“Should never have taught him chess,” Michael muttered.
Lore frowned…and then the truth struck him.Marmarothwas the one who saved Nia when she was shot as a child.
“Well,” Michael said, “this is good news indeed for you both, especially you, Aethan. Congratulations.” He smiled. “I’ll be downstairs, keeping the troops from barging in, and I’ll give them the good news of Aethan’s recovery so you both can have some quiet time.” Michael disappeared with the urn.
Lore could feel Nia’s excitement and eagerness to join her sister.
Give them a minute to assimilate, habun.
At her soft sigh, he smiled.
“My warmest blessings upon you both.” The Oracle smiled. “Aethan, your recovery will still take some time, from what I can see. While your artery’s mended, your other wound…” She nodded at his gauze-wrapped arm. “It must heal. I’ll stop by in a few days. Echo, I’ll be checking up on you, too. Call me if you need anything else.” In a swirl of air, she vanished.
Aethan lifted a shaky hand to his mate, and a pained grimace crossed his face. Echo hurried to thread her fingers through his.
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her skin, his features waxen, his hair the only part of him with any color. “We get this amazing news…” His voice was barely audible. “And I’m stuck in bed. I want to hold you so badly… Damn this wound.”
“It’s okay. Let me.” With a teary smile, Echo hugged him gently.
He put his working arm around her in a tender embrace, his eyes damp. “I…never expected this miracle,” he rasped. “I am anEmpyrean. My former world is under a curse…dying. No babe born in over two thousand years. Now this.”
Echo eased back and nodded, smoothing back his hair. His small, hooped earrings glinted beneath the lights. “Are you happy?”
“Impossibly so.”
“Echo, Aethan,” Nia said. “We’ll leave you two. I’m—we both are so incredibly happy for you guys. At least now I know why you were out of sorts, Echo, and to think I was kinda right.” She laughed.
“What?” Echo blinked, damp eyes glowing.
“I was worried about you, and well, I did wonder if you could be pregnant, but I didn’t want to jump the gun, so I asked Ely to get a pregnancy test. You can still use it if you like.”
“I don’t really need confirmation, with Marmaroth being the Ultimate Fate and all.” Echo laughed. “He, annoyingly, knows everything…but maybe I will. It’s nice to do things the human way, too.”
Lore nodded at Aethan. The warrior’s glazed stare met his, happiness evident in his gray eyes despite the pain lines etching his brow and bracketing his mouth. “It’s good news all around. You’re on the road to a quicker recovery, and you’re having a young.”
“It is.” Aethan shifted, his smile morphing into a wince.
Lore grasped Nia’s hand and tugged her to leave.
“You guys enjoy your…good news,” she called out as Lore drew her to the door. “Man, I can’t wait to see everyone’s face when you tell them,” she called out to Echo.
As they shut the door behind them, Nia asked, “Who was that angel? He seemed to know me. And what did Echo mean by Ultimate Fate?”
“Marmaroth is the most powerful angel in existence. He rarely interferes in celestial affairs, but when he does, he can alter fate itself.”
So, why was he interceding for Aethan and Echo?
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
Lore usheredNia into the room where the chanting had taken place. Everyone still seemed shaken at how close they came to tragedy by having a flight of angels descend and attack them in their home.
He bypassed them and stopped near the couch.
“How is he?” Blaéz asked as Lore rested against the back, settling Nia between his thighs.
The warrior stood near the inner door, a glass of golden juice in his hand. He appeared a little pale, probably from using too much of his mind to kill.
