The Wind-up Forest

by L. J. LaBarthe

  There was a murmur of agreement at that. The Angel of Music might be able to identify the music where the Archangels could not. As the key continued to turn, the music played on, and finally, as the key wound down to a stop, so did the music, the last notes lingering in the valley like birdsong.

  “Archangels.”

  As one, the Brotherhood spun around. Gabriel stared in astonishment at the dryad who faced them, fingering an arrow with one hand. She was tall and ageless, though her eyes seemed as old as time itself. From her clothing and demeanor, Gabriel guessed that this was the queen of this group of dryads.

  Michael stepped forward and bowed gracefully to her. “Your Majesty. It is an honor to be graced with your presence.”

  The queen smiled at him. “Your words honor me, Saint Michael.”

  “We will not tarry long in your forest,” Michael said. “We merely wish to clarify what you spoke of to this young shifter and his lady.”

  The queen’s grass-green eyes flicked to Piotr, then back to Michael. “The warning we gave them of the sacred becoming profane is true, Saint Michael.”

  Michael pursed his lips. “Do you know who has taken the Grail?”

  The queen shook her head.

  “I see. Do you know where it was taken from? Or”—and Michael’s eyes grew wide as he realized the enormity of the situation—“from when?”

  “What I know is little, Archangel. I know only that it has been stolen and by those who are able to touch the most holy thing without coming to harm. I do not know where it now is, nor why it was taken. I know that it was moved from its sacred place only three days past and it was done in stealth.”

  “Forgive me, Your Majesty—” Raziel stepped forward and bowed. “—but can you tell us where the sacred place was?”

  The queen regarded him in surprise. “My lord Saint Raziel, I am bewildered that you do not know. Aren’t you, Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Tzadkiel, the guardians and keepers of the Grail?”

  Raziel nodded. “We are,” he said slowly, “but the time that we have had to be vigilant over it has passed. We were ordered to other duties and we thought the Grail to be safe.”

  “Where was it then?” Uriel demanded.

  “Until around 600 AD, it was, I believe, at Glastonbury, in England,” Raziel said. “Was that where it was taken from, Your Majesty?”

  The dryad shook her head. “No. It was moved after the Romans fell down.”

  “Fell down?” Gabriel muttered. “That’s one way to put it, I suppose.”

  “The Romans went, and the Byzantines came,” the queen continued, “and the world turned and turned. The monks who lived in Glastonbury moved it, and it was taken from the Holy Lands, from Saint Catherine’s Monastery.”

  Raziel considered that. “There are worse places to keep it,” he said.

  “It is three,” the dryad went on. “It has never been one. The humans have always thought the Grail was just the cup of Christ, but it is also the bowl and the trencher. The three things he ate and drank from at the Last Supper, that were used to catch his blood as Longinus speared his side when he was crucified upon the cross on Calvary. The one who has taken it knows this, I suspect. Or they would not have taken all three parts.”

  “It makes sense,” Tzadkiel agreed. “Is there anything at all that you can tell us, Your Majesty? That you haven’t already?”

  The dryad shook her head. “We listen, we watch. When we know, we will tell you.”

  “We cannot ask for more,” Michael said. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  The dryad nodded. “Listen well,” she said, “you must find it and return it to safety. It will be used for profane works, if it has not already. There are signs, Archangels, and they bode ill.” She nodded once more, and before any of them could say anything, she was gone, blending into the forest with barely a whisper.

  “Well.” Uriel exhaled loudly. “That was nice and cryptic. I fucking hate riddles.”

  “Let’s get back to the others,” Raziel said. He seemed to be lost in thought.

  “Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to learn anything else here today,” Remiel agreed.

  They began to retrace their steps, heading back to the creek where they had left Raphael, Haniel, and Lyudmila. Gabriel fell into step beside Tzadkiel.

  “I’m worried,” he said. “Working with the Archdemons again?”

  Tzadkiel grunted. “You knew who she meant with that blather about wings of tar, too, huh?”

  Gabriel scowled. “Fucking Adramelek.”

  “I heard he’s got a new title,” Tzadkiel said. “Leader of the Guild of Glass Knives.”

