Summon Toren(101)

Several of the angels stared at her, more like gaped, ratcheting up her anxiety. Their expressions left no doubt that they found her severely lacking in some essential quality. Ezekiel didn’t seem to appreciate their staring one bit. And he didn’t bother to hide his annoyance, sitting there, eyeing the green one directly across the table.

The archangel's eyes were clear, almost new grass green. Skylar was sure it was a gem but had no clue what the name of it was.

"Green beryl."

Surely he wasn't talking to her? "Excuse me?"

"My gem. It's green beryl. I am Vektor."

Shit! Could they all read her thoughts like that?

"Yes, we can." The amethyst—?—angel two seats to the left answered her. "I am Azen. And yes, amethyst."

Next to her, Ezekiel growled under his breath, and she could feel the coiling tension within him.

"Do not be concerned, human. We have no desire for your female, beyond what we can learn about sexual activities from her." The blue angel further down delivered that particular gem of reassurance.

Ezekiel no longer bothered to hold his growl back.

"Lassin, cool it." Toren stepped in before Ezekiel could make a grave mistake. "EZ, the archangels are no threat to you with Skylar. First because she loves you, remember? Second because they know they have wives waiting. Their only interest in her is to learn from her whatever they can that will assist them with building their own relationships. They've studied intensively, but none of that compares to the real thing. So chill."

“I’m not worried about them taking my woman,” Ezekiel muttered, insulted. “She doesn't like being stared down and I don't like that they don’t have the common sense to show a little restraint seeing as they’re the archangels with all the experience and knowledge.”

The diamond looking angel laughed outright. “He’s got a good point. I like this human.” He leaned forward and looked down the row at all his brothers. “Why don’t you show some couth. Act your ages.”

“The human is sensitive to his female.” The black angel’s words were canyon deep and intimidating. Well his voice was.

“They’ve both gained my mercurial properties to varying degrees.”

The looks on all the angel’s faces became somewhat fascinated and Ezekiel settled back in his chair, moving closer to Skylar, his arm protectively or maybe possessively across her shoulders.

Skylar glanced around again, growing more nervous with each passing moment. What were they waiting for, anyway?

Across the table next to the green angel named Vektor, the black archangel glowered at her. He was—

The air in the huge chamber changed. Skylar shuddered in the sudden chill and instinctively dragged in a deep breath of the thickened air.

A brilliant green tornado whirled momentarily just past the end of the table. A giant materialized there, like a knight in shining green armor. He stood like a statue glaring at everyone at the table in turn, sparing no one, then dropped into the huge chair at the head of the table. A thick stack of folders thudded to the stone, edges precisely parallel to the table's edge.

He gave the quad members a collective nod. "Welcome. Thanks to you, we have achieved a significant victory over the enemy." He snapped his fingers and the wall behind him transformed into a video screen of magnificent proportions. The screen displayed an image that seemed slightly familiar.

The swirling action cleared to reveal Toren and Samantha at the center of a swarm of the monkey men. The pair moved with lethal precision and the creatures dropped around them like rag dolls.

The giant spoke again. "Toren and Samantha eradicated an entire hive of these creatures as well as the demon lord Reftelen, who served Hetarne directly." The screen opened another scene.

They were looking down into a cavernous building, divided into a maze of curtained cubicles. The smaller cubicles, constructed on wheeled dollies, were moved singly and in small groups into the center of a dozen much larger compartments. The curtains were stripped down to display whatever sat upon the dolly. People in the larger compartments looked and bid to purchase the goods, all while their identities were protected from one another.

The things being sold varied. Crates of guns. Bulk packages of various drugs. Young sobbing women. The buyers were permitted to leave their cubicles one at a time to inspect the goods before bidding.

As the video segment played, short audio clips also rolled. People spoke in various languages, giving the effect of channel surfing.

"Stop. Go back."

Skylar had to look around to figure out who spoke. If the others hadn't turned to look at him, she might not have realized who it was until much later. The one with the brilliant diamond eyes was the center of the others' attention.