Page 64 of Sleeping Redemption
“What is it, mate?” I asked curiously, leaning forward.
Sylas stood there staring at whatever was inside the front cover. “Is this…?”
He retrieved the object tucked in there and pulled out a sole white feather. There was an aura to it, not what you would consider a dull white like that of a swan. No, this particular feather appeared to have a brilliance to it, almost as though it could be a beacon of light in the darkest corners of the universe.
Kinley’s mouth curved into a delicate smile before explaining. “I know I don’t have many white feathers left in the remiges of my wings, but I decided I could part ways with at least this one from my primary coverts.”
I was suddenly grateful that I had been sitting, or else I would have fallen straight on my ass.
Letting out an extended exhale from his lungs, Sy stared at the feather for a period of time that almost bordered on awkward, with Kinley’s eyes solely focused on him.
“Wow, Kin. I… Thank you,” his gratitude evident in how his cantankerous attitude had flown the coop.
“Well,” I slapped my knees as I stood up. “Since we are welcoming Sylas with gifts, I think it is only fair I bestow mine upon him.”
That captured the archangel’s attention, a flickering of skepticism across his icy blue hues. He shut the cover to the gifted Bible, the soft flap of the leather meeting the first page almost like a crack of thunder, given how silent the room had gotten.
As for Kinley, she was seemingly just as excited for me to give my grand reveal as I was as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
Extending my arms out at my sides, my debonaire smile was on full display. “Ta-da!”
Silence.
Not even crickets.
Perhaps it was because the buggers were the insect world’s little vampires, hiding in the daylight and only disturbing the peace at night. But still, it felt like a huge letdown that not even nature’s elevator music was here to witness my equally selfless gift to Sy.
My arms dropped to my sides as I rolled my eyes at the lack of reaction I got.
“Blimey, are you going to make me spell it out for you? I’m your new roommate!” I exclaimed after not getting a proper reaction in the first place.
Sy’s face remained set in stone as his eyes shot daggers in my direction. The only minute movement I caught onto was the slight tick in his jaw.
I strode over to him and draped an arm around his shoulders. “Now, I know what you’re thinking, but rest assured, I am not the type of bloke that leaves a right mess. I am the pinnacle of tidiness.”
Feeling the tension in Sy’s shoulders, I knew that his mood had taken a hard shift, and he was on the precipice of exploding like Mount St. Helens.
As I opened my mouth to continue to explain how this was the beginning of a beautiful kinship, I was met with the backside of his brand-new holy book straight to my face.
Thwop!
“Ow! Bloody hell! Are you trying to fucking exorcise me?!” I shouted as I stumbled back with a hand to my nose. I’m surprised my nose ring hadn’t been knocked to the back of my skull.
With a grunt, Sy looked approvingly at the book in his hands and then back at me. “There are other rooms in this house. See to it that you find another one to call yours.”
“Sylas,” Kinley’s tender voice spoke up with a hint of disapproval. “Rook doesn’t have another room to go to, and besides, he was here first.”
That was not what he wanted to hear. Sy dropped the leather-bound book onto the dresser with a thunk before making a large gesture toward the hallway.
“There are five damn bedrooms in this house, Kin.” Sy’s voice lowered to a point nearing a growl.
“Yes, and they are all full. There’s my room, Atlas has his space, this room here with Rook, the storage room, and Cioppino’s room.”
I laughed at the mention of Cio as I so affectionately knew him. “Bloody Christ! That ol’ chap is still around? I’ll be damned. Slap me with a Bible and call me a trickster knocking at Heaven’s door.”
Tilting his head in confusion and a dollop of jealousy, Sy warily asked what was burdening him, “Who the hell is Cioppino?”
As though it should have been obvious, Kinley rolled her eyes. “My pet goldfish. He’s just the bestest good boy ever. I don’t know that he’s a boy, but I’d like to think so based on how he wiggles his one fin so proudly.”
