He was jerked from his thoughts by the sound of the key in the lock, and Baxter realized that Liam had returned. He bit his lip as Liam entered looking nothing short of incredible, like a Greek god chiseled out of tanned marble and glistening with a light sheen of sweat. He was bare chested and his T-shirt was stuffed into the back of his cargo shorts.
“Hey!” Liam grinned at Baxter and turned to close the door. Then he went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, taking a long swig as he came into the living room. “I’m just going to take a quick shower, okay?”
“Sure,” Baxter said. He could feel the butterflies rising in his stomach, doing a complicated ballet of terror. God, what if he was right and Liam was only sticking around because he felt sorry for Baxter? How fucked-up would that be? Baxter answered his own question with a muttered, “Beyond the fucking telling of it,” and watched as Liam strode into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
His anxious thoughts skittered between Liam and Danny, still in a coma, still in the private clinic owned and run by Raphael and his angelic assistants, a small place just outside of Portland surrounded by beautiful gardens and a wildlife reserve. Baxter had been in a lot of hospitals in his life—and how depressing is that—but Raphael’s clinic was nothing short of beautiful, with an aura of calm and comfort that he found soothing and relaxing. Baxter sighed and scrubbed his face with both hands. At least if things went south with Liam, he could always call Raphael and go and have an emotional breakdown on the Archangel’s shoulder. Then he could sit with Lily and wait for Danny to wake up. As it was, he, Angelique, and Riley were taking it in turns to sit with her, keeping her company and sharing her vigil as Danny lay still and silent, swathed in white sheets and bandages, hooked up to several machines, breathing through a tube.
Baxter shook his head, trying to clear his maudlin thoughts. Danny would wake up, he was sure of it. Danny was his wingman, his best friend, his fellow kappa. Danny just needed the healing that came with sleep, so he’d decided to go to extremes and do it in a coma. That was all it was, yes, definitely. Danny would be fine. And when he woke, they’d all laugh together and joke, and then eat the world’s biggest pizza and drink beers from mugs bigger than their heads and plan their next mission. It would be good.
Liam emerged from the bathroom, trailing a cloud of steam behind him and wearing a towel slung low around his hips. Fuck, he is stunning, Baxter thought. If Liam ever wanted to work as a model, he could— underwear or swimwear, preferably. Liam shot him a bright smile as he went into the bedroom, and Baxter groaned quietly to himself and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, Liam emerged dressed in jeans and T-shirt, his feet bare, and Baxter took a deep breath and shifted on the sofa.
“Liam, can we talk?”
“Sure thing, Bax.” Liam joined him on the couch, tucking one leg beneath himself. “You look a bit tense there. You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just…. Okay, look. I’m just going to come out and say it, okay? Or ask it, actually, as it’s more of a question than a statement, and fuck, I’m rambling. Sweet Buddha. Okay. Are you staying with me because you feel sorry for me, ’cause I’m like some sort of wolf one- legged guy?”
Liam gaped at him, his expression one of stunned amazement.
Baxter immediately felt like a complete fool for ever having doubted him.
It was obvious that the question had blindsided Liam and that he had not even considered behaving in such a way. Liam was too good a soul, too kind a person to do that to another, and Baxter felt even more a fool.
“What? No! No way! I don’t… no. No way, man. God, Bax, do you…? Have I been acting as if that’s what I think? I’m so sorry, fuck, I didn’t mean…. God.” Liam looked stricken.
Baxter, feeling like the world’s biggest asshole, shook his head and leaned over, grabbing Liam’s hand. “No. It’s not you, it’s me. I’m an idiot.
I’m surprised Raph didn’t tell me I needed a brain prosthetic to go with the leg. I’m a paranoid fuckup, and I should have known better than to think that you’d do that to me or, hell, to anyone. I’m so sorry, Liam.”
Liam stared at him for a moment before he moved. He lunged, grabbing Baxter in a bone-crushing hug, and Baxter clung to him, feeling relief and shame in equal measure. He stroked Liam’s damp hair and kissed his neck, murmuring again and again how sorry he was, that he was an idiot, that he loved Liam and should never have doubted him.
