He appeared a little bigger than before, she was sure. The gauntness he sported after the deadly fight, and from the symbiont attacking him, had disappeared.
Because of the energy, he drew from the moon?
She prayed it was so.
Luminous topaz eye met hers as she straightened. But lines of weariness bracketed his mouth, his exhaustion clear in his taut features. “Ely…”
His body had been through a lot, hence his fatigue.
“I’m here.” She smiled, her lips trembling at the cascade of emotions rushing through her, because this was no demonic symbiont that had awakened but an angelic one. She’d stake her life on it.
He grimaced and rolled his shoulders, likely trying to adjust to the heavy weight of his wings. Then that intractable jaw hardened, and he faced her Guardian brothers and the archangel.
Man, Ely hoped this wouldn’t turn into another argument or, worse, a fight because none of them appeared welcoming of him right now.
Just her girlfriends.
“Now, what?” Ely demanded, and waited for the verdict.
* * *
Nate grunted, his mind in a haze, nothing connecting…but his shoulder blades were back to being heavy once more.
Dammit to hell and back! He had those blasted wings again, didn’t he?
He eyed these males Ely called brothers, who eyeballed him like something out of their worst nightmare, doubtless waiting for a sign of his demonic side to emerge.
Yeah, well, too bad. He couldn’t change whatever the fuck he was now.
He put his arm around Ely and tucked her under his chin. She settled perfectly into him. He kissed the top of her still dark hair.
The Guardians’ leader and Ely’s boss watched him with eerie, splintered blue irises.
Michael didn’t speak. Nothing showed on his face or those of the other males. But they all watched him like he was a fucking oddity. He hated this shit, having already lived through it once before.
Ely’s calloused palm gently caressing his back reeled in his ire. This female, his beloved mate, who went to literal Hell with him to bring him back, was all that mattered.
His gaze softened, meeting her warm copper ones.
“Let’s go inside,” Ely told him. “This has been a hard few days.”
Did she think him unable to handle these broody mofos? “I’m all right,laika. Just these new damn nuisances I gotta get used to.” He flickered his thumb over his shoulders, and his wings rustled. She glanced at his back.
“I love them.”
Nate stared at her, confusion stealing through him. Then shook his head. “The symbiont revived, it’s why I still breathe.”
“No, Nate. You had more than one symbiont. Aba gave them to you because not all symbionts take or are compatible with the host.”
Like the damn Black.
“Aye,” Aba said, standing near the open door. “The wraconis one is dead.”
Nate shook his hazy head. So what the fuck was he now? His gaze landed on the tinted glass front of the boathouse—
With the moon above reflecting its silvery light, he could clearly see his reflection and the white annoyance spreading out from his back. And then the truth struck him. His hands fell from Ely. His heart tripped, and he shook his head, trying to connect to the reality of what he was seeing.
He was an…angel?
