ForsakingEternity Read Online Free Page B

wings,
relieved to hold his true form after a day of masquerade.
    He’d barely found a comfortable bench on which to sit and
wait for Adam when an angel appeared beside him. The interloper wore heavenly
robes which gleamed in the autumn sun and his wings brushed against Ren’s own.
Ren didn’t need to turn to know the angel had the deep brown wings of a
guardian. The safety and peace he emanated were all that were needed to
identify him.
    Ren stiffened and pulled his wings closer to his body. He
didn’t want the familiarity of sitting wing-to-wing with one of Raphael’s host.
Not when he was taking this step into the unknown.
    Ren’s stomach clenched and he squelched the urge to vanish
again, to appear half the world away, or in another realm of existence.
    It would do no good. He would simply follow. The only way
Evangelos could have known where to find him was if he had been sent and one
could not avoid a guardian from the Most High.
    “Greetings to you, Renatus.”
    “And also to you, Evangelos. What brings you to me this
day?”
    “A message from the Most High for His servant Renatus.”
    The formality set his teeth on edge. His muscles tensed and
he pulled his wings in tight; a reminder to not take flight.
    “You are a guardian, not a messenger.”
    “I am your guardian, and as such I may bring you a
message.”
    The absurdity of that statement left Ren staring in
disbelief. “Angels do not have guardians.”
    “They usually do not need guardians.” Evan hesitated before
continuing, his words slow and precise, as if being carefully chosen to least
offend. “This is your moment of Truth and the Most High has sent me to help.”
    His moment of Truth. The future suddenly sat before him like
a yawning chasm. One misstep and he could topple over the edge and be lost
forever.
    The possibility was frightening.
    “Speak, guardian, that I may know Truth.” He uttered the
official acceptance, but his heart did not want it. He stood on the precipice
of something which could very well tear his soul to shreds and yet he couldn’t
walk away.
    Indulging this curiosity could be defined as a sin.
    Adam would be a sin.
    Outside he held himself still, stoic, but inside was a
keening cry, a sense of loss for what he’d never had to begin with.
    “First, a warning. I cannot return to you until you request
my presence.”
    Ren nodded his understanding, the knot is in throat too
tight to allow words to pass.
    “ Truth of the Law is not always what one believes it to
be. Once it is written on the soul it becomes a part of a being and can never
be escaped. The Law of Men and Angels is near. It is your task to find the
scroll and proclaim the Law so all will know Truth and be subject once more.”
    Ren shivered under the power behind the words, a resonance
of power which could only come from the Most High himself. He should have known
his floundering attempts, his interest in humans and male passion would not go
unnoted.
    He nodded to Evangelos, an unnecessary acknowledgment.
    “Before I leave you, I am permitted to share that the scroll
you seek is in this town.”
    “I thank you for your assistance.”
    Evan opened his mouth to speak again, but Ren held up a
hand, halting the words before they came.
    “Please, leave me with some dignity. If ever you were a true
friend, give me this, at least.” He did not want to know how much this angel
knew of his venture into the human world, could not bear the shame of knowing
his folly was being bandied about Heaven.
    “Ren…” Evan paused. His face filled with concern. Ren had
seen that worried look on too many seraphim and cherubim since he’d returned to
Heaven alone and wearing a black feather on one snowy wing. “Your actions here
are shielded from the angels. I knew nothing until I was sent to you and I will
say nothing when I return. But this cannot stay a secret forever, not if you
continue. Consider this, and choose wisely.”
    “I must know, Evan. This part of me is