“Aren’t they?” Eve, who must’ve just spotted me standing in the back of the room, parked herself between Asher and me. “I tell her this all the time, but since I’m her best friend, she thinks I’mlying.”
My pulse slowed. Did she really think I didn’t believeher?
“They’re beautiful because they match her heart.” Celeste gestured to me. “And the rest of her. Do you know that she stays in contact with all the humans she saves? Goes to their weddings. Gets them gifts for their birthdays. Gives them her allowance when they fall on hardtimes.”
“That’s not true,” I said, flushing. “I spend a lot on books andshoes.”
Celeste rolled her eyes. “You only buy novels from the bookshop manned by the guy you saved three years ago. Before that, you had a librarycard.”
My lips parted. I’d told Celeste this in passing. I never imagined it would stick withher.
“Leigh does have quite the addiction to romance novels,” Evesaid.
Celeste took a step forward. “That sort of addiction isn’t asin.”
Even though Eve’s eyes glinted with annoyance, her ruby lips were arched in a wide smile. “I suppose itisn’t.”
“I’m parched. Anyone else thirsty?” Choking on the scent of the honeysuckle at my back, I pushed away from the wall, away from the three angels crowding me. I didn’t like attention, and since I was pretty unremarkable, I didn’t usually receive much. Especially when my wings weren’tdisplayed.
Mybeautifulsilverwings.
As I walked away to find water, I magicked them away and faded into the throng of sveltebodies.
Chapter 3
“As you all may have heard,”Asher’s voice resounded over the babbling fountains and chanting sparrows, “my visit to the guilds isn’t purely selfless. I’ve come seeking a consort.” His gaze swept over his many admirers, giving them all an equal amount of attention. “You might be wondering why I didn’t choose someone who’s already ascended. Truthfully, I wanted to give all of you a fair chance, not because I consider myself a superior candidate for your attention, but because I want a spouse who shares the same beliefs that are dear to me, and I have yet to find that person inElysium.”
His lips quirked in a stunningly white smile. I tried to remember if this was a trait of the Seraphim, if their teeth somehow radiated angel-fire. The only other archangel I’d met was Eve’s mother when she’d visited her daughter for her wing bone ceremony. I didn’t remember Seraph Claire’s smiles glowing. Then again, I didn’t remember hersmiling.
I glanced at Eve who was standing beside me, Celeste’s insinuations twisting inside my mind. Eve wasn’t vicious. We’d been roommates for the past fifteen years. If she’d been ill-intentioned toward me, she would’ve shed feathers—maliciousness is a sin—and I couldn’t recall her losing any. As though she sensed me thinking about her wings, she flexed them, and the yellow, gold-tipped featherspulsated.
“The Council has given me the customary month to finalize my engagement. I still have ten guilds to visit, so in ten days’ time, the countdown will begin. Sadly, this means many of you will not qualify as the ceremony needs to take place in Elysium. However, being ineligible does not take away from the fact that I’d like to become acquainted with all of you.” He gestured with a sweep of his arm to the seventy Fletchings beforehim.
Eve fluttered her golden wings again, which had Asher’s lagoon-blue gaze zeroing in on them. Two girls, who were feathers away from completing their wings, gravitated closer to Eve. Out of the Fletchings with wing bones, only five could tenuously qualify to become Asher’s wife, lacking thirty feathers or less. They would still have to hurry, but scaling the fabric between the realms was an achievableprospect.
Asher turned slowly to behold the others—those who had no chance of ascending, those with whom I should’ve beenstanding.
“When I was a Fletching, I longed for my voice to be heard in Elysium but found no one to listen. Thus, after being sworn in by the Seraphim Council, I stated that my intention was to becomeyourvoice, the link between this realm andours.”
I tipped my head to the side. Could a man be attractive, powerful,andcompassionate? I’d never met one who ticked all the boxes, yet Asher seemed to tick all three, which not only surprised but also intriguedme.
“All of this to say that you will be seeing a lot of me.” He tossed another beautiful smile our way. “You must all be tired of hearing me speak”—I doubted anyonecouldtire of listening to such a beguiling voice—“and desperate to dig into the marvelous offerings the Ophanim have provided for my visit, but I will add one last thing. One criteria that is dear to me. This is for my prospective consorts.” He looked in Eve’s direction again, since all the eligible Fletchings had crowded around her. “I want my partner to travel with me. To accompany me. To work alongside me. To join her voice to mine”—his gaze surfed over the assembly again—“and to all ofyours.”
I suddenly wished my wings were fuller or that Asher’s nuptials were a year out instead of amonth.
“Are you saying you’ll cancel the century-long ban to travel back to Earth?” Celeste’s voice rose over thesilence.
Asher searched the crowd for my friend. And so did I. She was still standing at the back of the Atrium, leaning against the wall, one raised black boot stamping thehoneysuckle.
“I meant after the customary century,” Asheramended.
The courtyard filled with hushedwhispers.
“Is he for real?” I heard Megan—one of the eligible angels—ask Eve. She’d clapped her hand over her heart, her skin as bright as afirefly’s.
The three others had their wings displayed for all to see, although I suspected it was mostly to garner Asher’sattention.
Asher who was still concentrated on littleCeleste.
