He clapped Reece on the back and stood to clear the room. “Everyone out. Don’t you fuckers have enough to do?”
He turned and gave Alanna a massive wink, making sure that Val could see him. “And you, darlin’, I understand you had injuries that needed checking. I just wanted to let you know that I’m an excellent, uh, checker, and that everyone whose injuries I’ve ever ‘checked’ has been very… satisfied.”
Val stretched over to smack him hard on the back of the head, but everyone was laughing as they filed out the room.
Thank the gods.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Val took a deep breath,and then slowly let it out again. This was bloody terrifying. It had to be right.Had to. Gods. Maybe he should find Haniel and check everything again. Was there even time for that now? Probably not. He would have to stand still and wait.
Thank the gods Tristan was standing next to him, it was the only thing keeping him vaguely grounded.
“You’re making me look bad,” Tristan admitted as he cast a long look down the aisle and around at the massive conservatory where their friends were taking their seats.
Val couldn’t help his snort, focusing on his friend instead of his chaotic thoughts. “Nah, mate, you do that all by yourself.”
Although, he had to agree, Haniel had given them a miracle.
He’d gone to see the healer while Alanna and Nim were bathing the previous day and asked if there was any chance of a bouquet of snowdrops from the temple greenhouses for their wedding. He had promised her snowdrops and he wanted her to have them.
Haniel had shaken his head and Val’s hopes had sunk, but then the healer had promised something even better. And man, had he overdelivered.
Val and Tristan were standing at the front of a small seating area laid out in a semicircle in the center of a magnificent arboretum. The roof and one wall were made entirely of panes of glass. More glass than Val had ever seen in his life or even imagined possible, letting in a sparkling rainbow of refracted light to play over plant beds at every height, from the floor up to baskets hanging almost too high to reach. There were even massive trees that soared all the way to the roof.
Haniel had explained that this was where they grew their sage, rue, chamomile, and dozens of other plants and herbs that Val would never remember. And that, in addition to providing a year-round medicinal garden for the infirmary, this was also a place of peace and meditation for the Nephilim living at the temple and the supplicants that visited them.
Purple and white orchids unfurled delicately in pots, regal iris flowers drew the eye to the trailing ferns and pale blue forget-me-nots that clustered on the banks of a narrow stream—burbling and murmuring on its path through the overhanging greenery—while butterflies danced gracefully between the flowers. The room was warm and humid, heated through a complicated system of pipes under the floor by the same hot springs as the baths.
The chairs were filling up quickly with Hawks and their new Nephilim friends. Tor was sitting with Jos, casting not-so-subtle looks toward the back of the room where Alanna would enter with Keely and Nim. He and Keely were still not talking to each other, but they couldn’t seem to stop staring at each other.
Mathos sat with his arms folded, looking serious, although he did turn to grin at something Garet said. Rafe and Jeremiel sat next to them, the brothers seeming relaxed in their Nephilim surroundings despite having chosen to leave the temples behind when they joined the king’s army.
A few seats away, Reece sat on his own. He still looked weak and bruised and so very alone, but at least he had decided to join them. And he was alive.
They all were.
Val swallowed down his rising emotion. Gods, he was glad that his brothers could be with him.
Was it getting hotter? More humid? Val tugged at the neck of his jerkin, his clothes too tight, as sweat trickled slowly down his back, between his wings.
Ramiel had gifted him and Tristan the armor that they had worn to the challenge, and the heavy leather, with its gleaming metal lining, was almost stifling in the increasingly warm air.
He looked sideways at Tristan, who looked cool and calm. Maybe it was just him.
Tristan caught the look and laughed. “You look nervous as fuck. Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts?”
“No, not at all.” Val ran a thumb down the middle of his forehead and then realized he was making himself look even more nervous and clasped his hands behind his back. “It's just that her first wedding was… gods.” He shrugged helplessly. “I don’t want this to bring back bad memories for her.”
Tristan grunted in understanding, and they stood in silence for a moment, side by side at the top of the short aisle, while Val sweated.
Then Tristan surprised him by turning and clasping his arm. “I’m no good at this feely shit, you know that, so I’m only going to say this once. You and your family gave me a home when I had no one. You’re my brother, but more than that, you’re a genuinely good, honorable man. The best man I know. Alanna sees it too. When I look at you together, I understand why you did everything you did.”
Tristan’s grip tightened. “You did the right thing, Val. And I’m just glad that I can stand here with you today. She loves you, and today will be everything it needs to be. For both of you.”
Tristan’s words meant so much to him. More than he could ever explain. Enough that they brought a hot rush of emotion surging through him. Gods, the last thing he wanted was to break down in front of a room full of Hawks.
Thankfully, before he could say anything, Ramiel was there, striding down to take his place at the front of the room.
