I watched him as I stepped away, my heart fluttering annoyingly. I really shouldn’t like him this much. He could be gone by tomorrow night, and then where would I be?
Miserable. Missing his lips and his hands and his eyes, damn him. I couldn’t lose myself so deep into infatuation that he’d break my heart.
Castiel
The Next Day
I sat on the ledge of the bell tower above the church, watching the humans scurry below. Resting my chin in one hand, I pondered these strange, isolated humans. I liked humans for the most part. They were fascinating creatures. Gabriel had been far too depressed to be interested in learning about them, except when Eve swept into his life and blew his cobwebs away. Azrael, who I was closest to in the sedge, hated humans. I wasn’t even sure why, since I wasn’t aware of any bad experiences he’d had over the decades.
Dusk lengthened its shadows, the horizon turning a brilliant orange and pink while the rest of the sky faded to violet and navy. It was beautiful. Just like Lilith.
The bell tower was dusty and forgotten, but smelled of fresh wind and winter. A far cry from the oppressive echoes and overwhelming smells inside the church. The elders held onto their power through secrets and threats of punishment. The festering poison in the community, seeping into minds and habits, made me recoil. It was impressive Lilith, so close to the root, could see clearly at all.
Maybe I should bring Azrael here, I mused, watching the flash of colorful clothing against the backsplash of brown, yellow, and muted greens. He’d get the job done fast. He wouldn’t care about keeping anything a secret.
And damn it, why did I care so much?
At the thought, my heart pounded in my chest, filled to the brim with ayim. You know why, it taunted. Lilith makes your heart beat and your ayim surge and your hands shake and your mind blur.
I gritted my teeth, no longer able to keep at bay the suspicion creeping over me. Surely…surely I was wrong. Wasn’t I?
Lilith couldn’t be my mate. It just didn’t happen like that.
Mates weren’t exactly rare, but they weren’t common, either. Statistically it seemed unlikely Gabriel would find a human mate and then, a few short weeks later, I would, too. From the same cult.
But the rage I felt when any man looked at Lilith, the way my hands moved of their own accord to brush back loose strands of hair, the way I wanted to see her smile more than anything—that told me the impossible: Lilith Meadows was my mate.
Perhaps not impossible. Improbable. Highly unlikely.
Unfortunate.
My grandparents had been mates. It hadn’t changed their everyday lives, but it had shown them a new dimension of love and bonding. My parents weren’t mates, but they loved one another and created two sons they loved, also.
I had just wanted a simple flirtation.
As soon as my lips had met hers, though, it all came together. The ache in my chest stopped hurting—and I realized it wasn’t a pulled muscle from flying or a bruise from Lilith slamming a book against me.
I…I didn’t know how I felt about it. We wouldn’t have children. Babies were relatively rare among our kind, even though we lived a thousand years. Before the wars, seraphim and the Gar had intermarried, and children were even rarer with those couples. I doubted humans and seraphim were compatible.
I’d never dreamed of having a mate, as Gabriel likely had. But I’d heard enough about mates to know I was lucky and my life would be much happier with one. But…Lilith? I liked her. She seemed to barely tolerate me.
I took a breath, my resolve firming. I’ll have to make her fall in love with me. At least enjoy my company long enough so I could learn if I truly wanted to pursue a mating bond. Lilith’s home was here, but she didn’t seem happy. So perhaps I could?—
I straightened, catching sight of gleaming, cornsilk hair. Just below that, because of my impeccable eyesight, I could see and recognize a perfectly formed bosom, lush and curvy, and the quick sway of her steps.
Lilith.
It was time. We were going.
Twelve
Castiel
I pushed myself off the ledge and spiraled in the air above the lane. Few humans thought to look up, so I had a nearly private view of Lilith as she hurried to the edge of the neighborhood, toward the main road that connected with the rest of Lownden City.
At a gas lamppost she paused and glanced up.
The sight of her pale face in the growing dusk hit me like a boulder to my chest. My body reacted, my heart kicking up speed, my vision narrowing on her, my senses tingling, and my cock hardening.