Liam pulled back after a while and gazed into Baxter’s eyes. The green in Liam’s eyes was vibrant, flecked with brown, and Baxter felt a lurch in his chest as he thought about how much he loved this man.
“Dude, if I have ever given you a reason to feel like that, I am so sorry,” Liam said. “I just didn’t want to push you to do anything. I figured that doing those physical therapy sessions were going to take a lot out of you. They’re not exactly easy.”
“They’re easier than I thought they would be. I mean, I know Raph’s using his super healing mojo to help make it go faster, but I’m surprised how quickly I’ve gotten used to the prosthetic.” Baxter grinned. “I still want to get it painted.”
Liam laughed. “Of course you do.” Then he grew serious. “If you ever think I’ve given you reason to feel that I don’t want you, you tell me.
I promise you that I don’t know I’m doing it—I do want you and I want us to be together. I don’t think any less of you because you’ve lost a leg.”
Baxter touched Liam’s cheek. “Thanks. I needed to hear that, I think, especially the last bit. It was an unconscious worry.”
“Well, you’re still my guy, and you’re still amazing.” Liam grinned.
“And you’re still blind, because I’m not that wonderful.” Baxter looped his arms around Liam’s neck. “I’m still getting you on a surfboard too.”
Liam sighed heavily. “Really? Can we not do that?”
“Dude, surfing is awesome. Why don’t you want to try it?”
“Because it’s a board of death, and I’ll fall off and be eaten by a shark.”
“It’s not a board of death, and you won’t get eaten by a shark.”
“I like how you ignore the bit about falling off.” Liam grinned.
“Everyone falls off, babe. It’s like riding a bike. Only in the sea.”
“If you say so.” Liam hesitated. “I’ll think about it, okay? No promises. When things are calmer, we’ll see about going down to the coast for a few days and take it from there.”
“Awesome. Which reminds me….” Baxter wasn’t sure how to broach the next topic. “So, you know wolves have a heat period….”
“I’m assuming you mean in terms of mating, not that they have periods when they have really high temperatures.”
“Yeah, that’s what I mean. I’m not going to turn into a hot water bottle for one month a year.” Baxter laughed. “Although I bet I feel heaps warmer when I’m wolf.”
“You do a bit. But yeah, I knew about the heat period. It’s quite strong in the wild wolf, isn’t it? How does it work for a shifter?”
Baxter nodded slowly. “Yeah, for us, it’s like it’s diluted. We don’t have the urges for as long or as intensely, but we do have a period of about a week where we need to have a lot of sex with our mate. If we don’t have a mate, then we usually get one of the other pack members to cage us for that week so we don’t go and hurt someone.”
Liam wrinkled his nose. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s okay. Better to be caged with a TV and a pile of DVDs than to be roaming the streets, looking for food and sex from anyone with a pulse.
I don’t want to wake up one morning and discover I’ve raped someone.
That would be the worst.” Baxter shuddered. “Angelique, Danny, Lily, and me have mates, although I’m not sure what Lily’s going to do… anyway, we only need to cage Riley. The other packs take care of each other during the heat period too.”
“Right, so when are you due?” Liam asked. “And l
et’s pretend that didn’t sound like I was asking you when you were going to have a baby.”
Baxter guffawed. “I didn’t even think of that until you said it. But I’m about ready to go into heat in six weeks. It’s on the calendar.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“Mom’s family has a cabin in the woods between here and Portland,”
Baxter said. “How about we pack some food and go up there for the week?”
Liam smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
“Get plenty of rest beforehand,” Baxter said.
Liam wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh I intend to, baby. Gotta keep up.”
Baxter laughed. “Fuck, I love you, Liam.”
“Love you too.”
THEY MET in a large, spacious boardroom at the top of a large office tower in downtown Portland. Angelique noticed this was the same group that had been involved in hunting down the Holy Grail, and she approved of that. Change was bad enough, let alone change in the ranks of those she had to work with. There were a few absences, but for the most part, she knew everyone and she was confident she could work with them all.
