In The Arms of an Angel - 52. Chapter 52 The End

Half an hour later they were lying, absolutely sated, tangled in each other. Pasha was listening to the crackle of the fire and Uzzy’s breathing, which was still a little fast. He raised his head, which was cradled on Uzzy’s shoulder, to look down at his mate. Uzzy’s eyes were closed, his hair mussed and his lips swollen from kissing. The flickering light from the fire cast dancing shadows on his perfext face. Pasha’s heart swole at the sheer beauty of his lover and a powerful protectiveness swept over him. Uzzy looked so vulnerable, even though Pasha knew he wasn’t. He traced the lines of Uzzy’s face, brushing his fingers over Uzzy’s cheek and lips, which curved at his touch.

On the other side, Gabri’el stirred languidly and also raised his head. If anything, he was even more beautiful than Uzzy; a darker, more dangerous beauty. Pasha thought there was nothing that could make Gabri’el look vulnerable. The warrior angel leaned across Uzzy’s body and kissed Pasha tenderly. It felt so good. When they broke apart there was a look of such fierce love in Gabri’el’s eyes it made Pasha’s stomach tighten.

A thunderous hammering on the door had Pasha and Gabri’el leaping backward. Gabri’el went for his sword, while Pasha crouched in front of Uzzy, who was laughing, even as he scrambled up to kneel next to Pasha. “Silly angels,” he said, kissing Pasha’s shoulder. “As if anyone could hurt us here.”

Uzzi’el waved his hand lazily toward the door and a whirlwind of white and gold flew in with a cloud of feathers.

Mute, for once, Fierro flew to Uzzy and circled him, fluffing his feathers and keening. Uzzy reached out to him and, sitting back, drew the fiery bird onto his lap. Fierro butted his chin and Uzzy laughed again. “Insane creature.”

“We have both been insane with worry over you all,” Frosty announced, her usually haughty manner tempered with relief. “We thought we had lost you and were concerned we’d lost the other two too. Who would have led the armies? Who would have rebuilt the Council?”

“And that’s the only reason you were concerned?”

“I watched you die, Lord,” Fierro said with none of his usual bluster. “It broke my heart. I will take time to heal.”

Silently, Uzzy hugged Fierro, then held his arms out to Frosty. After a brief hesitation she hopped up onto the bed and allowed herself to be petted.

“I saw you die,” Fierro repeated, in accusing tones.

“I know. It wasn’t really me, though. Just an empty shell; a deceit. I was never there.”

“And how was I expected to know that?” Fierro said, sounding more his old self. “I went through hell. Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch someone you love die?”

“You love me?” Uzzy asked, grinning.

“I didn’t say that,” FIerro said ruffling his feathers.

“Do we live here now?” Frosty asked. “I feel magic; much magic.”

“Yes, we live here now. There are so many things to see; to find, and we’ve only just begun.”

“What about the Council? Eden? Earth?”

“We can run them all from here. I’ll explain later, but we can establish easy ways to travel, no problem. We’ll call a meeting of the Council here in the morning and we can thrash out the details with them.”

“And you won’t go doing stupid things again?”

“I’m sure I will. Lots of stupid things, but I have my friends around me. I think you should stick close to me, just to make sure I don’t get out of hand.”

Fierro humped and looked around. “Did you know you’re naked? I suppose you’re all—.”

His question was cut off by a loud alarm. Without even stopping to dress, the three angels, followed by the two feisty birds, ran to the control room.

Uzzy’s fingers flew over the controls. After a moment, he relaxed and smiled. “I think a friend has a message for us,” he said.

“What friend? Who know we’re here?”

“You’ll see,” Uzzy said. After a few more moments working furiously on the control panel, Uzzy stepped back. One of the screens, that had always been blank, was fizzing and slowly resolved into a picture.

Ari was wearing some kind of uniform, and his long hair was braided over his shoulder. He was beaming.

“How are you doing? Settling in?”

“Starting to.”

“I see your birds have found you.”

Uzzy glanced at the two birds who were hovering, nervous but protective. “I didn’t doubt for a moment they would.”

“I can’t be long. It takes a lot of energy to maintain the connection. I just wanted to let you know I passed.”

“You did? That’s great.”

“I could get offended that you’re so surprised, if I didn’t appreciate how right you are.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’ll be assigned a new task, my first as a qualified scientist. I don’t know what it is yet, but I hope it has nothing to do with climate control.”

“God forbid,” Pasha said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, if you forbid it, I’ll convey your orders.”

Pasha blinked, confused for a moment, then laughed. “It’s going to take some getting used to.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get right into it. At least there are three of you. I was on my own. Besides, Uzzy is already better at using the machines than I am. You’ll do fine. Make sure to have fun.”

The picture started to waver.

“Looks like I have to go.”

“Wait. Will we ever see you again?”

“Maybe. I’ll try.”

Before any of them could say another word, the picture dissolved and the screen went blank.

“I’m glad he passed.”

“Yeah. On the whole, he wasn’t so bad.”

“As Gods go, he wasn’t a bad one, I guess.”

“We’ll be better.”

“Yeah, like he said, we have each other. We can do anything, together.”

“Yes, we can, together.”

The End.