Blessedly Fallen

   

BLESSEDLY FALLEN A NOVEL BY ALI MAC

   

Blessedly Fallen copyright © 2010 Ali Mac. All Rights Reserved. This document may not be re-distributed. Cover Photo: iStockphoto/ Girl: © Alexey Ivanov Designed by R. A. Macy

WHO IF I CRIED OUT, WOULD HEAR ME AMONG THE ANGEL'S HIERARCHIES?

AND EVEN IF ONE OF THEM PRESSED ME

SUDDENLY AGAINST HIS HEART:

I WOULD BE CONSUMED IN

THAT OVERWHELMING EXISTENCE.

FOR BEAUTY IS NOTHING BUT THE BEGINNING OF TERROR WHICH WE ARE STILL JUST ABLE TO ENDURE.

AND WE ARE SO

AWED BECAUSE IT SERENELY DISDAINS TO ANNIHILATE US.

--Rainer Maria Rilke

   

   

1. FALLING TOGETHER THE OVERGROWN FIELD WAS CALM AND QUIET EXCEPT FOR the sound of the tall grass swaying with the wind. Towards the south end of the field was a decrepit farm manor that had been abandoned years before. Now its only inhabitants were the field mice that scurried over its creaky, plank flooring. Under the night sky, everything was a shade of pale gray, and the occasional hoot came from an owl resting in the top of a tree. It was peaceful, but at the same time, eerie. The animals of the field were restless with an almost internal knowledge that something was coming. Those that could, moved to the edges of the field, but still lingered to see what would happen. Steadily, a strong wind rose up in the field and caused the grass to make hissing sounds, while the shutters on the manor windows started to slap back and forth.  

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The wind started to circle around, making a small twister in the deserted field. The trees at the edge of the field creaked and bowed in the direction the wind pulled them, but refused to follow. Stronger, the wind picked up until the inside of the wind tunnel was no longer visible. The walls of it were like strong, white energy and the roar of the wind it created was nearly deafening. A loud crack of noise drowned out the wind, and a flash of energy came from the heavens, descending down into the middle of the energy tunnel. The power of it brought down the walls of the tunnel, and in their wake, a sphere of energy careened out in every direction, temporarily illuminating the entire field. All at once, the wind and the light were gone, leaving the field quiet once again. But unlike before, field was no longer deserted. Three forms lay collapsed against the earth, trembling. Where the walls to the energy tunnel had once been now formed a trail in the ground that encircled them. They began to move and rise. All three were without clothes, and all three were men. The first to stand was the tallest of the three. His long dark hair fell below his shoulder blades, and clung to his moist face. His eyes were like the color of pure silver and gold mixed together, and they looked down to assess the other two men, both of whom had the same long hair and matching eyes, but each was different in his own way. The second to stand was nearly a head shorter than the first. His hair was the color of pure sunlight and even seemed to radiate in the dark. He wasn’t like the other two, being thinner and younger. 2   

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The third didn’t look at the other two as he stood up. His eyes scanned the field, and then the old manor. His posture was tense and alert, and he seemed to be waiting for something to strike. “I don’t think we were followed, Euri,” the smallest one said to him while flexing his fingers and admiring his hands. “That’s not my name,” the third man answered, a glower seeming to take over his face. The young one rolled his eyes, and repeated, “I don’t think we were followed, Eurial.” Before the third could respond, the first one interrupted, “Lyle, Eurial, enough. We need to find food and clothes. We can take shelter in that house. From there, we’ll find her. She can’t be far from here.” The two nodded obediently to him, and followed him from the field towards the direction of a dusty road that led to town. “Are you sure that this is the place, Rafe?” The young one, Lyle, asked. He shook his arms out as he walked, marveling at the way they moved. “Yes. I’m sure,” Rafe answered. His eyes were dead-set in the direction of town, as if he could see something that was far away. “Rafael, what if she isn’t the one? What if we were wrong?” Eurial asked the leader, his voice full of doubt. By now the three of them were walking along the long, narrow road. The stars provided just enough light to make out their silhouettes. “Do not doubt the sacrifice we all made. We did not doubt her when were above. We shouldn’t doubt her now.” Rafe’s voice was confident and strong. He knew what he was 3   

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doing. The effect seemed to wear off on to Eurial, and he began to walk faster. Lyle, who was now swinging his arms in circles, said, “She is gonna flip when she finds out!” He, more than the others, seemed to express what he was feeling. “What are you doing?” Eurial asked the boy, disdain coated his every word. “Oh, come on!” Lyle exclaimed. “Don’t tell me it doesn’t feel good—being in a real body. I feel so alive!” “It feels heavy and cumbersome. I don’t understand what there is to like,” Eurial replied with contempt. “Focus,” Rafe commanded. The two quit talking and the three of them walked in silence, and the only sound to be heard was that of bare feet thudding on the dirt road. After several miles, they were getting close to the small town. The occasional light pole would illuminate their bare bodies as they passed under it. None of them seemed to be disturbed by the fact that they weren’t dressed. From behind them, a bright light illuminated the road, as well as themselves. Eurial was the first to react. Turning to face the light, he held out his hand in its direction. Lyle was quick to react to Eurial by grabbing his arm and saying, “No! It’s just a human.” Looking closer, Eurial was able to make out the shape of a beat up truck coming down the dirt road. Its headlights were the source of all the extra light. Dropping his hand, Eurial shrugged off Lyle’s grasp. Rafe came to stand in front of them, and they waited for the truck to get closer. When it got to them, the white haired man driving the truck turned off the rumbling engine and got out. 4   

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Coming around the front of the truck, his eyes were opened wide as he looked at each of the naked, striking men in front of him. “Gaw! What’re you boys doin’ walkin’ round like that?” his gruff voice asked. Rafe said nothing, and Eurial stared imposingly down at the old man. “We were swimming and when we got out, our clothes were gone,” Lyle answered, ignoring the others. Eurial stiffened uncomfortably beside him. “Swimmin, eh? Damn raccoons been known to steal anything you leave lyin’ round,” the man replied with a gnarly smirk on his wrinkled face. “Well, get on in the back, and I’ll give yeh a ride. Got some smocks at my shop you can barrow.” He hobbled back to the truck and got in, waving to the three of them to get in the bed of the truck. The two in back waited for Rafe to make the decision. He studied the truck and the old man for a moment, and then did as the man asked. Lyle and Eurial followed, and together, the three of them took up all the space the small bed had to offer. A few minutes later the rusty truck was pulling through the first stop light of the town. It was still early enough that that people were walking along the sidewalks. They gawked as the trucked hauled the three of them through town. It wasn’t a large town. There were only four stop lights in all, and the drive from one side to the other took only two minutes. “All right boys, out yeh get.” The old man lowered the tail gate after pulling the truck into a mechanic’s shop. Opening a warped metal cabinet, he pulled out three greasy uniforms and tossed one to each of them. 5   

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He waited patiently till they were done dressing and asked, “What in the goldarn were yeh doin’ swimmin’ at an hour like this?” “We were actually done ages ago, but we spent several hours looking for our clothes,” Lyle lied while zipping up his oversized uniform. Rafe gave him a cautioning look and said to the old man, “Thank you for your kindness. If there is anything we can ever do to repay it, we will.” The old man shook his head. “Ah, not needed. Just bring back my uniforms after yeh get some clothes, and we’re square.” After nodding solemnly, Rafe led the others out of the shop and out into the small street square. “What now?” Lyle asked. “We need to find food, Rafe answered. “These bodies require nourishment or else we won’t be able to complete our mission.” “Oh,” Lyle replied. “And how are we going to pay for it? You know the humans don’t just give things away.” Rafe’s brows pulled together in concentration. “I don’t know yet. We’ll figure something out. Until then, we should look for her.” “Where are we meant to find her?” Eurial asked. When Rafe didn’t answer, Lyle said, “You don’t know, do you?” “I know she is here, in this town, but I don’t know where. I didn’t get to see enough before we had to leave.” He led them across the empty street to a sidewalk that was lined with different shops and boutiques. “I know that her parents own a store here. A restaurant I think.” 6   

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Eurial began to stare intensely into each shop they passed. Lyle let out a laugh and said, “They’re closed, dummy. Didn’t you learn anything while watching them?” “I wasn’t watching them. I was guarding. Unlike others of us who never lifted a finger to do real work,” Eurial retorted. “You think what I did wasn’t real work! If it wasn’t for me, you would have sent a freakin’ bolt right through that guy’s truck, and then where would you be!” Lyle waved his arms wildly to prove his point. Rafe didn’t seem to tune into their spat. He was focused on the shops, looking for something only he could find. Outside of a shop, he came to a halt. Eurial and Lyle, who were still arguing, walked right into him, but he didn’t budge. Moving closer to the glass doors, his eyes were trained on something. On the other side of the glass was a crystal suncatcher in the shape of a bluebird with its wings outstretched. He pressed his fingertips up to the glass next to the bird. “This is it.” The others immediately stopped talking and came over to see what he was looking at. “How do you know?” Eurial asked. He admired the bird for a while and answered, “This. It was the last thing I saw. She was standing next to it.” He turned away from the window and faced the others. “She’ll come here, and we’ll be waiting.”