Ondrass sat at the head of a polished table, Markus beside him.
Adramelek, Lix Tetrax, and Melcherisa sat with them, and all of the Archangels sat along the rest of the table as well. Israfel and Tabbris sat with Raphael, and Shateiel and Agrat sat with Gabriel. Asaf and Vel sat with Shateiel, Brieus and Sophiel flanked Tzadkiel. Ishtahar and her sons, Hiwa and Ahijah, sat with Remiel and Samael, and across from them sat Declan and Liam. Baxter was beside Liam, and Riley was with him.
Angelique joined them, nodding a greeting to the rest of the assembled and keenly feeling the absence of Lily and Danny. Without Lily, her beta, there with her, she was missing a part of herself.
“Are we all here?” Ondrass got to his feet and smiled, a sly, oily sort of smile. “What a wonderful gathering we all are. I’m so thrilled to be working with you all again, I can’t even begin to describe it.”
“Spare us your eloquence,” Michael said. “Let us attend to business.”
“Of course, Prince,” Ondrass said, giving Michael a little bow. “To business, then. We all know now what Transom Corp was doing with its little project, thanks to the documents found by the Venatores and Declan and Liam, and the work done by Lady Minnie and Lord Max. We know what we’re up against. I do not believe that Transom Corp will cease in its goal to close down the gates between everywhere and Earth; they’ll just try something new. So the question is, what do we do to stop this from happening?”
“Lucifer is furious,” Adramelek said. He got to his feet and took a breath. “He wants to know how demons were caught to be used in these experiments, and he and I both suspect that monsters—shifters, dryads, naiads, minotaurs, others—will be caught as well. It would be foolish of us to think they just want demons, humans, and animals. They want all the forms of life that exist on all planes so that they can shut down the portals between them and here. How are they catching them?”
“That’s a good question,” Metatron agreed.
“I have asked Minnie and Max to continue their investigations,”
Michael said.
“Good,” Ondrass said. “They are extremely efficient. I approve.”
“I’m sure they’ll be thrilled,” Gabriel drawled.
Ondrass smirked. “They should be. In any case, we should also discuss what we are to do with the people running this business. Do we kill them? Imprison them? Send them to Hell?”
There was a murmur at that, and everyone shifted in their seats.
Angelique wasn’t sure that anyone had an answer, but it was a damn good question.
Declan stood up. “I think we’d need to hold a trial. Do we punish everyone who works for this firm or what? And I bet some of the fuckers are going to do their best to escape punishment too, so we’d need a good way to figure out who’s telling the truth.”
“Leave that to me,” Tzadkiel said. “That’s my job as Archangel of Judgment and Head of God’s Secret Police.”
“Okay, well that’s solved easily enough, but again, I think determining the ultimate punishment for the ones who did the torture and hybrid wacky science should be figured out.” Declan pursed his lips for a moment.
“Can I make a suggestion?” It was Tabbris, and Angelique looked at him in surprise, seeing the astonishment she felt mirrored on the faces of everyone present. Tabbris speaking up in a meeting like this was rare, especial y if he wasn’t going to insult someone or call Michael “Donkey-face.”
“Of course, Tabbris,” Samael said. “What is it?”
Tabbris shrugged. “Do we know what country their headquarters are in? I mean, we know they’ve got a fuckload of offices around the world, but where’s their main office?”
“Ah….” Tzadkiel riffled through some papers. “Berlin.”
“Berlin? Really? Wow.” Tabbris shook his head. “I thought it’d be somewhere like New York. Okay, well, Germany has laws, doesn’t it?
Pretty fucking strong ones, gutsy ones for things like torture and imprisonment. I mean, it’s the land of fucked-up porn, they’d have to have full-on laws for people like that, like that guy in the twentieth century who put an ad in the paper looking for someone to cook and eat his own dick and film it, which is just… so fucked-up.”
“Tabbris,” Michael said with a sigh, “please get to the point. Do not discuss these subjects that are so foul and personal.”
