Page 98 of Starborn Husbands

What the fuck? That digressed quickly. I’m useless by Zhang’s side, but I kneel there anyway, holding his head as his star brightens. If he were a human, he’d be dead instantly from that. Thank the Gods he’s a star. “Arrrgh, Merrick, please!”

“Forty second?—"

Zhang’s star rises, his muscles tighten.

“Yeah. Yes. Fuck you. I’ll come, but you fix him right now.” I want to see him open his eyes.

Merrick yanks the sword from Zhang in a careless motion. There’s blue light humming through Zhang until his star settles back into him. My heart hammers in my ears as I wait.

“Come on,” Merrick says.

“Not until he opens his eyes.”

Atlanta and Gem didn’t listen. Merrick’s standing over us all as we crowd around Zhang. “You have too many weak spots, Treyu. We’re going to have to fix this, but for now, it works for me.”

Yeah, yeah. If I don’t make true on my promise, he’ll tell the Guild about Atlanta. “Open his damn eyes, Merrick.”

Merrick bends, placing two fingers on Zhang’s forehead. His eyes open and the orange around his brown irises flare. “Trey?”

“It’s fine. Everything’s fine now. Oh, thank the Goddess.”

“Treyu. Now,” Merrick says.

“What’s going on?”

“This is fucking bullshit, Treyu.” That’s Atlanta.

“Leave it, Atlanta. Don’t make this harder.” I can’t even look at Zhang anymore. I squeeze his hand. He’s too disoriented to register me pulling away—the only reason I reclaim my hand—and by the time Merrick has his grip on me, it’s too late for him to do more than cry my name.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

Atlanta

Envisioning what I’d do if an angel came down from the heavens to steal Gem away is the only thing stopping me from punching Zhang in the throat. The man has been pacing for thirty minutes, and if I hadn’t watched Merrick stab him in the heart with an angel sword, I’d never know it happened.

The reason I’m throwing my knife at a tree repeatedly is to prevent self-implosion. Gemini can’t keep his hands still, fidgeting, eyes darting from me to his brother. If I thought charging in like a stampede of Earth elephants would do anything, I’d have done it by now. The only thing that will make Gem’s anxiety go away is if Zhang stops storming around like a gorilla.

He needs to blow off the steam, so I’m gonna let him, until decides he’s done or until I can’t bring myself to aim at the tree anymore. A star knife in the leg will halt his pity party.

Zhang spins in his unlaced boots, his jacket flaring open to reveal too much of his bare skin. Sure, he’s a looker, but I have no interest in my brother’s husband. He freezes in place and the darkness shadowing his features morphs into pure treachery.

“Did you see the rune at the collar of his neck?”

“Nope.”

He huffs a sigh. “Guess not. I only caught it because I was close enough. It was an archangel rune. Merrick is an archangel now.”

“So? Should we send him a congratulatory cake?” Now that he’s calmer, I reach out to snatch Gem, molding his smaller body to mine. He’s shaking, and I want to crush something. Gem is my dichotomous creature. Strong and brave, but also fragile. I murmur hushing sounds into his ear.

“Fuck him. It means that I need an archangel starblade.”

“Don’t be stupid. You can’t kill an angel, let alone an archangel, without God-level power. You’ll be executed—Centaurus or not—and it’ll all be for nothing.”

Zhang knows all of this, but anger’s getting the best of him. I don’t blame him, I’d be making the same pledge, but we need to talk him down from that shit. However, there must be another way to kill an angel. No one’s found it, is all. I excel at making things die. If I thought it was a good idea, I’d start looking.

The large Centaurus tugs at his hair and rips at the skin over his heart. “I can’t … I can’t be where he’s not.”

“That’s dramatic, even for you.” I’m a hypocrite for saying it, but he needs to calm the fuck down. Gem’s shaking harder and he’s too quiet. “We’ll go to my father. Maybe he’ll know of a way to bust into heaven.”