I give a little shrug, “You probably would’ve made the second half, but the Kappas had to forfeit—it was a shut out,” I reply, grateful that there’ll be no second half.

“That bad, huh?” he asks me with a quirk of his eyebrow. When I nod, his green eyes sparkle with pleasure. “Did you score?” he asks me interestedly, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear that has escaped from one of my braids.

“Yes, but everyone scored at least once, so that’s not such a huge accomplishment,” I say honestly, watching him as his smile grows a little bigger.

“Do you have plans now, or can you take a ride with me? We could go to my house for a while,” he asks me softly.

A small laugh resonates from him when I immediately nod my head enthusiastically. Turning around, he keeps one arm around my shoulder as we walk to his car. I spy Brownie and Buns watching me leave with Reed, so I wave goodbye to them as we retreat to the parking lot. Reaching his car, he pauses before opening the passenger door to kiss me gently. Feeling breathless and giddy, I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

“I’m glad you’re back,” I breathe near his ear.

“So am I,” he whispers in return.

Opening my door for me, he waits while I climb into the seat. Walking around to the driver’s side, he gets in, too. Taking my hand, he places a tender kiss on it before releasing it so he can shift the car into gear.

A small frown clouds his eyes as he says, “I am sorry I left you here alone this weekend. I have been worried about you. How have you been?”

“I’m better now that you’re back.” I say evasively, and then ask, “Where did you go? Your note didn’t say.”

“A friend contacted me regarding a military issue he needed help resolving,” Reed says soberly. “I didn’t want to go—I didn’t want to leave you here unprotected, but had I not gone, I would have run the risk of my friend becoming suspicious about what would keep me from a mission,” he says, looking at me pointedly. “I would like to avoid that if at all possible.”

Frowning, I ask, “Why wouldn’t you want your friend to come here?”

Reed scans my face briefly before he answers reluctantly, “My friend is an angel.”

“Ohh…and that’s a problem because?” I trail off, hoping his answer wouldn’t be terrible.

Reed’s frown deepens and his lips thin a little as he says, “Let me be perfectly clear about this, Evie. Just because he is not a fallen angel, that does not make him safe to you. Do not confuse our nature with that of a greeting card angel. We are warriors, lethal predators, and in many ways, our time here on Earth has taught us self-preservation, and in some cases, self indulgence as well. Zephyr would most certainly recognize what you are, and I would rather not kill him if I can avoid it,” he says evenly.

“You’re sure that he—um, that Zephyr—would try to hurt me?” I ask sadly, thinking that if Reed is afraid to trust his friend to be near me, to know that I exist, then we have some serious issues to discuss.

“I don’t know. As I said before, we are jealous creatures, and there is any number of things that he could object to where you’re concerned. You elicit extreme emotion, and I don’t know if he would interpret you as a threat, or something else,” he says.

Studying him for a moment, I can tell that he has thought a lot about this. My eyes narrow as I wonder aloud, “If not a threat, then what?”

Reed’s voice is a little stiff when he replies, “Perhaps he would be drawn to you as well.”

My eyes widen. “Oh, you mean I might give him butterflies, too?” I ask, doubtfully.

“Yes,” he says gravely.

“And that thought bothers you?” I ask him in surprise.

“Yes,” he says, watching the road ahead.

I sigh heavily as I ask, “Reed, why would you choose to help me over your friend—your ally?” I still don’t really understand just how I’ve won him as my champion. I’m a half-breed and he’s, well, a perfect being.

Reed’s frown deepens as he says quietly, “You are my responsibility now, and I will protect you.”

My heart sinks a little as I mutter, “You make me sound like I’m an obligation.”

“You are alone, and you are fragile,” he murmurs, gazing at me as he drives through town.

“Kittens are fragile. I’m a woman…um, an angel… thing,” I end uncertainly.

Reed tries to suppress the smile that is forming on the corners of his lips as he says, “You are kittenish compared to us—as any angel would be at your age. That’s why I want to hide you— at least until you grow stronger.”

“Is that why you didn’t call me all weekend, so your friend wouldn’t overhear you talking to me?” I ask him, suddenly understanding that he was protecting me by not calling me.

“Yes…I did listen to the message you left me a few times. I liked it. Next time, leave a longer message and tell me about your day or, I don’t know, anything. I like hearing your voice,” Reed admits.

“Okay,” I say, smiling, “if you promise that the next time you leave me a note, there will be at least one endearment in it because I don’t count ‘Dear Evie’ as an endearment.”

“You didn’t like my note?” he asks.

“No, I didn’t. It was lame,” I say with a little pout.

“It was lame? What should it have said?” he asks in amusement, while regarding my demeanor.

“Hmm, let me think…Dear Evie, whom I adore passionately, I promise to be back as soon as possible because I’ll miss you too much to be gone long. In fact, I can’t possibly leave without you, so I’ll see you when you get here,” I finish, smiling coyly at him. Reed’s eyes turn a deeper green while he watches me explain the note I want him to write to me.

