Angel Kin (13 page)

“Why do I have to hold it there? Why do I have to hold it at all?”

“Because the part of his soul that is tainted by the spell, I have to cleanse it. It’s sort of like boiling a cloth to rid it of germs. That is the same basic principle. The part you hold will be the part of him that is unable to be submerged in the water. I don’t want to kill him, so you’ll have to hold it.” Those hands began to glow more brightly.  “Besides, the person who holds him to this world should be a person who loves him dearly. He will be the one who can shoulder his pain for him, keep him sane while I burn the toxins away.”

Yuri flinched as Scepta’s hands hovered over the longest glyph that ran down the center of his back. The tattoo writhed angrily as the light got brighter. It was too bright for Madigan to look at anymore so he turned his head so he wouldn’t go blind trying to stare at something that resembled the sun. Yuri was panting, kicking weakly as the moment stretched on.

Hurry, please hurry. I can’t stand to see him like this
… Madigan kept one hand firmly planted on Yuri while he raised the other hand to wipe the tears that had splattered down onto his cheeks. The other guardians moved to stand behind him, each reaching out and putting a hand on Madigan’s back as if to stay connected to both Yuri and  Madigan by a chain of touch. Madigan had never been so sure of the love between them as he was in that moment.

A tap to his chest drew his attention away from their bond. Almost immediately, a searing pain lacerated his torso, invading the valves

that led to his heart before settling on the pulsing organ there. He  shuddered. The only thing he could compare it to was the worst case  of heartburn he’d ever experienced, but even that was a weak analogy  to the physical agony that made it hard to breathe past the fire in his  chest.

He screwed his eyes shut, willing the pain to abate as he thought of all the things he loved about Yuri. His smile, the way he talked, his ridiculous addiction to sports magazines, his brainy side that loved puzzles and books and would be satisfied with nothing less than the truth about a given situation. All of those things and so much more made him uniquely Yuri.

“Never loved anything like I love you, either, baby.” Madigan couldn’t tell if he was hearing Yuri’s voice inside his head, inside his heart, outside, or all three. It didn’t matter though, because either way he’d carry Yuri’s light, his soul, inside him as long as it took to banish the darkness and get him healed and whole and back to his normal self.

The pain ebbed gradually, fading to a dull ache and then to nothing as the light in the room dimmed and the energy level dropped from almost explosive to nearly nonexistent. Madigan head spun as his energy level dipped with the room’s. It was like having a major drop in blood sugar and just as disorienting.

“Get them something to drink.” Scepta’s voice was hoarse when he spoke. Yuri’s wings disappeared into his back once again, leaving the glyphs displayed in their wake. Madigan was glad his men were behind him because otherwise he wasn’t entirely sure that he wouldn’t fall over.

Someone left the room. He wasn’t sure who. He tipped forward and curled against Yuri’s side for the hundredth time this week. Yuri turned his head, seeking Madigan out even if he was too tired to

move.

“How you feeling?” Madigan asked, his voice the barest of

whispers.

“Pretty good, all things considered,” Yuri whispered back. “Thank  you for holding me.”

Madigan smiled at the phrasing. “Anytime.”

“I hope orange juice is all right. It’s all we have other than water,”  Michel said, tugging Madigan into a sitting position.

Madigan shook his head. “Yuri first,” he insisted, turning his  mouth away as Michel tried to put the glass to his lips.

“Don’t be silly, Madigan. We’ve got a glass for the both of you,”  Dex’s voice cut in. Madigan forced open eyes he hadn’t even realized  he was closing and watched Gabriel’s angel haul a boneless Yuri up  off the mattress and press a glass to his lips. A cursory glance around  the room had Bren hovering near the edge of the bed and Cross  paying Scepta out of a large wad of bills near the doorway.

“Let’s not do that again,” Madigan mumbled as he took a long  gulp from the plastic cup Michel had gotten for him. His hands were  shaking so badly that he didn’t think he would’ve been able to hold it  up without Michel’s help.

“Agreed,” Michel said. “I vote we all get into bed after this and  get some rest. We’re going to be dead tomorrow otherwise.”

“I second that,” Bren said. He had a worried look on his face that

was more reminiscent of Cross than the brash and brave Bren that

Madigan knew. He smiled and lost some of the orange juice as it escaped down his chin. Cross was really rubbing off on Bren. Michel made a noise of comfort and wiped the juice away before it could go any lower. More and more they were moving and acting like a single unit, a single relationship that could move mountains if they so chose.  Madigan couldn’t think of anything better than that.

He let his men fuss over him and Yuri as they stripped off their own clothing in favor of boxers and briefs for sleeping. A brief argument ensued over who would be taking the additional space on the bed before the others finally rock-paper-scissored it for the position. Michel won.

As the light was extinguished and Madigan snuggled firmly between a healing Yuri and a slowly relaxing Michel, Madigan only wished that they could teleport that custom bed that Yuri had been ordering earlier.

Chapter Nine

The smell of something cooking teased Madigan out of his sleep, beckoning him up from his place of exhaustion. He reached out his hands and found his bed empty. His eyes slowly opened, the lids unwilling for a few seconds to give up their precious sleep in order to come back into the land of the awake. Finally, they obeyed his command and opened.

The first hints of dawn were just beginning to glow behind the curtained window, and a quick glance at the alarm clock showed the time of six fifteen. The sun wouldn’t really be up for another hour, but that was good because the day hit Madigan like a ton of brick. It was  Levi, Erik, and Marius’s wedding day, and he had to get to the venue, get set up, put his clothes on, and about a million other things before the noon service followed by the reception.

