“Taking earthly pleasures.” I walked up the stairs.
“Since when?” He shadowed me.
“Since now.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
“Because you have a war to wage, evil to slay.”
“I am doing all that, or haven’t you heard?”
“I haven’t heard, but I sensed many wounded soldiers in your Court.” Raphael’s healing gift surpassed all other of his gifts. When an angel honed one skill over the others, and did it better than any other angel, it became his primary power.
“Excellent. Assist in healing, then.”
His hand on my shoulder stopped me, and I turned. “Michael, I’ve known you for as long as I’ve known myself. You’re hiding something.”
“I am hiding my erection. Now, pervert, heal the Fleet and mortals, and wait for me outside.” I didn’t bother looking back and shot up from the foyer, then landed on my floor. In the hallway, I sensed the light benders and heard them snicker. Mortal ears couldn’t hear them, but I could, and they knew it.
“Silence,” I muttered.
More snickering.
I flicked a wrist, and my chambers opened. Directly behind me, I slammed the double doors. I flung the towel onto my bed and sat down, resting my elbows on my knees. I stared ahead, silence falling like a blanket over my wet wings. Julia could’ve died today. I let that fact settle in so I could examine how I felt about it. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t force her to forget, but I could equip her with survival skills, give her a fighting chance. Or lock her up in my chambers and not let her leave. This thought made me happy. It would devastate her. She was the girl who threw a knife at me instead of beg for her life. She crashed through the window. A bird like that would wither and die in captivity, and the soul shining in those warm brown eyes would leave me. I would assign her to a squad today.
“Dear Father, thank you for granting me serenity while I attempt to make soldiers out of the mortals. Thank you for the wisdom to recognize the temptation of the one who will take my seed. Grant her my courage. She will need it. Amen.”
The walls parted, and I glanced at a selection of my armor. I picked out a new kilt this one black with red trim, kind of like my mood. Deadly and deprived. Raphael had seen my mortal, and he would become curious about her, I was certain. This displeased me. Downstairs, jealousy had ripped through me like a knife, gutting my belly. Maybe I’d gouge his eyes out. Ah, what a wonderful image. Already, I felt happier. He’d heal fast, and I could do it over and over again. Smiling, dressed, and feeling blessed, I left my chambers, heading straight for Julia’s room. Light benders, sensing my mood, remained silent as sentinels should. In approval, I grunted.
As I held my hand over Julia’s door to tell her she should go downstairs for a boost of energy from Raphael’s healing powers, the door opened. Julia stood in full uniform, armed with a pair of knives holstered at her hips, and with her hair pulled back and slicked away from her face, not a single strand astray. My chest swelled with pride.
“I see my favorite soldier is ready,” I said.
“Yes, Commander.”
“Where’re you going?”
“No idea.”
I tsked. “The acceptable response is ‘Waiting for orders, Commander.’”
“Waiting for orders, Commander.”
I approved of the determined look in her eyes. Some people folded under pressure and quit when they failed. But not Julia. “The battle you lost has motivated you.”
“Your dick motivated me.”
“Excellent. I must motivate you more often, then. Come, I will escort you to your squad.” We descended the steps.
“The Ducklings?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“I wonder where you got the idea.”
I chuckled. At the top of the steps, I pointed at the small squad, who looked lost as newbies often did. I stalled. I didn’t know why I stalled. Perhaps because I wanted her locked up on a desert island. I could create a desert island, so the possibility tempted me. “Those are Ducklings. The burst of healing will come soon.”
“Oh, Raphael already stopped by my room. He introduced himself and took the scar away.” She lowered her uniform top and showed me the smooth skin on her collarbone.
I might grow horns, leather wings, and start eating mortals. “When did he approach you?”
“A few minutes ago.”
“In your bedroom?”
“He said you sent him. Bye!”
My serenity left with Julia as she jogged toward her squad. I scanned my Court. Soldiers lined the lawn, chatting at leisure, so, healed and well, though their ripped clothes and bloody weapons told me they’d only just returned, the gates closed behind them for the count. Raphael had left. What had he found out? Did he figure out Julia remembered?
My skin prickled, and I tilted my head, sensing Raphael still in my Court.
“Up here,” he said.
I rocketed upward, my power licking the armor atop his wings. “I’m going to rip your wings off.”
“The girl and I exchanged two sentences, but the quarrel between you and me could take millennia. Mortals won’t survive. Find your peace, Michael. You need it.”
I did need it, though I wouldn’t admit that to him. As I breathed deep, my power scanned the property, reerecting the southern wall I’d damaged. Fixing it calmed me, and I landed on the roof to sit next to him.
He gave me a side-eye. “Who freed Lucifer?”
“Whoever weakened the Veil.”
“And he came straight into your Court.”
I grunted. “He’s always thought of himself as invincible. Never learned a lesson.”
Raphael brushed off a stray feather. “Are you going to hide the girl from him?”
Too late for that. “Maybe.”
“Michael, she is a mortal.”
“And I am here to make her short life as beautiful as possible.”
“How holy of you.”
“You’ve practiced sarcasm, I see.”
“I’m adapting.”
“To?”
“Life with mortals,” he groaned as he stretched his shiny wings. A peacock.
“My mortals don’t use this form of speech,” I said. With a few exceptions.
“That’s because you’re a tyrant, and they’re afraid to even