* “Evan…Evan!” Lissy Pruitt called out. “Earth to Evan!” Evan turned to face her best friend. “What…sorry. I’m totally out of it. I got absolutely no sleep last night because I was studying for these stupid midterms.” 7   

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“Me too. I think I passed Anatomy, but not math. Math sucks,” Lissy joked. Her mousy brown hair was scattered up into a messy bun, and her glasses were riding low on her nose. “Tell me about it.” Evan tossed her back pack over her shoulder. School had finally let out, and she was half-way done with dreaded midterms. Tomorrow she would find out if she was smart enough to graduate. She and Lissy walked together to the curb outside, and then parted ways. As was usual, Lissy rode the bus and Evan walked to her parents’ restaurant. It had been like that ever since she could remember. She had walked this very sidewalk almost every day of her life. She was surprised that it wasn’t named after her yet. Walking it now though, it felt different. Something was unusual today. Eyes that she couldn’t see seemed to follow her. She felt it as she walked to school, and even as she walked through the halls. When she looked around, she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but the voice in the back of her mind told her that wasn’t true. Taking conscious steps, she approached her parents’ shop. It was a bistro that served fresh sandwiches and soups. A favorite among the locals. “Hey,” a voice said. She nearly jumped out of her skin. When she saw who it was, she said, “Will Rochester, you scared the crap out of me! Why are you lurking outside?” “I was waiting for you.” He leaned off the wall he was propped against and held the door open for her. After his navy blue eyes took in her expression, he replied, “I wasn’t lurking, by the way.” 8   

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Will and Evan knew each other from way back. Her dad and his dad were best friends in high school and college. As mayor, his dad made a big deal over the bistro to help get business up, and in return, Evan’s parents gave him and his family all the free sandwiches they could ask for. Will came by everyday for a sandwich. Evan knew it was because he wanted to see her, but she never made a big deal over it. But lately, he’d been hanging out at the shop a lot more. Practically till closing. “Don’t your parents ever wonder where you are?” she asked, going inside. “Nope. They know exactly where I am,” he answered in an almost grumpy tone. “Something up?” She tossed her bag into a booth and pulled two Snapples from the fridge case. One for her, one for him. “Just stuff. Boring stuff.” He twisted the cap off his Snapple and took a big gulp. Evan watched him, her sea green eyes almost seeming to see through his façade. “Campaign season is coming up again, isn’t it?” Will winced slightly at the mention of it. “Yeah.” Evan rested her hand on his, and said, “You can talk to me, Will. We’ve known each other for years. I’ve seen you go through this every time your father runs for re-election.” He shook his head nonchalantly. “It’s fine. I just don’t like being at the house with all of the campaign workers, and the cameras,” he said, pulling his hand out from under hers. “Well, on a crappier topic.” Evan smiled. “How’d you do on midterms?” “Aced them.” Will smiled confidently. 9   

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“I hate you.” Evan grimaced. “Math is going to murdalize me, and don’t even get me started on Biology!” “Then let me help,” Will replied. “I brought my math book, maybe we can study together?” “My hero!” She coquettishly blinked her lashes at him before laughing. “I’ll go get my book.”

* Several hours later, Evan’s dad hung the closed sign in the window, and gave Will a preemptive pat on the back. “Is it really nine o’clock?” Will asked, looking up from the book in front of him to the clock on the wall. “Afraid so,” Evan’s dad replied. “And your father is probably going to kick my butt, if I don’t send you home this instant.” “Nah.” Will smiled. “He likes your sandwiches too much.” “Oh. So that explains why he’s so nice to me.” Evan and Will put their books away, and she walked him to the door. “Thanks, Will. I think you might have just kept me from completely bombing out on the test tomorrow.” “Don’t mention it.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and bobbed his head a little before saying. “So, I’ll um, see you tomorrow.” “Yeah.” Evan smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Their eyes met, and neither was able to look away. The tension they had ignored for several months was back again, and neither could ignore it now. “Why does it have to be this way?” Evan whispered, cautious of her father behind them.

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Will shook his head a little. “I don’t know. Evan, I…” He searched for words to say, but when he answered, he said, “I should go.” Blinking away the emotion from her eyes, Evan nodded and waited for him to walk away before shutting the door. Lost in thought, she walked back over to her father and helped him stack chairs on the tables. Her dad stopped what he was doing to watch her, she didn’t notice. “Is there something going on between the two of you?” he asked with a sly smile on his face. Evan’s eyes popped open wide. “Huh! What? No way! We were just talking, Dad. That’s all.” He up his hands. “Okay, sweetheart, whatever you say.” Laughing, he said, “I’m gonna go check on your mom. Will you finish up here?” “Yeah, I got it.” He’d only been out of the room for a few seconds when she heard a loud crashing noise. A feeling of dread ran through her. She ran back to the kitchen to see what it was, but in the kitchen, her parents were both fine and talking to each other, oblivious to the crashing sound. She went back out to the main room, but nothing was disturbed there either. The only other place she could have heard it come from was the alley beside the shop. Her parents wouldn’t have been able to hear the noise from the kitchen, but all the windows in the dining area made it easy to hear the noises from outside. She quickly unlocked the front door and ran around the front of the bistro to the side alley, and nearly screamed when she saw it. Will was lying face up in a growing pool of his own blood. Her mind started to shut down as she ran to him. 11   

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“Will!” she yelled. “Somebody help!” Her voice came out weak, and her screams were muted by the high walls of the alley. Will’s eyes barely opened when he heard her, and he tried to speak, but the blood in his mouth stopped him. She grabbed his hand, which was covered in his warm blood, and her tears were spilling onto his face. “Will, hang on. I’m gonna get help.” She started to pull her hand free so she could run to get help, but Will held on to her. He was able to say, “Stay with me.” She was choking back sobs as she pulled him into her arms. “Will,” she whimpered over and over. “Don’t leave me, Will.” His hand that was holding hers began to loosen its grasp until finally, it slipped away. Evan seemed to stop breathing. Her sobs rocked her body back and forth, and she buried her face into his still chest. She didn’t even notice the three figures that were watching her from the shadows of the alley. When she lifted her face, Will’s blood stuck to her cheeks and hair, and the expression on her face was changed. Her face was the same, but somehow, it didn’t look like her own, like something was taking over inside of her. Her blood covered hand moved to the part of Will’s chest that had been wounded. Her eyes looked up into the sky and she let out a scream, but the scream was smothered when out of nowhere, a lightning bolt cracked from the calm night sky and down into her. For a second, her eyes glowed with the radiance of pure gold and then flashed back to their normal calming green before closing. Unconscious, her body slumped over next to Will’s. 12   

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The hidden figures moved from the shadows to form a circle around the boy and girl. The tallest of the three spoke. “She is the one.”

* The sounds of people murmuring and of machines beeping greeted Evan as her eyes flickered open. The world was foggy as her eyes tried to focus in on what she was seeing. Slowly, she could make out her mom and dad standing at the foot of her bed. They were talking to a third person, a doctor. The talking stopped when her mom saw that she was awake. “Evan, honey, you’re awake! Oh thank God!” Her mom moved quickly to sit by her, and gently touched Evan’s cheek. “How do you feel?” Evan’s mind still felt a little funny, like she couldn’t put things in order. She wondered how she ended up in the hospital. “I feel…weird.” “That’s to be expected,” the doctor said, moving to the other side of the bed to check Evan’s IV. “Evan, do you remember anything? Do you know why you’re here?” Evan shook her head. She reached her hands up to push the hair out of her face, but when she saw her hand, a memory surged up in her mind…Her hand, holding Will’s. Will. Something happened to Will! He was hurt! No! He was dead! “It’s okay, sweetie.” Her mom held her hand. “It’s going to be okay.” 13   

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Evan wrenched her hand free. “NO!” “Evan? Evan, what’s wrong?” Her dad moved closer. “Where’s Will?” Evan’s green eyes were filling with tears as she looked to each of their faces. “Sweetie, Will is fine.” Her mom smoothed the hair from her face. “You both are. That’s why we’re trying to figure out what happened?” “What do you mean?” Evan said through tense breaths. “Will is alive?” “Yes, he’s here at the hospital as well,” her mom replied. “We found you both in the alley. You were both…well, you both were covered in blood, but neither of you was hurt.” Evan couldn’t wrap her mind around it. “He’s not hurt?” “No, sweetie.” It was her dad who answered. He sat next to his wife on the bed, and took Evan’s hand. “You don’t remember anything? You’re sure?” Evan was quiet for a moment, but finally nodded. “The best we can do is give her time, and hope that the knowledge of whatever happened to her and the boy will return,” the doctor said to Evan’s parents. “For now, she needs to rest.” Her parents kissed and hugged her before leaving the room so she could rest. The doctor said that she would be able to go home the next day. No matter how hard she tried to sleep, she could only see Will…dead. The memory haunted her. Her parents had said he was okay, but she needed to see it for herself. Pulling the IV from her arm, she slid out of bed and grabbed the robe from the bathroom. Her mom had said that Will was here, which meant he was probably in the same wing as Evan. She tried to hide 14   

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from any of the nurses that walked by, but they were so busy, they didn’t really pay attention to her. She passed several rooms, but Will wasn’t in any of them. There was only one room left to check, and she took a deep breath as she stepped into the room. The curtain around the bed was drawn and she couldn’t see who it belonged to. She looked back to make sure that none of the nurses saw her go in, and then moved closer to the curtain. Her hand was trembling from all of the anxiety she was feeling. Slowly, she pulled the curtain back, nearly fainting when she saw the occupant of the bed. Will’s eyes were closed, but to her relief, she noticed that his chest was rising and falling. It was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. Tears started falling from her eyes as she sat next him on the bed. Memories of Will from the summer started playing in her mind. Memories of them together. One in particular. It had been one of those blisteringly hot summer days where being in the water was the only thing that helped, and Evan and Will had been hanging out at Craven Lake—just the two of them. Something happened. One minute they were swimming and splashing, the next, she was kissing him, and he was kissing her. They’d been dancing around each other all summer, each seeming to notice each other in a different way, but trying to ignore it. Evan blamed the kiss on the heat wave. Ever since then, things between them had been awkward. For a while, Will wouldn’t come to the bistro, but when school started, things got a little better. They were at least able to talk to each other again. As she watched him sleep, Evan realized how much Will truly meant to her. She tried to remember what happened 15   

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after she found him in the alley, but something was blocking her from remembering.

