Page 39 of Cherry Moon

Pink light burned the edges of a doorway beside the actual door. Tiny cherry blossoms puffed out of the line, scattering across the floor, glittering as the doorway became a curtain of flowers billowing in a warm breeze.

“Your love for Akira has captured the attention of the Cherry Moon’s magic,” a soft voice drawled from behind the veil. “It is a gift to love and so a gift has been bestowed upon both of you. The sibling and the soulmate.”

“Who are you?” I demanded.

Zach signed to me that he’d been feeling the words. Not hearing but experiencing them in his own way.

“Help Akira find his path,” the voice replied. “He is at the precipice, yet he needs a push to clear this hurdle. You are all joined together by your love, a great part of the next step. The world is changing, and a new darkness rises. Help him. Let him be glorious.”

My face heated over those words.

“Are you a tenshi?” I asked nervously.

“Help him, Gabriel.”

They must be. “Why do you need him?”

“Because he is Akira,” the voice answered.

“But he’s…he’s different now.” My stomach clenched.

“Step through the veil, both of you. Help him.”

Bob and Rose dashed through the blossom doorway.

Aki…

I asked Zach if he’d caught that.

He had.

There were no more questions to ask for now, nothing else left to say until Aki was safe. Then the lid would be off the jar, and I’d go against the tenshi themselves to spare him from whatever plans were in place.

His path was to be my husband. That’s what he wanted.

“Let’s go,” I told Zach.

Without any hesitation, I charged through the veil of blossoms to help my man, Zach right behind me.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

AKIRA

Big up my babies.

Man, they really were amazing.

Just as my hope started to wane, my babies found G and Zach. They looked as happy as piggies in mud. Well, wolves at a free-for-all butcher’s shop. The two special men in my life connected with them. Stroked their fur, got licked.

Divine, cherryfied intervention.

Careful now. There’s always a price.

I snarled at the flash of pessimism, despite it being true. If the Cherry Moon magic dished up hope, then a knife in the dark moment would follow.

You know, for more of that balance bollocks.

“The suffering will soon begin,” Bony Hag said, oblivious to my babies having slipped away. “Death will be slow. Your decay will be blessed.”