Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Part of his prescription for healing from Keir had been to start taking care of himself from the inside out. That meant nourishing his body with things that both tasted good and were good for him.
“Not every angel cooks, but for you, Aodhan,” the healer had said, “I think making a ceremony of cooking yourself a good meal at least twice a week is important. A way of saying to yourself that you are worth this time, worth this goodness.”
Aodhan hadn’t much been in the mood to hear Keir when the healer had first said that, but the farther he walked out of the dark, the more he understood the importance of Keir’s wisdom. Since returning from the rigors of China, which had permitted no such time, he cooked as much as he could.
“There’s a difference between fuel and nourishment,” he said to Smoke, who’d beaten Illium over and was now looking up at him as Aodhan sliced various vegetables into thin strips. “And the same applies to the people we love.” He wanted to nourish his Blue, wanted to care for him from the inside out. “Where’s our favorite person, then?”
“Right here,” came the answer from the vicinity of the front door. “Reye called as I was heading over, wanted company for dinner,” he said, naming a member of his wing. “I told him I had a better offer.” He walked into sight, lean and sun-browned and with a wickedness that glinted in the eye.
“You know he’ll think you’re with a lover?”
“I am.”
Aodhan’s heart punched into his ribs at that easy acceptance, even though he knew that it could never be so simple between him and his Blue. Still, it was a step, another move in their dance. “Sit while I prep. Tell me about what you did in China between your last proper messages to me, and your flight home. We haven’t really talked about that.”
While Smoke prowled around the suite, as if checking that no one had dared claim her territory while she’d been out, Illium settled at the kitchen table, his wings pouring down either side of the chair designed for angelkind, and told Aodhan of his final week in China. It wasn’t that he’d gone silent or otherwise shut Aodhan out, just that his missives had been the quick ones of a man with little time on his hands.
“Mostly, we worked on the final touches to Suyin’s citadel.” He nibbled on the bowl of salted peanuts and cashews Aodhan had set out in front of him. “The more decorative elements, the things that are her trademark when it comes to architecture. It’s a symbol, you know? For her people. Of hope and of the better future to come.”
Aodhan nodded, content to just listen to Illium’s voice as the other man detailed the build, then moved on to update Aodhan on the people with whom Aodhan had worked side by side during his more than a year as Suyin’s temporary second.
“Arza’s doing an excellent job as second, but everyone misses you—Arza included. Her respect for you goes to the bone. You ever go back and ask her to step down and she would.”
“That’s why I can’t visit. Not yet.” Suyin wasn’t the right archangel for him, and he wasn’t the right second for her. “Arza deserves the time to settle into her position until she won’t even consider stepping aside.”
Eating more nuts, Illium told him about a wedding over which Suyin had presided—it had been the citadel’s first official celebration. “Complete with sky lanterns blown over the ocean, and musicians picking up instruments once thought forever abandoned.”
“Describe it to me in detail.” Aodhan rarely painted from anything but his own memories and experiences, but this was an event that should be immortalized.
“I took photos, too,” Illium said. “I’ll show them to you after dinner.” For now, he began to color in the images with his words…and Aodhan’s entire being felt anchored in a way that wasn’t about chains but about freedom from all that had once held him down. This anchor gave him safe ground and, with it, the ability to take every chance.
There was nothing unusual in this night, this situation—he and Illium had eaten together plenty of times. Yet it felt different. Quieter, more intimate somehow.
The feeling intensified once he joined Illium at the table to eat, as Illium teased him about his penchant for a particular spice. When the other man bumped into him while they cleaned up afterward, his wing sliding over Aodhan’s, Aodhan didn’t move away. Instead, putting down the dish he’d been drying, he curved his hand around Illium’s nape and stroked his thumb over the other man’s pulse.
Illium’s eyes were sleepy, his pupils dilated. “Adi.” A single word that held so much. A lifetime. Of love. Of loyalty. Of sacrifice. Of patience. Of a bond without boundaries or endings.