homophobe, not a nephilim-hating hunter . It was sad that the distinction gave him a measure of comfort.
Keer moved before Levi could laugh in the guy’s face. He held the angel up effortlessly, his hands curled in the man’s jacket as he pulled him the extra nine inches off the ground to make him eye level with Keer. “You best turn around and look elsewhere, friend .
Children shouldn’t hear your vile hatemongering.”
Axis’s voice cut in before the man could respond. “Keer, put the asshole down. He’s no threat to any of us.”
“But, Commander—”
“No ‘buts,’ Keer,” Axis interrupted. “You’re not going to brawl at the workplace of a family friend, and you’re certainly not going to get your clothes mussed on account of a no-name bigot.”
Keer nodded as if the words made perfectly logical sense. “So noted, Commander. Mind your manners, asshole.” He dropped the guy, who turned resolutely forward and didn’t turn around again. Levi felt the last of the tension drain from his shoulders. Sometimes it was
great to be surrounded by overprotective lovers.
They made it to the front of the shop ten minutes later, and Levi laughed as his friends came into view. Madigan was running back and forth from the kitchen, Cross was manning the register, and Michel and Bren were taking orders from customers over the glass case display of goodies that were already made. The smell of coffee and chocolate hit him like a wall of all things fantastic, and Levi decided that if he ever had to leave home he would happily live the rest of his life stashed in a cupboard somewhere in this shop.
Michel grinned as he saw them. “Hey, guys. How’s it going?” he asked, handing off the small bag of bear claws to one of the women in line.
“We’re great,” Marius answered, crowding in behind Jade. Levi smiled and nodded. Things were looking pretty awesome today. This morning they put up decorations and now they were getting sweets. What more could a guy ask for? “We thought we’d pop in and see how your first day of business was going.”
Michel motioned to the rest of the shop. “As you can see, people have been coming in all day. Madigan’s cakes and creations has been a hit with everyone so far. The macadamia-nut cookies seem to be the most popular ready-made item.”
“Then we’ll take a dozen of them to go, my friend,” Marius said, smiling. He and Michel had gotten a lot closer since their flight into
sanctuary a few months ago. They’d apparently had some kind of manly bonding experience or something. Whatever had happened, they were pretty good friends now. Levi had been trying for weeks to get Marius to go out and have some fun and maybe take Michel. The guardians needed some chill time, but they were resistant to the idea.
Michel nodded and grabbed a white cardboard box with the name Angel Treats emblazoned in gold on the cover. “I’ll get those for you. But don’t go anywhere. Madigan and the others will want to see you.” He pointed to the small unoccupied table nearest the employees’ entrance. “Wait over there and I’ll have him bring them out.”
Levi practically skipped over to the table and plopped down in one of the seats. He loved Halloween, and he loved cookies. Life was
awesome right then. A split second later Madigan came out of the employees’ entrance with the box Michel had made up. Levi shot up and gave him a hug before taking a step back and looking at him. He had some kind of red-colored icing on one cheek and flour all over the front of his jeans. Though tired, he looked happy as well. The redheaded son of the Archangel Raphael was his best friend, his only friend really, and Levi was happy to see him look so content.
“Thanks for coming out,” Madigan said, looking at each of the
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