“Okay, Donkey-face.” Tabbris smirked as Michael buried his face in his hands and Gabriel patted his shoulder consolingly. “So, why don’t we drop ’em on the German judicial system?”
Ondrass was nodding slowly. “Yes, I can see that would work. If we presented Tzadkiel’s work as evidence, along with witnesses for the prosecution, I think the German judicial system would deal with it.”
“We’d have to make a donation toward their funding, though,”
Adramelek said. “Everything costs more these days, and governments have tight budgets.”
“I think we can work something out,” Raziel said. “That was a good suggestion, Tabbry.”
“I’m full of good suggestions,” Tabbris said.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Uriel said, laughing.
Tabbris sat down and sprawled in his seat. “I would. So, Ondrass, who’d you kill to own this building?”
“No one, I’ve always owned it. I bought the land and paid for the construction myself, all aboveboard, I assure you. I also own a nice little bakery called Ian and Erika’s House of Baked Goods around the corner.
Fresh bread and pastries are delicious, I’m sure you agree. Now, then, back to business.” Ondrass looked around the table. “I think we should focus on finding the lair this organization does its work in and destroying it. I realize that means angels won’t be much use, as you’ll be psychically castrated, thanks to the sigils and protections they’re likely to use to keep you out, but we of the Glass Knives can find them.”
“So can we,” Baxter said. “Venatores we, I mean.”
“And I can too,” Liam said. “I can talk to the dead, and Declan can track anything.”
“How marvelous. All right, that takes care of the searching and the punishment parts of this; what about the sorting of information?”
Tzadkiel sighed. “I’ll do it. Brieus and Sophiel will help, and we’ll work with Minnie and Max.”
“I can also help,” Samael said. “There are some in the clans of monsters who will talk to me when they will not talk to others.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ahijah said. “And we can speak to the Nephilim as well.”
Samael nodded.
“Splendid. What else?” Ondrass asked.
“Mike, Uri, and me are the muscle,” Gabriel said, “along with Shateiel, Asaf, and Vel. We’ll pound in heads, stuff like that.”
“And I’m sure you’ll all enjoy it—well, except the Prince over there.
Should we add
ress you as Prince Donkey-face?”
Michael looked toward the ceiling. “God give me strength,” he muttered.
Angelique chuckled to herself. She quite liked Ondrass; his dry, sarcastic wit was a humorous change, and his PA, Markus, was much the same. She didn’t trust them, but she did like them.
“And the rest of us wil keep our ears and eyes wide open,” Agrat said.
“I’m sure we al have our own contacts. We can keep in touch over a distance, and keep each other up to speed. And if we can use this rather nice lit le room for meetings and sorting information out, that would help too, Ondrass.”
“My pleasure, my lady,” he said. “My office tower is your office tower.”
Raziel looked over at Tzadkiel. “I’ll give you and the kids a hand with the intel,” he said. “And I bet there’s going to be things we’ll need my giant science brain for and Raph’s giant medical brain for.”
Raphael laughed. “I’m glad to be of service with my giant medical brain.”
“Well, then. That was all very smooth.” Ondrass looked around.
“Shall we get to work, people?”
“One minute, please,” Michael said. “Who is going to speak to the German authorities?”
“I will go,” Ishtahar said. “Remiel, Melcherisa, and I will approach them.”
“As you say,” Michael agreed.
“Why am I included in this?” Melcherisa wanted to know. “Not that I mind, I’m just wondering.”
“Because you have a silver tongue and are best at the intricacy of diplomatic speech,” Ishtahar said. “Remiel, because he can calm volatile moods with his power, and I, because my German is best.”
Melcherisa inclined his head to her. “Then let’s get to it.”
“Very well,” Michael said, getting to his feet. “I believe now is as good a time as any to begin.”
“This is going to take a while, you know,” Raziel said. “We aren’t dealing with a crazy succubus or a thousand legions of demons here.
We’re dealing with highly intelligent humans and a mega corp, and this isn’t going to be a quick fix. We could be working on this for some months, if not years.”
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