It was then the smell of bacon and the soft sound of merriment

from outside the bedroom drew his notice.
 
Maybe Dex is cooking
.

And where is Yuri
? Madigan had thought he would need the day to recover at least. The energy that the healing had taken yesterday was a hell of a reason to stay in bed. Madigan was still feeling sluggish himself. Of course, the hour might have had something to do with

that.

He rolled out of bed, realizing he’d been stripped in the middle of the night, and pulled on a pair of boxers and a robe from the closet that someone had thoughtfully hung there for him. He padded on the carpeted bedroom floor to the dark hardwood hallway, following the smell of bacon and something else as he neared the kitchen.

Surprise flickered through him at the sight that greeted him as he swung into the last door. A half-naked and shirtless Yuri was flipping bacon and sausage over in a pan, looking up every once in a while to share a joke and laugh with the other men who were crowded around the island. Levi and Erik were sitting on the stools wearing matching white robes and the rest of his men were standing to the sides of them watching Yuri and Dex, who was turning pancakes on a griddle, as they moved around the kitchen.

“Michel, set the table, will you?” Yuri asked, putting some pieces of food he’d deemed done onto a paper-towel-laden plate.

“Your wish, my command,” Michel said, smiling. It took him a minute to find things given that they weren’t at home and he didn’t know where everything was, but he achieved success readily enough, and he pulled out a stack of dishes to provide serving plates for them all.

As he crossed from the cabinets to the formal dining room, which had the only table even close to being able to fit them all, he spotted  Madigan.

“Good morning, cutey,” he said with a wink. “Sleep well?”

Madigan nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He looked back toward the kitchen. “Is everything all right?”

“Sure is. Yuri got up at five and decided to make everyone breakfast since we’d have to get moving soon. We were going to wake you when he and Dex finished cooking.” Michel set the plates on the place mats, putting down an extra set of plates undoubtedly for the overflow of people the six-person dining room table would have when they all squeezed in.

“You need some help?” Madigan asked.

“Grab the silverware and orange juice, and we’re set, cutey,”  Michel said as he dragged two chairs from the living room to the table.

Madigan turned back toward the kitchen and headed toward the silverware drawer. He was much more comfortable here because he’d

been cooking for the past several days and knew the basic layout. He

beelined for the silverware drawer.

“Morning, baby,” Yuri greeted, ducking down to give Madigan a  kiss before going back to his task. A warm hand gripped his butt  through his boxers. Madigan swatted at the large hand.

“Flip your pancakes, sir.”

Dex smiled. “Morning, Madi.”

Madigan opened the fridge and took out the large pitcher of  orange juice. He probably needed both hands to carry both the  silverware and the juice. No matter. He’d make two trips.

“I got it, bright eyes,” Bren said, coming out of nowhere to pluck  the orange juice from Madigan’s grasp. Okay, everyone was being  super cheerful this morning. It was kind of disconcerting. Madigan  felt like he may have woken up in some sort of alternate
 
Leave It to  Beaver
 
universe.

They finished setting the table, and Madigan’s stomach growled in hunger. A natural impatience took up in his gut as his body demanded food in a way that stomachs had been doing since the beginning of human existence. It was so embarrassing.

Cross chuckled as he slid into a chair near Madigan and motioned for him to sit. “Relax, love. We’re about to eat.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Cross asked, pouring  himself a tall glass of orange juice as the rest of their men trailed into  the room. Levi and Erik came more slowly, obviously enjoying the  leisurely pace.

Madigan shrugged. “I don’t know. Everyone seems so calm and  happy. Usually, on the day of a wedding, everyone is stressed out.  Plus I thought with everything that had happened with Yuri…”

“Yuri’s healing is one of the many reasons we’re happy today,  love. He is whole and happy, and that in turn makes us happy. We’re  also very proud of you for holding him to you last night. It showed,  more than anything, that we’ve chosen well.” Cross sipped from his

juice. “As far as the wedding goes, Marius left this morning around  4:00 a.m. to get everything arranged, minus the cake, of course. Levi  and Erik were woken up by a messenger bearing wedding gifts from  Marius that seems to have made them relax quite a lot. They came  down just before you did, showing them off.”

“What are they?” Madigan asked curiously. He was already  blushing lightly from the weight of Cross’s compliments, so he was  happy for a change in subject.

“What else would the big lug get us other than jewelry?” Erik  asked. His tone was grumpy, but the look in his eyes and his  expression said he didn’t mean it. He fished out a chain from his  wardrobe. A single teardrop hung from it about the size of a marble.  “Blue sapphires that he mined himself in Montana. He’s such a  bastard for getting us something without telling us.”

Levi giggled. “Yeah, the note said ‘something blue.’”

“Which wasn’t funny,” Erik said. “We’re dudes, not brides.”

“Marius just likes to get Erik going because Erik doesn’t like to be  taken care of,” Levi whispered conspiratorially. He played with the  end of his own sapphire. “I think it is really sweet.”

Erik snorted. “You would.”

By the time the two had finished their interplay, Madigan was nearly in the floor laughing. He felt the tension leave from his body in a wave of laughter. Today was a good day, and he wasn’t going to let any fears hold him back from the thrill of the life in this place.

The meal was loud and joyous, his guardians making sure Levi and Erik didn’t have a moment to be melancholy or let the anxiety of the coming event build. Neither of their human parents was still around, and they were nervous about meeting their fathers, but with a few good-natured jokes about their angelic parentage, the nervousness dissipated as if it had never been. Even Michel was joking and laughing with the pair. He’d been the most hostile toward the threesome since they’d showed up on Madigan’s doorstep in the middle of the night seeking refuge from hunters, but now he seemed