* Rafe leaned against a wall in the waiting room of the hospital, while Lyle sat in one of the chairs trying to read a magazine, and Eurial, who couldn’t keep still, was walking up and down the hallway. They’d been watching over Evan and her family, waiting for the girl to recover. In his hands, Rafe fumbled with a bracelet that had fallen from Evan’s wrist after she found the boy in the alley. His fingers traced the shapes of the charms dangling from the silver chain. “She’ll be okay, right?” Lyle asked. Rafe hadn’t even noticed when he’d come to stand beside him. He put the bracelet in his pocket. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like that. She’s stronger than we thought.” His fingers still played with the bracelet in his pocket. “Others will have seen the bolt and be looking for her. We must make sure that they don’t find her.” Lyle nodded. “When are we going to tell her?” “As soon as she’s recovered,” Rafe replied grimly. “It’ll turn her life upside down.” His posture tensed when he saw Evan’s parents walking towards the elevator. They were leaving. Lyle looked in their direction and then to where Eurial was stalking them with his eyes. Without saying a word, Eurial began to follow them. “Is it really a good idea for him to be following them? You’ve seen him…he’s a ticking time bomb,” Lyle explained. 16   

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“Perhaps. Go with him,” Rafe ordered. Lyle slapped himself melodramatically on the forehead. “Why did I have to open my big mouth?!” He began to slump off after Eurial. Rafe waited till the Lyle was gone and then began to walk in the direction that Evan’s parents had come from. He’d wanted to check on the girl himself, but he couldn’t risk being seen by her parents…not yet. He grabbed a clipboard left lying around by a nurse, and searched for Evan’s room number. Further down the hall, he paused outside her room when he saw that she wasn’t in her bed. He went in and began to turn everything upside down looking for her. She wasn’t anywhere. Panic was starting to take hold of him as he stepped back out of the room. His mind was rushing through all of the potential places she could be. He did a double take when he saw a familiar girl wearing a hospital gown walking down the hall, peeking into each of the different rooms. She was looking for something. The boy. Rafe kept his distance, but followed her as she looked into the rest of the rooms along the hallway. Finally she reached the last door. Rafe couldn’t see her face, but he could almost imagine the way her jade green eyes must have looked. He’d seen them so many times before he came to earth. Now that he was here, he was seeing them in his sleep. It had been amazing, watching her use her gift. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen. He knew it was risk to let Eurial hurt the boy, but it was the only way that he could be sure to get Evan to use her power. Not that she knew she had it. She cared for the boy enough that her instinct to save him would have taken over her. 17   

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And it did, perfectly. He hadn’t expected her to pass out in the process, but she’d brought the boy back from death. It would have taken incredible power to do that. Eventually, the more she used her power, the less it would take out of her. Evan must have found the boy, because she went inside the room. Rafe moved closer so that he could keep an eye on her. He watched as Evan sat with the boy on the bed. Still, he couldn’t see her face, and found himself wishing he could. He stayed in the waiting room the whole night, until Eurial and Lyle returned the following morning. Lyle, who was normally in a good mood, looked seriously put out. “I am never going anywhere alone with him again,” he said to Rafe, and plopped into the chair next to him. “It’s not my fault you couldn’t keep up with me,” Eurial replied while joining them. Lyle’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t have to jump over three of the neighbors’ fences, while running, just to get to their backyard. You did it to make me tired!” Eurial couldn’t help but smile haughtily. “Maybe you’re just not cut out for missions. If you want you could just stay at the manor till Rafe and I are done.” “I will not!” Lyle growled. “Stop,” Rafe commanded. “You are both going to work together from here on out. If you cannot, you are of no use to me, and will only slow me down.” Eurial’s smile disappeared. “You have my cooperation.” “And mine,” Lyle added. “Good,” Rafe said sternly. “Now, Evan will be leaving the hospital today, I want you ready to watch over her till then, and find me when she does leave.” “Where are you going?” Lyle asked. 18   

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“I need some rest. I’ll be at the manor.” Rafe stood up. “Do not, under any circumstances, address the girl till I say so. Do you understand?” Both Lyle and Eurial nodded in assent. Rafe made eye contact with each of them, and then left.

* Evan woke up the next morning in the sterile hospital room. Her mom was on the visitor’s sofa reading a book and her dad was standing outside the door talking on his cell phone. If the nurses caught him, he’d be in big trouble. “Hey,” she said to her mom, who instantly tossed the book to the side and came over to Evan. “Hey,” her mom greeted, and checked her forehead as if she might have a fever. “Are you doing okay? You were pretty restless—nearly fell off the bed.” “Really? I must have been having a bad dream or something,” Evan replied. It was the truth. She was still seeing Will lying in his own blood every time she closed her eyes. During one of her dreams, she saw something she hadn’t remembered yesterday. She wondered if it was even real, or just her subconscious going crazy, but she dreamt of a man, the most beautiful she’d ever seen, with exotic gold and silver eyes looking down at her as she laid on the ground in the alley. In the dream, he told her that everything was going to be okay, and he stayed with her till her parents found her. Somehow they didn’t see the beautiful man. “Hey, baby.” Evan’s dad came back in the room and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “How ya feelin?” “Fine,” Evan replied. “When can I go home?” 19   

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“The doctor said that as soon as you’re ready, you can leave,” he answered. “I’m ready.” Evan started to get of bed. “Whoa, sweetie, what’s the rush?” her mom asked. Evan shrugged. “Nothing. I just wanna go. I don’t like hospitals.” She caught the worried looks her parents exchanged over her head but ignored it. It took them an hour to get ready and checked out, but they were finally leaving the hospital, and Evan was feeling immediately better. Only after she stepped out of the hospital did she wonder whether or not Will was still inside. “His dad already picked him up,” Evan’s dad said without Evan saying anything. He must have read her thoughts. “Oh,” Evan sighed. “How’s he doing?” “He’s fine.” Her dad looked like he wasn’t saying the whole truth. “Can I go see him?” Evan asked. “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he replied, hesitantly. “Why not? If he’s fine then it’ll be okay if I see him.” Her dad was giving her the ‘I have bad news’ face. “What, Dad? Spit it out.” “Well, sweetie,” he said the words cautiously. “He’s not talking to anybody. Not even his dad. Wouldn’t even acknowledge him. Randy is thinking of having a specialist brought in, considering the circumstances.” “What?” Evan’s eyes were full of concern. “Was he like this yesterday?” “He didn’t wake up till this morning.” Her dad’s concern matched her own. The whole ride home, Evan seemed to be somewhere else. Her mom watched her with concerned eyes the entire time. 20   

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Evan couldn’t keep from worrying about Will, and wanted to know the truth about what happened in the alley.

* Her parents had managed to reschedule the rest of her midterms for next week, and told the school she would be taking the rest of the week off. It wasn’t her choice, but they said that it would be good for her. Other than bad nightmares, nothing felt wrong. She didn’t understand why it would be good thing not to go to school and get things back to normal. Mostly, she just wanted to see Will, but his father had taken him out of school too. His was a more indefinite status though. Apparently, things weren’t getting better, they were getting worse. Her dad had even gotten a call from Will’s dad asking him to go over and try to help calm Will down. He had gone into a fit and was trashing his room beyond repair. When her dad got home, he looked troubled, disturbed even. That had been two days ago.

* Evan’s mom was just setting the table for dinner when the doorbell rang. Her dad, who was cutting the bread, answered the door. Randy Rochester was standing on the other side. His eyes looked red and tired, and his overall complexion was pale. “Randy,” Evan’s dad answered. “What’s wrong?” He put his hand on Randy’s shoulder and ushered him inside.

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Randy looked around the kitchen till he saw Evan. “Evan, thank God.” He crossed the small kitchen and went to Evan. Desperately, he said, “I need you. It’s Will.” Evan didn’t waste any time getting her coat and shoes on, and her dad said that he would drive her to the Rochester’s house. They followed Randy, who seemed to ignore all the speed limits, and they were at his house in no time. “Come on,” he said, tugging Evan in through the front door. Mrs. Rochester was sitting on a sofa in the living room, clutching a tissue and dabbing her eyes, which were red from crying. Evan looked worriedly from Mrs. Rochester to her father, and wondered what could have been so bad that she was crying and Mr. Rochester was acting like this. “He’s still in his room,” Mrs. Rochester sniffled to her husband. Just then, the sound of something crashing against a wall made Evan’s eyes dart up in the direction of Will’s room. A muted scream followed shortly after. “What’s this all about, Randy?” Evan’s dad asked. “Something happened. We thought he was getting better. He had just finally stopped throwing fits, and we gave him some medicine to help him sleep, but when he woke up…it was worse than before. He punched Zachary, my assistant, and then began shouting your name, Evan.” Randy looked to Evan with hopeless eyes. “He only wants to see you.” It caught Evan off guard. Her hands were starting to shake as she nodded, cautiously, and began to go up the stairs. “I’m going with you,” Evan’s dad said, placing a hand protectively on his daughter’s shoulder. “He won’t answer if you’re there,” Mr. Rochester replied. “Only Evan.” 22   

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“It’s okay, Dad. He won’t hurt me,” Evan tried to reassure her Dad, but she wasn’t so sure if she truly meant it. “I’ll be right here,” he replied with a hesitant voice. Evan slowly took each step, trying to picture what she might find when she reached Will’s room. She wasn’t prepared when she saw that the door had been kicked in—or was it out—and pieces of broken glass were strewn on the carpet, most likely from his broken lamp, which was lying next to the glass. “Will?” she said in almost a whisper. The door to Will’s room wrenched even further open, and a ghostly pale Will quickly followed. There was a wild look in his eyes as he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into the room. She couldn’t help but let out a small scream. “What did you do to me?” Will demanded in a growl. From downstairs, Evan’s dad called out her name in response to her scream. “It’s okay, Dad,” she yelled back. Looking back sympathetically to Will, she said, “Will, what happened here?” His grip on her shoulders tightened uncomfortably. “What did you do to me? No matter what I do, I keep seeing you in my head! I was dead, and you did something to me!” “What? Will, I didn’t do anything to you. We both got taken to the hospital, didn’t they tell you I was there?” “No.” His eyes squeezed together in pained confusion. When he opened them, he started shaking her violently. “Why do I keep seeing you?” Tears were streaming from Evan’s eyes. “I don’t know! Will, you’re hurting me.” His eyes flashed with realization and he abruptly released her. “Sorry.” 23   

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She rubbed her shoulders and backed away from him. “You don’t remember what happened?” “No,” he replied, his voice was filled with emotion. “I was leaving the store when I saw a bright flash of light. Then you were with me, holding me, and I got really tired. That’s it.” Evan took a small step closer to him. “I remember you…dying, and the last thing I remember is holding you. Next thing, I’m waking up in the hospital, and they’re telling me you’re alive.” She moved close enough that she could look up into his eyes, and reached out to touch his cheek. “Will,” she whispered. Before she could reach his cheek he quickly recoiled. “Don’t touch me!” He pressed his palms to his temples and started pacing in short circles. Pulling back her hand, Evan shuddered from the sound of his voice. She’d never seen him so…crazy. “Will…” she started to say, but words failed her. She couldn’t help but feel horrible as she watched the boy she cared about lose his mind. She wanted to go to him and comfort him, but she knew that he wouldn’t let her anywhere near him. Just then, her dad came through the door. “Evan, is everything okay?” He paused awkwardly when he saw the two of them. Will didn’t stop pacing, or even acknowledge him. “Yeah, Dad,” Evan said tightly. “We should be leaving. Your mother is probably worried.” Evan looked between her dad, and Will, torn between what she should do. She wanted to stay with Will until he was better, but part of her wanted to go far away. “Will, I—” she began to say. 24   

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He didn’t look at her. He just kept pacing, squeezing his eyes shut. “Will, if you need anything, you know where to find me,” Evan’s dad said to the boy.

