, shoving his things away instead of taking care with the tools of his trade. “It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry your pretty little head, Glen. We’ll take care of it.”
“Hey.” Daniel grabbed Glen’s arm, stopping him from potentially damaging his medical equipment. “You have helped Theo already, and, God, I don’t believe I’m going to repeat El, who said this to me not five minutes ago, but don’t sell yourself short. We all have talents. You’ve already given us some insight into the man Theo is going up against shortly, and you’ve provided the first aid he needed right after the fights. And I have no reason to doubt that you’ll be doing that again soon. I fucking wish it wasn’t so, but there you go.”
A wave of brittle wrath consumed Daniel. His blood boiled with rage. Theo would be hurt again. There would be blood and broken bones. Someone could die. “Why are You allowing this to happen?” he shouted into the cosmos.
The door to the locker room burst open. Theo ran in, pulled up short, and they stared at each other a moment before he darted forward and took Daniel into his arms. Pressed against the angel’s chest, a wave of soothing washed over him, cooling his heated jets. The fury and fear drown beneath the calm seeping into his body from every point of contact.
“How did you know I needed you?” Daniel whimpered, laying his temple on Theo’s shoulder and placing a hand over the angel’s beating heart.
“I felt your anger. Here.” Theo covered Daniel’s hand where it rested on his chest. “It scared me at first because I didn’t know why I felt so angry. Then Father said, ‘Go,’ and I knew it had to be you I was feeling. What happened?”
“I am angry.” Daniel beat on Theo’s chest lightly. “So fucking angry, and I’m scared at the thought of you getting hurt again tonight. I’m angry that there isn’t a better way to go about this. I’m furious that your God is making you do this.”
Theo stilled Daniel’s fist with one hand and cupped his nape with the other. He tilted Daniel’s head back, allowing them to look into each other’s eyes. “Your God, too, Daniel.”
He deflated under Theo’s comforting gaze. “I know. I just…” He looked away, unable to hold eye contact with the man—the angel—who had already done so much for him. The one who was almost “literally” putting his life on the line.
“You don’t want me to get hurt. You don’t have to say anything more. He understands. He knows what’s in your heart.”
