Angelic Union (14 page)

Madigan blinked. “Lover?” He turned toward Jade, whose face had gone completely blank. “You’re his… Huh.” The nephilim swallowed. “Where’s Levi?”

“Madigan, we need to go,” Bren said, his face as blank as Jade’s.

Madigan ignored him.

“Where is Levi? Where is he?”

“In bed, asleep with our lovers,” Marius said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why do you want to see Levi so badly?” A trickle of jealousy went through his chest. Logically he knew it was irrational, but the urge to snarl at Madigan was strong.
He smells like sex and
other angels. Why does he want my boys
? The thought was so far out of left field that it startled him into taking a hasty step back. Madigan was his friend. He had no reason to think like that. Madigan was loyal to his guardians. He didn’t want his men. Marius rubbed his temple with four fingers, massaging the headache that was forming there.

He’d never been threatened by Madigan or any of the other guardians before. In fact, he’d been a little envious.

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Jade spoke up, his voice soft and soothing. “It’s the possessive instincts, Marius. They’re even stronger than your angelic ones. Elites feel deeply in all ways. Go to the kitchen while I put this box in Madigan’s car, and then we’ll get the boys some breakfast, hmm?”

“Screw you both for trying to get me out of the way. Where is Levi?” Madigan demanded, stepping around Marius and heading toward the stairs.

Marius growled and moved at the same time Bren dropped his box and threw himself in between them. Bren fell into a fighting stance, and his wings exploded from his back, ripping the black T-shirt he had on. Lucifer’s angel, Bren, drew his angelic sword at the same time, filling the room with the heat of angel fire.

Marius glared and did the same. “Stay away from my mates.”

“Marius, what the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Bren asked. “I mean, really, what the hell? We’re supposed to be your friends!” Jade’s arms wrapped around Marius’s waist and hauled him backward. “You are friends. Mar, think. Think, sweet formerly-fallen, think. Madigan is just worried about Levi. No one wants to harm us and no one wants to take us from you. I promise.”

“
Mine
.”

“Yes. Yours. You claimed us last night, remember? We’ve all gone into this thing together. We’re supposed to be angel bonding today.” Jade pressed a kiss to Marius’s neck. “Sorry about this. It’s just so new and the bond hasn’t really settled into his skin yet. Once the sigils are in place, he’ll feel a lot better. Let me get him back upstairs, and I’ll bring Levi down, hmm?”

“Bren, they’ve done something to them!” Madigan sounded almost hysterical. He wasn’t really visible from behind Bren’s black wings, but the sheer fear in his voice was easily discernible.

“They’re Elites, Madigan. They wouldn’t do anything to them that they didn’t want done.”

“I just need to see Levi. Make sure he’s okay.”
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“We’ll go get him, Madigan. Again, I apologize for this. I’ll help you get the boxes in just a minute.” The grip on Marius tightened, and Marius felt the urge to struggle against him, despite the fact that he wanted to go. It didn’t make sense. “Easy, Marius. I’ve got you.” Marius let him drag him backward, away from his friends and back toward the stairs. “Jade?” he asked, needing him to ground him.

Jade managed to get him all the way up the stairs before the need to touch had Marius turning on him. He turned and wrapped his arms around Jade’s neck and hugged him. “I need.”

“Then you’ll be given what you need.” They stayed locked right there, holding on to one another. Marius was afraid for the first time in a long time, not of hunters or any other outside force but of himself.
What have I become
? “Easy, Marius. Once the bonding ceremony takes place, you’ll feel better. Also, once you shift into your other form for the first time, you’ll feel better as well.”

“Promise?” He sounded small and scared to his ears. Normally he would’ve hated himself for it, but after last night and with the feelings that were swirling through his head right now, he just wanted his mates, his lovers, with him.

“I promise, Marius. When we first saw you guys and knew that you were ours, we had similar reactions. It took Axis a while to wrangle us into being civilized, especially when there were threats on your life.” Jade looked almost amused at the memory. “This is different for you, but it’s not bad.”

