Raphael turned to look at him, taking in Israfel’s pale skin, his wide, earnest blue eyes, so full of compassion and hope, his full, pink lips and his mussed, dark blond hair. Today, Israfel wore a t-shirt that advertised Sriracha rooster chili sauce with his jeans, an incongruous choice for the Angel of Music.
“What’s the idea?” Raphael winced at how hoarse his voice sounded to his own ears.
“You’re exhausted,” Israfel said. He touched Raphael’s hand gently, and Raphael grabbed Israfel’s hand in his own and clung tight, taking comfort from the touch of his lover. “Baby, you can’t do everything.”
“Whoever made up that rule is wrong,” Raphael said. Then he sighed. “What’s the idea?”
“I bet this coma is partly for the reason comas happen, which I have no idea about, because I’m not the medicine angel. But, I bet this coma is also partly because of soul shock. Like, when the soul is so horrified by something that’s been experienced, that it just can’t process, and it has to shut down in order to absorb what happened and rationalize it some way. So, you can’t really force something like that to go away, right? But you can coax it into realizing that hey, everyone’s safe now—or as safe as they can be for the moment—and getting it to wake up that way.”
Raphael stared at him. “You astound me with your wisdom, sometimes, Iss,” he said. “And you awe me.”
Israfel shrugged, blushing a little. “I’m not clever,” he said. “I just recognize this from having seen it before, back when Semjaza got booted up into Aquila by Gabe and the poor families of those bastard Grigori were trying to come to terms with everything and with Uri’s flood.”
“Yes,” Raphael said slowly, frowning thoughtfully, “you’re right.
I remember.”
“And I did then what I’m offering to do now—music.”
“You’ll sing to Danny?” Raphael felt his eyebrows shoot up.
“Yeah. Well, okay, not entirely. Music is a great motivator, Raph, you know that. And my music, my pure music, played on my own instruments, can soothe even the most troubled of souls.”
This was no idle boast. Raphael had seen the effects of Israfel’s music on the sick and the lonely and the lost, when Israfel walked among people who most needed hope and sang to them while playing his guitar. His power was not in the words of the song, but in the notes that he played, the subtle combination of chord and scale and harmony that always sounded as if it was coming straight from Heaven’s most beautiful of stage halls. Raphael wondered if that music, unfiltered and played only a few feet away from the coma-stuck Danny, would have a more profound effect than any he had previously seen.
But he was desperate and he knew he was, and so he couldn’t think of a reason to deny Israfel’s suggestion.
“Do it,” he said. Then he smiled, giving Israfel’s fingers a gentle squeeze. “I’ll have his wife and pack come outside while you play.”
“And the Archdemons,” Israfel said. He winked cheekily. “They might object if their ears start to steam!”
Raphael laughed. It felt so good to do so. He tugged Israfel to him and embraced him, held his lover tight against him and let out a soft, happy sigh as he felt Israfel’s arms go around him and his hands rub his back. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, my beloved Israfel,”
Raphael thought.
“I don’t even want to play hypotheticals with that. I love you, Raph. Shall we clear out the room so I can sing to Danny?”
“And play as well, I trust?”
“Of course.” Israfel broke the embrace and reached up to cup Raphael’s cheek with his right hand. Raphael absently noticed that Israfel had a new tattoo on his inner arm—a scroll of notes around a water color painting style rose, and woven between the notes and the stem of the rose were their names.
“You’re wonderful,” Raphael said. “And so is your new tattoo.”
“You’re fantastic and awesome,” Israfel replied. “And I’m glad.
He does wonderful art, doesn’t he? He’s a friend of Tabbry’s, living in the Czech Republic.”
“After we’ve healed Danny, you’ll have to take me there and introduce me,” Raphael said.
Israfel gave him one of his wide, sunny, ingenuous smiles, the smiles that never failed to make Raphael melt inwardly and his heart flip flop with love. “I’d like that.”
“Then let us see to Danny’s health and wellbeing.”
“And let’s not tell Mike. He’ll have a cow or something.”
Raphael barked a laugh at that. “I haven’t told him the details of this situation for that very reason, my wise one.”
Israfel snickered. “Israfel the Wise. Yeah, okay. That sounds great, but it’s such a damn lie.”
“Not to me,” Raphael said. He slipped his arm around Israfel’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head. “Never to me.”
Don’t miss
No Quarter
Archangel Chronicles: Book One
By L.J. LaBarthe
“…a Fantastic book!! The plot was well thought out and kept me riveted throughout.”
—Top 2 Bottom Reviews
You would never know it from his flamboyant lifestyle, but Gabriel’s not just the cheerful, fun-loving adoptive father of a pair of indulged young adult humans. He’s an Archangel, commander of Heaven’s legions of Seraphim, and despite his apparently easy virtue, he’s harboring a serious crush on his superior officer, Michael.