* Evan thought of Will the entire ride home. Wondering if there was anything she could have done to help him. She also wondered if there was some truth to what he said. He had been dying, and did die, in her arms, and then…somehow, he was alive. Something did happen in that alley, and neither of them could remember what. And now, he couldn’t stop seeing her…whatever that meant. She walked to her room without really paying attention to what she was doing, completely walking by her worried mom. In her room, she closed the door behind her and leaned back against it with her eyes closed, letting out a deep sigh. She stayed like that for a moment, but then paid attention to the little warning nudge in her mind that told her something was wrong. When she opened her eyes, there was a pair of silverygolden eyes looking right into hers, and they were intense. It was the beautiful mystery man from her dreams, and he was real. Her first thought was to scream, but her body didn’t give her the choice. Before she knew it, her vision was blacking out and her knees buckled under her. She didn’t even feel a thing when she hit the floor. “Hmm,” Rafe mumbled in response to her reaction. He leaned over her, observing the way the vein in her neck throbbed. “She’s still alive,” he said to Lyle and Eurial, who 25   

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were standing behind them. The three of them made the room feel a little more than crowded. “Are we just gonna leave her there?” Lyle moved up so he could see Evan better. Eurial rolled his eyes. “If you want to touch her, be my guest.” Lyle grimaced back at Eurial, but he knew the other man had a point. “She’ll wake up soon,” Rafe replied. “She’s…tough.” “Yes, my first thought of a tough person is one who passes out,” Eurial added, sarcastically. “Do you have a comment for everything?!” Lyle crossed his arms in annoyance. Eurial smirked. “As a matter of fact, I do.” “Enough,” Rafe demanded. “Her parents might hear you.” Lyle let out a huff and plopped onto Evan’s bed, while Eurial went to look out the window. Rafe stayed close to Evan so he could see when she woke up. He found himself tracing the shape of her face with his eyes, admiring it. Her golden blond hair fell in natural curls to her shoulders, and there was a light sprinkling of freckles under her eyes. Even though she would be terrified when she woke up, she seemed so peaceful while she slept. For an instant, Rafe thought about brushing the hair from her face, but then checked himself. He knew that would be a foolish decision. Her breathing picked up, and her eyelids started to flicker. Rafe straightened up to greet her. Her green eyes took in her state on the floor, and then she seemed to remember why she was on the floor in the first place. Pulling herself up to her feet, she looked at each of the arrestingly beautiful men in her room. Fear was the most prominent of her emotions. 26   

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“Don’t be scared of us,” Rafe said in a calming tone. “We’re not here to hurt you.” Lyle started to slide off the bed, and in a cheery voice, he said, “Yeah, we’re here to help you!” Evan’s eyes darted from Lyle to Rafe, “Who are you?” Her hand felt along the door for the knob. She’d almost found it, when a flash of light came from the direction of the window. When the light was gone, the door knob had completely disappeared from the door. “Eurial!” Rafe snapped. “What? It was clearly obvious that she was going to make a run for it,” Eurial explained with a snobby, almost bored tone. Evan was starting to get that fainting look again, when Rafe said, “It’s okay. Please forgive my friend’s lack of manners.” His hand waved in the direction of where the door knob should have been, and another flash of light illuminated the room. Now, the door knob was back. “You are free to leave anytime you wish.” Immediately, her hand flew to it, and started to turn, but didn’t open it. With sheer willpower, Evan was able to keep from fainting. In a tone more demanding, she asked, “Who are you?” “My name is Rafael, but you can call me Rafe, and this is Lyle.” Rafe waved to Lyle, who gave Evan a big smile. “And this is Eurial.” Eurial nodded his head slightly. Evan’s eyes skittishly darted to each of the mysterious men, and landed back on Rafe. “You. I saw you…” Rafe’s surreal eyes seemed to brighten. “Then you’re remembering. This is good.” “Remembering? Remembering what?” She let her hand fall away from the knob, but stayed close to it. 27   

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Lyle leaned forward. “The alley. Don’t you know?” “Obviously not.” Eurial glided from the darkness by the window. “If she did, we wouldn’t be having this circular conversation.” Rafe threw a look over his shoulder, but Evan wasn’t able to make it out. Almost immediately, the two other men returned to the places in the background. Taking a wary step towards them, she asked, “What do you know about what happened? Did you see what hurt Will?” Her green eyes were hopeful and scared at the same time. “I…” Rafe faltered. “I can tell you what saved the boy— who would be more appropriate.” Eyes widening, she came closer. “Who?” Both Lyle and Eurial moved closer in expectation. Bowing his head towards Evan, Rafe answered, “You.”

* “Is this some sort of sick joke?!” Evan’s soft eyes hardened to contempt. “Who are you really? And what are you doing in my room?” Her voice was loud enough that Rafe worried it might get her parents’ attention. “Evan, please calm down.” Taking a small step towards her, he held out his hands in a calming gesture. “I’ve told who we are, and as Lyle said, we’re here to help you.” She backed up with every step he took, till her back came in contact with the door. “Why? What would I need you to help me with?”

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“It may not seem like it now, but you’re in danger.” The seriousness in his eyes told Evan that he was telling truth—or at least he thought he was. “Danger of what?” Eurial emerged. “Things you could never begin to imagine with your innocent little mind.” This seemed to frighten Evan more than enlighten her, and Rafe suspected that that was what Eurial going for. Blocking Eurial from view, Rafe continued, “You’re a part of something much bigger than the visible world that surrounds you. Something darker and, at the same time, more beautiful than you could ever know.” This was starting to remind Evan of the last movie she had watched called Illuminights. She wanted to roll her eyes. “You’re not vampires, are you?” “What?” Rafe didn’t seem to understand. She shook off her own stupidity. “Nothing. Forget I asked.” Shrugging, she moved on, “If you’re not vampires, what are you? Because obviously, you’re not…normal.” “Ooh, can I tell her!” Lyle leapt from the bed. “Please, Rafe!” He reminded Evan of a little boy—in a big boy’s body. “Yes, Lyle, but only what she needs to know.” Rafe sent him a look filled with hidden words. Lyle nodded obediently, and stepped towards Evan. “Hi,” he waved. Evan managed a weak smile. “This might be a little, um, what’s the word…confusing. So you may wanna sit.” He gestured to the bed. Not wanting to wake up on the floor again, Evan did as Lyle suggested. When she was still, she looked to him expectantly. 29   

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“Okay,” he began. “I guess I should start with clarifying who you are first.” He looked to Rafe, who gave him an admonishing nod, and continued, “Are you familiar with…scripture?” Evan’s eyebrows knotted together, “What? Like the Bible?” “Yes.” “Um, a little, why?” “Did you ever hear the story of the ailing woman who believed that if she could touch the hem of the Lord’s robe that she would be cured—healed?” She thought for a moment. “Yeah, I remember that one from Sunday school.” “Good.” Lyle smiled. “As you know, she followed the Lord, staying in the crowd, and when she got close enough, she was able to touch his robe. And just like that—she was healed.” His eyes were alive with expression as he explained. “Doing this, the Lord could feel power leave him, power that she used. Now, as the story goes, he turned to see who it was that touched him, and the woman confessed. “He told her that her faith had saved her, and wished her well. All in all, a good lesson for the crowd of onlookers. But that isn’t where her story ends.” He paused to make sure Evan was still with him. “This woman, unknowingly, changed the course of her and her descendants’ lives forever. The healing power that she only sought to borrow from the Lord still flowed through her. As you can imagine, it wasn’t much in comparison to the Lord’s—probably only a speck, but still, enough.” “Wait,” Evan held up her hand. “Are you saying that this woman had the power to heal people?”