Marius took a deep breath. “I just feel like my skin doesn’t quite fit right yet.”

“It’ll ease.”

He sure as hell hoped so. He’d thought he’d gotten past the instinctual need to hover over his lovers and growl like an animal.

“Let’s go get Levi, hmm?”

Marius winced as he recalled his original purpose for going downstairs to begin with. “I should’ve brought him coffee. He loves his coffee first thing, and he’s a grouch if he doesn’t have it.” Come
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to think of it, Erik wasn’t exactly sunshine and roses either first thing in the morning.

Jade wrinkled his extraordinarily handsome nose. Marius rolled his eyes.
Handsome nose? Really?
“You guys have to stop drinking that sludge. It’s terrible for you.”

“I agree, but I’m not arguing with Levi about his coffee. The last time I tried, my ears were left bleeding. So I’ll pass.” Jade grunted and drew back from the embrace. “You steady enough to go on now, Mar?”

Marius nodded. He needed to hurry and get Levi up so that Madigan and his guardian would get gone. He liked them, but he just didn’t trust himself to handle another situation like the one downstairs again. “Jade?”

“Huh?”

“Next time you answer the door or company comes over, put on a shirt.”

A low chuckle sounded. “Sure, Marius. I can do that.”
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Axis ended up carrying Levi downstairs into the kitchen after they all managed to wrestle the smaller man into some long pants and a tank top. Coffee was put in his hands the second he was deposited into the dining room chair so maybe, just maybe, Madigan wouldn’t have to die for getting him out of bed so early. Levi glared at his friend over the top of his steamy cup. No promises, though.

“I’m sorry I dragged you out of bed, Levi. I really am.” Madigan apologized for the fiftieth time since Levi had sat down. He was sitting on the chair beside him looking contrite and more than a little nervous. “Marius is sure acting weird though and being all caveman about all of you and the Elites being lovers. What’s up with that?” Levi took a sip of his coffee, brain not functioning as he tried to keep up with Madigan’s babble. “Huh?” Monosyllabic was his middle name, apparently.

“Are you okay?”

“Coffee.”
Oh, look, two syllables
.

Madigan looked more than a little confused. “Huh?”

“I need coffee.”
Look at me go
. Another sip, gulp. He wrinkled his nose. He liked the chicory coffee better. Who had brewed him the regular Folgers stuff? That was Marius and Erik’s sludge. He wanted his own.

“Oh.” Madigan paused awkwardly. “You are a coffee fiend, huh?” Levi nodded. Now he was getting it.

“Okay, I’ll let you finish your cup then.”

Thank God. He
is
a good friend. I don’t have to kill him
. Levi turned his head as the front door shut loudly. The boys must’ve
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finished loading Madigan’s car with the rest of their stuff. There hadn’t been many boxes to begin with, but they’d been unwieldy things. He was glad the Elites were there to give Bren a hand. He smiled as he thought about them. His new lovers. His new mates?

Was that the word?

Madigan looked at him like he was a puzzle that the other nephilim just couldn’t figure out. “You look relaxed, happy. So is this true? You and the Elites?”

“Erik had a vision, and I see what they are to us. They’re ours.

Like your guardians are yours.” It was the only way Levi knew to explain it.

Madigan nodded. “I get it. It’s not about the number or anything. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It just seems really sudden, and I didn’t want to think that you’d been forced into something like that. Michel mentioned that Marius might get redeemed, but I didn’t know it would happen so fast. He also didn’t give me the particulars of if you guys were going to angel bond. So I was worried.” He paused. “Have I mentioned that I’m sorry for being a psycho with them?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Levi smiled. “It’s nice to have a friend.”
Really
nice,
actually
. He remembered in high school he’d had a couple friends, but none like Madigan. His mind strained to recall their names or even their faces. Azrael had stolen all of them from him. Every memory that wasn’t painful had been swept under a haze of pain thick enough that on Levi’s best days he could only recall wispy impressions.

