Wanted Angel - Sadie Moss Page 0,79

together every night. It took Beck less than a day to have a bed delivered that’s big enough for all of us, reminding me of the way he replaced his couch overnight after I bled all over it. Greed can get shit done like that.

I try not to cling too much as we sleep in a tangle of limbs. It’s all right if I do though, I suppose, because they all cling back.

I’ve never felt more loved than when I’m being held by my men. I’m a part of something now. I’m a part of a family. And the men are acting more like family again too. They’re helping each other. Assisting Remi in cooking meals, or wrestling with Ford, watching movies with Nix, having long, silent conversations with Knight.

And Ryland and Beck are actually getting along. They’re becoming the team I knew they could be, closer than blood brothers.

It fills me with a sense of contentment that I didn’t know was possible. I’ve felt happy before, definitely. Usually when two characters I was rooting for on a television show or in a book series got together. Or when the good guys in a story finally defeated the bad guys.

But this isn’t just happiness. This is something softer and longer-lasting. Happiness is fleeting, and I think that’s a good thing. Happiness is like a drop on a roller coaster. It feels fun and exhilarating in the moment but you can’t have it all the time—even though, of course, you want it a lot. I think everyone deserves to be happy a lot.

But contentment. That’s what I feel. I feel it in every bone in my body, and I don’t ever want to lose it.

I might, though. If the sins have truly redeemed themselves, then I could lose them.

And I’m almost certain that’s what’s going to happen when I get the summons.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Trinity

The threat of Salinas and Anderson might be over, but that doesn’t mean that entire battle, including the eruption of a volcano, went unnoticed. Humans are coming up with their own explanations, but the supernatural world is abuzz with rumors, and Heaven has definitely taken note of all that went on.

The next day, I’m summoned before the committee. They’re the group of angels that make all the big decisions. The head honchos. The ones in charge. Higher than Anderson or pretty much any other angel I’ve ever interacted with. I’m definitely way down on the totem pole compared to these guys.

“What do we do?” Nix asks, translating for Knight.

“What do you think?” Beckett replies, testy. “You can’t ignore the summons from the people in charge of the whole operation up there.”

Yeah, he’s right. Even though the last thing I want to do is go Upstairs and deal with this, I know it wouldn’t be a good idea to refuse. Who knows what they might do to us if we resist? I don’t think they’d just smite us with lightning, but you never know.

Are we going to be in trouble? I really hope not. I don’t know what I’ll do if I am in trouble. How much more could they possibly punish me when I’m already fallen? Not that being fallen feels like much of a punishment anymore, but still.

Thing is, I can see why they might feel I deserve to be disciplined. I went off and did a bunch of unsanctioned meddling on my own, first with the demon portals and then by going up against Anderson and Salinas. I hope they’ll be able to understand why I didn’t tell anyone Upstairs about Anderson’s treachery, but the committee still might feel as though I should’ve told someone.

Oh, man. This is such a mess, honestly.

We’re going to be transported Upstairs—all of us, the men included—so when the time comes, we gather in a tight knot in Beck’s living room and hold hands. Upstairs can do that. No summoning circles or charms needed. You’re just on Earth one minute and then Upstairs the next.

I used to be able to do that, before I fell. You just flap your wings a certain way and you can pop between the dimensions, similar to how my angel blade resides somewhere, in its personal little pocket dimension, until I summon it. Now I no longer have my wings—and even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to use them to blip up to Heaven. So that leaves us waiting for Upstairs to transport us.

At least this kind of transport magic doesn’t make me feel sick.

For