Page 34 of Forsaken Dream
Chapter Sixteen
Tyler
“Stop glaring at me,” the Archangel snapped, but I couldn’t. Not when everything about his tense crouch at the back of our mate’s transportation screamed trouble. And the energy coming off of him didn’t help, either.
“I do not glare.” Not that it changed his mind about it when I grunted my point.
“It could’ve fooled me.” Murmuring, he speared his fingers through his locks, tugging on them in his distress. And honestly, they looked like they belonged more on a female than an archangel warrior, if you asked me. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of her.” With a sideways glance, he took my measure. “This is bad, Tyler. After everything we know now, I can’t help but wonder if maybe …”
“Speak,” I barked when he trailed off, staring at the bright sky as if he was conversing with his Creator. “The time for keeping secrets and talking in riddles has passed. If you know something, you better share it now. If anything happens to her that we could’ve prevented but didn’t because of your stupid nature and need to play with words, I will rip your wings off with my bare hands. Slowly.”
“Everything with you has to be bashing skulls and ripping limbs,” Angelo huffed with a scowl.
His shoulder twitched where he hid his already mangled wing, which had been damaged because of the fury that took over when he saw the human attacking our mate. He had retracted it so he could fit the door in his rush to get inside and help her. Begrudgingly, I had to respect him for it, as much as I disliked his whole damn race for slaughtering their way through the realms because of their cursed righteousness. Kudos to their maker for teaching them to kill us just because we were not like them, because we acted in alignment with our nature. Yet, I did the same for hating him just because of what he was. The mate bond made sure we all saw the error in our ways, for better or worse.
“It is who and what I am, bond mate, much to your disappointment.” Spreading both arms to my sides, I cocked an eyebrow. “You can’t throw a fish in the sky and expect it to fly.”
“Indeed.”
With pursed lips, he pulled his knees up and wrapped an arm around them, leaning his back against the truck bed. Searching my face, I saw clearly when he made his decision, and with a sigh, his shoulders slumped, erasing the rigidness.
“The Seelie King is a cruel bastard hiding in his opulent golden palace and surrounding himself with powerful allies, while pretending to promote peace and light. His hands are clean of blood, I’ll tell you that much. Only he knows how to successfully twist those strong enough to destroy realms and make them do his dirty work, and from what Echo said, I can only imagine what that entails. If he could do that to his daughter …”
I didn’t need to hear the details for my jaw to clench. Teeth grinding, my nostrils flared as I struggled to keep my rage at bay. Father or not, if that fucker got anywhere near her, the ten kingdoms wouldn’t be able to put him back together when I got my hands on him. Judging by the eerie glow emanating from his slanted gaze, the Archangel was having similar visions.
“We need to tread carefully with Echo and not push her until she is ready to share whatever part of her life she feels ready to bring to light for us. Her father is cunning, and I doubt he has shared his reasons for her arranged nuptial. From what I heard before I was pushed through the portal in this realm, the Seelie court was attempting to join forces with the Unseelie court. I wasn’t sure how, but now we knew. What better way to put a noose on the Unseelie king than to bring his son into the fold where he can control him?”
“You assume that the prince will be easy to control.” As much as I hated the scum—even despite that fact that he’d had no say in his arranged marriage—I felt the need to remind the archangel we were talking about an Unseelie royal, after all.
“If anyone can find a way to do it, it’ll be the Seelie Lord, believe me.” A proud smile stretched across his face, which didn’t fit with the conversation we were having, at least until he continued. “Now that you’ve met our mate, do you honestly think it’ll be hard to control the poor bastard?”
I could only grunt.
“Exactly.” The humor washed off his features as fast as it had come. “The fates are playing a very dangerous game.”
The truck rattled, jostling both of us around when Echo took a sharp turn. My eyes were drawn to her where she gripped the steering wheel with one hand and animatedly waved the other while she spoke to the incubus. Her lavender hair swished over her shoulders with the jerky movements, tilting my lips up despite how grim I felt inside. I’d crush the Seelie scum like a grape if he dared go anywhere near her. From the moment I saw her, my entire being was attuned to her presence, which turned my awareness to her like the sun tilted the flowers to its glow. And it didn’t matter what was happening around me. Still, I’d heard what Angelo had said.
“You assume any of us are of such importance to garner their attention.” I couldn’t see how I would even register in their schemes, but my companion only snorted dismissively.
“If the two courts of the Faerie realm join forces, death will reign across the realms, my friend.” Doubt must’ve been clear on my face, because he shook his head as if disappointed I couldn’t see the bigger picture he was painting.
Damn angels and their love of hearing their own voice.
“The Seelie court has been trying to overpower the humans for millennia, albeit in a more peaceful and subtle way than full-out war. They almost succeeded centuries ago, but the humans have greater numbers, and well, they had us to help. So they pulled back and hid in their realm to this day, occasionally testing the waters to keep an eye on how the mortals have evolved. In the meantime, that bastard gathered anyone who showed the promise of power around him. I had a feeling he was preparing for something, I just never thought he was as good at strategy as he has proven himself to be.”
“If you and yours knew he was a threat, why didn’t you do something about it?” The urge to slam my fist and cave his face in was a near thing. “Don’t you fashion yourselves to be our judge and executioner, Archangel?”
“Your dislike of my kind is not unwarranted.” He didn’t look like that bothered him at all. “From what I know, it was believed the Seelie court was preparing for a war with the Unseelie court. As long as they kept their bloodshed in their own realm, all we could do was keep an eye on the situation.”
“Ah, the infamous Watchers. Where will the realms be without your sort keeping an eye on the rest of us.” Disdain dripped from my lips like poison.
“We can argue for decades, but that’s not where I was going with this.” Twisting his mouth as if our talk left a sour taste in his mouth, his fist clenched and unclenched before he got control of himself.
Shame.
I would’ve enjoyed pummeling him to shake off my frustration.
“You and the incubus have been with me quite a few times to battle the shades now.” Angelo said, giving me whiplash by jumping from realm to realm with his nonsense.
