“It’s a good thing that you aren’t asking, then, isn’t it?” Agrat looked around the assembled. “I’m offering. And you know you’ll have to take up the offer because we’re running out of time.”
“It’s true,” Melcherisa said. “The planet is weeping. Can’t you hear the sound of the sorrow of the Earth?”
Metatron sighed. “Yes,” he said. “I can hear it. It grieves me.”
“It grieves us all,” Raziel said quietly.
“What do you think of this idea, Raziel?” Michael asked.
Raziel shrugged. “I wish I could say that there’s another way, but as Melcherisa points out, the Earth is in pain. As Agrat points out, we’re running out of time. I don’t think we can deny her and Lilith, to be honest.”
“Shateiel?” Gabriel looked at his lieutenant. “What do you think?”
“My wife’s courage humbles me, sir. I wish, too, that there was another way. Indeed, she had to talk very quickly and persuasively to me before we came here. I do not like the idea, I do not like Lilith being involved, and I most definitely do not like the idea of Agrat being in Purgatory while we cannot get in should there be trouble. But… I do not know that there is another way.”
“Fucking hell,” Uriel muttered.
“Amen to that,” Gabriel said.
“Language,” Michael said. He sounded tired. “Very well. Since you are intent on this, I cannot forbid you. Especially as Lucifer is prepared to allow Lilith to go to Purgatory. Just one thing, Agrat.”
“Yes, Michael?”
Michael walked to her and took her hands in his. He kissed her fingers, and then he bowed to her. “Do not die.”
“I promise,” Agrat said.
“That’s that, then,” Raziel said.
“It seems so,” Ondrass agreed.
Adramelek nodded. “I’ll go down to Hell and coordinate. I’ll be in touch.” With that, he vanished.
Gabriel and Michael shared a long look. Gabriel held out his hand to his lover, and Michael gave Agrat’s fingers another chaste kiss and released her hands. Then he walked to Gabriel and took Gabriel’s hand in his own.
“Take time with those you love,” Michael said. “When Adramelek returns, we will reconvene. Metatron, Haniel, could you be so kind as to take my people to Oregon, please?”
“And us as well, if that’s okay?” Declan asked.
“We can do that. We’ll stay there, too, so we can ’port them all back here,” Metatron said.
“Thank you,” Michael said. “Then we will meet again when all is ready.”
Gabriel didn’t wait to see what might be said next; he moved himself and Michael to Belle Coeur and straight to the bedroom. He didn’t say anything, simply pulled Michael into his arms and kissed him. It was a desperate kiss, a kiss full of fragile hope and all of his fears and worries. Michael kissed him back with the same desperation, and they clung to each other, not wanting to let go.
“I hope this works,” Gabriel said, finally ending the kiss.
Michael rested his forehead against Gabriel’s. “As do I,” he said.
“I know I say this a lot anyway, but I’m saying it again right now, ’cause it bears repeating. I love you, Michael. More than anything.”
Michael gave Gabriel a chaste, gentle kiss. “I love you, also, Gabriel. More than anything.”
“And now we wait until once more unto the breach.”
“As you say.”
Gabriel sat down on the bed, pulling Michael with him. “If this is ever over, we’re taking a holiday. A few months of nothing more pressing than making sure we don’t get sunburn.”
Michael rested his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. “I confess that I like the sound of that a very great deal.”
“Together forever, yeah?”
“Forever, no matter what may come,” Michael said.
Gabriel slipped his arm around Michael’s shoulders and held him tight. They sat together in silence, waiting for the call that Adramelek had returned from Hell.
About the Author
L.J. LABARTHE is a French-Australian woman, who was born during the Witching Hour, just after midnight. From this auspicious beginning, she went on to write a prize-winning short story about Humpty Dumpty wearing an Aussie hat complete with corks dangling from it when she was six years old. From there, she wrote for her high school yearbook, her university newspaper, and, from her early teens to her twenties, produced a fanzine about the local punk rock music scene. She loves music of all kinds and was once a classical pianist; she loves languages and speaks French and English and a teeny-tiny smattering of Mandarin Chinese, which she hopes to relearn properly very soon. She enjoys TV, film, travel, cooking, eating out, abandoned places, urbex, history, and researching.
