“I’m afraid that isn’t possible,” Azrael said. “The Thrones were quite adamant about your penance.”
“Then who will raise this child?” I couldn’t exactly strap you to my back while I was out chasing demons.
From a few feet away, Xavier cleared his throat. I glanced over and he raised his eyebrows slightly.
“You?” I asked, astonished at first, but quickly warming to the idea. Xavier was intimately familiar with our kind, and he was exactly the type of person I’d want for you to have as a parent—kind-hearted and empathetic. An exemplary man in all regards. He’d loved you in your past life, more so than you even knew, and he would love you again.
But I couldn’t expect him to do it alone.
I glanced back at Santiago’s seated form. The two of them were having an affair, of that much I was certain, despite not having their union blessed. If Xavier was willing to take you on as his charge, then this was the least I could do for him in return.
“My lord, if I was able to find two suitable guardians, one human and one divine, to care for this child, would you bless their union?”
Azrael sighed and asked, “Do you mean the two beings in this room who refuse, despite our warnings, to be apart?”
I shot a glance at Xavier who only nodded slightly.
“I do.”
More grumbling while Azrael, presumably, consulted the Potestas. Xavier caught my gaze and held it, both of us praying for the same outcome.
“We will bless this union under the condition they raise this child to the best of their abilities, with absolute attention to his moral character.”
“Of course, my lord,” Xavier said with a slight bow, then thanked him for his blessing.
You began to stir, and I lifted you into my arms, ignoring Azrael’s presence entirely for the moment. You smiled in your sleep, and I prayed it was a pleasant dream and not Lena attempting to seduce you in your infancy.
“Lena has one more stipulation,” Azrael said.
I tore my eyes away from you to glare at him. What else had he agreed to on your behalf, that your beating heart be delivered to her on a silver platter when you came of age?
“Go on,” I said, irritated that Azrael hadn’t been more forthcoming.
“She wants him named Vincere.”
Vincere. In Latin, it meant to conquer.
Is that what she thought, that by sending you back to me as one of her own Nephilim brood, she had won? There was no way I’d give you over to her manipulation. Or to Azrael and the Order of Angels’ perverse sense of sacrifice. You were mine, and mine alone. I’d not lose you again.
“No harm will come to this child,” I warned everyone present, including Azrael. “No being will interfere with our soul bond. He was promised to me, and here and now, I claim him as my own. If anyone—god, beast, or human—attempts to harm him, I will vanquish them.”
My voice thundered against the wooden beams and echoed across the factory floor. I meant it with every fiber of my being. Azrael’s tone when he spoke was cold and clipped, showing absolutely no mercy and no remorse.
“Despite the obstacles presented to you, we are entrusting you to shepherd this bloodborn onto a godly path. And while we bless this union, know that if this child is used as a weapon against us, we will be forced to intervene. The same condition, Henri, applies to you.”
I could hardly hide the disdain in my voice when I responded with an icy, “Yes, my lord.”
“Now, bring him to me, so that I might bestow upon him my blessings of good health and virtue.”
I brought your sleeping form over to Azrael, who laid his fingers atop your tufted crown and whispered in an angelic tongue, a language reserved for those spirits who dwelt in the holy realms.
Your pretty dark eyes opened and went slightly cross as your lips pouted and your brow settled into a deep and pensive scowl.
Your fate was in my hands. I’d not fail you again.
3
Henri
In this life, as in your last, my Sundays were devoted to you.
I purchased Xavier’s condo on Miami Beach shortly after you returned, and he moved into Santiago’s guarded compound, which offered more security and ample grounds for you to explore in relative safety.
In addition to the endless views of the Atlantic, which reminded me so much of the cliffside vistas from my islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, I chose this particular residence because whether or