Uriel stared at him, and Azazel wondered if he was going to tell him that he wasn’t ready to talk about it.
“Okay, but first you need to know that I wasn't tonight’s target. It was Blue. His uncle is trying to kill him.”
“All right,” Azazel said. “What else?”
Uriel grabbed onto his shoulder. “Pull me up.” Azazel did as he was ordered, and Uriel pressed their foreheads together. “I’m too tired to talk. I’d rather show you.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Uriel stared deep intoAzazel’s eyes and released all the shackles that he’d placed on his memories. He opened himself up and allowed Azazel to enter his mind, showing him everything. He wanted Azazel to feel his emotions and understand his anger, his regret, and his pain. Uriel started from the first time he realized he was in love with Azazel.
Although Azazel had told Uriel he loved him countless times while they were together, Uriel had held himself back, trying to express his love in many ways without saying the words. He didn’t trust himself to show weakness, while Azazel had no problems.
Uriel showed Azazel their last night together and how much he wanted to shout that he loved the dark angel and wanted to spend the rest of eternity with him, but there was something he had to do first. All the plans they had concocted together wouldn’t be fulfilled unless he gave up one world for another. He’d also suspected that he was pregnant but wanted to confirm it before he told the man he loved.
The day he found out that he was pregnant was also the day was called back to the heavenly realm. What he didn’t expect was that Dio would give him an ultimatum. Although he was resolute that he would choose Azazel, he still wanted to broker peace between father and son. He wanted Dio to be a part of their child’s life. He respected and loved Dio for everything he’d done for him.
Uriel felt tears slip down his cheek as he showed Azazel what had happened when he returned to the lower realm and saw his lover in bed with another man. The very bed they'd made love in the night before. Uriel expressed feelings of betrayal, anger, and disgust. Unable to face his lover, he left and vowed never to return to him, and returned to Lord Dio’s side. He then showed the events that followed. His dressing down and the hopeless feeling that he had no choice but to give up his child.
He saw tears well in Azazel’s eyes, but Uriel did not shy away from them and continued to reveal everything. Uriel saw a smile cross Azazel’s face, watching the birth of their children. Uriel wanted Azazel to hold on to that moment, but he knew what was to come next. Anger clashed with sadness as Azazel watched Uriel flee, getting one child to safety and having the other son be ripped from his arms and given to another family to raise.
Uriel showed Azazel the joyous but painful years that followed. The five years Uriel had to be by his son’s side but unable to tell him who he was, the time he met Synder and Kayne, the comfort his friends gave him, and one of the hardest parts of their separation, when he had to erase Donald’s mind, seal his powers, and walk away from him. Uriel wanted to close his eyes and avoid what was to come next, but he had decided to show Azazel everything.
“Uriel, I will give you another chance to stand by my side if you denounce that child in your heart and take Micha as your matched pair,” Dio said.
“My… I’ve done everything you asked of me, but that I am not willing to do. Not only do I still carry that child in my heart, I still love Azazel, and it will not change, no matter how much you try to force it.”
“If you love him so much, why didn’t you run to him?” Dio asked.
Uriel didn’t respond to that question; instead, he went to his knees and bowed his head. “I am ready for my punishment.”
Uriel could feel Dio standing over him. The tension in the throne room was so thick it choked Uriel.
“Micha, are you sure he is the one you want?”
Uriel did not raise his head and look at Micha. He did not understand why or how the other angel had grown affection for him when Uriel had never shown an ounce of interest toward the other man. He had always seen Micha as a friend or a brother in arms, and nothing else. It was after being with Azazel that he figured out what love was all about.
“Yes, my lord,” Micha said.
“Are you willing to wait until his heart is cleansed?” Dio asked.
“I will wait for however long it takes,” Micha responded.
“Very well. Take him back to his room,” Dio said. “Give him time to think of his mistakes.”
Uriel was taken to the dungeons and was marked with the shackles of shame on both his wrists and ankles. His living conditions were not ideal, but he was fed daily, though left alone and powerless. He didn’t know how much time had passed, and for a while, no one came to see him. But the loneliness gave him time to think, and he acknowledged his regret that he should have confronted Azazel and still walked away from Dio.
Uriel realized both men used him and pulled him into their personal war, and he would not let that happen ever again. He came to the conclusion that although Azazel was his mate, he needed to stay away from the other angel. He vowed to himself that he would also get his children back and live a life that did not include either the heavenly or lower realms.
As time passed, Uriel stayed the course and did not complain. Then one day things changed and the doors to his prison cell opened and two faces he hadn’t expected to see entered. Dagon and Gadriel.
Uriel watched Azazel’s eyes widen at seeing the two men in the memory.
“I told you about Gadriel, but I never told you about Dagon,” Uriel said.
“Show me what they did,” Azazel demanded.
Uriel nodded and revealed more to Azazel. With the appearance of Dagon and Gadriel, he found out that he had been imprisoned for six months. Uriel didn’t hide his hope that Azazel had sent the two dark angels after him, even though all three had never seen eye to eye. But his hope was dashed when Gadriel spoke.