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“Mm-hmm,” he nodded. “And she passed it down through her children and her children’s children, etcetera. And finally…to you.” Evan was quiet for the longest time, then stood from the bed, looking more ready to faint than ever. The three of them stiffened, but none made a move to go closer to her. “Evan?” Rafe asked. She didn’t reply. Through her eyes, they could see that she was working something out. Finally, she said, “Will….I healed Will?” All three nodded. “I healed Will?” She repeated, more to hear the words than ask the question. “I know this is confusing.” Rafe stepped forward. “But we’ll help you to get through it. It’s why we came.” Without looking at him, she said, “Yes, but who are you?” Rafe looked to Lyle, and Lyle spoke again, “Think, Evan. Who—what—do you think we are?” “I don’t know!” She looked up, frustrated. But instead of looking away, she made herself see them—really see them, starting with their entrancing eyes. No human could have eyes like that. While the three of them scared Evan, she knew that they weren’t…evil. They were something else. Something of myths—from the stories she’d heard as a little girl in Sunday school. “Angels,” she breathed. “You’re angels.” Rafe started to say something, but stopped. “Evan?” her mom called to her from the other side of the door. “Evan, honey, can I come in?” Evan’s eyes flew to the three angels standing in front of her and then back to the door, which was starting to open. Acting 31   

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on instinct, she threw herself up against it. “Hold on, Mom! I’m getting dressed.” Already, Eurial was sliding out through the open window, followed by Rafe, and then Lyle. Evan quickly started to wrench her top off so that could pull on her pajama shirt, but when she looked back to the window, Lyle’s head was still poking through it. His eyes gawked at her state of undress before Rafe’s head quickly popped up and his hand clamped onto Lyle, dragging him away. “Evan?” her mom called again. “Hang on, I’m almost done.” With her pajama’s securely in place, Evan swung the door open, to see her worried mother on the other side. “Ev, what was all that noise?” Evan looked back into her room. “Um, I…I was just moving furniture.” Her mom leaned forward, giving the room a thorough inspection. “Doesn’t look like anything has changed.” “Didn’t like it, so I put it back.” Evan nodded, hoping her mom would believe her. Fortunately she did. “Ev, I just want you to know that…if there’s anything you want to talk about—you can always come to me. I know this thing with Will is taking its toll on you, and you need to know you’re not alone.” Her mom pulled her into a hug, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “Thanks, Mom. I know.” As her mom pulled away, she said, “Love you.” “Love you too.” Before going back in her room, Evan checked to make sure there weren’t any more strangers in it. Seeing it was clear, she went in and closed the door behind her, followed by 32   

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promptly switching on the lock of her window. The next time the angels wanted to visit, they’d have to use the door.

* It was Monday, finally, and Evan was walking to school. She was excited, and bummed at the same time. Excited to be back out among the living, and bummed because she had a midterm to finish. She just wished that she had Will to coach her through her remaining trigonometry fears. She just wished she had Will, period. The knowledge that it was her that did something to him to make him upset was almost unbearable. But…she would have done it again if it meant saving his life. Losing Will was worse than, well, anything. She still clung to a small hope that the three beautiful men that had visited her were all part of a gross hallucination, and that she was not the descendant of a woman bestowed with healing powers. Sadly, that hope was shattered when a lanky boy with radiating blond hair came up next to her. “Hey, Evan.” He gave her a smile that rivaled the sun. “How’s it going?” Her relaxed posture went tight. “Fine.” “I’m Lyle, remember?” He didn’t seem at all uncomfortable walking around wearing a mechanic’s suit, three sizes too big, or having hair that went all the way down his back. “Yes, I remember.” She looked around to see if people were watching them walk. In this small town, news would travel fast of the beautifully odd boy walking with the Harding’s daughter. “Where are your friends?”

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“Oh, Rafe and Euri? They’re…around.” He gave a glance over his shoulder to a shady part of the park. Evan tried to discern shapes in the shade, but couldn’t. “They’re following us, aren’t they?” He shrugged. “Sort of. They’re following you…we all are.” Her pace picked up. “Why? I’m just a girl living in a small town—no one is going to hurt me.” “Not before the incident in the alley, but now, you’re a walking target. We’re just trying to make sure that nothing happens to you.” She rolled her eyes. “A target? For what—healing people? I’m not even sure I can heal anyone!” “Oh, you can. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen. Besides, if you can’t heal anyone, how do you explain Will?” He crossed his arms with and gave her an all-knowing expression. “I can’t explain it.” She shook her head. “But that brings up a good question. Why is he seeing me—in his head? When I went to visit him, he kept saying that all he saw was me.” Lyle looked puzzled by this. “Well, it may have something to do with you healing him, but…that doesn’t normally happen.” He scratched his chin contemplatively. “Although, you are different from the others I’ve heard of.” Evan stopped walking. “Others?” Lyle winced. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Changing the topic, he asked, “So where are you going?” Realizing he was trying to steer her away from the intriguing subject, she crossed her arms. “Like you don’t know?” He shook his head, causing his long hair to sway. “Not a clue. I’m sure I used to know, but some of my memories from…up there are a little fuzzy. It happens.” 34   

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She scrutinized his supernaturally brilliant eyes for a moment, before answering, “School. I go there on the weekdays—to learn.” “School,” he repeated, as if trying to recall a memory. “Right. I can sort of remember something about that. There are these humans—I mean people—that talk to you all day.” “Teachers,” she corrected. “And yes, they talk…a lot.” “Sounds like fun. I think I’ll join you.” “No, Lyle, you can’t.” This time, he stopped. “Why not?” “Because.” She scanned his appearance with her eyes. “You don’t look anything like a student. You look like, well, an angel wearing a dirty mechanic’s smock. You’d never blend in.” He looked down at his clothing, trying to see himself as a human would. “But if I looked…human I could go with you?” He reminded her of a little kid asking to be allowed to play with her. Feeling a little bad for him, she gave him a compassionate smile. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but, yeah. I guess.” “Great!” His almost sad expression exploded into a huge grin. “I’ll tell Rafe. But first, I’ll walk you to school.”

* “You want to do what?” Eurial asked Lyle with a derisive laugh. “You want to sit in a room filled with humans all day, while we’re out here doing all the real work? I should have expected something like that from you.” Ignoring him, Lyle maneuvered his way closer to Rafe. “Come on, Rafe. I’ll get to be closer to her there than I would if I was hiding in the bushes outside her class window.” He 35   

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threw a cutting look over his shoulder to Euri, who was no longer so smug with himself. Rafe was leaning against a brick wall of Evan’s school. Across the quad, he could see the windows to the classroom that Evan was now sitting in. He could even make out her glossy, golden blond hair from where he was. He contemplated what Lyle was asking. And for the most part, he agreed with it. If Lyle was with Evan, he had a better chance of being able to protect her. But then again, Lyle wasn’t known for being a warrior. He was just a watcher, one whose sole purpose was to observe the ways of Man, but never to interfere with them. He doubted Lyle could keep Evan safe from any real attacks, but knowing Lyle, he would certainly try. “What does Evan think of this idea?” Rafe asked, his eyes quickly darting back to the exact window he could see Evan through. “She thinks it’s cool. But she said that…I wouldn’t fit in—like this.” Lyle motioned to himself. “What is that supposed to mean?” Eurial chimed in while scanning the quad with his eyes. Lyle shook his head dismissively. “We don’t exactly fit in with the people in this town—or any town. We’re too…” “Unnatural,” Rafe completed for him. “Exactly. She said that if I fit in more—that it wouldn’t be a big deal. So can I do it?” Eurial stopped surveying the quad, and pushed Lyle to the side. “Rafe, don’t tell me you’re seriously considering this idiotic idea. He’s only going to make a fool of himself, and we’ll be short one guardian.” Rafe’s eyes lingered a little while longer on Evan’s window before answering, “Well, Eurial, if what you said before is 36   

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right, and Lyle is not fit for guarding—it only makes sense that he be with the girl. You and I can guard her from afar just the same.” Eurial let out a scornful scoff. “This is ludicrous!” “Maybe,” Rafe said in a low, serious voice. “But it’s what I have decided.” His power and rank seemed to surround every word, making it clear that he was in charge. Sensing it, Eurial’s eyes snapped to the ground, and his head tilted in a bow of respect. “Of course.” Rafe focused his serious eyes on Lyle. “You may go to school with the girl, but only as long as she wishes it.” Lyle had to do his best to keep a serious face, but the smile was breaking through, and the golden light from his eyes seemed to get even brighter. “I won’t let you down.”

* “Ev, thank God you’re back! I think I would have gone crazy if you hadn’t come today,” Lissy cooed as she and Evan exited the school. Evan pushed her bangs out of her face, and gave a smile. “Yeah, me too. I just wanna get past all of the weirdness from the last week and get back to my normal life.” “What do you mean?” Lissy’s glasses slid farther down her nose as she looked curiously at Evan. “Oh, nothing. Just the whole thing with Will, and midterms, and…stuff.” Evan cast her eyes around the quad as if she was searching for something. “Yeah,” Lissy nodded sympathetically. “How is Will anyway?” A frustrated sigh escaped from Evan. “I have no clue. All I know is that his parents aren’t letting any visitors come over, 37   

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and that his dad is thinking about dropping out of the election this year.” Evan fought to keep the memory of Will’s crazy rant locked away. She couldn’t talk about that with Lissy—or anyone. Except the angels. It wasn’t like they would start spreading rumors around town or anything. But just the notion that she was talking to angels made Evan believe that she, and not Will, was the crazy one. How was it that in one day, her whole life could be turned so irreversibly upside down? “Hey, Ev?” Lissy’s normally perky tone was much more careful. “Yeah?” “A whole bunch of really weird rumors were flying around school while you were gone, and, normally I would just laugh it off, but this one was a little disturbing…” Evan knew that she didn’t want Lissy to continue, but she waited anyway. “Were…were you and Will both covered in blood…his blood? You know, in the alley?” Evan felt her throat clam up at the reminder. As if it wasn’t enough that she had nightmares of Will’s bloody figure, but now her best friend was asking her questions about it! “It’s true.” Evan knew better then to try and lie about something in a town this small. “Wow.” There was a grim look of amusement on Lissy’s face, which was quickly replaced with sympathy. “Ev, that’s…I’m so sorry.” She grabbed Evan up into a tight hug, and when she let go, she said, “If you wanna talk…I’m here. Ok?”