  “And let me guess—this guild is comprised of him, Ondrass, Markus, Lix Tetrax, and Melcherisa.”

  Tzadkiel laughed. “Got it in one, Gabe.”

  “Bloody hell.” Gabriel kicked at a rock in his path. “I hate working with those smug wankers.”

  “Amen,” Tzadkiel said. “But I don’t think we’ve got much option.”

  Gabriel grunted.

  Chapter Three

  “HOW ARE your people, Your Majesty?” Michael asked Lyudmila.

  She smiled wanly at him. “They are all right, for the most part.”

  “What about this conference in Paris you were all heading to?” Gabriel asked. “Any word from the other shifter clans about this?”

  She shook her head. “Not as yet. I am to meet with my people in Archangelsk, but I do not think they will be there yet.”

  Michael and Gabriel exchanged a long look, and Michael turned to the Brotherhood. “Raziel, you and Uriel take her Majesty and Piotr to Archangelsk and stay with them. Call us when their friends join them, and we will come and join you for their report. Tzadkiel—” He turned to the Archangel of Justice. “—take Sophiel and Brieus and investigate Saint Catherine’s Monastery. Samael, please seek out the monks who were at Glastonbury in their places in Heaven in the Land of Light and ask them about the Grail. Metatron, please go with him.” He squared his shoulders. “The rest of you, please speak to all your contacts about this situation. Gabriel, will you remain with me, please?”

  “Of course,” Gabriel said, as the others nodded and went to do as Michael had asked. He watched as Uriel and Raziel disappeared, going to Archangelsk and taking Lyudmila and Piotr with them. Once he was alone with his lover, Gabriel let out a long sigh. “And what are we to do?”

  “We must go to Belle Coeur,” Michael said. “I feel keenly the need for peace and quiet to discuss this in privacy with you.”

  Gabriel smiled and nodded. “I like the way you think, solnyshko.”

  Michael smiled back. “I thought you would, da bao.”

  Gabriel took Michael’s hand in his own. “I’ll move us, yeah?”

  “Please.”

  Gabriel let out a happy grunt as the cold of the forest and creek was replaced by the warmth of a white, sandy beach and bright blue sea. He tugged Michael into his arms and kissed him.

  “We must discuss this situation.”

  “We are. We’re totally using our mouths.”

  “Ah. I see. I did not realize this was how you intended to discuss things, my apologies.”

  Gabriel laughed in Michael’s mind and ended the kiss. “Sorry, solnyshko. Just, here we are, alone, on our island, alone, and I wanted to kiss you. As we’re alone.”

  Michael smiled fondly. “I understand. I do not object.”

  “Awesome.” Gabriel kissed Michael again, running his hands up and down Michael’s back. “I’ve been wanting to do this since we were sparring. I know, I know, we got a crisis right now. Again. But there’s always crisis and there ain’t always time to kiss you.”

  Michael broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Gabriel’s. “I understand, da bao. I do. I, too, wish there was more time for us. But there is this situation and I do not know what the Holy Grail being lost will mean for us all.”

  Gabriel huffed slightly. “Okay. I guess I can put the mood on hold.”


  Michael quirked an eyebrow. “On hold?”

  “Yeah. Until this is over. Or until we get a moment.”

  Michael frowned. “I see. Perhaps I can make an agreeable compromise?”

  “Yeah?” Gabriel knew he was pouting, but he couldn’t help it. Since being injured by Semjaza, he and Michael had not been intimate more than a handful of times. He was also beginning to suspect that Angelique and Baxter had rather strong crushes on his lover, and that annoyed him more than he cared to admit out loud.

  “We discuss the problem now,” Michael said, “and then we go to our bed. It will take some time for Lyudmila’s people to reach Archangelsk, will it not?”

  Gabriel grinned, his good mood restored. “Aye, it will.”

  “Then let us go to the house and discuss this and make plans.” Michael took Gabriel’s hand back into his own. “I love you very much, da bao. I miss being in your arms. I miss being intimate with you. I know we have eternity together, but that is scant comfort now.”

  Gabriel nodded. Suddenly, he decided to tell Michael his concerns about the new Venatores squad. “Angelique and Baxter have crushes on you,” he blurted out.

