Frowning, Tohr glanced over at the grandfather clock by the door to the butler's pantry. Two in the afternoon? Who the hell could -
The chime went off again.
Striding across the mosaic floor, prepared to call for his brothers if he had to, he peered at the monitor -
"Holy. . . shit. "
"Who is it?"
Tohr put Autumn down, freed the locking mechanism to the inner portal and put his female behind him in the event any daylight shone in.
Lassiter walked in like he owned the place, that swagger back in full force, his smile as wide and naughty as ever, his blond and black hair marked with fresh snowflakes.
As Tohr and Autumn stared at him with their mouths open, he held up two oversize McDonald's bags.
"I brought us all Big Macs," he said happily. "I know you dig 'em, remember?"
"What the. . . " Tohr tightened his grip on his shellan, just in case. . . well, shit, with the way things were going lately, anything could happen. "What are you doing here?"
"It's your lucky day, motherfucker. " The angel did a little spin, piercings glinting, Mickey D's bags flaring out. "Turned out there were three of us being tested, and I passed as well. The instant I pledged myself for you two, I was free - and after I thought about it for a while, I decided I'd rather be on earth doing good works than up there in the clouds. 'Cuz, you know, I've kinda gotten a ball rolling, and this compassion shit looks good on me. Besides, no Maury in heaven. "
"Which is what distinguishes the place from hell," Tohr pointed out.
"Too right. " The angel jogged his load of high-calorie, high-fat. "So what you say? I got fries, too. No sundaes. I didn't know how long it would take for someone to open the door for me, and I didn't want them to melt. "
Tohr looked at Autumn. Then they both looked at the angel.
As one, they stepped in and embraced the guy, and what do you know, the son of a bitch held them back.
"I'm really glad this worked out," Lassiter whispered in all seriousness. "For you two. "
"Thanks, man," Tohr said in return. "I owe you one. . . . Shit, I owe you everything. "
"You did a lot of it yourself. "
"Except for that last bit," Autumn pointed out. "That was you, Lassiter. "
"Meh. Who's counting. Between friends, you know. "
The three of them eased back, and then after an awkward moment, they walked into the dining room. As they sat down at one end and Lassiter began passing out the goods, Tohr had to laugh. He and this angel had started with the golden arches. . . and here they were again.
"Much better than that cave, right?" Lassiter murmured as he handed over fries.
Tohr glanced over at Autumn and couldn't believe how far they all had come. "Yeah. Really, totally. . . completely much better. "
"Plus this place has cable. "
As Lassiter winked at them both, Tohr and Autumn started grinning.
"It does, angel. It so does. . . and anytime you want the clicker, it's yours for the taking. "
Lassiter barked out a laugh. "Damn, you really are grateful. "
Tohr stared at Autumn and found himself nodding. "You bet your ass I am. Eternally grateful. . . I am. . . Eternally. Grateful. "
On that note, he kissed his female. . . and bit into his Big Mac.
The End