Angelic Sight (11 page)

“
Because I don’t wish it to be so. Take care, Levi. You are needed

more than you realize
.” With that the being vanished.

“Levi?” Erik asked, fear in his voice.

Fire exploded from the front doorway, throwing Axis into the entryway wall. The sickly green flame licked up his side, eliciting a scream. Levi was on his feet before he knew what he was doing, and his Elite lover immediately went into action. Erik kept putting himself between the door and Levi, but Levi had to get to Axis.

“Shoulda seen that coming,” Axis groaned as Jade and Keer ducked out the front door in pursuit of the demon who had thrown the fire, swords flashing into existence.

Erik shouted as Keer bellowed outside. “Brax, call the cops!”

“Gotta go help, Commander!” Brax said, ducking out the door.

“Erik,” Axis rumbled. “Use your cell.” He was struggling to sit up  against the wall, the strain written all over his expression.

Levi watched as his lover fished out his cell with surprisingly  steady hands and dialed the emergency number. As Erik began to chat  with the dispatcher, Levi rolled to his feet and padded over to Axis.  Seraphiel had said not to be afraid, and he knew he had to help Axis.  Axis was his mate, his bonded. He was one of the men who meant

everything.

“No. Get back,” Axis wheezed as Levi knelt beside him. “Levi,

don’t.”

“Shh,” Levi said. He was moving on pure instinct. He followed  the path of fire as it seeped into Axis’s muscles. It would take months  to heal and would probably be painful. Levi wasn’t a healer, not in the  least bit. He examined the energy attached to it. He couldn’t unmake  this event. It was too important in the grand scheme of things.  However, he could do something else. “This may hurt.” Translation: it  would definitely hurt. He put his fingers on the edges of the wound  where the burns were the shallowest. He closed his eyes and  shortened the time, pushing past treatment and recovery. Axis  screamed, and Levi winced at the sound. He hated hurting people. It  was over in five seconds though, and when Axis sagged back against  the wall, relief washed over Levi. He imagined healing six months  worth of damage in five seconds was pretty painful.

“Police are coming,” Erik announced, hurrying over and kneeling  beside he and Axis.

“Good,” Axis panted, staring at Levi. “Do I want to know how  you did that?”

Levi shrugged. “I really don’t know how I did that.” He’d just sort  of felt what needed to be done and went with it. This new power of  his was frightening.

The sound of fighting from outside gave him no comfort as the  minutes stretched on. The police were taking too damn long.

Chapter Six

“I can’t believe he got away,” Jade rumbled for the fiftieth time as  they sat in the living room in the aftermath. The grass had been  scorched out front and there was some damage to their decorations,  but for the most part the house was unharmed by the fire. Thankfully  no one else had been hurt in the altercation.

Night had fully fallen by then, and it was nearly nine. The police and the report filing hadn’t taken nearly as long as Jade had thought it should’ve, and he ached to leave out the back door and track the

psycho down himself. Crazy or not, there was a cruelty in the former  angel that made Jade sick to his stomach. Levi had been surprisingly  calm as they’d taken his statement and his relationship to the psycho.  He wasn’t crumbling into a trembling pile of nephilim as Jade had  expected him to do. There was fear in him, but there was also a sort of  determination that Jade hadn’t seen in his nephilim before.

Brax clenched his fists at his side rhythmically as they listened to  Axis reinstate the guard schedule and talk about the new routine they  were going to enact in an effort to keep Levi as out of the public eye  as possible. Erik had declared himself safe because the former hunter  had only wanted Levi, and Axis had allowed it for the moment. That  made Jade nervous, but he wasn’t the commander of the band of

Elites.

He glanced over at Keer, who had said little during Axis’s lecture.  Miss Kitty, the tiny white cat that Levi claimed, sat curled in his lap, kneading his thigh as she slept. Jade envied the kitten. She lived a carefree life.

Levi looked up suddenly and tilted his head to the side as if listening to something. “Madigan is calling with news.” Almost on cue, Axis’s cell rang. “Bad news,” Levi said with a sigh.

“You are scary, angel,” Jade murmured as Axis answered the phone.

Levi looked at him and frowned. “I’m sorry?”

“Don’t be. It’s hot.” Jade winked. “I’m turned on by the badass thing.” Levi’s face broke into a grin, and Jade felt something in his chest relax. He liked Levi happy.

“If you haven’t called Scepta yet, you should. He will want to know what happened,” Erik said as Axis walked toward the hallway talking in a low voice. He must’ve wanted some privacy for whatever the conversation was.

Jade nodded. “That is sound advice. We’ll let him know in the

morning.” He looked over at Levi. “Are you okay, angel?”

Levi shrugged. “I don’t know really. I’m scared, but I think I’m  all right. This is just a lot to deal with. You know?” He walked up to  Jade where he was sitting on the sectional and crawled into his lap.

Jade stroked his back in slow circles. “I know.” Levi wasn’t the

only one going through an adjustment period. To find out his lover  was some kind of mystical divining rod for the heavens, facing the  man who’d tortured said lover, and then being questioned by the cops  about how the fight had started was insanity. Jade still wasn’t a  hundred percent sure what was going on.
 
At least we know why the  seraphim sent us to these nephilim
. They hadn’t really questioned  their good fortune when it came to the pursuit of their mates, but now  it seemed like fate had arranged things rather artfully.

Axis walked back into the room. The expression on his face was  pinched, and Jade immediately tensed. “Azrael is going to attack the  city in one week. The hunters are taking sanctuaries down all over the  country.”

