want to be caught crying like a baby. Why couldn’t he have turned up earlier when Eloise needed help?
When the horse landed in front of him, Michael hopped off and shoved his sword into his sheath. “What’s up? I heard you call out for help, so I take it you’ve already made your decision.”
Wiping the tears from his face, Nathaniel blinked up at Michael’s bright aura. “I guess so.”
Michael looked him up and down. “You certainly look very handsome now you’ve cleaned up and shaved, Nathaniel. But from the miserable look on your face, I take it your date with Eloise didn’t go to plan.”
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re darn right it didn’t go to plan, but you knew it wouldn’t, didn’t you? That’s why you arrived with your sword. Did you expect to run into your nemesis tonight?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call Lucifer my nemesis. He’s below that. But it seems he has your ward in his radar. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? Now, I need to know what you’ve decided to do before I go, so what’s your answer?”
“You already know what my answer is. You tricked me. You said I had until tomorrow morning to decide what to do, yet you knew I’d soon come back up here, begging for my wings.”
“Hmm, it’s not like you to be so belligerent, Nathaniel. Tell me what happened so I can help you?”
“Here we go again. You say you want to help me, but where were you earlier when I needed your help? You must’ve known what was going to happen.”
“I’m not sure exactly what you’re talking about, Nathaniel, so spit it out.”
Chapter Four
Nathaniel stood up, his face only inches from Michael’s. “I’m talking about Eloise. Devlin tried to molest her tonight by possessing her boyfriend’s body. He’s still out there somewhere and there’s no one to protect her. You must’ve known Devlin had already sold his soul because you just said Lucifer had my ward in his radar. So why didn’t you tell me instead of letting me go off to talk to her? I would’ve taken my powers back immediately had I known what Devlin was up to, then I could’ve burned his wings off when he kissed Eloise. You certainly weren’t there to burn them off, and neither was God. But it didn’t take long before I was cast down to Earth, and I did less than Devlin.”
Michael raised a perfectly arched brow. “You didn’t do less, Nathaniel. Not only did you have physical desires on your ward, you fell in love with her. I’m sorry about what occurred with Devlin just now, but we had to let you experience firsthand what could happen if you were tempted to stay here on Earth as a human instead of accepting your wings back.”
Nathaniel folded his arms. “Oh, I see. You had no intension of letting me spend time with Eloise. It was all part of your plan. You tricked me.”
“I didn’t trick you. I had no idea of the outcome. We just let it play out to see what would happen, but we were ready if needed.”
“Ready if needed? Eloise needed you tonight, yet you weren’t there for her.”
“Come on, Nathaniel, nothing happened to her except a kiss, and at least you got to see the problems you’ll face if you stay as a human with no angel powers to protect her. We guessed that once you’d had a taste of human pleasures and desires, you’d want to stay on Earth with Eloise. However, we decided to give you a second chance, but first we wanted you to know what you were getting yourself into before you made your final decision. I know it’s hard for you, Nathaniel, but you see, you’re the only guardian that can save Eloise. No other angel knows Devlin as well as you do. You were his best friend for thousands of years until Eloise was born. You know what makes him tick. And yes, we found out this afternoon that he has been dealing with Lucifer. In fact you know already that it was Lucifer that caused you to accidently possess Tom’s body. Lucifer was hoping you would be tempted to kiss