Page 117 of Starborn Husbands

“We’d been given a tip-off about it—the real reason we went through so much trouble to bring you here—but the tests we ran on you while you were out confirmed it. You have angel DNA, kid, and while I would say that makes you an angel, others wouldn’t agree. You didn’t ascend, you weren’t anointed or sired by a God, and you don’t have the runes,” Erick explains.

“My brain’s too mangled for this, and you’re wrong about the angel thing. How would I get angel DNA?”

“I might have some of the finer details wrong, but our tests don’t lie. Half of you is angel, and your vibration reads as a star that’s had an enlightenment. We don’t know how—we’re currently investigating internally—but for now it’s a mystery.”

“See? You belong to me, Treyu,” Merrick says.

“Not what he said.” I haven’t stopped playing with his hair. It’s nice. Silky.Gardenias.His scent has changed, and he smells like gardenias again. Oh, his wings are gone. I should make fun of him for smelling like a flower.

“He belongs to Heaven, is the problem,” Erick says. “Angels belong to the Garrison.”

“I was a fallen star for a hundred years. If I were angel anything, I wouldn’t have been so pathetic. I barely had more strength than a human.”

“Your powers are dormant. It was like that for me too until they manifested. We’ll also need to remove that,” he says, pointing to my wrist, the one with the king’s special bracelet. “But Daniel refuses until he can be sure you’re going to follow orders.”

Fucking whatever.

“A star who is an angel at the same time is a helluva weapon. Some are going to want you for their own purposes, others are going to fear you and want you dead. Joining the Garrison solves all your problems. Keeps you safe.”

Sure, it does. But if all this is true, I have a dilemma. When stars ascend, they transform. It’s somewhat of a rebirth. They are only angel—not a star and an angel at the same time. What kind of a circus act am I? Not sure I’ve ever heard of an angel-star before.

“Then we need to know who did this to me and who wants me dead for it,” I say, counting off each problem on my numb fingers. Clearly, Heaven goes on the “wants to enslave me for their own purposes” list.

“The list of who wants you dead is too long,” Merrick says, his hot breath tickling my ear.

“True.” The Guild, the Pleiadian king, probably the angel war general, and that’s just to start. Being a guardian naturally puts a target on your back, but I’m also a magnet for trouble. “So where did you find the finer details of your Treyu conspiracy theory?” I ask Erick.

“A demon.”

“A demon? What the fuck?”

“The demon is my brother, don’t worry,” Erick says.

“Know what? Don’t even want to know. Buying into the story is irrelevant at this point,” I say with less of my words melting together. The angel juice is wearing off. “What now?”

“We need to teach you how to fight, our way.”

I hop off Merrick’s lap, my knees buckling. I’m forced to use his shoulder to steady myself.

“Mother of Mercy, Treyu. Can’t you stay still?” Merrick says.

“No. How long is that all gonna take? I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”

“Dunno? Maybe a decade or two? Then I’m sure we could get you a leave to?—”

“Twenty years? No. Nuh-uh. Not happening. I don’t agree to this.”

“Sorry, you don’t have a choice, kid. Angels are the mercenaries of the Gods. You belong to them now.”

“That what you did? Fell in line for the Gods?” I ask.

He taps the metal collar on his neck. “No. I fought them. That’s why this is never coming off. I know I’m talking to a brick wall, but I’m telling you, it’s best to fall in line. You can have a good life here. I’m happy as fuck.”

I was just starting to know what happy was again.

“I’m doing what I love, saving the world, and my husband’s dangerous as fuck—which I find sexy. I’ve also got two gorgeous sons,” he continues.

“Two. You have a younger brother, Mair?”