  Michael blinked several times. He opened his mouth, and then he closed it again. He tilted his head to the left and then to the right. Finally, he said, “I think you may perhaps be mistaken.”

  Gabriel scowled and folded his arms over his chest. “No. No way. I know lust when I see it, and my jealousy thing, which is totally God-given, kicks in whenever one of them looks at you. Angelique, she’ll find someone to sleep with or whatever. Baxter won’t. He’s like a dog with a bone and puppy-eyed crush, all on you.”

  Michael rubbed his eyes with one hand. “I see.”

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “I do believe you,” Michael said. He sounded tired all of a sudden. “I simply did not want to admit that this had occurred. I do not know what to do.”

  Gabriel pulled Michael into his arms again. “They do know we’re bonded, yeah? And that’s loads more meaningful and powerful than a regular human marriage ceremony?”

  Michael sighed. “They know we are bonded, yes. As to the other, I cannot say. Angelique may, perhaps, know the details; she is intelligent and curious. She could have researched it. Baxter may not believe her.”

  “Fine. Then I’ll fill ’em in at training tomorrow.” Gabriel was still scowling. “And I’ll make it abundantly clear that I don’t appreciate ’em making poaching eyes at you. You’re mine.” The last word came out as a rough growl.

  Michael shivered in his arms and pressed closer. “I am yours,” he agreed.

  “And no little human or monster or angel or demon or whatever is going to take you from me,” Gabriel continued, possessiveness filling his voice. He was only peripherally aware of Michael pressed firmly against him, of Michael’s fingers dancing down the line of his own spine. Right at that moment, Gabriel let himself feel every bit of the jealousy that was part of the core of his power.

  He growled wordlessly, and he went on, “I’ve given you a ring, we’ve shared our souls, power, and blood, we live together, we work together, we fight together. I swear by the power of the One who watches us, who made us that anyone tries to take you from me? They will get my sword in their gut first, and maybe—if I’m feeling curious—I’ll ask ’em about it afterward. Most likely, I’ll just chop off their bits and let ’em die slowly of blood loss.”

  “You are a barbarian, Gabriel,” Michael said. His voice was breathy.

  Gabriel looked at his lover, eyebrow raised. “Well yeah, you always knew that.”

  “It is…. I desire you.” Michael wriggled a little in Gabriel’s arms, and Gabriel felt at once the hardness of his lover’s cock against him.

  “Oh yeah?” Gabriel smirked.

  “Yes.” Michael nodded in emphasis. “Very much.”

  “What happened to discussing our crisis of the week first?”

  “I changed my mind. We can discuss it later.”

  “All righty then.” Gabriel bent and picked Michael up, hefting him over his shoulder. As Michael yelped in surprise, Gabriel patted Michael’s ass with one hand. “Mm, you’ve got a damn sexy butt, baby. I reckon I’m going to tie you down and have my way with you.”

  “Gabriel! What—oh. Yes. Yes, that sounds….” Michael trailed off. Gabriel could imagine his lover was blushing.

  “Sounds good?”

  “Very.” Michael wriggled a little in Gabriel’s grasp. “You have me caught, da bao.”

  “Mm, I do rather.” Gabriel patted Michael’s ass once again. “Now to take you to bed.” He teleported to the bedroom, not wanting to waste any more time. Once there, he laid Michael down on the bed and straddled him. “Too many clothes,” Gabriel purred, ducking his head to nuzzle Michael’s neck.

  “Y-yes,” Michael agreed in a breathy gasp. Gabriel felt the whisper of power as Michael used his abilities to get them naked and he grinned.

  “You really want me, hm?”

  “You have no idea how much, da bao.” Michael arched into Gabriel. “Please, Gabriel.”

  “Arms up.” Gabriel sat back on his haunches, watching Michael like a hawk as his lover obeyed. “Fuck, but that’s a gorgeous sight,” Gabriel purred. He flicked an index finger and chains appeared out of the ether and wrapped around Michael’s wrists, securing him to the bedposts. “And that makes an even more gorgeous sight.”

  Michael licked his lips and gave Gabriel a look of wholly feigned wide-eyed innocence. “I wish only to please you.”

