Page 40 of Alastair
A warm breeze caressed my cheeks, and the saltwater scent that came with it was familiar in many ways. Different in others. The Mediterranean climate was nice, but… I missed home. But I didn’t know where home was anymore. And until this war concluded, I may not ever find it again.
“Enough of this melancholy,” I muttered to myself. Kallias was too far away for me to cast the blame on him. No, I was bringing it upon myself with my incessant overthinking.
My feet carried me down the path until Baxter’s villa came into view. Konnar knew me so well. Maybe I did crave validation. Having someone worship every inch of me while in the throes of passion would certainly do that. However, I lacked the motivation to do anything about that particular issue at the moment.
And it had nothing to do with how I kept seeing a pair of blue eyes with gold flecks in the back of my mind. Nothing to do with the thick rasp of a certain angel’s voice as he spoke low, grabbing my jaw. And definitely not because even while breathing in the island air, I could only smell the pureness of winter and a faint trace of something both sweet and tart, like a crisp apple.
So for now, I’d return to my room, escape into a book for a few hours, and then go to bed.
Tomorrow was a new day.
Chapter Six
Lazarus
“The angel then watched the one who’d claimed his heart return home, wondering if—”
“What is this nonsense you’re blabbing?” I asked Michael, looking away from Alastair.
We sat on the rooftop of the bakery located in the shopping district on the island. The hour was late, and so the stores had all closed and turned out their lights. Alastair walked along a path toward Baxter’s villa. There was a shorter route, but he’d taken the winding one that clipped the edge of town.
Walking helped him when he was troubled or mulling something over. Flying did too.
“You don’t care for my story?” Michael flashed a smirk before reclining on the roof, hands going behind his head. “I suppose you wouldn’t since you’re the main character.”
“Leave the storytelling to the Joy Bringers. You have many talents, but that is not one of them.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” He closed his eyes, but a smile remained on his lips, softer now. “This brings back memories. You and I sitting beneath a starry sky as you watch him from afar.”
The seal that blocked my bond to Alastair also blocked some of my intense feelings associated with that bond, but they often slipped through the cracks when he was near. More so now than before.
“The sight of him walking away from me is one I know all too well,” I whispered. “Yet, it’s the way it has to be.”
“Because you think he hates you.”
“Iknowhe does.” Pressure built in my chest as I recalled my earlier conversation with Alastair. He’d been so defiant and full of anger. As for me? I had been so close to breaking. So close to closing that gap between our lips. “But even if by some miracle he didn’t hate me, Uriel would sooner rip my beating heart from my chest than ever see me give it to a Nephilim.”
Michael cracked open his eyelids. “You forget that Uriel is only one power within the council of archangels. His word is not law, no matter how much he claims otherwise.”
“I forget nothing,” I said. “Unfortunately.”
Such as the deal I made with Uriel to keep him from sending a force of angels to assassinate the boys once Lucifer was caged in the first war. I had convinced Uriel to allow them to live on Earth and become protectors of humankind instead of him disposing of them. The condition was that I continue to watch over them, and if any of them ever betrayed the celestial realm and allowed darkness to overtake them, I would be held responsible.
Michael studied me. “Those boys will never fully know all you’ve done for them.”
“They don’t need to know. They only need to focus on defeating Lucifer. That’s the only way this will ever end.”
Although Michael would now be overseeing the army, he wouldn’t be living on the island. He would come and go daily while continuing to stay in the celestial realm. I experienced a stab of longing as he spread his wings, said farewell, and shot up to the heavens to enjoy the privacy of his home in the clouds, while I was forced to stay on the island, hoping the seal on my soul remained strong.
If Alastair ever learned the truth…no.I wouldn’t even humor the idea. Because it would never happen. I’d do everything in my power to keep it that way.
I had been provided a small bungalow along a secluded section of the beach. A dock connected to the back of the house and hung over the water, and after returning for the night, I stepped out and listened to the gentle lapping of the waves against the wooden boards. My eyes weighed heavily. Angels didn’t require much sleep, but it had been three nights since I’d rested. Being in the human realm worsened those effects.
Exhaustion carried me into the house and toward the bed. I removed my shoes and sank into the mattress, closing my eyes.
With sleep came dreams. And with that dream… a memory.
I looked upon a circle of large stones, a giant oak tree looming behind them. In the center of the circle was a tear in the very fabric of the universe—a portal meant to entrap the most powerful being to ever exist.