L.J. loves to read complicated plots and hopes to do complex plot lines justice in her own writing. She writes paranormal, historical, urban fantasy, and contemporary Australian stories, usually M/M romance and featuring M/M erotica.
L.J. lives in the city of Adelaide and is owned by her cat.
Now Available
Book 1 of the ARCHANGEL CHRONICLES
You would never know it from his flamboyant lifestyle, but Gabriel’s not just the cheerful, fun-loving adoptive father of a pair of indulged young adult humans. He’s an Archangel, commander of Heaven’s legions of Seraphim, and despite his apparently easy virtue, he’s harboring a serious crush on his superior officer, Michael.
For years Michael has devoted himself to developing a team of humans, the Venatores, to aid in the fight against Hell. He’s been pining after Gabriel for centuries without hope, believing himself to be too serious to attract the other Archangel’s interest. He’s happy to discover that he’s wrong, but their burgeoning relationship is stymied by a major problem: an egomaniacal human is recruiting demons and fallen angels in a bid to take over the world. It’s up to Michael and Gabriel, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels, to beat back the forces of Hell before the Earth is overrun.
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Now Available
Book 2 of the ARCHANGEL CHRONICLES
Seventy years after it began, the war between angels and demons is over. Archangels Gabriel and Michael reunite at last, but a dangerous new challenge stands in the way of their happiness: someone is kidnapping angels and selling them as trophies on the black market. When Raphael, Archangel of Healing, goes missing, his tearful lover joins with the Brotherhood of Archangels and their lieutenants to rescue him.
Without Raphael’s healing touch, disease spreads quickly through the world’s human population. The situation only worsens when the angel Agrat is kidnapped: the number of sex crimes begins to rise and her husband, Gabriel’s lieutenant, loses himself to his grief. As they mount a rescue mission, Gabriel and Michael’s relationship will be put to the test. With the threat of the world dying around them and tragedy looming overhead, can Gabriel and Michael keep love and hope alive?
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Now Available
Book 3 of the ARCHANGEL CHRONICLES
Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest.
With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza’s return to Earth doesn’t threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity.
But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love?
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Now Available
Book 4 of the ARCHANGEL CHRONICLES
&nbs
p; Archangel Gabriel is hoping for a quiet period in his life to enjoy his relationship with Archangel Michael, but someone has other ideas.
New dangers arise when the Holy Grail is stolen. Gabriel, Michael, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels and their allies must somehow thwart the twisted desires of the thief.
Their search for the Grail takes them all over the world, calling on old friends like Uriel and Raziel, and forging powerful new alliances. Though they face a fresh set of perils in pursuit of the thief, the enduring comfort Gabriel needs so much, that of his beloved Michael, never abandons him.
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Coming in 2014
THE BONE CUP
Book 6 of the ARCHANGEL CHRONICLES
Gabriel and Michael, hand in hand and leading the Brotherhood of Archangels, the Venatores, and the Archdemon Guild of Glass Knives, march into the mouth of madness to retrieve the Holy Grail with the blessings of both God and Lucifer. They cross dimensions and battle for the future of all realities: Heaven, Hell, Earth, and Purgatory.
In Purgatory they are reunited with Naamah and meet her children, who are terrified of her. One of her allies is an angel, but they can’t identify the traitor. Gabriel faces his worst fear when Michael is injured and he might lose the unwavering comfort Michael embodies. If Gabriel cannot save the Holy Grail, he risks losing more than his one true love—all of creation might be destroyed along with them.
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Also from L.J. LABARTHE
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The Body on the Beach is featured in
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The Crystal Lake Page 25
