Darker Angels

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. This is the last chapter of this particular tale. Don't worry, there's a sequel in the works. I'm just trying to avoid making this a full novel. Hope everyone enjoys.

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Reicher flopped down onto the sofa in the library next to his husband and sighed. It had been nearly three weeks since he and Star had done the initial repairs to Abel’s rather fractured mindscape. 02 was coming along slowly and most of that was due to Abel consciously trying to reintegrate that part back into him without the thought of self loathing. Gun was helping tremendously with Abel’s self esteem. Circe and Hunter helped bolster his confidence as well but there was still that small part of Abel that wanted to hate himself. The major problems was that even with their combined abilities they weren’t getting anywhere with pulling Cain out of the other man’s head. It was tricky and dangerous as all hell and though Abel wasn’t fighting it Cain certainly was. Whenever they’d get one piece free Cain would have put another in place and wound it even tighter than the first. Much as he and Star both hated to admit it, they needed more help.



“Scheisse, it’s like using a sword to take out a splinter,” Reicher said, turning his head a little to look at Blaze. “Much as I don’t want to admit to it, we need to take him to the big guns, Mistress.”



Blaze put a hand over her eyes for a moment and tried to hold back the groan. “That means going home.”



Reicher shrugged. “Sorry. Star and I have done all we can for him. He’s stable but he isn’t going to get any better without some major reworking. She and I really aren’t capable of doing that with the level of delicacy he needs. He needs someone who’s capable of ghosting in and out of his head without Cain really knowing until it’s done.”



Blaze sat in thought for a few moments before sighing. “I’ll adopt him if he’s agreeable. Officially. I’ve been meaning to for ages but never got around to it. That should cover any objections.”



“Forgive me, Goddess,” Oracle said, looking slightly worried. “But do you think Abel is capable of understanding all that being adopted as a member of your family entails? I mean really understand. I don’t think any of us grasped the concept of what that actually meant until after the fact.”



“Are you complaining that I adopted you, Brad?” she asked teasingly.



“Of course not. I just think if you’re going to adopt Abel that it might be a good idea to adopt Seth as well.”



Blaze sighed and shook her head. “I would, but I can’t.”



Reicher frowned. “Why not?”



“Seth is an Empress of a very powerful people. If I adopted her then the balance would shift and those who might not have wanted to get involved in the conflict would have to simply because of her being aligned with me. Abel, even though he’s a Vatican priest, holds no real power in that faction. At least not to the outside world.”



Oracle nodded in agreement. “I hadn’t thought of the political repercussions of that. I should have remembered.”



“Don’t stress on it.”



“It’s a good idea in theory, Mistress. But won’t it be freaky that a Vatican priest is being adopted by a friggin’ demi-goddess? I mean, they usually tend to frown on our lot in general.”



“You may be right. I’ll talk to Catherina and Alessandro about this and see what they say.”



“I really don’t see Catherina having any difficulties with it,” Oracle said. “With the Vatican currently scrambling to pull everything back together again after the disaster I think the sooner the better to go forward with any plans of this nature.”



“That or you can just ask the Pope boy after Taka finishes beating the crap out of him. His head will hurt too much to really protest.”



“How are his lessons coming along?” Oracle asked.



“From what I’ve seen, painful. Taka sure as hell isn’t going easy on him. She’s treating him just like she would any of her other students,” Reicher said, smirking a little.



“That’s as it should be. He won’t learn properly if she babies him,” Blaze said.



“Speaking of fighting,” Oracle said slowly. “You do remember that the Council will want to put Abel through combat trials before you can officially adopt him. Especially since at least a dozen or so of them will sense 02 in him.”



“I’ll do my best to see that he doesn’t have to do that. If all else fails, I’ll champion him and there are only one or two who would even think to fight with me.”



“Then they must be insane,” Reicher said.



“I can still be beaten, Reicher. Have been on several occasions. Fortunately, most of those who can actually accomplish that are usually on my side. Thank the gods.”



Takara and Tres came into the library at that point in time. Takara looked puzzled and rather worried.



“Mom, I just got a message from Rhiannon.”



“Oh?” Blaze asked, her eyebrows going up. “What was it about?”



“She wanted to know when to expect us home.”



Blaze sighed heavily. “Should have known she’d See that before I ever made any solid plans. We should be there a couple of days before Mabon.”



“But you hate going home.”



“Unfortunately, it’s necessary right now. I’m going to officially adopt Abel if he accepts and if Catherina and Alessandro are agreeable to it.”



Takara stared at her mother for a moment before crossing to the huge floor to ceiling windows and staring outside.



“What are you doing, Princess?” Tres asked.



“Checking to see if the sky is falling.”





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The End . . . for now.