For years Michael has devoted himself to developing a team of humans, the Venatores, to aid in the fight against Hell. He’s been pining after Gabriel for centuries without hope, believing himself to be too serious to attract the other Archangel’s interest. He’s happy to discover that he’s wrong, but their burgeoning relationship is stymied by a major problem: an egomaniacal human is recruiting demons and fallen angels in a bid to take over the world. It’s up to Michael and Gabriel, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels, to beat back the forces of Hell before the Earth is overrun.
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No Surrender, No Retreat
Archangel Chronicles: Book Two
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Seventy years after it began, the war between angels and demons is over.
Archangels Gabriel and Michael reunite at last, but a dangerous new challenge stands in the way of their happiness: someone is kidnapping angels and selling them as trophies on the black market. When Raphael, Archangel of Healing, goes missing, his tearful lover joins with the Brotherhood of Archangels and their lieutenants to rescue him.
Without Raphael’s healing touch, disease spreads quickly through the world’s human population. The situation only worsens when the angel Agrat is kidnapped: the number of sex crimes begins to rise and her husband, Gabriel’s lieutenant, loses himself to his grief. As they mount a rescue mission, Gabriel and Michael’s relationship will be put to the test.
With the threat of the world dying around them and tragedy looming overhead, can Gabriel and Michael keep love and hope alive?
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No Shadows Fall
Archangel Chronicles: Book Three
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Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest.
With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza’s return to Earth doesn’t threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity.
But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love?
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The Wind-up Forest
Archangel Chronicles: Book Four
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Archangel Gabriel is hoping for a quiet period in his life to enjoy his relationship with Archangel Michael, but someone has other ideas.
New dangers arise when the Holy Grail is stolen. Gabriel, Michael, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels and their allies must somehow thwart the twisted desires of the thief.
Their search for the Grail takes them all over the world, calling on old friends like Uriel and Raziel, and forging powerful new alliances. Though they face a fresh set of perils in pursuit of the thief, the enduring comfort Gabriel needs so much, that of his beloved Michael, never abandons him.
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The Crystal Lake
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The thief of the Grail has been identified and the Brotherhood of Archangels is moving to counter her evil machinations. But as demons flock to the side of the thief and betray Hell, monsters are enslaved and shifters and an angel turn traitor. The love between Gabriel and Michael is tested as they join the rest of the Brotherhood on the trail of Naamah. Danger makes strange bedfellows in the form of Lucifer, the Archdemons, and Lilith.
A traitor lurks among the angels and humans, and the Venatores are discovering vital new information. Lovers Liam, a Necromancer, and Baxter, a shifter working for Michael’s Venatores unit, must face not just the living but the dead. Archangels Raziel and Uriel contend with demands on Raziel’s power that wear him to the brink of exhaustion. The Brotherhood will need all their strength to prevail against the threats surrounding them.
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The Bone Cup
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“Hot sex throughout as well as a surprising couple that I didn’t expect.
All in all, it was a great ending.”
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Gabriel and Michael, hand in hand and leading the Brotherhood of Archangels, the Venatores, and the Archdemon Guild of Glass Knives, march into the mouth of madness to retrieve the Holy Grail with the blessings of both God and Lucifer. They cross dimensions and battle for the future of all realities: Heaven, Hell, Earth and Purgatory.
In Purgatory they are reunited with Naamah and meet her children, who are terrified of her. One of her allies is an angel, but they can’t identify the traitor. Gabriel faces his worst fear when Michael is injured and he might lose the unwavering comfort Michael embodies. If Gabriel cannot save the Holy Grail, he risks losing more than his one true love—all of creation might be destroyed along with them.
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About the Author
L.J. LABARTHE is a French-Australian woman who was born during the Witching Hour, just after midnight. From this auspicious beginning, she went on to write a prize-winning short story about Humpty Dumpty wearing an Aussie hat complete with corks dangling from it when she was six years old. From there, she wrote for her high school yearbook, her university newspaper, and, from her early teens to her twenties, produced a fanzine about the local punk rock music scene. She loves music of all kinds and was once a classical pianist; she loves languages and speaks French and English and a teeny-tiny smattering of Mandarin Chinese, which she hopes to relearn properly very soon. She enjoys TV, film, travel, cooking, eating out, abandoned places, urbex, history, and researching.
L.J. loves to read complicated plots and hopes to do complex plot lines justice in her own writing. She writes paranormal, historical, urban fantasy, and contemporary Australian stories, usually m/m romance and featuring m/m erotica. She has won a Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention and another award for Best Historical Gay Novel.
L.J. lives in the city of Adelaide, and is owned by her cat.
Twitter: @brbsiberia
Blog: http://misslj_author.livejournal.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lj.labarthe.9
Web: http://www.ljlabarthe.com/
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