Angel's Blade Read Free Page B

cliché
generator strikes again.”
    His dad just smiled and closed his
eyes. Nathaniel shook his head and settled in for a nap, but not before he blew
Raguel a kiss.
    ****
    When Nathaniel pulled the car
around the oval driveway in front of Castle Archangel, he could hardly keep
himself from gawking. He’d traveled quite a bit in the last five years, heading
out to cities and rural areas along the west coast on assignments as a
journalist, so he’d seen a lot of buildings. However, the castle of the angels
looked like something out of legend: hard grey rock rising above the white
landscape like a fist against the sky. A tower decorated the south-west side of
the building. The front had windows set into the stone, like faceted jewels.
Right now, they glittered warm and golden against the cool silver twilight. As
the car ticked in the cold, he stared for a moment, trying to take it all in.
    “Are you going to stare at the
place all night?” Raguel asked peevishly. He was already opening his car door. “I’m
freezing. Let get inside.”
    Nathaniel sighed and set the
emergency brake. By the time the plane had landed, he’d felt like strangling
Raguel. His little wink to the other man had backfired, big time. Raguel hadn’t
taken his little joke well and began a campaign of insults and sly insinuations
that had put Nathaniel on edge for hours. Raguel had a seemingly inexhaustible
capacity for cruelty. He wondered if maybe his dad had meant for Raguel to
teach him a lesson, too, except Nathaniel had learned patience long ago.
When you’re the only half-human, half-angel in your clan, you got used to
subtle shunning. Raguel had nothing left to teach Nathaniel at this point.
    “You ready?” he asked his dad
instead of punching Raguel in the face. The other angel was already walking up
the stone steps He really should have waited for my dad, his clan leader, Nathaniel thought, pressing his lips together to keep back the angry words he
wanted to say.
    His dad smiled, knowing exactly
what he was thinking. “I am. Are you?”
    Nathaniel opened the door and
stretched the kinks out of his neck. “This is your show, not mine,” he said
when his dad followed him from the cozy warmth of the car into the crisp,
winter air.
    Orifiel shrugged. “As my son, your behavior
will reflect on our clan.”
    “Raguel’s behavior will reflect on
our clan, too,” Maion said, walking up to them with a bag in each hand. “And
since he’s an asshole, I’m a little bit worried about that. Just my opinion.”
    “Raguel’s actions will reflect more
on himself than on us, you’ll see,” Orifiel said.
    Maion eyed his leader skeptically.
While his friend was distracted, Nathaniel moved to take his pack. Maion danced
out of reach, obviously not that distracted. “Oh no you don’t. You’re
our clan leader’s son. No carrying bags for you.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Nathaniel
said, grabbing his backpack. “I’m not even a full angel. I’m not going to
impress anybody.”
    Maion raised an eyebrow, but didn’t
fight him for the bag. “Uh-huh.”
    “When you two are done with your
little argument, I’d appreciate it if we could get inside,” Raguel called from
the door.
    At least he had the sense to wait
for us before knocking, Nathaniel thought. He cocked his head at his father who shrugged
again. Nathaniel gritted his teeth, frustrated. Sometimes his dad’s easygoing
ways drove him insane. He started for the steps, hoping to get there before
Raguel did anything else stupid.
    Ah. No such luck, he realized when he was
halfway up. The heavy door swung open, revealing one of the most intimidating
men he’d ever seen. The man— no, the angel, he thought, spotting the
legacy marks that trailed down the man’s skin—crossed his arms over his chest
and stared down his nose at Raguel. He had dark hair and dark eyes and an
impressively muscled physique. He didn’t say a word as he shut the door behind
him. He just stood there,