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“Thanks, Liss, but I’m fine. Really.” Evan did her best to put up a brave front, and gave Lissy a smile before setting off on her normal route to her parents’ shop. With her back to her friend, the smile disappeared, and the same forced look she had been wearing ever since meeting the angels was in place. Everything she was going through felt like one big secret that nobody could know about. No one could know she was the one who healed Will. No one could know that Will had lost his mind—more or less thanks to her. And most definitely, no one could know that angels were haunting her. “You don’t look very happy,” Lyle’s increasingly familiar voice interrupted her brooding thoughts. “You’re very observant,” she replied. “Are the others following us?” “Uh-huh.” Lyle shrugged like it was no big deal. “I have good news.” Evan’s expression perked up. “What? I’m not in danger anymore?” “No. Sadly, you’re still in danger.” Lyle did his best not to sound happy about it. “But, Rafe said as long as you’re okay with it—I can go to school with you. You know, once I fit in.” “Oh.” Evan’s expression dimmed. “You’re still okay with it, right? You don’t mind if I go with you?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t mind. But I wouldn’t know where to begin to make you fit in.” She looked him over with a scrutinizing eye. “Probably start with the hair—I mean, no one has hair like that here. Definitely need some contacts, and lose the jumpsuit.” 39   

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Lyle didn’t seem to comprehend a single thing she said, but was still smiling. “Great! Let’s get started.” “Your friends won’t mind?” Evan paused to look around. “Mind what?” “You know, trying to make you look…human.” “Oh,” he smiled. “Nah. Rafe’s cool, and Eurial can go climb a tree for all I care.” Evan let out a little chuckle. “Well, okay then. Are you really sure you want to do this. I mean, being human isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” Lyle smiled. “Neither is being an angel.” She found herself musing over that as she and Lyle walked the back way to her house. It was longer than the normal way, but she didn’t want to risk Lyle being seen by too many people. She wondered how the three of them weren’t already the talk of the town, but was thankful they weren’t. “So what are you going to do to my hair?” Lyle asked as Evan ushered him inside her back door. Pausing, she had a feeling that she should wait a moment, and sure enough, two larger figures were coming up the steps of her back porch, heading straight for her. “Evan,” the first said. She made herself remember his name. It was…Rafe. His silvery-gold eyes seemed to burn right through her even though he only let them stay on her for a brief moment before going inside. The second gave her a small nod, and glided through the open doorway. She waited a moment longer just to make sure that there weren’t any other angels traipsing about that might want to join them. “Your parents will be gone till nine,” Rafe informed her, seeming to forget that she knew them better than he did. 40   

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“Yes, I know.” She stepped around him, bringing her within inches of the mysterious angel, and setting of all sorts of hidden alarms inside of her. The idea of being close to him was exciting and terrifying all at the same time. It was as if the very fact that he was an angel pulled her in and also made her want to run and hide. It was baffling. “She’s going to change my hair,” Lyle announced, sounding totally entertained. “How?” Rafe asked. Answering him, Evan replied, “Well, by cutting it of course. That’s okay isn’t it?” Rafe contemplated it, and then asked, “Will you have to touch him?” “Yeah.” Evan found the question a little odd. “Then, no,” Rafe replied quietly, “it’s not okay.” “What is that supposed to mean?” “There are…rules—rules that can’t be broken.” He took small steps around the kitchen, observing all of the little knick-knacks that Evan’s parents had collected over the years. “You can’t touch us. Any of us.” After he said it, he settled his eyes on Evan, who seemed to be perplexed. “It’s hard to explain. The three of us—we’re not exactly here on an assignment. It’s more like…extra credit.” Evan tried to blink through her confusion, “I don’t understand.” “We weren’t sent here,” Eurial answered bluntly. “We came on our own—without permission.” “Wait.” Evan held up her hands. “So you guys came here without asking—” She pointed up to the sky. “Our Father.” Rafe completed. Her eyes bulged open. “So you lied to him?” 41   

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“No,” Rafe quickly added. “We simply did not ask. And for that reason, we are not in our true forms. In a sense, we’re…fallen.” “You…fell?” She was doing her best to work it out in her head, and slowly, she seemed to understand the full meaning. “You fell for me?” All three gave her solemn nods, their fiery eyes burning with honesty, and something Evan couldn’t describe. “Why?” Rafe raised his eyes to hers. “Because of the power you possess. It can’t be allowed to be harmed or tainted, which means that you can’t be allowed to be harmed or tainted. And we will do anything to make sure of that.” Evan forced herself to not over-process the information so that she didn’t get lost in her own thoughts. “So…what does that have to do with me not touching you—any of you.” “Your power…it is you, and it’s saturated within you…all the way to your very soul. But, it didn’t always belong to you. It originally belonged to the one who created us, and with a single touch, that power would send us back…to our home.” “You mean…Heaven?” Rafe nodded. “But…you could just come back, right? If I touched you?” Eurial let out a laugh. “It’s not a carnival ride. You can’t just pop in and out as you please. If we returned home, there’d be others waiting for us. There would be no coming back—ever.” A knot settled into the center of Evan’s throat, making it hard to talk…or breathe. “Look,” Lyle said in a reassuring voice. “It’s not as gloomy, as Euri likes to make it sound. And I’m sure there are plenty of ways to make sure that we don’t touch, right?” 42   

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Evan forced herself to nod, not at all sure if she meant it. Rafe spoke up, “We all need to be careful around each other. We can’t allow ourselves to get too close.” As he said it, it occurred to Evan that he might mean it in more than one way. “Does that mean we can’t cut my hair?” Lyle’s shoulders started to slump. “No,” Rafe answered. “It means Evan can’t cut your hair.” “Right.” Pulling herself out of her doldrums, and idea popped in her head. And in a flash, she disappeared to her bathroom, where she dug up her styling scissors. She’d bought them when she went through a phase where she wanted to be a hairstylist, but after seriously messing up her bangs, she hadn’t used them since. On her way back to the kitchen she scooped some towels out of the hall closet, and tossed them at Lyle. “Wrap one over your shoulders,” she directed, and set the scissors on the table so that they were in front of Rafe. “You’re gonna have to cut for me since I can’t touch him.” Rafe’s usual air of calmness seemed suddenly not-so-calm, “I…I don’t think—” “Don’t worry about it,” she assured. “I’ll tell you what to do. It’ll be fine. But if we’re gonna do this we gotta hurry before my parents get home.” “Come on, Rafe.” Lyle was giving him puppy eyes. From his place in the corner, Eurial was letting out little wicked scoffs, “There’s no way I’m letting anyone cut my hair.” Tuning him out, Rafe picked up the scissors, and slipped his fingers into the holes. He awkwardly opened and closed them while musing at the blades. “Is this how they work?” 43   

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Evan gave a reassuring smile. “Yep. Now, grab his hair in one hand and, oh wait—” She started digging in her school bag and when she was done, she tossed a small fabric ring on the table. “It’s a hair-tie. Use it to bunch his hair up. Like this.” She pointed to her own pony-tail. “Humans,” Eurial rolled his eyes. Rafe threw him a warning with his eyes, and did as Evan said. When he was done, Lyle’s hair looked like a complete mess, and Evan had to do her best to restrain herself from fixing it. “Um, okay,” she started again. “Now use the scissors to cut off all the hair on the inside of the pony-tail.” Rafe started to hack way, and the sounds of snipping filled the air. Evan fluttered from one side of Lyle to the other, doing her best to offer encouraging words to both angels. When she stopped to think about what she was really doing—teaching an angel how to give another angel a haircut—she let out a laugh, which caused Rafe to cut some of the hair a little too close. When he was all done, the newly detached pony-tail of golden blond hair landed with a thunk on the floor. And both of the angels looked to her for approval. “Wow.” She cocked her head from one side to the other, inspecting Lyle’s different look. While his hair was sloppy and uneven, he was already starting to look…human. Rafe started staring at him the same way. “Well?” Lyle asked, shaking his head so that his short, but shaggy hair swished. “How do I look?” “Like a fool,” Eurial said under his breath. Ignoring the cynical angel, she replied, “Better. Well, better for being a human.” She directed Rafe on how to fix some 44   

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of the shaggier parts of Lyle’s hair, but overall, she liked the way it looked. Lyle stood from his seat with a boyish smile, and offered the seat to Rafe. “You’re next.” Evan watched with amusement as the leader of the angels cringed at the thought of losing his long, dark hair. To Evan it reminded her flowing black satin, and even she didn’t want to see it get cut off. He gave one last sigh, and sat down in the chair. His eyes were filled with unrelenting determination, and Evan couldn’t help but wonder why he was so determined to help her. Why did these three angels come all this way to help her, when no others would?

* Lyle made the final snip with the scissors and as he stepped away, a beautiful stranger was revealed. Rafe’s long hair was now lying in abandoned curls on the floor, but now, Evan thought, he was even more stunning than before. Thanks to Lyle’s eagerness to learn, Evan had been able to direct him how to give the other angel a clean, yet still wild look. Without his long hair to hide him, Rafe seemed almost…magnificent. Even with his mechanic’s uniform on, she could make out long, lean arms that came from strong shoulders. He seemed more than capable of handling himself in a fight if he ever had to. When she lifted her eyes to his, he was watching her. “How do I look?” he asked. She stood there for a moment, basking in the silverygolden light of his eyes, and then replied, “Like an angel.” Evan realized after she said it that it probably wasn’t the right 45   

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answer and busied herself with cleaning up the mess. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider?” she asked the grumpy angel, Eurial. “Quite.” Eurial gave a haughty scoff and went back to surveying the front yard through the window. More than happy to ignore Eurial, Lyle asked, “Am I ready now? Do I look human?” A kind smile formed on Evan’s lips. “Lyle, don’t take this the wrong way, but you, all of you, will never look human. And I wouldn’t want you to.” She started to reach out to touch his shoulder comfortingly, but quickly pulled back her hand and shook her head reproachfully at her misstep. “I think…there are a few more things we have to work on before you’re ready.” “Like?” the eager angel asked. Evan collected the towels from the back of the chair. “Your eyes for one. Beautiful as they are, they’d stand out. Your clothes are another thing. And lastly, you need a cover.” “A cover? Like a house?” Lyle followed her as she walked back towards the laundry room and the other angels followed him. “No, well, yes.” She tossed the towels in a hamper and turned around, nearly colliding with them. She waited for them to back up before continuing, “A cover is like…like a story. It’s what we’ll tell everyone about you so they don’t get suspicious. But, you’ll also need a place to stay…” Her eyebrows knit together while she thought about the dilemma. “I think I may have a solution, but I’ll have to talk to my parents first. Which,” she looked at her wristwatch, “they’re gonna be here any second. You guys have to go!” Without touching them, she ushered them out the door. “Find me tomorrow after school, we can talk then.” She 46   

