Angelic Union (4 page)

“He can’t. He doesn’t know why he can’t, but he knows something is holding back the bond.” Axis’s trousers came next. He toed off his dress shoes carefully and slid the black material down his hips. When he stood in his undershirt and white boxers, he turned back to his men, who were in the midst of their own undressing. “The reason is that we’re not involved. He cannot bond with them until he is redeemed, and he cannot become redeemed until he bonds with us.” Keer frowned. “Huh?”

“The Archseraphim Daisis explained to me when he sent us after the three of them that in order for Marius to rise from his fallen state, he must agree to put himself under our care. Once that occurs, we can all bond with Erik and Levi.” Axis knew that the complicated nature of their mating was one of the many reasons that his men were so
Angelic Union

27

impatient. The tenuous existence of their mate bond was a reason for anxiety to begin with. Coupled with the knowledge that at any moment their mates might reject them, it was a miracle his men hadn’t mutinied. “We need to court them properly. This will be a lot easier if they at least
like
us.”

“So we’re not telling them?” Keer asked, his violet eyes flashing.

Axis shook his head and pointed toward the door. “You want to go out there and declare to Marius that not only are we his mates but we are his lovers’ mates as well? He will lose it.”

“So why now?” Jade asked.

“Marius was always going to be the toughest sell. As you guys know, he’s a fallen angel. As such, he distrusts pretty much anything resembling angelic order. And let’s face it, you don’t get more angelically ordered than Elite Guardians. We exemplify heavenly virtues and are honored for being the epitome of guardianship. He’s going to hate us for those reasons alone.”

“So it’s fucking hopeless,” Keer sneered. He closed his eyes, his whole body practically bleeding disappointment.

“No. It’s fucking complicated. We’ve waited five thousand years for this. We need to show a little compassion for our mates who haven’t known of us that long,” Axis snapped, losing his patience.

They weren’t the only ones who felt the need to be with the three men in the other room.

“Easy, Axis. We know that you need them as much as we do.

We’re all just very tired and need some rest. We flew quite a ways today.” As usual, Jade provided logic for the group. Jade was quiet, but he got shit done.

Axis sighed. This was going to be an uphill battle no matter which way he looked at it. He just hoped when he got to the top that his mates weren’t going to run down the other side. He glanced up at his men, who were following his example and stripping off their uniforms. Everyone looked beat.

28

Jana Downs

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he declared, taking a position by the closet. Maybe things would look brighter in the morning.

* * * *

Marius scrubbed the flesh on his arms until the skin was angry, red, and raw. He just wanted to rub away the entire day and everything that had gone wrong in it. The “happiest” day of his life was now officially the most fucked-up day of his life. His marriage had become contingent on him accepting the everlasting presence of four angels who were everything he wasn’t, honorable, considerate, and downright fucking annoying. If he were honest with himself, which he had no intention of being, he would say that his lovers deserved to have men as high as the Elite Guardians as their own. But he was selfish, and he couldn’t and fucking wouldn’t give them up.

“Still more concerned with your needs than those of others.

Marius, have you learned nothing since I banished you to Earth?” The sound of his old archangel’s voice made him freeze in his frantic washing. What the hell was Archangel Uriel doing in his bathroom? He pulled back the shower curtain and found his old boss reclining against the double sinks. His gorgeous tan-skinned and dirty-blond-haired self looked right at home there. He was dressed in human street clothes. A gray T-shirt and a pair of ratty-looking blue jeans completed his outfit.

“Uriel?” he asked.

“And your IQ dropped to boot. Damn, boy, what
have
you been doing since you lost your job?” Uriel asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Trying to survive while getting shot at by Michael’s nutjobs, avoiding hunters, and making money. Other than that, I’ve been smelling the fucking flowers,” Marius snapped before he thought better of it. His white-blond hair stuck to his face, and he pushed it
Angelic Union

29

angrily to the side. “Did you know what those pricks were going to do on my wedding day?”

Uriel shrugged. “Those Elites were going to come to you one way or another. I sent them. Perc and Desc were just the vehicles I used to deliver them.”

“Trying to get me damned, boss?” Marius asked, a feral grin lighting up his face. If he were going to go down for good, he was going to go out with a fucking bang. He could already imagine getting out of the shower, getting his fallen weaponry, and sneaking into their room. It would be as easy as one, two, three.

Uriel reached out and smacked the side of his head, sending it crunching into the tile of the shower. “You idiot. Of course not. You made a mistake a long time ago and needed to learn why it was a mistake. Your nephilim have taught you that lesson well.” It was true. Before, when Marius had been a hunter himself, he’d hated nephilim with a passion and enthusiasm that bordered on sheer madness. Meeting Erik and Levi had changed all that. He’d learned to love again.

“But not to trust again,” Uriel said, reading his mind. “I didn’t send the Elites here to punish you, Marius. I sent them here to give you what you need.”

“And what is that?” Marius asked, rubbing the place on his head that had collided with the shower.

“Redemption.”

The word was a carrot that was dangled effectively. Marius’s heart skipped a beat. Real redemption? He would finally be worthy of his lovers, finally be able to make them proud, finally be able to protect them as he wanted to. He’d known fallen that had waited thousands of years for a chance at redemption and had never received it.

“How?” He forced the word out past the giant lump in his throat.

Hope was an ugly thing when it was false.

30

Jana Downs

“You know Elites are different than other guardians?” Uriel asked.

He nodded.

“Do you know how they are different?”

Marius made a noise of frustration. “What is with the school lesson? I don’t give a fuck. They are guardians who have given their lives for their charges and are brought back to life by seraphim.

Because of their sacrifice, blah, blah, blah, they’re granted certain powers.”