Jade’s eyes widened. “The rules—”

“Are no longer being obeyed,” Axis said. “Azrael has declared  open war on all earthbound nephilim and any who oppose their  slaughter. The only rule they’re upholding is the age limitation on  kills, but they’re sterilizing the children.”

Jade gasped. “No.”

“I’m afraid so.” Axis raked a hand through his hair. “Madigan’s  guardians just called to let us know in case we wanted to run.”

“Are we?” Erik asked. Jade’s grip tightened on Levi. Running  would be so problematic. They were supposed to be safe here.

“No,” Levi said softly. “We can’t run. There is nowhere to go. We  stand here.”

Everything in Jade rebelled at the thought. There was no way he would let his lovers stay on a potential battlefield. It was better to run and hide than face the possibility of one of his lovers being harmed.

“We have a part to play,” Levi continued. “We have to teach them to fight.”

“You knew this was coming,” Jade said, impressed. Their little nephilim’s powers were growing exponentially as the hours passed.  How it was possible, Jade wasn’t sure, but he knew that he was seeing something historically significant in the making.

Levi turned so that he could cup Jade’s face. He seemed so frail with his paled skin, weary eyes, and tired expression. “I saw the first sanctuary fall. We can’t run, Jade. I know you want to, but we can’t.”

“Do we live to see the end of it?” Jade asked. He had to know. If

Levi had seen their deaths, then there was no way he was going to let any of them stay. As much as his angelic nature encouraged him to assist the citizens of Urun and contribute to the war effort, another

more selfish part of him would always put the needs of his family  first. He wouldn’t risk the lives of his men if there was no possibility  of victory. It wouldn’t be something he would forgive himself for, but  it was the reality of the situation they faced.

Levi hesitated. “I can’t see the end. Only the first few moves of  the players involved. There is too much that is undecided yet.”

“Free will blows,” Brax muttered. Jade understood the sentiment

exactly. The predictability of free will had always been the thing that

limited seers, but wasn’t Levi different?

“You could take Azrael out of the picture,” Jade suggested. If he  was an Oracle that could literally tear time from the world so that it  never happened, the easiest thing to do would be for him to “fix” what  needed to be fixed.

Levi shook his head. “I can’t. There are too many things that would be affected, too much damage. Not all time can be removed without consequences, Jade.”

“How do you know that?” Jade demanded. “You haven’t known you were an Oracle but for a few hours now!”

“Be that as it may, I’ve had this power since I was eighteen. I just didn’t know what it was, and it hasn’t been this strong before. I know what I can and can’t do with it. It’s like I have this part of me that just understands things. I can’t do what you ask,” Levi said, shrinking against the adamant way Jade was speaking.

Frustration worked its way down his spine. Maybe Levi just didn’t know what he was talking about. Maybe—

“Jade, you look crazy right now. Calm the hell down. Let’s do our research about Levi’s powers before we jump right ahead to making him use them to make our lives easier,” Axis interrupted, drawing his attention away from his rapidly panicking thoughts.

“Axis is right,” Keer said. “Take a deep breath, lover. You look like you’re about to hyperventilate.”

Jade made a concentrated effort to do as his lovers asked. “I’m

sorry, angel,” he apologized to Levi, squeezing him tight. “I just don’t  want any of us to get hurt. The hunters have more numbers than we  can fight off, and after the demon showing up…”

“I get it, Jade. No worries,” Levi said, holding him close. “It’s  scary, but we have to hold on to one another and take our strength  from that.” He looked up at Brax and smiled. “Would you mind to put  on a pot of coffee on?”

Keer snorted. “Not this late. Nope. No caffeine after nine, Levi.”

“I’m not a child,” Levi grumbled. “We’ve all had a rough night, and I could really use a cup right about now.” Jade could see the rebellion brewing on his face, and the others must’ve seen it, too, because Brax just got up and went toward the kitchen.

“I’m going to spank you for that,” Keer all but purred.

Levi winked. “Sounds good, sir.”

Jade didn’t understand how he was thinking about sex or coffee or anything else for that matter. The biggest event of their life was happening and they were being causal about it.

“What good does panicking do, Jade?” Levi asked.
 
Maybe he’s reading my mind
. “Your aura actually. I can see the confusion and the fear.”

“So many secrets you’ve kept from us,” Jade murmured, tilting  his head up for a kiss. “You’re so calm.”

Levi shrugged. “A friend told me that I had something to do, a  part to play. It doesn’t mean that I’m not afraid. It just means that I  have a purpose, and keeping my eyes on that is easier than dealing  with the what-ifs.”

“That’s smart thinking, angel,” Erik complimented. “So what else  did Madigan say?”

Axis crossed over to the recliner and plopped down before  motioning for Erik to join him. “It was Yuri, actually. They are  having a meeting with ArchSeraphim Daisis in the morning and want  us to babysit their company while they do.”

Erik completely ignored the gesture and instead patted his own lap  like Axis should come climb on his lap instead. Axis gave him a  weird look, but it apparently got the message across. “We can show  them around town or something.”

“We can go to the occult store in town. They’ll probably have  some books on the Oracle and the Keepers,” Brax said, returning with  a steaming cup of coffee, which he passed to Levi despite Keer’s  glare.

Axis nodded. “That’s a good idea. We also need to pick up some extra charms for the boys to wear. Repelling demons is nasty business, and I’d rather get something potent than risk one of them getting hit by hell fire.”

“We have no money for that,” Jade said. “There is just no way we can swing all that. Those books are expensive and the charms are even more so.”