I felt the deep ache of relief, of immense gratitude that we lost no one in this scuffle, and all four of us were here to see another day. I realized it had been what I was feeling already, just in a gathered, concentrated form thanks to my girlfriend’s powers. She used it to take precedence in Will’s mind, outshining his terror at nearly being taken away.
Despite my weariness, I smiled gratefully at her, the soupy feeling of falling in love filling me to brim. I couldn’t wait to wash the stink of the atmosphere off me and sandwich my little succubus in bed between me and Zach.
Will stopped trembling so hard in my arms. His eyelids blinked slowly, pupils returning to normal size. “I…I think I’m good, Fathers. Thank you.” He got his feet under him, standing on his own as Zach and I stepped away. When he looked at Deyva, the urge to protect her reset the tension in my body. If he blamed her for the hellions or twisted her ability to help into something else—
He hugged her.
Deyva’s shocked face over his shoulder mirrored mine and Zach’s as Will squeezed his arms even tighter around her.
“Thank you,” he muttered. “You saved me and I...I feel better. I was wrong. We were all wrong. The Fathers were right. I’m sorry.”
She patted his back with light taps. “It’s okay, Will. You’re welcome.”
Zach reached over and slapped Will’s shoulder. “It’s been a long day, already. Let’s get out of here.”
Will reluctantly let go of Deyva, a blush rising in his cheeks. “Actually, I...I was almost done with the fix. I think I can keep it together long enough to get it done.”
“Will, no.” I shook my head. “No one will be upset about wonky electricity. You almost got taken, just chill with your family for a few days. We’ll revisit it later.”
He turned to me, the definition of calm and determined. “Let me do my job, Father. There’s no reason why I can’t.”
My gaze shifted to Zach, who just shrugged. Deyva looked adorably smug and pleased with herself. It made me all the more eager to see the facial expressions she’d make when I sank into her tonight.
“Fine,” I sighed. “If you insist.”
Kais barely waited until the car was back inside the gate before going off on us. Deyva’s sigh of relief was short-lived as he marched toward the vehicle.
“What hell took so fucking long?” Naturally, it was my ear he chose to yell into. “A half-hour, Stavros. Thirty fucking minutes! Did you not agree to come straight back here—”
“I know, man. Back the hell up.” I forcefully pushed on his shoulder, knowing he’d be content to stay in my face unless I put space between us. “We ran into some hellions, but we handled it.”
“Handled it?! Will’s covered in blood! He looks like he got dragged behind a pickup truck!”
“Oh good, you’re finally back.” I looked over to see Azariah, his injured wing looking healthier, if a bit bald, walking along the crucifix gate with his hand casually dragging over the holy fixtures. “Kais has been pacing around with his ass clenched so hard that he’s petrified the stick shoved up there.”
“No shit, I was this close to hauling ass out there and seeing what the hell was the holdup.” Kais ignored the angel. “And clearly, I fucking should have!”
“Like I said, we handled it. Or Deyva did, rather.”
“What a surprise, the immortal with special powers saves the day,” Azariah mused.
“And what did you do while we were gone?” The question came from Zach, he and Deyva were both helping ease Will out of the car.
“I’ve been repairing the weak spots in the fence.” The angel tapped a sideways crucifix affectionately. “As we decided, it’s my new job here.”
Zach scoffed, saying nothing in response as he and Deyva led Will up to the infirmary. He did not hesitate however, in glancing at the angel over his shoulder one more time. Azariah caught it and looked away, chuckling to himself as he turned back to the fence.
That’s...interesting. I watched the interaction with a narrow-eyed gaze. Had those two been alone in close proximity again? Zach didn’t look especially perturbed if that was the case. And he didn’t say anything to me.
I shrugged it off, figuring he would let me or Deyva know if the angel bothered him again. She did say she trusted the angel more now, which could only be a good thing.