“The power of duality. They are given animal spirits that they can shift into at will,” Uriel said.

It took Marius about three seconds to burst out laughing. “Are you serious? They’re shape-shifters?” He dissolved into peals of laughter.

“What do they shift into? Ooh, let me guess, wolves? Lions? Tigers?

Bears? Oh, my!”

Uriel let him get out his laughter before he answered. “Winged horses called Pegasus, actually. The steeds of heroes.”

“You’re serious.” Marius blinked. “You’re dead serious.”

“Of course I am. I don’t tell you this idly. It is a closely guarded secret that only a handful of people know.” The archangel picked up a towel off the towel rack and gave it an experimental pop. “Their kind is blessed with a certain ‘knowing’ that informs them who they are to bond with, their mates, essentially.”

“And what does that have to do with me? And how the hell does this tie into my redemption?” Marius asked impatiently.

Uriel twisted the towel in his big warrior hands. “Before you fell into trouble with Azrael and those hunter zealots, you were chosen, destined is probably the better word for it, to become an Elite, Marius.

You were always a great guardian, and it was foretold a long time ago that you would join the ranks. Typically, one has to die to be granted entrance, but because of the prophecy, the seraphim made exception for you. You were meant to join Axis’s group.”
Angelic Union

31

Marius was stunned by the revelation.
Him,
an Elite Guardian? No way!

“Your path to redemption lies in joining their ranks and submitting to Axis’s command. He is the leader of the bunch, and you would have to take his directive,” Uriel said.

“What about Levi and Erik?” Marius asked automatically. As much as he really disliked the idea that his lovers’ fathers had tried to use the Elites as a way to put a wedge between him and his lovers, the idea that fate had ordained it to secure his redemption made him feel marginally better.

“That is the part where the question of ‘mates’ comes into play,” Uriel said slowly. “The Elites have always maintained that the three of you were their mates.” He paused. “If you join their ranks, you’ll be agreeing to become their mate. The question will be posed to both of your nephilim lovers as well.”

“Holy fuck,” Marius cursed. “This is redemption? Impossible choices!”

“You said not a week ago that you envied the guardians of your nephilims’ friend Madigan because they had enough protection to care for their lover. You’ve always known something was missing but never knew what. This is the answer you’ve sought, Marius. The emptiness you’ve felt will only be healed by the joining and angel bond that you will get when you unite with all your mates.” It was the most patience Marius could ever remember Uriel showing when explaining things.

Marius hung his head and watched the water as it swirled around the drain. It kind of resembled what was going on in his head. The swirling confusion of thoughts was giving him a headache.

“That’s why we couldn’t properly angel bond, isn’t it? Because I was meant to be one of them?” He asked the questions because he had to know. He’d wanted to bond with his lovers from the beginning and had always felt inadequate knowing that he’d never achieved it. No
32

Jana Downs

matter what he’d done, he’d always fallen short of truly bonding with his nephilim.

“Yes, Marius.”

“And if we refuse?”

“Then you’ll never know the joys of being fully mated with your lovers nor will you ever find redemption.” Uriel didn’t sound happy at all.

“So we’d be stuck in limbo and my lovers would still be vulnerable.” Marius sighed. Why couldn’t his life be less complicated? What the hell had he done to piss off the fates so much that he was punished with a “destiny” like this one?

“It isn’t an easy choice, but it is a choice, Marius. Why don’t you get to know the Elites better? Give them a chance.” Uriel seemed to actually care whether or not he did so, which was weird because Marius had always assumed Uriel was still pissed that he’d gotten his ass thrown out of heaven.

“They’ll like the Elites better than me.” The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. He turned his face into the water spray to hide the tears that sprang to his eyes at the thought.

Uriel snorted. “Give me a break. They love you so much they’d deny their own happiness for you in a heartbeat.”

“I don’t want that. I want them to be happy. But I want to be happy, too. Is that selfish of me?” He knew on some level that it was, but damn if he could help it.

“You want what is best for them?” Uriel asked, avoiding the question.

“Yes.”

“Then consider it at least. Stop acting like a jealous barbarian and think about what’s best for them…and for you, son. I think becoming an Elite would open up a whole new world for you and your lovers, but it’s ultimately your decision.” Uriel glanced toward the doorway that led to the bedroom that Marius was sharing with Levi and Erik.

“Think about it.” In a blink, he vanished.

Angelic Union

33

“Fucking parlor tricks,” Marius muttered, going back to his shower. Tonight was supposed to be his wedding night, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it. It felt like he’d just gotten on the most bizarre ride of his life and there was no getting off.

* * * *

Levi lay on the bed naked, counting invisible spirals on the ceiling. He imagined them expanding as he watched them and was pleased when his mind made them do so. They pulsed with his heartbeat. The shower stopped in the other room.

“About time. That was the longest shower in history,” Erik griped from his position on the bed beside him. He’d gotten out his Architectural Digest and had been flipping through it for the past twenty minutes. Levi never really got into reading. He’d never really gotten into school for the most part. He was lucky he’d graduated knowing how to read and write.

“He felt violated. That’s why he was showering,” Levi said astutely, running his fingers along the rigid duvet on top of the bed.

He knew better than to climb under the sheets before he, Erik, and Marius had their fun. They’d just mess them up and have to change them, and it was a pain in the ass.

“That’s awfully observant of you,” Erik noted, putting down his magazine on the bedside table. “How come you always know how we’re feeling?”

“Just lucky, I guess.” Levi knew it was a little selfish, but he liked that his lovers didn’t know what he could see with his powers. If they knew, they might try to control how they were feeling, and nothing was more beautiful to Levi than the splash of color that accompanied any emotions his lovers felt.