Accordant

Chapter Seventeen

As night fell and the last few meetings at the Regency Two wound down, Christian cleaned out the larger office and slouched in a chair. The upcoming meeting loomed before him like a harbinger, and he had to reassure himself that he'd made the right call this time.

This was not the first time Christian had dealt with the Archangel Gabriel. As far as Christian was concerned, Gabriel had been helping with the defense against HRL. Like most non-angels, he was not aware that Gabriel had spent almost all of his recent time being punished and tortured in the Hellhole for crimes that no mortal could remember.

But the Gabriel who teleported into the Regency's supposed processing office seemed markedly different to Christian. It had to be the same angel, because Christian himself had rigged the room to only allow teleports for specific energy signatures, and yet something about Gabriel was changed.

He'd dropped the glamours, Christian decided. Before, Gabriel had been hiding something behind an angel façade—not the same as a Fae glamour, but still noticeable if one happened to be looking for it. What he was hiding Christian did not know or care at the time, but he was now willing to bet that the distinct air and look of defeatism that pervaded Gabriel's spirit was probably the issue.

Who died? Christian almost asked. But he decided to stick to his plan. He already had one problem: Jaime himself. Jaime had been refused all forms of caffeine for the past three hours, just to reduce the likelihood of his doing something stupid to jeopardize everything.

"Welcome, Gabriel and Jael. Please have a seat." Christian gestured toward a pair of chairs placed opposite the intake table, another relic from the club's days as a humanitarian rescue center.

Gabriel shook Christian's hand and sat. Jael looked more suspicious. She folded her arms and leaned against the wall behind Gabriel.

Christian sat on the table. "We appreciate your taking time out of--"

"You said you had something to share with us?" Jael asked. She'd lived in the city long enough to know not to let New Orleanians talk.

Christian wrung his hands. "I'll ask you to reserve judgment until after we explain."

Jael shifted her weight from one foot to the other, a clear way of getting Gabriel's attention. He shot her a coded look, which she understood.

In Gabriel's view, Christian had changed just as much as Gabriel had. The Christian that Gabriel knew was headstrong, opinionated, and rash. Not deferential, and certainly not disposed to asking for mercy.

If an Eccentric changed his behavior, it was cause for concern. But this behavior was so uncharacteristic that Gabriel was willing to follow its thread. Besides, how often was anyone going to give Gabriel's own changes a chance?

"Very well," Gabriel said.

Christian opened his hand, and a wisp of something bluish-purple appeared for a moment. A second later, the door opened, and Reynardo entered with Jaime.

The Eccentrics were most protective of these two, their ancient vampire and their youngest scion, and Gabriel's interest was piqued. Why trot out the two most vulnerable of their number?

Gabriel got the sense that something was about to pay off for him in a major way.

After all, these were not men who often asked for favors.

Not without being aware of the bill coming due.

"Jaime." Christian nodded to the young man. Jaime glanced at him, then at Rey, then at Gabriel and Jael.