Page 104 of Destined for Dreams
Bartol watched as his mate got to work. She sat at her makeshift worktable, a study of concentration with her paper and pen. He hadn’t had many opportunities to watch her do tattoos closely. There were a few times he’d spent hours at her shop, especially when he was protecting her from her former husband, but he’d stayed at the front to guard the entrance. This was the first time he would be able to watch up close.
Cori finished the design and revealed it to the commander.
He nodded his approval. “That will do.”
“Great, so where do you want the tattoo?” she asked.
He pulled his shirt sleeve up and pointed at his left forearm. “Here.”
Cori scooted her stool toward him, cleaning the skin first before setting the outline. Bartol ground his teeth. He had to hold himself back as he watched his mate hover closely to another male. No matter how much he knew it was only work, it wasn’t easy to ignore. He called on all his discipline to stand still and silent.
Just as Cori’s tattoo machine began to buzz, Raguel entered the room. He came to stand next to Bartol near the back door that led to the garden. “It is difficult to observe, is it not?”
“How would you know?”
The archangel moved his gaze toward Cori, observing her for a moment. “I could not stand any man near your mother. What I felt was not all that different from your mating bond.”
Bartol’s mother hadn’t just been a human but also a sensor. It was one of the reasons he’d been one of the few nephilim who wasn't as biased against the race. He’d been raised in a family of them.
“You miss her a lot, don’t you?” Bartol asked. He was finding the conversation was distracting him, which may have been his father’s purpose.
“It was not as bad while I was fully unconscious but certainly since they woke me.” He worked his jaw. “Her name was the first word on my lips the moment I arose.”
“It must have been difficult being taken away from her,” Bartol said, unable to imagine what he’d do if anyone tried to separate him from Cori permanently like that.
“Very much so, but I knew what would eventually happen after I fell for your mother.” Raguel met his gaze. “And after you came into the world, I had no doubt it was worth it. Perhaps someday you’ll learn that there are painful prices you’ll pay for even a brief bit of happiness in your life.”
Bartol glanced at Cori, wondering if he’d have met her if he hadn’t gone to Purgatory and been scarred by Kerbasi. He would have likely chosen to live somewhere else, and their paths might never have crossed. The ramifications were a lot to consider. “Will they ever let you see my mother again?”
Raguel worked his throat. “I doubt it. Though they haven’t said it, I would not be surprised if they put me in stasis again once this is over. It is a gift I am able to see you.”
The thought of his father being put back down again saddened him, but he had no say in the matter. One thing Bartol knew well was that the angels had their own set of rules. They tended to be set in stone, and there was little room to get around them.
“I am glad we could finally meet,” he said, meeting Raguel’s golden gaze.
“As am I.”
Cori finished the commander’s tattoo. “All done, though there isn’t a way to test this.”
“We are aware of that.” The man got out of his chair. “But you came highly recommended, so we will take our chances.”
“Who recommended me?” she asked.
“It was, uh, the archangel Remiel. I didn’t believe who he said he was at first, but he more than proved himself to my men and me.”
“How so?”
The commander glanced at Bartol and Raguel, almost as if he knew what they were as well. The man was rather astute, which was likely a requirement of the job. “Let us just say a few of my troops had family members with illnesses that could not be cured—diabetes, cancer, and a case of infertility. They are all better now.”
“He also let us see his wings,” one of the SAS soldiers said. “They were brilliant.”
The troops had been so quiet, Bartol almost forgot about them.
Surprise filled Cori’s features. “I guess he’s trying to improve angel-human relations because that’s really rare.”
Bartol agreed. Archangels never performed miracles where the recipients could remember them, and they hardly ever revealed their wings while on Earth. Even when they did, it wasn’t to humans. Raguel hadn’t shown his once since he arrived, keeping them invisible and hidden.
“His efforts worked, and we became believers,” the commander said, then pointed at one of his men. “That one is your next customer.”
