This evening, my training session with Freya and the others was longer than it usually is, due to the arrival of an unexpected visitor. I was in the middle of answering yet another of George’s questions when her gentle call interrupted me.
“Ace?” Freya asked when I went silent. “Everything all right?”
“Yes,” I answered. I looked down at the three of them. “My Elder would like to come and speak to you—you in particular, Freya. She simply did not wish to startle you.”
She frowned at me, though, and I shared her puzzlement. I couldn’t think why Salathiel was taking time to speak to us in person.
Much to my astonishment, it was not only Salathiel who came sweeping down when I relayed their assent. Just behind her was Anteros, his six great wings spanning nearly twice the reach of Salathiel’s. He smiled at me, and then turned to bow to the humans.
I could tell that they could see both Elders, and that it took a toll on their spirits. George shuddered, his eyes huge and spine locked against the impulse to look away. Kara didn’t fight it—she turned her back and sank against the railing of the porch, covering her eyes and breathing deeply.
And Freya stared, her mouth falling open. Even she, with long years of experience with the nearness of angels, felt the sheer power of the two of them together. Through her eyes, I saw what she saw—the round, beautiful eyes of Salathiel, and the way her small figure looked ready to pounce; the great height and soft light cast by Anteros, his terrible love making her feel small.
“Forgive us,” Salathiel said, still gentle, still quiet. “We would not have disturbed you, but we have been discussing recent events, and we felt you deserved to hear our thoughts directly.”
Since Freya seemed to be bearing up well, I went to bolster George and Kara. The Elders waited patiently until all three of them could face them.
“Salathiel,” Freya said, her voice still a bit tremulous. “Anteros. I never thought anyone of your rank would let us see them.”
“What is rank in heaven?” Salathiel asked. “In age, Kara is nearly our match, and in power, all three of you exceed us. You simply cannot feel the truth of it yet.”
“We’re working on it,” Kara said, some of the glint back in her eye.
Salathiel beamed at her. “And I have every confidence that you will come to it in the end.”
“What brings the two of you here together?” I asked them.
They turned to me, perhaps also hoping to give the humans time to gather themselves. “I went to Anteros looking for wisdom on this connective thread you have with Asoharith,” Salathiel said. “I was worried that in opening yourself to her in this way, you would put yourself in danger.”
“Rather it seemed to have the opposite effect,” I said, remembering how Asoharith had been restrained by the connection the first time I used it to find her. “It seemed to prohibit violence—from either of us, for it was broken the moment I moved to harm her.”
“That, combined with the exhaustion it caused in you, makes it ineffective as a weapon,” Salathiel said. “But when you were able to use it again without the same effects, I knew that we needed to understand it better.” She turned to her peer. “Anteros has some thoughts on all of this.”
He inclined his head to her and turned to me. “When Salathiel first told me of this, Asa’el, I believed it was your love for Shannon-as-was that powered this thread. I no longer think that is the case.” His warm eyes moved to Freya. “Now that I have seen the bond between you, I am convinced that it is Freya who makes this all possible.”
Freya blinked. “Me? All I did was write a story.”
“And in so doing you captured the essence of Asa’el’s love. Your understanding of his love for her rose out of the love you have experienced for yourself, and so in making the former a power he could use, you strengthened the latter. Whenever he uses this thread, as you have come to call it, he is drawing your power with him.”
Freya and I looked at one another.
“It is rare that an angel and a human can form such a direct and open bond,” Salathiel said, “and there are dangers attendant on the forming of such, which is why it is usually prohibited. But now that the two of you have come to this place, we have an opportunity.”
From the gleam in her eye, I knew what kind of opportunity she meant.
“I have not often been called to use love as weapon,” Anteros said ruefully, “but I know something of how it is done. And it seems I have given Salathiel some ideas.”
She laughed, so merrily and cheerfully that I could see the humans relaxing at the sound. “I had some idea already, old friend,” she told Anteros with a wink before turning back to Freya and me. “I would like to work with the two of you myself, to explore the thread between the two of you and see what might be possible. We have seen glimpses of that possibility in the past, but now it is time to go deeper.”
I was stunned. To train with the Elder herself? “It would be an honor,” I managed to say.
Freya was a bit more hesitant. She looked at me, then back at Salathiel. “The dangers you mentioned—most of them would be to Ace, wouldn’t they?”
She and Anteros exchanged a glance, but neither answered. They did not need to, for Freya read the answer in their auras, and her mouth tightened.
“Freya,” I said, putting a wing around her, “Salathiel would not suggest this if the risk were not worth the reward. And if we can perform miracles together—how can we not even try?”
She looked at me, studying my aura not to find answers within it, but as if she were trying to memorize the colors and shapes of it. I did the same, seeing that she did want to try, wanted to explore the connection between us and what we could accomplish with it.
I want that, too. Regardless of the consequences that may come, regardless of what may happen in the future, how could I not want to tie myself closer to Freya? How could I ever regret that?
“All right,” she said at last, turning back to the elders. “Let’s do it. But if at any point you think that it will hurt Ace at all, you promise me that we’ll stop then and there. Whatever he says.”
“Agreed,” Salathiel said. “After all, I know as well as you do his bad habit of pressing himself too far. Between the two of us, we will keep him safe.”
It was on my lips to protest, but the expression in Anteros’ eyes stopped me short. What was it that he saw in our hearts that made him smile so sadly?
He met my gaze and said, so quietly that I didn’t think any of the humans could hear, “Love makes Guardians of us all.”
They left soon after, Salathiel having made arrangements to join us for our next training session. Now assured that Salathiel will help her protect me from myself, Freya is excited to begin the new lessons. I am too, and yet also part of me is anxious. I was a Cupid long enough to guess what Anteros saw in Freya. What I do not know is what it will mean for her.