Not as good as you taste when I go down on you.Out loud, he said, “Not bad.”
Stop,she grumbled, her cheeks red.Or Echo will know what you’re doing.
She is mated. She must know.
Echo bit her lip to stop her smile, clearly already catching on. Nia groaned and shoveled more broth into her mouth, making him want to laugh.
Then she settled her attention on her sister. “You should eat something too. Have some soup.”
Echo grimaced. “I’m stuffed. I had a snack earlier.”
Nia frowned as she took another bite of her roll.
What troubles you, my mate, he asked.
I’m not sure. Does she look sick to you?
It’s hard to say. I cannot scan her with my powers dormant. On the surface, she appears her usual self, just a little wan.
Lore drank some juice, and a sweet tartness flowed over his tongue. Though he used to drink the heavenly nectar for nourishment every once in a while, he couldn’t recall what it tasted like. This beverage gave him an overload of flavors, which would take some getting used to.
He set the glass down.
“You finished?” Nia asked.
He glanced at her, not surprised she kept an eye on him. “I am for now.”
The outside doors opened, and Michael strode inside. “Oh, good. You’re up. You doing okay?”
“Better than yesterday. What happened?” he asked.
“What do you think?”
A plaintive, muted meow had Michael turning. He opened the door, and a huge, overweight, furry gray cat with an orange ruff stopped dead on the patio, one paw still raised to enter, its unwavering amber stare on them.
“Oh, he’s so beautiful!” Nia shot up and darted across.
Michael lifted an eyebrow, but she was already outside and on her knees, stroking the feline’s back. The cat purred.
She laughed. “Hello, you gorgeous boy. Who do you belong to?”
“That’s Bob,” Echo said, rising and joining her sister outside in the darkening afternoon. “I belong to him.”
Nia laughed. “I have two tiny stray pups—a dachshund cross—that I’m adopting. They’re still at the clinic…” She continued caressing the purring cat. “How’s Bob with dogs?”
“Well…” Echo laughed, crouching next to her. “We’ll just have to see.”
Michael headed for the fridge and grabbed a can of soda, cracked the tab, and drank some.
Lore rose and joined the archangel, watching Nia and her sister through the window. “What happened?”
“She killed a seraph, and they’re not happy. With you being of higher rank and falling, and then Jehoel’s death… It’s chaos.”
He scowled. “They should have thought twice about coming after me. I won’t let them touch her. I will kill them.”
Michael nodded. “You should know, before you fell, Jehoel gave you the death touch?—”
“So, I would have had no chance at coming out alive at all,” Lore muttered through clenched teeth, recalling the seraph patting his shoulder in the final minutes.
