Chapter Twenty-Four
It was too good to be true.
I hated to admit it. But it was just too damn good to be true.
As I walked into IHOP to pick up our take-out order, I foisted all thoughts of Azrealla to the periphery of my mind. For whatever reason, we’d been given a pass. As weird as that was, we were damn lucky.
I strode through the restaurant lobby, inhaling the sweet scent of pancakes and bacon. The pancake chain was close to mine and Mel’s heart because it was the first restaurant we went to together. It was junior prom, and I’d asked her out because none of the other punks at school had the balls to ask her. We skipped out halfway through the dance and came here to gorge ourselves on pancakes. It was the first human restaurant I’d ever been to. There was something about the mundane eatery, with the basic hotel wall art, the clink of silverware that reverberated throughout the dining hall, and the tang of orange juice in the air. I especially loved the way Mel cradled that mug of coffee during our early morning visits like it was life itself, and with each sip, she took how her eyes grew a little brighter.
The moment I stepped into the restaurant, I fell in love with humanity. It was simple, ordinary. There wasn’t a single thing about the place that reminded me of The Silver City. And that’s why I loved it.
So when I pushed through the glass doors and felt another celestial’s aura, I knew something was off.
I stepped up to the hostess podium, my gaze scanning every inch around me. My beast was on edge, watching.
My chest tightened as I approached a teenage boy at the podium who couldn’t have been a day older than seventeen. He was gangly, with a thick head of curly red hair and freckles. The name tag on his polo read “Trevor.”
Something about his aura was off.Wayoff. Humans’ auras were pretty much all the same; they only varied slightly by scent, but with so many of them packed together in this densely populated city, they all kind of blended together after a while. Pieces of sunshine were different, however. They smelled like sugar and sunshine. Their auras were warm and comforting.
Celestial auras were completely different. They varied widely by class, ability, age…
The vibe this kid was giving off was so powerful that it was a sucker punch to my gut.
Not human,my beast muttered in my ear.
“Um, pick-up for Gabriel…”
Trevor’s eyes were a bright green, glowing just a bit too much for a normal human. As I approached, a sage smirk played across his mouth. Yeah. This was an arch celestial. The magic that charged the air was insurmountable energy that only came with the elitist fucks that ran The Silver City. Arch class were capable of shape-shifting. Azraella never did it much, just because the vain angel thought highly of her form; why take on the face of anything flawed by comparison.
“Gabriel,” he said slowly, tasting the feel of my name on his mouth. “Yes. I’ve been expecting you.”
“Yeah, that’s how take-out works. I tell you I’m coming, and I get my pancakes.”
He gave a short, one tick chuckle. “You’re funny. You didn’t learn that in The Silver City.”
“Nope. It’s more of a human thing, isn’t it? May I ask who I’m speaking with? You’re not Azraella.”
“No. She would never take on a form like this.”
“Not to mention I just saw her a few minutes ago. If this is about…” Shit. There was no easy way to come out and say it. But since he was here, he already knew.
“About you breaking the three tenants?” He raised his ginger brows, so thick they were almost one.
I rubbed the back of my skull with my palm. “Um, yeah. If this is about that, she let me off the hook.”
“Oh, Azraella. She has always been soft with her subordinates.”
My lips clamped tight as I bit back a sour laugh.
“I tend to agree with most of her decisions. But I’ve decided to pay you a visit to add a little condition to her generosity.”
I blinked at him. Holy shit. Was this Azraella’s boss? That would mean… “Michael?”
His mouth stretched into a grin that was all wrong for the face he was wearing. “That’s right.”
Holy crap. I was speaking with Lucifer’s brother. God’s son. This was the chief arch celestial, the one who called all the shots.
I took an instinctual step back. If I got on this guy’s bad side, being this close to the sun would be less hazardous to my health. “You have conditions to…keeping my wings, and my ward?”