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waved goodbye to Lyle, and met eyes with Rafe, who gave her a gentle smile. Butterflies that only seemed to respond to Will’s smiles started dancing like crazy in her stomach. “Not good,” she warned herself as she shut the door. “Not good at all.” Trying to keep her mind off potentially dangerous feelings, she straightened up the kitchen and began to make her lunch for tomorrow. She formulated what she would say as she chopped celery sticks. Like clockwork, her parents came through the door precisely at nine-o-five, laughing and talking about their day. “Hey, munchkin!” Her dad stopped to give her a peck on the cheek before going to put away his coat. “How was school?” “Uh, good.” She waited patiently till her parents got settled, and then made her move. “I found out there’s gonna be a new kid at school.” “Oh, well that’s nice, sweetheart.” Her mom was at the laptop checking her email. “Yeah, I got to meet him too. Seems real cool, except…” Evan waited for it. Her dad perked up from reading his newspaper. “Except what, honey?” “Well, he just moved here with his…brothers and they don’t have a place to stay yet. I was wondering if maybe…we could rent out the space over the shop to them?” Both of her parents gave the same hesitant expression. “I don’t know, honey,” her mom replied. “It’s been a long time since we’ve rented out the loft. It’s in serious need of repairs.” “Oh, well, that’s okay. I’m sure that they’re handy. They could probably fix it up.” 47   

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“Ev,” her father chided. “We can’t just pass our problems off onto someone else. There are other places in town that are better than the loft, I’m sure.” Sensing that she was losing the argument, Evan had to come up with something, and fast. “But what if instead of paying rent, they fixed it up instead. By the time they’re done, we’ll have a finished loft, and they’ll have a place to stay. Everyone wins!” “Mm,” her mom still sounded hesitant. “And, Mom, you’ve been saying how you need more help in the kitchen. I’m sure that one of them would be more than willing to work there. After all, I’m sure they’ll be needing jobs since they’re new in town.” “That is true,” her mom nodded agreeably. “Hon, maybe she has a point,” she said to Evan’s dad. Under the gazes of both his wife and his daughter, he caved. “Alright, Evan, bring them by the bistro and we’ll get to know them. If all goes well, we’ll take things from there.” After winning the argument, Evan wasn’t sure if she was happy, or worried. Bringing the angels to meet her parents would be…awkward. She had to make sure they were ready.

* “Bye, Lissy. See ya tomorrow!” Evan waved over her shoulder to her friend and set off at a fast pace away from the school. During study hall, she’d made a detailed plan for getting the angels ready to meet her parents. She just hoped it worked. As she’d been somewhat expecting, Lyle joined her out of nowhere, and asked, “So what’re we gonna do today?” 48   

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“A lot. The others around?” “Always. Do you need to talk to them?” She nodded and Lyle gave a look over his shoulder. Seamlessly, the two other smock covered angels emerged from the bushes and joined them. She walked towards a more secluded part of the park, and stopped to say, “I have a place you guys can stay at, but in order for that to work, all of you have to meet my parents…and make them like you.” She gave Eurial a skeptical look and Lyle let out a chuckle. “I think Eurial can hold it together long enough for that,” Rafe spoke up, giving Eurial a cautionary expression. “I’ll play nice,” Eurial replied. “Good.” Evan smiled. “I’ve told them you’re brothers, and that Lyle will be going to school with me. You’ll be staying in the loft over the bistro, but the catch is that it needs to be fixed up and…one of you will have to work at the bistro. Since Lyle will be with me that leaves the two of you.” Evan looked from Rafe to Eurial. Rafe gave Eurial a straight smile and Eurial scoffed. “Great, I’ve gone from being a mighty warrior to a lowly cook! Can I sink any lower?” Lyle started to say something, but Eurial pointed a finger at him. “Not one word.” Evan did her best not to laugh at the angel’s over dramatics and said, “Alright, now that we have that covered, all that’s left are the details.” Thirty minutes and an awkward bus ride later, the four of them arrived at the mall of the neighboring city. At least here, Evan knew she could find what she needed to make the angels appear to be human. “What is this place?” Lyle asked with excited amusement as they approached the enormous mall. 49   

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“It’s where humans go to shop and hang out. You know, have fun.” Evan ushered them towards the entrance, but before going in, she said, “Don’t make eye contact with anyone, not yet. And…don’t talk to anyone.” Rafe nodded and the others followed. Careful to keep her distance, Evan held the door open for them, and watched each of the angels’ expressions as they stepped foot inside the mall. Then she noticed the funny looks that people passing by gave the angels. Instantly, she worried that this wasn’t a good idea. “Come on, we gotta hurry before you attract too much attention.” She almost grabbed Lyle’s arm to tug him along, but remembered she couldn’t. She heaved a frustrated sigh, and started to lead the angels through the busy mall. Behind her, she could feel them forming a sort of semi-circle as they followed and knew it had to look odd to people passing them. She inhaled to try and calm herself down, and did her best to ignore the staring people. When they approached the escalator, all three of the angels stopped to stare at it—she stopped to stare at the angels. “We have to use it to go up to the next floor. Just…step on, and then hold onto the side. Like this.” She made sure they were watching, and then demonstrated how to get onto the escalator. Eurial rolled his eyes, and without a fuss, stepped in front of a group of teenagers and onto the platform as if he’d done it dozens of times before. Lyle followed behind him, but took several tries before he felt confident in stepping all the way onto the moving steps. Rafe glided towards the platform, and took a moment to analyze it before firmly planting his foot on a stair. When he did 50   

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it, a pleased smile tugged at his lips, and Evan found herself smiling too. “Not bad,” she complimented them. “Now let’s go.” After a little more trekking, Evan finally arrived outside the perfect store for transforming the grungy angels into suburban boys: Old Navy. She’d all but emptied her savings account for this little venture, but if it meant keeping the angels out of trouble, she didn’t mind it so much. Almost immediately, Lyle was transfixed with all the clothes and got lost combing through all the different choices. Once or twice Evan would have to go and redirect him back towards the men’s side of the store. Eventually, he got the hang of it. Eurial took up post in one of the far corners of the store where he could see everything, and gave a scowl to one of the store workers who tried to interest him in a store credit card. From then on, they left him alone. And Rafe stayed within arm’s reach of Evan, she didn’t mind it that much. “Hold still,” she said, while carefully holding up a shirt to determine his size. “Perfect fit.” She caught herself staring more at the angel than at the shirt. It didn’t help that he was staring at her too. “Don’t go there,” she warned herself, and snapped her attention back to the shopping. Figuring that Rafe and Euri were the same size, Evan started grabbing two of everything, but was conscious to vary the color. Nothing could be worse than the angels wearing matching outfits, she thought. “How are you?” Rafe asked almost inaudibly after she turned back around. “Great. You?” she evaded the obviously sensitive question. 51   

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“I meant, how are you doing with this, all of this. I can’t imagine that it’s easy to deal with.” Her hand stalled over a hanger. “Well, honestly, I still can’t believe it. I mean,” she turned to face him, “the fact that…angels even exist, and that I’m some sort of healer… It doesn’t even seem real.” She handed him the shirts she was holding, and continued, “And what were you thinking? Falling? That—I would never have asked for that. You’re not supposed to fall if you’re doing something that’s right.” Rafe was quiet as he absorbed what she said, but he never let his eyes leave hers. “You need to be protected, Evan. And there was no other way I—we—could have done it.” “You say I need to be protected, but so far, nothing has happened. And for all you know, nothing ever will. Just because there are bad things out there doesn’t mean that they’ll come after me.” She shook her head emphatically. Rafe looked away. “I’m afraid…that because of our intervention, they will. This hasn’t gone according to plan…and there is no way that I can risk leaving you now. Bad things will come, Evan. It’s only a matter of time.” In the pit of her stomach, she knew he was right. A niggling kept telling her that something was coming—something bad. “How’s it goin’ guys?” Lyle’s perky voice interrupted the heavy atmosphere. In his arms, he had a mountainous pile of clothes that in no way, would Evan ever allow him to be seen wearing. “Not so good,” she said with a chuckle, taking the pile from him, and setting it aside. “I think we better start over on yours.”

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She sized him up, and found him several suitable shirts, that he seemed quite pleased with, and decided it was time for the other half of the outfits. Pants. Sadly, there was no way she could figure the right size for those without the angels actually trying them on. She grabbed several different sizes before rounding the angels up, and taking them to the changing room. Directing each of them into the rooms, she gave them each a round of pants, and went back out to wait for them. Lyle was the first to emerge, and somehow, he’d managed to put them on backwards. Evan found herself laughing uncontrollably before urging him back into his stall. She heard several grumpy complaints coming from Euri’s stall about how they were all too short, so she quickly found him replacements to try, rolling her eyes when he muttered something that wasn’t very polite. Rafe was the next to emerge from the dressing room. As he strolled out to find her, half the women in the shop stopped their shopping and gawked at his marvelously exposed upper body. Evan even caught herself staring, before shaking her head. “The, uh, pants look great,” she replied, leading him back towards the not-so-public dressing room. When she turned back around she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror— she was blushing. “Great,” she muttered. By the time all the angels had clothes that fit, and shoes, two hours had passed. Evan knew she had to hurry if she was going to take care of the rest of her to-do list and get the angels to the bistro on time to meet her parents. Walking out of the store, the three magnificently transformed angels looked pleasantly human. She even did a 53   

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double-take at just how normal they looked—except for their eyes. Those were completely angel, and they happened to be next on the list. “Ev! Girl, what brings you down here?” a girl with thick black framed glasses and long curly black hair greeted Evan as the four of them entered a store called Framed. The walls were lined with fashion forward glasses and accessories. “Hey, G, not much.” Evan and the girl exchanged a quick hug. “I was wondering if maybe you had room to fit in my friends.” The girl gave the three boys a look, up and then down. “Ab-so-lutely.” A lustful look came over her when she saw Eurial. “Come on, boys. Back this way.” She started to walk towards a hallway. “Oh, and, G?” Evan paused. “Yeah, girl?” Evan came up close to the girl. “Regina, my friends…they’re not from around here.” She looked back at the angels, who were observing the shop. “They’re…different. Whatever you see, you can’t tell anyone.” “Don’t worry, boo. G’s got ya covered. This ain’t the first time I’ve had to help a friend out.” G gave Evan a friendly arm squeeze and led them into a small office. “So what’re we talkin’ here? Glasses? Contacts? Check-up?” G leaned back in her chair as the four of them edged themselves into the tight room. Evan had to press herself all the way up against a wall to keep from coming in contact with any of the angels, and sucked in a anxious breath as hers and Rafe’s sleeves brushed each other. “Contacts,” she answered G’s question. “Something natural.” Her eyes darted to the angels. Lyle seemed ecstatic, Eurial suspicious, and Rafe…he was unreadable. 54   

