I’d be sure to share that little tidbit of information with Desmond later. He reminded her of that loser Danny who treated her poorly. The last thing he’d want to do is have that working against him while he tried to fix things between them.And he would fix things between them.If Diana wanted a better apology from him, I’d make sure she got one. I could care less that Desmond was like a brother to me; I’d force him to bow at her fucking feet if it made her happy. Zeus’ beard, I’d cut his giant fucking fingers off until he agreed to do whatever she wanted.What’s it to me?Most of the times we’d done that to people, we’d been able to sew them back on. The knuckles never bent quite the same way again, and sometimes the fingers got a little crooked, but he would be fine.
Once this Red business was all said and done, I’d find that little shit, Danny, and jar his tongue and nutsack for Diana to use as a table knick knacks. Yeah, a couple of those rustic Mason jars with the burlap and lace would look nice in the living room. No one treated my Little Goddess like shit and got away with it.
She’s our Queen, and we’ll do anything she needs. Her enemies cannot live.Voice and I were in total agreement.
I kept one ear on their conversation and another one on what the guys were saying. I must have spaced out, because Mal had left, leaving Desmond, Bash, and Zaz sitting at the table with me.
“We didn’t do that to you, please believe us,” Bash pleaded to Azazel. Hades’ pajamas, he was still stuck on this asshole? “Neither of us would ever tell the Archangels that you were leaking information to us, because you weren’t. What would we get out of lying like that?”
“Unlimited access to me. Once I got disgraced, I was forced to live on earth, where it would have been easier for you two to see me. We wouldn’t have had to sneak around as much.” He ran his fingers through his hair, leaning his head on his elbow and sighing. “You both always complained about the constraints of dating a high-ranking angel so much…”
“Az, we hate to burst your bubble, but we were fighting over you so much that we were barely talking to each other. We wouldn’t have been able to coordinate a plan like that, let alone work together to accomplish it,” Desmond reasoned.Fuck him for being so logical.
“That doesn’t change the fact that someone told Raphael I was a double agent giving away pertinent information…if it wasn’t you, it would have had to be someone close to you. The tribunal knew where we were meeting–what we were doing…” Azazel said, staring at the pensive look on Bash’s face.
I had gotten away with this for centuries, but Bash was smart. He’d eventually figure out what I did. And then they’d tell Diana…Shit, I just started getting on her good side again after the tattoo stuff, I couldn’t afford to have them rat me out and ruin all that progress.
Slit the angel’s throat, and get rid of him.A wonderful plan, Voice, but not one I could carry out. Diana cared way too much about him for me to make him disappear.
“Guys, I did it,” I confessed. “I sent an anonymous message to Raphael through my brother Apollo and lied about Azazel.
“What?!” Bash and Desmond said in unison. They both looked at me like I was a monster, while Azazel just rolled his eyes, like it didn’t even surprise him. Did he think that little of me?
“I sent a message saying that I suspected Azazel was trading information with a demon, and that you were meeting at a specific time and place. That was it. They must have used magical surveillance after that. I was fucking this angel, Jophielle, at the time and complained to her about how you were both obsessed with this angel that was tearing our crew apart. She gave me the idea when I was drunk as fuck,” I admitted.
“Of course she told you that; she fucking hates me for breaking up with her way back when,” Azazel sighed as he ran his hands through his curly mane.
“You two slept with Jophielle, too? Well you’re practically besties now, expert sharers,” Bash snarked, rolling his eyes.
“And then what? You just forgot? You didn’t think to tell us so we could fix it?” Desmond snapped. His horns sprouted from his head, corkscrewing all the way until they looked like a crown. That only happened when he was furiously pissed.
“Well, it was a bender. You both were spending so much time with him that I partied a lot more than usual. So by the time I sobered up and realized what I had done, Azazel was already in custody. I couldn’t undo it. And I wanted him gone, so it seemed like a win-win.” A harsh truth. “I couldn’t stand having him around and seeing how he was destroying the crew.”
“You fucking piece of shit,” Bash snarled. “I can’t believe you did that.” He flew at me with superhuman speed, grabbing my shirt collar and punching me in the face. Even though his strength wasn’t as powerful as mine, he caught me off guard.That shit hurt.
Desmond started to shift, his skin turning red. I could feel his magic cresting and crackling through the air from his anger. He was going to lose control, and even though I was the strongest of us all, I wasn’t sure if I could take both of them. Azazel must have wanted his pound of flesh, because he stopped both of them.
“Guys, calm down. My disgrace isn’t solely Ares’ doing. They had a lot of fake charges at that trial; espionage was only one. They also accused me of mishandling my charges, sabotaging another guardian angel, and sharing fabricated visions,” Azazel said. He switched his gaze to me, but it wasn’t angry like I suspected it would be. His eyes were warm and full of sympathy. “Ares, you realize them fighting over me wastheirissue, right? I made it very clear to them that I was uncomfortable with how possessive and ridiculous they were acting. I even tried breaking up with them multiple times, even though they reassured me they’d work it out.”
“Truth, a lot of that rivalry was on me,” Bash said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and looking down at the table. “I was a possessive fuck back then and hated the idea of sharing. I caused everyone at this table a lot of pain.”
He thought he was a possessive fuck back then?Compared to when, now?He must measure improvement differently than I do…That was as good as an apology as far as Bash was concerned.
Desmond exhaled deeply, running his hands up and down his thighs and looking at all of us. “Yeah, I was a dick, too. I’m sorry I made dating us uncomfortable.”
“The past is the past. I think we all need to move on. I know we’re all trying to include Diana more and be honest, but I would prefer we keep Ares’ betrayal from her. He at least told us himself. She seeks out his comfort when she’s upset, and I don’t want to take that from her. This fight is going to get a lot worse before it gets better…” Azazel’s voice was ominous. I thought he’d be furious at me and run straight to Diana for revenge, but he didn’t.He’s actually a good guy…fuck. Now I feel even worse.
“Azazel, I’m really sorry for what I did. I’m an impulsive fucker sometimes, literally the Greek personification of chaos. And I was jealous, too, because you never even looked at me twice, but you went for Bash and Desmond without a problem.” It was embarrassing to admit that last part. People rarely passed me over, and I had never had issues getting who I wanted over the years.
“The funny thing was that when I met all of you, I was actually interested in you the most, but you already had a ton of men and women all over you. Then, when I realized your crew was poly, you seemed very standoffish toward me, so I just assumed you didn’t like me from the start,” he said. “Can we all just leave this in the past? Without being disgraced, I may not have crossed paths with Diana. Ares, you’re forgiven.”
I got up and hugged him. He was giving me a do-over, and not a lot of other people in my life gave me that chance. “Thank you, Feathers. I appreciate it.”
“This isn’t even the most fucked up thing Ares has done, Desmond. I say we follow Az’s lead and let it go.” Bash looked at Desmond, giving him the final decision.
“Okay. But you need to understand something, Ares. Azazel isn’t going anywhere. He’s a permanent part of Diana’s life because of their soulbond. We all need to get our shit together and get along, because eventually, she’s going to face Red again. She needs us beside her if we want to keep her alive.” Desmond’s tone of voice was deadly serious, and he was right. We all needed to be there for her.
I nodded my head, and hugged both Desmond and Bash. No matter how one of us fucked up, or how much we hurt each other, we were brothers. We’d always have each others’ backs.