Truth let out a short, bitter laugh. “There are only two of them, and Gavriel is gone all the time. You were there when they almost attacked High Angelus Mikhail. He’s weak, and even if he were at full strength,” he went on, talking over my protests, “there’s one of him. There are a hundred Guides at least, each more twisted than the last.” He looked around again, almost like he thought someone might be listening. He covered his mouth with one hand, as if to keep his words hidden. “I’ve been held back in this seminar four times now. I only just figured out how to state things so what I’m saying is true enough that I don’t vomit from saying it. I can’t repeat the false doctrine we’re required to swear by. I think I’ll get promoted this time, but my friends tell me the stench in the highest levels has gotten so bad in the past few months, it makes them feel sick all the time. I’m not sure I want to move up.”
“How does Righteous not know?” I wondered aloud. “Or Sunny?”
Truth shrugged. “Sunny was mostly working on her own purification downstairs until you left. Since then, she’s been with High Angelus Mikhail. She went back to her seminar today, so she might notice it. Head Protector Righteous hasn’t taken a seminar in hundreds of years. But it only got really badsince you… well, when they thought they were stuck here. And Righteous has been temporary leader since then.”
We sat in the doorway, both our legs swinging over the edge, looking out into the empty, vaulted corridor. After a few moments of silence, Truth asked quietly, “What was it like, in the gate?”
“I’m really not sure I’m supposed to talk about it. I’ve only told Sunny, and Mikhail and Gavriel.”
He choked on a laugh. “It’s so weird to hear you talk about them like that. Like they’re just Protectors.”
I shrugged, then squinted at a super shiny set of wings in the distance. “Is that Righteous?” Truth suddenly began trying to pat his messy hair down and straighten his robes. “You like him?” I asked.
“Notlike, exactly,” Truth said, still fidgeting. “But he’s literally the hottest Protector in Sanctuary. And have you heard him sing? I was flying past the gate a few nights ago, and I melted.” He stood up, extending his wings when Righteous came close. “G-good afternoon, Protector Righteous.”
Ry hovered in the doorway. “I thought I was early enough to do an observation of your class, Feather. Where is everyone?” He sniffed. “And what’s that smell?” He glanced at Truth.
Red-faced, Truth sort of tipped his head and leaped into the air, leaving us alone. Righteous sat in the spot Truth had vacated. I fidgeted; there wasn’t that much space in the doorway, and Righteous just seemed to take up so much of it. It might have been my imagination, but it almost seemed like he was crowding me.
I frowned. “Hey, are you sniffing me?”
“Why would I do that?”
“I’m not the one who stinks. It was the prof.” I rolled my eyes when he jumped up and flew to the podium, nostrils flared, afrown etching his perfect brow. When he swooped back to where I sat, I asked, “Where’s Sunny?”
“She’s in the Dining Hall. I told her I’d get you.” He rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I needed to talk.”
Good. Righteous definitely needed to hear what was going on in this whole wing. “Back atcha. Take me to the Dining Hall. We can talk there. I’m starved.”
“I have a meal set up in my rooms,” he said, not looking at me. “I thought… we might need privacy for this conversation.”
Oh, holy hand grenades.Was this about Mikhail’s danged comment earlier?
Righteous held out his arms to lift me, but I leaned away. “I’m not going to sleep with you,” I blurted out. “Or merge, or whatever. Sunny and I talked all about merging last night, and I am fully up to speed on the ins and outs of the whole operation.”
He blinked. “I didn’t ask you to merge.”
“Okay, good. Just so you know I’m a happily mated Feather. I may have said a few things while I was still muddled from being smooshed together in the Abyss, but sexual fantasies are healthy. And Mikhail’s got all the Vitamin D one woman can handle. Like, if I had more D in my life, I’d probably overdose. Or overdick. Or—” His hand landed on my mouth, his expression equal parts quizzical and amused as he stared down into my face. I felt the doorframe behind me, and wondered when I had backed up. “I just wouldn’t know what to do with more dick,” I finished on a breathy whimper once he removed his hand.
“Sounds like Sunny didn’t cover everything in that talk about merging then,” he purred. I put my own hand over my mouth just in case my verbal diarrhea came back. “That’s okay, Feather. I’m not going to give you any of my… Vitamin D.” Our torsos were still a foot apart, but I could have sworn I felt something every bit as hard as the doorframe behind me bump my stomach. I refused to look down, though, and Ry gathered me upin a cradle carry and swooped away, that cocky smile still on his face.
Chapter 16
Righteous
Ihad been the strongest Protector in Sanctuary for more years than I could remember. But at that moment, recalling what I’d heard Feather’s soulmate murmur into her ear, about him guiding me into her pussy while Gavriel watched… My mind went fuzzy, like an out-of-tune radio.
I felt as weak as a Novice.
My memory had always been sharp. I could hear a song twice and know every verse. I could read a chapter of Sanctuary doctrine and quote long passages a month later. But I wished I could forget the way Feather’s breathy “yes” to Mikhail’s question about her secret desires had affected me. Even thinking about it now made my cock as hard as Celestial steel. I lifted Feather almost to my chin, hoping it wasn’t poking her in the ass.
Fuck. That thought made me even harder.
“Ry, you’re squeezing me,” the woman in question squeaked out. I loosened my grip as I carried her toward my rooms.
“Sorry.”
“What were you thinking about?” she asked, her voice carrying clearly in the quiet corridor.