  Gabriel growled at that. “And you do, baby, you do.” He leaned down again and mouthed at Michael’s neck. Michael moaned and tilted his head to the side so that Gabriel could have better access to his flesh, and Gabriel, sliding his hands over Michael’s body, touching as much of him as he could reach, nibbled at the long column of Michael’s throat.

  “Harder,” Michael panted, writhing into each touch, each nibble. “Please, Gabriel, bite me harder.”

  There wasn’t a lot that was coherent that he could say to that. Gabriel groaned, heat and desire fueling him with a desperate need. His blood was on fire with want, and he bit down on Michael’s neck hard, tasting blood a moment later.

  They both groaned, Michael wrapping his legs around Gabriel’s hips as Gabriel managed to somehow shift so that he was between Michael’s thighs without releasing his biting hold on his lover’s throat. Biting even harder, his power sinking into Michael’s body like thin, silver-blue tendrils of pure energy, Gabriel managed to gather enough wit to slick his cock, and then he was pressing into Michael’s willing body.

  Michael keened, a sound that was tinged with his true voice, and Gabriel growled again around his mouthful, moving a hand to stroke Michael’s cock as he began to fuck Michael hard, fast, possessively. A litany of “Mine, mine, you are mine, forever, always, only mine” tore through Gabriel’s mind, echoed by Michael’s own mental voice as his lover focused entirely on Gabriel, just as Gabriel was focused on Michael.

  Gabriel was almost disappointed when he came—he had wanted to draw it out, fuck Michael for longer, fuck him so hard that they would both be walking a little gingerly later. His desire was too great to hold on, however, and Gabriel let out a loud cry, muffled against Michael’s neck as he drove his hips forward hard and fast and came. He continued to stroke Michael’s cock, just as hard and fast, and it was the space of a handful of heartbeats later that Michael came, yelling wordlessly as he orgasmed over Gabriel’s fingers.

  Panting, Gabriel slowly and regretfully pulled out of Michael’s body and drew back from his lover’s neck. There was blood everywhere, but Gabriel felt only a little sorry about that—it would wash off, after all, and they didn’t need blood to live, so there were no concerns on that score. No, it was the fact that Gabriel’s power-fueled bites would scar, and there was no way, short of Michael taking up wearing nothing but polo-necked jumpers for the rest of eternity, that those scars could be hidden. Maybe scar
ves, Gabriel thought, but Michael wasn’t really a scarf sort of Archangel.

  “Unless I wish to tie you down and do not have chains to hand,” Michael said. He was smiling.

  Gabriel realized he’d been musing out loud. He rolled his eyes at himself, even as he laughed. “Aye, well, that was a damn hot time, that was. Every time with you is a damn hot time.” He gently touched Michael’s neck. “They’ll scar something fierce, though, if you let them and don’t use your mojo to get rid of ’em.”

  Michael shrugged. “I will keep them and wear them with pride.”

  Gabriel flicked his fingers, and the resulting little surge of power released the chains around Michael’s wrists. “Really?”

  “Of course, da bao.” Michael pulled Gabriel down and cuddled close. “They are from you. They are of our love. And, should Baxter not realize after you speak with him, the bite marks perhaps will serve as an illustration that I am very much yours and only yours.”

  Gabriel touched Michael’s cheek with gentle fingers. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do.” Michael sounded puzzled. “I would not say it if I did not mean it.”

  “Fuck, I love you.” Gabriel kissed Michael chastely.

  “Language. I love you, also.” Michael smiled as he reached up to run a hand through Gabriel’s blond hair. “There is little that I would not do to make you happy, Gabriel.”

  Gabriel smiled in return. “Same here. Though it’d be to make you happy, not make me happy. I already make me happy.”

  Michael laughed. “As you say.”

  “So,” Gabriel sighed theatrically, “I suppose we should get dressed and get to making plans about this Grail business.”

  Michael sighed as well. “I suppose we should. We will be alerted by Raziel and Uriel in any case.”

  “Aye.” Gabriel pulled a wet washcloth to him and quickly cleaned them both off as best he could. He poked gently again at the marks he’d made in Michael’s neck. “You look like you’ve been mauled by a lion.”

  Michael nodded. “I thought I would. It is not far from the truth. You are my lion, da bao.”