Page 53 of Wings of Valor
It’s nice to see this other side of Raphael’s brother, even if there’s still a long way to go before these two siblings move past all their shit. “He seemed sweet, if I ignore the puppet strings tied to his every limb, that is.”
“A puppet he might be, but it’s still a choice he’s making for his own gain,” Raph grumbles from beside me. I squeeze his thigh, offering reassurances. Baby steps. We’re making progress with Rad, and that’s what matters.
“Speaking of puppets,” Briathos says grimly, “I still can’t believe Lieutenant Atlas is a traitor. We worked together a few times, and aside from being a bit of a snob, he seemed perfectly normal.”
“Wait a minute,” Raphael says, turning to Mira. “Your dad’s a lieutenant. Had you ever met Atlas?”
“Probably. I’ve met a lot of guild members over the years,” she says, looking a little pale. Her slate vibrates, and she jumps up, grabbing her plate of pizza. “I’ve got to take this.”
Poor girl. She must be having a hard time keeping all these secrets from her dad. Maybe we should let her bring him into the fold after we get Zeke and my parents back.
Castiel clears his throat, breaking the weird vibes. “Well, we all have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, and I’ve got a few more books to go through before we leave. Rest up—we’ll need it.”
Theo watches him get up, and I know without him having to say a word that he wants to go with him. His thirst for knowledge is sexy as hell. Who am I to stand in his way?
Go, I say through our mental connection, offering him a smile.
You’re too good for me, he replies with a wink before standing and calling out to Castiel. Then, through our shared connection with Raph, Theo adds,Wear our girl out so she can sleep through the night, yeah?
Raphael’s smile turns wicked, and although I’m excited by the idea, I can’t help but be a little distracted. Raduriel watches Raph with an intensity that might scare me if I didn’t know they were brothers.
“We should be going too,” Briathos says, standing.
Raduriel doesn’t follow right away, continuing to stare at Raphael with wonder. When he finally breaks free of his trance, he rubs the back of his neck. “I’m really proud of you, Raphael. This bond you share with your friends is like a fairytale. I’m so glad you have angels like Hayliel and Theo in your corner.” There’s a beat of silence before he adds, “I’m sorry I haven’t been the big brother you needed, but I’m grateful you’re willing to give me another chance to make it right.”
He leaves before Raphael can say or do anything. It’s for the best, I think. Raphael can let the words sink in before he decides how to move forward. I, for one, am just happy to see his family finally do right by him—even if it’s years overdue.
Now that everyone else is gone, it’s only Raphael and me left on the couch.
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Are you tired?”
I shake my head. I really should be exhausted, but my brain won’t shut off.
“Go grab a sweater. I want to take you somewhere.”
Searching his face reveals nothing about where we’re going, so I rush to grab a sweater from our shared room. We still don’t have our own clothes, but there’s enough here for us to get by. I still wonder where the hell they all came from, though.
I’m back in less than a minute, which only makes him laugh. What can I say? My men have a history of taking me to the best places.
We walk hand in hand through the sanctuary. Down hallways and up stairwells, until we reach a beautiful stone balcony that overlooks all of Silver City.
Lights from each district shimmer under the fading light of the sun. This stunning view is my home, and despite the troubles I’ve had growing up in it, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
“Raphael, this is incredible.”
“I wanted you to see it—this gorgeous place we call home. I’ve never seen this much of it at once, and it’s crazy to think there are areas we can’t even see from here.”
“It’s kind of intimidating,” I laugh.
“Maybe. But it’s also proof that, however big our foes might seem, we have an entire city backing us. We have Mikhael, Remiel, and Shubael. The council and the uncorrupted members of the guild. We aren’t alone. How can we be in a place so vast?”
I lean against the balcony, taking it all in with Raphael at my back. “I want to preserve this view so I can always remember just how small I am compared to all this.”
“After we get Zeke back tomorrow, we’ll take a million group photos here.” Raphael wraps his arms around my middle and squeezes. I’m not willing to consider we might fail tomorrow, and it’s nice to see that neither is he.
“Thank you. For bringing me here. For accepting and loving me.”
“Always, sunshine. No matter what.”
