Jeremy (Broken Angel #4) Read Free

simple statement from Lash. And he’d given an answer that had lived in Jeremy’s heart since the day he’d met Naomi.
    “You wanted her.”
    “Yes.”
    And then had come the lie. He’d known the moment it left his lips he’d regret saying it. But he’d shoved those thoughts into the back of his mind because somehow, someway, he would find a way to move on.
    “I’ve thought a lot about it. I think you may be right about me confusing the feelings I have about you. With the way things ended in Ai, I never had the chance to know what real love is.”
    “You will. Someday. I know you will.”
    He’d wanted to respond to Naomi and tell her that he already had. That he already knew what real love felt like whenever he gazed into her eyes and how he was drawn to her fierce spirit and undying faith in others.
    But when he’d looked around his circle of friends and family, he’d seen that everything was finally where it should be. His mother tucked under his father’s arm, Rachel firmly on Uri’s lap, and Lash holding Naomi. And then he finally looked at the one person who could truly understand him—Gabrielle.
    Sapphire eyes locked with emerald ones, and her words whispered in his ear as they did when he’d returned from his so-called extended assignment.
    Play your game of poker.
    And so he had.
    Every day he wore the mask of the joyful, carefree brother to both Lash and Naomi. And with each passing day, the mask cracked piece by piece. With each loving glance Naomi gave to Lash, each tender touch of her fingers on his cheek, it broke apart a little bit more.
    Yes, everyone had been made whole again.
    Everyone but me.
    He circled the sky aimlessly, his powerful wings moving slowly as if they, too, felt the heaviness in his chest. It was a burden he’d been willing to take, and at the time, he thought his feelings would eventually fade away.
    He was wrong.
    What am I going to do?
    He was in the exact same spot he’d been in only a few weeks ago, after he’d had the fight with Lash in front of the Room of Offerings. Their lives had been turned upside down the moment he struck down Lash and Naomi on the top of Shiprock. He knew the moment Lash found out about his feelings for Naomi that he’d want to tear him a new one.
    Was it only a few weeks? Or was it months? The time difference between Heaven and Earth had never bothered him. He didn’t care that Earth time moved more slowly than time in Heaven. He had just never noticed—until now. Time pressed on him with each tick of the clock passing him by and leaving him alone while the others, Lash and Naomi, Rachel and Uri, even his father and mother, had moved on.
    He circled the angel living quarters, thinking about that day when Gabrielle had told him about Lash’s assignment to take a woman named Naomi Duran to Shiprock. A lump in his throat formed as he remembered the lies he’d told Lash. Well, not really lies, but he’d held back the truth from his best friend about how he’d been ordered to strike them down once they reached the top of Shiprock. Of course Lash had felt betrayed. He had every right to. Who wouldn’t when you were sitting on the top of a mountain in the rain, holding on to the love of your life, praying she wouldn’t die, only to find your best friend was there to kill you both?
    It was his job. It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do in his life. But if he’d had his memories back, if he’d known about Lash and Naomi’s history, would he have warned him?
    Jeremy propelled himself higher and faster, wishing he could escape the answer. It shouted loud and clear in his head. Duty had always been first with him. He’d always done what was asked, and if he had to do it all over again, he’d . . .
    He clenched his fists, fighting a truth about himself he didn’t want to face as he zoomed to the highest peak of the mountain range. A cool breeze hit against his skin, sending goose bumps along his muscled arms and abdomen. There was