and blushed. Gods, he was adorable. He’d make someone a delightful lover someday. Or not, because angels were all in denial that their cocks were used for more than swinging in the wind.
Severn stepped aside, and Solo ventured into the front room.
Severn followed and winced at the sight of the empty vodka bottles. Apparently, Remiel had a drinking problem. Oh well, it wasn’t like he was sticking around to deal with that fallout. With the amount of power running through him, he’d be fully charged all day and just needed to get into Mikhail’s gallery. Today would be his last day in Aerie and this horribly uncomfortable illusion.
“About what I said,” Solo blurted, turning suddenly on his heel.
“The kiss?”
“Yes. That. It was an experiment, for both of us—because of what Severn did—and it didn’t mean anything.”
“Wait,” Severn laughed incredulously, “you’re blaming Severn for you kissing Mikhail?” Severn folded his arms and adopted a stern expression, if only to mask how he wanted to grin and slap the fool on the shoulder. “How do you figure that when he’s miles away and you had your hands down Mikhail’s pants?”
“I didn’t! That wasn’t—”
Severn waved him off before he hurt himself. “It’s fine. Really. You don’t need to torture yourself. Look, between you and me, angels don’t all abstain from sexual acts. I have it on good authority that some angels visited the cauldron here in London. I mean, clearly angels fucked humans in the past, hence the nephilim, so what’s a kiss between friends?”
“They did?”
He nodded. “I mean, c’mon…” He half smiled. “You’ve never gotten hard thinking about touching another angel?”
“No.” A flush crawled up his neck. “I have not done that.” His pretty green eyes flicked down, roaming Remiel’s sculpted chest again.
He had most definitely done that, and he might even be doing that right now too. And if Solo had desires, and others clearly had, too, then maybe angels weren’t strangers to passion after all. Someone, somewhere, was lying to them all, but that was a problem for another day.
Solo pulled his collar away from his neck, and as he did, a soft black feather fluttered from inside his coat and settled gently on the carpet behind him. Severn tore his eyes from it. Had destiny delivered him the exact thing he needed to get into Mikhail’s gallery? “Anyway, as I said. You’re fine,” he rushed. “We don’t need to rehash it all.” He headed back into the hallway, checking over his shoulder to see Solo following. “So, if that was all, I have important guardian duties to attend to.” He opened the front door, and Solo jogged down the steps.
“Do you think Mikhail will be staying?” Solo asked, looking back, desperately not looking up Severn’s towel.
“I think Mikhail will soon have a decision to make, and we’d all better hope he makes the right one.” He closed the door on Solo and hurried back into the front room. Kneeling, he picked up the feather and cradled it in his palm. Solo spent time with Mikhail, like Severn had. He’d filled the void Severn had left behind, perhaps in more ways than one. Mikhail’s stray feather had likely caught on his coat, and now it was here, in Severn’s palm. The key to getting his wings back.
Now all he had to do was get back inside Mikhail’s chambers without anyone stopping him.
His wings were close.
His back itched, their ghost haunting him.
Soon he’d be Konstantin again.
Soon it would all be over, one way or another.
Chapter 15
Severn
Aerie bustled like it had before. Angels noted his passing, but none challenged him, and none would. He was the guardian angel Remiel; he went where he pleased, including Mikhail’s chambers. Severn readied an excuse for why he was about to barge into Mikhail’s room just in case Mikhail was inside, but he needn’t have. The chamber was empty. The room smelled like sunshine, like Mikhail, and a stab of guilt tried to slow his stride. Yes, this was wrong, but it was also the only way. Mikhail would never return his wings, and thus, Severn would be stuck as an angel forever, stuck between two sides. He had to be Konstantin again to affect change. The truth had to be known.
He pulled a flare from a pocket, struck it, making it glow and hiss, and quickly tossed it from the balcony. There was no going back now. He just hoped Samiel saw the signal and caught his wings when Severn tossed them over the edge.