Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 1

voice, all right. "I've rarely listened to you."
    A flap of Raziel's wings puffed a gust of wind through Cole's hair. "I know. You should more often. I try to help."
    Cole managed to get up onto his feet. He expected the world to swim, for his head to pound, but neither happened. But, his mouth did feel like something had died in it. He thought about making a Bloody Mary, but Raziel's wings fluttered, his brow furrowing. "You know what I was just thinking about doing," Cole murmured.
    "The alcohol won't help anything." Raziel sighed. "I understand your heart hurts. Daniel meant so much to you. His betrayal hurts. Let it hurt, Cole. You need to mourn his loss, but you also need to let him go."
    Pain stung through Cole. "He might come back."
    Raziel shook his head a little. "No. Daniel has put his feet on a new path, and it leads away from you. You must find your path now. You won't walk it alone." He smiled. "I'll walk it with you."
    Cole walked over and helped Raziel to his feet, and his cheeks darkened a little as his eyes took in the sight of Raziel's body. Naked body. He licked his lips. "Are you going to go all invisible again?"
    "I... don't know." Raziel looked around himself. "I shouldn't be visible now. I've never been visible to a human before."
    "Is it just me? Can anyone else see you?" Cole asked with a frown.
    Raziel's cheeks pinked, and the color just made him all the more handsome. "Again, I don't know. I'm your guardian angel, no other's. If your maid were to walk in right now, I can't say for sure that she would or wouldn't see me like you do."
    Cole sighed. His own guardian angel, and now he was stuck with it. This had to be some sort of cruel joke, some play of the cosmos giving him a dose of his own medicine. Hadn't he suffered enough? He'd already been through the worst break-up in his life, and now there was an angel standing in front of him, probably about to knock shit over with those huge, beautiful wings. Cole squeezed his eyes shut against the strange moment of attraction and crossed over to his bar. When he paused and simply reached for the decanter of water, he heard Raziel chirp approval at him. The sound didn't help the odd twisting and churning inside him.
    The water went down smoothly, though it didn't have the effect he would have preferred from a good, stiff drink. He looked over at Raziel, who watched him with a smile, his wings fluttering and folding in close to his nude body. Cole couldn't help but scowl. He was going to be guilt-tripped out of every form of comfort he had. No booze, no cigarettes, no drugs, just some angel who could read his thoughts and pretended to know what it was like to have his heart ripped from his chest by the person he loved most.
    Cole clenched his jaw and went back to cleaning up the mess from the night before. His maid didn't need this kind of headache first thing in the morning, and the fewer people who knew he'd O.D.ed and passed out on the floor, the better. His head began to ache, the first sign that anything at all was wrong with him, but it was nothing compared to the hurt that still raged in his heart. He would have chosen oblivion over this, but it seemed the Big Man Upstairs wasn't listening.
    ****
    Frowning, Raziel looked around the meeting room Cole dominated. The men and women around the table had their eyes focused on Cole and what Cole was saying. Raziel didn't understand a lot of it. Something to do with apps and Facebook and dating services and things that Raziel couldn't fully grasp. That was all right. He wasn't here to learn more about Cole's job. His ward had founded his own company at twenty-five, become a millionaire, and had everything he could want materially. Material things, though, wouldn't fill the void left by Daniel.
    Raziel walked around the room, his wings fluttering. The men and women couldn't see him. Cole's eyes occasionally glanced his way, so Cole could still see him, but his employees couldn't. It was strange. It didn't make any sense to Raziel. Why could Cole see him? Had saving his life altered the veil between ward and angel? He'd never heard of that happening. Then again, he hadn't heard of many angels doing what he'd done. Most angels loved their charges, but they didn't love them. Not like Raziel loved Cole. His heart fluttered in his chest as his eyes were drawn to Cole.
    Strong. Beautiful. Broken. Cole drew him in time and again, made him wish for things an angel should never wish for. A kiss. A touch. A