“I left you that brief note because I didn’t want to pressure you,” he says softly. “I know that you must have feelings for Russell—how could you not? He is your soul mate. I am not really sure where I stand with you. But I liked your voice message, and I would not mind if you chose to greet me the way that you did at the field again.”

“You’re asking me where you stand…with me?” I ask as we ride up the well manicure driveway to his home.

“Only if you’re ready to talk about it,” he says gently.

I listen to his even breathing for a moment, trying to collect all of the splintered fragments that make up such a complex being—so that I can try to explain to him what he is to me. A blush creeps over my cheeks as I say in a breathless voice, “You’re what I want. No other angel, or man, will ever stand above you in my esteem, in my regard, or in my love.”

I don’t think Reed was at all prepared for what I had just said to him. We haven’t quite reached the circular drive in front of his house when he applies the break and the car rolls to a gentle stop. He isn’t looking at me; rather, he’s staring out of the windshield at the darkening sky. “But, I was sure that you and Russell…that it is meant…that you and he—” Reed begins, but I interrupt him.

“No. I told Russell this weekend that you are what I want,” I explain, attempting to read what he’s thinking.

Reed, stiffening as if he’s angry, says firmly, “Evie, you don’t have to do this. I will protect you regardless of who you choose to be with. You need not fear that you will lose me as a guardian if you and Russell…”

My eyes widen as I realize he doesn’t believe me. “Reed,” I explain quickly, “I love Russell. I have a feeling that I’ve always loved Russell, and that I’ll always love Russell. But it doesn’t matter anymore how I feel about him because all of that is obscured now. You outshine everything, and I find that I only want to be with you.”

In an instant, Reed cuts the engine of the car and disappears from the driver’s seat. A half a second later, I jump, startling as my door opens.

With an apologetic grimace, he says, “Sorry,” while unbuckling my seatbelt and lifting me out of the car in one fluid motion.

In less than a second, we’re at the front door of the house; mere fractions after that, I’m in a room I haven’t been in yet. It’s a spacious bedroom, probably the master bedroom by the look of it. Reed sets me on my feet by the door, and I creep forward into his room. Gazing around me avidly, there is an enormous bed centered against the far wall. The other walls are lined with oil paintings in guided frames. There are also polished, gleaming bookshelves with row upon row of leather-bound books—probably works of art in their own right.

“Your room?” I ask, turning back to him where he stands leaning against the closed bedroom door watching me.

“Yes,” he replies. “I want to show you something.”

“You do?” I ask, smiling as I wander over to the bedside table.

My eyes roam lightly over an intricately carved statue that stands no higher than a foot tall. I pick it up, studying it. Allowing my fingertips to trace over the smooth, ash-white surface, I marvel at the detail and delicate lines of the lissome woman in repose on a Grecian chaise. She looks like a goddess, and there is something really familiar about the piece— the dress the woman wears in particular. As I focus on the statue’s face, recognition dawns me. It’s me! This is a carved statue of me.

“This is the dress I wore to sit for the portrait Mr. MacKinnon is doing!” I whisper.

“Do you like it?” Reed asks from just behind me.

“It’s beautiful. Did you do this?” I ask in awe that he can produce such magic out of a piece of stone.

“Yes,” he replies softly.

“I didn’t know that you’re an artist!” I exclaim, studying the delicately carved figure.

“I haven’t done anything in a while until recently…I was inspired,” he says with a stunning smile that makes my hands feel shaky.

I gently set the statue down and content myself with just looking at it from where it is on the table. Noticing another one next to it, I can’t help picking it up. This one resembles me as well, but this time in a field hockey uniform. My marble likeness is frozen in an aggressive pose on the brink of smacking the ball with my stick; the likeness is uncanny.

I study it for a moment, and then I ask, “Those statues, the ones in the library, the one you crushed when I was here before, you did those, too?”

“Yes,” he says, and I can tell he is remembering the day I had hurt my knee.

“The one you broke was of an angel. Was she a friend of yours?” I ask, smiling over my shoulder at him.

“Evie, do you miss anything?” he asks. He embraces me from behind, his arms wrapping around my waist.

I place his work gently back on the polished table before I twist in his arms. Pressing my ear to his chest, I listen to his heartbeat pulse a driving rhythm in my ear. No,” I say breathlessly.

Reed gently pushes me away from him as he says softly, “Evie…I brought you here to show you something. Something you need to see before you can make any decisions about what it is you think you want.”

“What do you want to show me?” I ask with a puzzled expression as he backs a few steps away from me.

Reed’s eyes are dark and watchful as his hand reaches up to his crisp, white shirt, slowly unthreading a button through the eyelet. Heat creeps into my cheeks as each button exposes more of his perfect chest and torso. When his shirt lies loose, he pauses to gauge my reaction. I didn’t really know that I’d moved closer to him, so it is a surprise to me when my fingertips graze his bare chest. His skin is smooth and perfect, lacking the imperfections of human flesh. With every centimeter of his skin I touch, my heart races a mile. As my hands travels upward under his shirt, I lift it off of his shoulders, sliding it down his arms and letting it fall to the floor.

