But for once, I really wasn’t. It was downright adorable seeing my blood-thirsty monster and this angel of a child bonding so quickly. I’d be a liar if I didn’t say it was actually making me contemplate whether we might have kids one day. It was clear to me that my monsters would be incredible fathers from the way they treated me, and now Ris, but I hadn’t really given it a ton of thought due to my own horrendous childhood.
Could we provide a stable, good life for a child if we got through the battle with the curses that were coming for us?
Elwin’s breath was hot on my ear, and his hand came to rest on my hip as he whispered, “I know exactly what you’re thinking about right now, love, and I want you to know the tally is up to twelve, with your current lip bite. I’d be more than willing to satisfy those desires of yours after I’m done providing your punishment. ”
Small, white wings suddenly erupted from Ris’ back as she squealed and launched from Lucien’s hold, making my jaw drop and disrupting the heated moment Elwin had just created. I wasn’t sure why exactly I was shocked to see that she had wings, considering she was the daughter of archangels and we were in Divinus, but I was.
She flew straight to her mom’s arms before burrowing into her chest. She stole little glances back at Lucien, smiling at him before hiding again.
“Now that introductions are out of the way,” Zurie said with a small laugh, combing her fingers through Ris’ hair, “let’s sit down for breakfast and discuss your new teacher. She’ll be showing up soon.”
Between feeling like my mates and I had smoothed out the underlying tension between us, the boost of energy meeting Ris had given me, and knowing my new teacher would be here today, I mentally named our cloud we were on number nine—because I was floating on it.
Chapter 10
ALEXANDRA
“So,question for you if you don’t mind…” I started after swallowing a bite of eggs. I was unsure if it was rude to ask about this, but when Remi nodded at me to continue, I took a deep breath and questioned, “Why exactly would it burn us to be in your light?”
He placed his fork down before wiping his mouth. Resting his elbows on the table, he clasped his hands together as he seemed to consider the question, his lips pursed and brows pinched together. The light that poured in from the massive window behind me made his eyes look like a kaleidoscope of colors.
“I’m not sure how much you know, so I’ll try to start at the beginning and keep it simple.” With my nod, he took a deep breath and returned my nod as the others ate, content to listen as he spoke. “All archangels are said to be born of the pure light of God, or our creator, and through that, we were titled theburning ones. We shone so brightly that we appeared to have glowing white fire around us in the presence of non-divine beings.”
Wow. I suppose that made sense…having a divine energy not meant to be seen by others outside this realm.
I was fascinated as he continued, soaking up every bit of information that he provided. "There are different levels of beings within what we call spheres. There are three spheres. Within the first sphere, which is the highest level, there are Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones. Within the second sphere, there are Dominations, Virtues, and Powers. In the third and final sphere, there are Principalities, Archangels, Angels, with personal guardian angels at the bottom.”
I couldn’t hold back a small grimace at the mention of guardian angels being real. What wouldn’t I have given to have one looking over me growing up? I briefly wondered what you had to do to qualify to get assigned one, but Remi’s voice brought me back to the present.
“While we are all born of our creator's light, the lower you descend in the spheres, the less light each being has within them. Truly, the only light we have to be very careful about exposing the non-divine to is the archangels. While it’s best to not stay in the presence of others within the first sphere for prolonged periods of time, there isn’t an imminent danger in their light like there is in ours.”
I squinted a little, trying to see a light within or around them, but I couldn’t. “I don’t see the light now. Is that because of the tonic, or are you still suppressing it? And how quickly will we need to take another dose?”
From his spot a couple of seats down the long dining room table, Raph took over the conversation. “Actually, we’re the only archangels who have taken strides to learn how to suppress our light. The rest, like your teacher, won’t bother doing that. We had to learn to hold the light within ourselves for the first few years of Ris’ life until we knew whether she had enough divine blood to actually be an angel. When her wings popped out, we no longer needed to.”
Because Zurie was a ghost and reaper…it was all adding up now. I wanted to ask if Ris had inherited any powers from her mom’s side, but figured unless they offered, I should probably let that one go. With the way she studied us, my best guess was that she could see souls like a reaper.
But Zurie and her mates were already being generous enough with their hospitality and help. I didn’t want to pry into private matters concerning their daughter, especially if her mixed heritage made her a target for the other beings in Divinus. Zurie and her mates needed their secrets, especially those surrounding Ris, to remain that way.
“And although we know how to suppress our light we’re a bit out of practice. So if a bit of it leaks out while you all are around, it’s better to be safe than sorry–hence the tonics,” Rag grumbled from the head of the table. “We didn’t know you all were here when we first arrived home, so that was why there was the initial fear of having Kylo and Elwin in our home. Zurie couldn’t warn us to contain our light ahead of time. You will need to take another dose each week.”
I was relieved to find out that the tonics were more of a precaution while we were here with them. However, the knowledge that my teacher wouldn’t be holding her light within herself made me slightly more fearful of her. We had all placed a lot of trust in the tonic.
“I have a question as well,” Kylo spoke up before clearing his throat. “If you don’t mind, that is.”
“Go for it,” Zurie chirped across from me as she cut up a small pancake for Ris, who sat at her side.
“I’m assuming a lot of your names we’ve heard are shortened nicknames. What are your full names?”
My interest was piqued again, because Jerwasthe only one who introduced himself using his full name, Jeremiel.
“Ah, yes, we’re gotten so used to shortening them for Ris as she grows up, despite her calling them all Daddy,” Zurie said with a smile and cheerful tone. As she passed the smaller plate back in front of Ris, she pointed to each man as she said their full names. “Raphael, Jeremiel, Raguel, Zerachiel, and Remiel.”
I was seeing the running trend here–all of their names ended with -el.
Zurie reached out to ruffle Ris’ hair as she chowed down on her pancakes like a little beast. “And this here is Serissa.”
The little angel in question smiled at us, showing off plenty of her partially chewed pancakes at the mention of her name. Somehow, she managed to make even gross things look cute.