Madigan reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Hey, don’t look so glum about it. I was going to have Marius or Jade have you give me a call, but since I’m here I’ll ask now. When do you want to do the photography session?”

“We’re still doing that?” Levi asked.

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“Of course we are. It’s a wedding present, goofball.” Madigan’s grin widened. “We’re not going to cancel just because the wedding party got bigger. I’m assuming you want them in the pictures?”

“Oh, yes, please!” He was almost vibrating with excitement at the thought. “And Miss Kitty, too! She’s going to be in the pictures.” His cat was the only pet he’d had in his entire life, and he wasn’t going to let her miss out on the pictures either. He loved pictures.
Like perfect
memories preserved forever
. It was one of the reasons he kept scrapbooks. When they ran from the hunters the only two things he ever cared about grabbing was his photo book and his cat.

Madigan laughed at his enthusiasm. “Done and done. Where is Miss Kitty? I haven’t seen the little furball since we came in. She typically greets people at the door.”

Levi shrugged. “She took a liking to Keer from what Erik tells me. The Elite was seen cuddled with her after our shower last night.”

“Probably doesn’t know what to do with all the male attention around. So I was thinking the photography session next Friday. What do you think?”

Levi nodded. “Heck, yes. We don’t have any plans that day that I know of.”

They continued to chat idly for a few minutes as they shared their coffee and Levi asked a million questions about what it was like to be in a permanent relationship with six other guys. Two more he was used to, but the dynamic changed when four more were thrown in.

“Hey, bright eyes! You ready to go?” Bren’s voice yelled from somewhere in the direction of the foyer.

“Yeah! Be there in a second!” Madigan pushed himself back from the table, and Levi attempted to do the same.

“I’ll walk you out,” Levi said in his usual cheerful manner. Things just looked bright today. He went to stand only to have his legs shake so badly he had to sit back down. He wasn’t hurting per se. His muscles were just so damn weak. “Um, well…”
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Madigan laughed, brown eyes sparkling. “I’ve been there, man.

Trust me. After they’ve all had me, I can’t move. No wonder, what was his name? Axis?” At Levi’s nod he continued. “No wonder Axis had to carry you in. Why don’t we plan on a barbecue next week and get our boys together? I’ll cook.” Now that was something Levi was helpless to resist. Madigan may have been just a baker, but he was also a hell of a chef. They’d been spoiled when he’d lived here because between Erik, Marius, and himself their food was mediocre at best. Levi burnt water, so that wasn’t happening at all in his case.

“Sure. Let me make sure it’s okay with Marius, and we’ll make plans. He was supposed to be starting a new job as an enforcer at the sanctuary prison downtown, but now that he’s an Elite I don’t know if he’s doing that anymore.”

“Sweet. Just let me know.” Madigan waved from the entryway.

“See you later, Levi.” Levi waved him on and eyed the coffee pot across the room.
Hmmm, that wouldn’t do
.

“Marius! I want another cup of coffee!”

* * * *

“I wanna tattoo, too!” Levi whined as they set up the living room to accommodate the tattooing equipment, which consisted of a chair and small table with bottles of ink, wells, and the little whirring machines that were bound to give Levi a headache.

“Consorts do not get tattoos,” Axis repeated for the fiftieth time.

“We’re giving you handcrafted jewelry made from magic alloy. Isn’t that enough?”

“I want your names on me,” Levi said, begging him to understand.

He liked being claimed by them. He didn’t want to just be able to slip that claim off his skin and put it in a box. He wanted it on him always.

“Six names. That’s all I want.”

Axis’s jaw flexed. “Six names down your chest like a banner is not a small thing, Levi. I don’t want to hurt you.”
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“But everyone is getting two names with the sigils on their arms. I don’t think I’m asking for too much to get six names on my chest. It adds up to less than what you guys have on you combined.” Erik finally cut in as Levi had known he would. He hated being made to feel like he wasn’t included in equal measure down the line.