This is where some of my courage begins to desert me. Apprehension enters Reed’s eyes as the sound of popping and crunching bone resonates from behind him. My eyes widen, seeing a mass of charcoal-hued feathers rising from behind his broad shoulders and continuing to arch well past his neck to about midway behind his head. The raspy sound of my shallow breathing echoes in my ears while his wings retract into a resting position. He hasn’t unfolded them fully so I have no idea just how far they can expand.

I am vaguely aware of my fingernails digging into the palms of my hand as I breathe only one word, “Oh!”

I back away from him a few steps before coming up against the edge of his bed. My knees buckle, and I half fall down on it, catching myself to rest on my elbows. It’s as if time has slowed down or maybe it just doesn’t exist anymore as I focus all of my attention on the creature in front of me. Staring at Reed, I think that maybe it hasn’t been too long since my transition into adulthood—and the subsequent abandoning of a world where things like this are possible—because being thrust over the threshold into this uncanny reality isn’t as terrifying as it should be. Slowly, so as not to break the spell of this moment, I climb off his bed. I creep forward tentatively, feeling his perfect, predatory eyes tracking every nuance of my movement toward him.

Reaching out, I trace the line of his clavicle to his left shoulder, circling around him and feeling his iron-strong contours play beneath my fingers. My fingertips slip from his shoulder to his charcoal-colored wing; they skim down the strong, downy appendage, feeling its silky texture. His wings nearly reach to the floor and are pointed, like that of a falcon. Lifting my hand, I place it upon his other wing, continuing slowly around the back of Reed like a ring to his Saturn. When I am before him again, my arms reach up, circling behind his neck.

“You’re magnificent,” I breathe, touching his hair gently. “Can you move them?” I ask, wanting to see the graceful limbs demonstrate their power.

Reed nods, his eyes never leaving my face. Extending his wings quickly, they make a snapping sound like a sheet being shaken out. The edges of his wings spread wide, causing the feathers to serrate to sharp points.

My eyes soften as I ask, “They’re lovely. When do I get mine?”

Reed’s eyes soften, too. “You’re not frightened of me?” he asks me in a perplexed tone.

With his dappled, charcoal wings towering around me, I say honestly, “A little, but it’s really more thrilling than frightening. How do they fit inside you? They’re huge! I mean, is it uncomfortable to pack them away…because I don’t get how they go in and out like that…does it hurt? What’s it like to fly? How did you learn to use them…did you just know instinctually, or was there, like, a flight school?” I stop talking when Reed bends down and kisses me.

He breaks off the kiss soon after beginning it, to my absolute frustration, to ask, “Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because you’re a really good kisser,” I reply, rising up on my tiptoes and trying to start up where we left off in the kiss.

Reed pulls back, just enough to see my face better, and says, “Every human I have ever encountered who has seen my wings is…well…terrified. I have to persuade them that they saw nothing in order to get most of them to stop screaming at me.”

“Oh, well, maybe it’s because I already knew what you are, you see, so I wasn’t very surprised. Anyway, you’re not the scariest thing I saw this weekend,” I reply as an afterthought, before again attempting a continuation of the kiss.

“Pardon me, what did you say?” Reed asks politely, frowning.

My teeth tug at my bottom lip. You idiot! Way to ruin the moment, I think, closing my eyes in a grimace that lends weight to my words.

“Evie, what did you see this weekend?” Reed asks sharply, grasping both my upper arms and frowning down at me.

“I was going to tell you, but I forgot because I was so happy to see you—”

Reed cuts me off by letting go of one of my arms and covering my mouth with his hand. His voice is edgy when he says, “The scariest thing you saw this weekend was…”

He stops speaking and uncovers my mouth so that I can fill in the blank. I quickly tell Reed about going to Coldwater and seeing the shadow man in the parking lot of the coffee shop. When I finish, Reed’s frown is darker.

“Evie, that thing, your ‘shadow man,’ is nothing short of a demon from Sheol wrapped in a human host,” Reed says, looking grave.

My voice is weak as I ask, “A what?”

“When the Fallen are awarded a soul from a human, they take it to Sheol, to the abyss. It gets changed, mutated by them over time. It grows more corrupt, and if it becomes evil enough, they release it so that it may find a human host, someone vulnerable in some way, to possess. To most normal humans, the possessed person can usually go undetected. They never see what it truly is. There are exceptions, but for the most part they wreak their havoc on the world unchallenged by humans. We can see them easily and dispatch them when we come across them.” He pauses to study my face, before he says, “It sensed you, and yet it did not attack you.”

His comment strikes me like a veiled accusation. I pale, stammering, “Well, we were at a coffee shop. Maybe he hadn’t had his first cup of coffee yet…I mean, I rarely start working until I get that first cup of coffee.”

Reed’s lips turn down grimly. “No, Evie, that’s not it…you said his shadow seemed to be looking at you?” he asks me.