No Surrender, No Retreat (Archangel Chronicles) by L.J. LaBarthe

Author:L.J. LaBarthe [LaBarthe, L.J.]
Language: nld
Format: epub
Tags: erotic MM, Romance MM
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

9

THEY emerged in a narrow side street in the city of Yerevan,

capital of Armenia. Gabriel sent his cloak back to the

house on the island he and Michael shared, and wrinkled

his nose. “What a fascinating smel .”

Raziel was also wrinkling his nose. “Garbage is

disgusting. And there’s so much of it.”

“So where does Lyudmila live?” Gabriel moved toward

the entrance of the side street hastily, wanting to put the

smel of rotting food and garbage behind him.

“She’s got a flat in an old Soviet apartment block.”

Raziel was moving just as quickly. Because their senses

were heightened due to what they were, the garbage smel

seemed to be worse than anything Gabriel could

remember.

“It’s a bit odd for a queen to live somewhere like that,

ain’t it?”

Raziel laughed as they emerged onto the main street.

“Lyudmila isn’t what you’d imagine a queen to be in any

sense. She was abandoned by her mother when she first

shifted—she hadn’t learned how to separate her two

animals, so she first morphed into a weird hybrid mink wolf.

Her mother freaked out and left her in the forest, and the old

King of the Eastern Weres found her and raised her as his

own daughter and his heir. He had no kids, and Lyudmila

having two animal shapes is pretty prestigious in shifter

society. So when he died, she took the rulership and

moved from an old Soviet apartment block in Moscow to an

old Soviet apartment block in Armenia.”

“Those old Soviet apartment blocks are al exactly

alike, so it’d be a familiar sort of den for her and a new seat

of power for the shifters she governs.” Gabriel nodded as

he lit a cigarette. “Makes sense.”

“Yes.” Raziel lit a cigarette as wel . “Though don’t

expect any glamor, Gabe. Her place real y is the

personification of old Soviet living. It’s two rooms, with a

communal bathroom and kitchen that everyone who lives on

that floor shares. It’s thirty stories high, and the elevators

don’t always work. Neither does the electricity or the water.

It’s poor and it’s dilapidated.”

Gabriel sighed. “La plus ça change, as the French

say.”

“Quite. The more things change, the more they stay the

same.” Raziel turned a corner. “Her block is over there.” He

pointed at a tal , blocky, and unlovely building on the other

side of the street.

“You said she’s got a consort, Piotr.”

“Yes. He’s Russian, right down to his toenails.” Raziel

grinned. “He probably won’t speak any other language than

Russian to us, though he knows English, Armenian, and

French.”

“Good thing my Russian’s up to speed, then.” Gabriel

grinned back. “Is he surly?”

“Oh, very. He also has an eerie physical resemblance

to Lenin. The politician, not the musician.”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. “Wow, okay. I’l try not to

stare, then.”

“Good plan.” Raziel waited for a clear spot in the traffic

and then jogged across the road with Gabriel at his side.

They entered the building through a door that hung

lopsided from one hinge. The lobby was dank, and there

was the faint smel of stale water. Gabriel wrinkled his nose

and tried not to gag. He cast a quick glance at Raziel and

saw the other Archangel was beginning to turn green.

“Should we brave the lift?” Gabriel looked at the open

doors of the pair of elevators with distrust.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.