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“Alright.” G pulled open a drawer and pulled out a brochure. “This is what we’ve got on stock. Guessing by the looks of you boys, you’ll be wanting something you can wear out.” “Definitely,” Even breathed. Taking the brochure, she flipped through it, looking for suitable colors. Lyle definitely seemed like he should have blue. Eurial…brown. Rafe… Evan found herself flipping backwards and forwards, unable to decide. If it was up to her, she would never cover his dazzling eyes. “Green,” she finally decided, handing back the brochure. Each of the angels seemed pleased with their colors, Lyle especially. She watched patiently as G took each of them through the process of being fitted, and got a little worried when Eurial went through the machine that puffed air at his eyes. She worried that he might blast it away like he did her doorknob. Fortunately, all he did was mutter under his breath. Once their sizes were determined, G brought each of them their box of contacts and showed them how to put it in, lingering slightly more over Eurial. “No, no, baby. You have to be gentle with it,” she cooed over the grumpy angel, and took his hand to show him what she meant. At this, Eurial’s grumpiness seemed to waver, but only slightly. Evan moved over to sit in between Lyle and Rafe. Lyle had tears streaming down his face from poking himself in the eyes too much, but otherwise, he seemed to be enjoying the process of becoming human. Rafe had almost gotten his contact to slide into place, when he blinked and it popped back out. 55   

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“Urgh!” he let out a frustrated sigh and dumped the contact back into its bowl of solution. “I must be doing something wrong.” Envy of G started to rush over Evan. She envied the other girl’s ability to be able to touch the angels. Right now, all she wanted to do was put a hand on Rafe’s shoulder and say, “You’re doing great.” As it was, if she did that, he’d go POOF and she’d never see him again. So instead, she just did the latter. He inhaled, and tried again. This time, the finicky contact went right in. He glanced at it in the mirror and looked back at her. “Well?” She admired the contact covered eye, and then the one without the contact, still thinking that Rafe’s real eyes were much more beautiful. “Looks good.” “Got it!” Lyle exclaimed. Evan turned to face him. His eyes were bloodshot, but sure enough, they were pool water blue. He looked like some sort of surfer boy with his shaggy blond hair and, now, bright blue eyes. “Do I fit in now?” he asked Evan in a whisper. “Yes, Lyle. You most certainly do.” She gave him a genuinely happy smile and he gave her one right back.

* “Go over it one more time,” Evan said through nervous breaths as they got nearer to the bistro. Eurial let out an exasperated breath of his own, and replied with a monotone voice, “We moved here from the city because we wanted to see what life in a smaller town was like. Lyle, my…brother,” he said it disgustedly, “is a senior and will 56   

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be going to your school. I’m more than happy to work in the bistro, and we are very handy.” His nostrils flared out as he finished his monologue. “Correct. And you will try to sound like you actually mean it, won’t you?” Evan looked panicked. “Yes.” Rafe jabbed Eurial with his elbow. “We will.” “Okay,” Evan said to herself as she stopped in front of the glass doors. “You can do this.” Her hands rested on the handles of the doors, but she couldn’t make herself open them. “You’ll do great, Evan. I mean, if you can make us look human, you can do anything!” Lyle encouraged from behind her. “Thanks, Lyle.” She didn’t hold as much faith in herself as the naïve angel did. Her parents knew her well and they always knew when she wasn’t being honest—always. She sucked in one more calming breath, and pulled both doors open. The store was almost empty, just the usuals like Mr. Jenkins and his wife, who always ate dinner at the bistro on Fridays, and Charlie Schroeder who always ate at the bistro no matter what. Her mom was behind the counter, wiping it down for the night, and her dad must have been in the kitchen. She looked back over her shoulder to make sure that the angels were with her, they were. Something about that thought was a little comforting. She was just about to call out to her mom, when a familiar voice coming from the kitchen confused her. “Thanks, Mr. Harding. I’ll tell my dad you said so.” Will was coming out of the kitchen with two to-go bags in hand. He looked a hundred times better than Evan remembered him being a few days ago. When he looked up and saw Evan, the small smile he had been regarding her dad with dropped and his lips formed a 57   

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tight line. He studied her a moment before his attention was caught by the three strangers behind her. For a moment, Evan had completely forgotten what the angels looked like, as if they were just some daydream. In fact, with Will’s surprising re-appearance, she’d completely forgotten about them. Before she could say anything to him, Will pushed past her and the angels and left. She stood frozen in place, staring after him until a voice snapped her out of her state. “Evan? Evan, are these your friends?” her mom asked, coming from around the counter. “Uh.” She blinked to regain her concentration. “Yeah, Mom, this is Lyle, Eurial, and Rafe.” She gestured to the angels in order. “Oh.” Her mom gave each of them a warm smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.” “They here, hon?” Evan’s dad called from the kitchen. When he emerged he was wiping his hands with a towel, and when he finished he slung it over his shoulder and joined his wife. “Hi, guys. I’m Sam, Ev’s dad.” He ruffled Evans hair playfully. After shunning him for it, Evan began to straighten her hair back out and thought she caught Rafe smiling—not usual for him. He always seemed so aloof. She introduced the angels to her dad, and he motioned to a booth so that they could have a seat and get to know each other. She slid in first so that she was next to the wall and her dad got in next. Across from her, Lyle bounced his way across the booth bench and gave her a ginormous smile. Rafe glided in next to him, and Eurial, looking not too happy about it, got in last. 58   

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“Babe, where’d you go?” Sam called out when his wife wasn’t behind him. “Just getting refreshments,” her voice trailed from the kitchen. Less than a minute later, she emerged with a pitcher if iced tea and glasses for everyone and on the side of the tray she had several leftover halves of their famous tuna salad sandwiches. “I wasn’t sure if you boys were hungry or not,” she said, setting the tray down on the table. “Help yourselves.” Lyle, who was licking his lips, instantly snatched one up and took a monstrous bite. As he chewed it, his eyes lit up. “This is incredible!” Both her mom and dad let out a chuckle. This was good, Evan noted. “Well, I’m glad you like it.” Her mom smiled back at him. “I guess if you’ll be living upstairs you’ll be able to have one whenever you want.” “Really?” He looked as if she’d just offered him a million dollars. Rafe gave him a gentle, near unnoticeable nudge, and Lyle settled back against the booth, still savoring his sandwich. Evan wondered exactly how long the angels had gone without food, and instantly felt awful that she hadn’t thought of that sooner. “So what brings you boys to town? Relatives?” Sam asked, pouring tea into all the glasses. Rafe cleared his throat. “Actually, my brothers and I all agreed that we wanted to experience life in a smaller town— away from the city where everything is so face paced.” When he was done, he briefly looked to Evan for confirmation. She gave him a smile and an answering nod. “Ah.” Her dad nodded. “Feel the same way myself.” 59   

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“And, Lyle, you’ll be going to school with Ev?” her mom asked, taking the glass her husband handed her. “Mm.” He swallowed his last bite of sandwich. “Yeah, I’m really excited about that!” Evan caught herself smiling at Lyle, he was doing so well. She even thought that when he saw her smiling at him, he started to glow with pride, literally. But, considering he was an angel, she didn’t find that impossible. “And you, Eurial? What do you like to do?” Evan’s dad asked, offering him tea. At first, Evan thought Eurial was going to be rude, but was amazed when an actual smile tugged on Eurial’s lips as he took the tea. “Me? Well…I guess you could say that I like to hunt.” “Oh.” Her Dad liked this. “What do you hunt?” Eurial thought about it. “Big game mostly, very dangerous.” If only her dad knew. Reminiscing, Sam leaned back against the booth. “That reminds me of the time I was out hunting deer, and this enormous mountain lion came out of nowhere.” “Oh, Sam, not that story again!” Her mom rolled her eyes playfully and looked at the angels. “He has to tell everyone he meets about the twelve foot mountain lion that tried to eat him.” She was laughing in between each word. “What he doesn’t tell anyone, is that the mountain lion was so used to humans by that point that it didn’t even bother with Sam and went after the deer he was hunting.” Sam blushed a little. “Well, he was twelve feet. And he did come after me for a few seconds.” “Sounds thrilling,” Eurial replied, actually sounding like he meant it. 60   

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“Man was it ever! You know, if you like to hunt, hunting season is coming around. Maybe we can all make a trip of it? Just us guys.” Sam was referring to all of the angels. Rafe didn’t look so sure about it—what with that requiring him to leave Evan alone and all. “Absolutely.” Eurial leaned forward, with a hungry look in his eyes. “Although, Lyle’s not much for it.” Hearing his name Lyle sat up. “Uh, yeah. I don’t really…hunt.” “Oh, well that’s alright, Lyle,” her mom joined in. “Maybe Ev and I’ll tag along and you can keep us company.” After she was done, Evan saw the anxious look in Rafe’s eyes relax, and he said, “That sounds like a great idea, Mrs. Harding.” He may have felt better about Evan going with them, but hunting, camping, hiking—anything involving Evan be in nature—made her break out in hives just thinking about all the creepy crawly things that could climb into her sleeping bag at night, not to mention the four legged critters that had a mean bite. Just the fact that her parents were already talking about future events that included the angels was a good thing. It meant they liked them. Her parents liked almost everybody, though. They talked a while longer, and finally Evan’s dad offered to show them the apartment. For some reason, this made Evan’s heart rate pick up. Her plan was working. “So this is it,” her dad said while pushing the door open and flicking on the light. The smell of musty air greeted them, and the breeze created by the door swinging caused a cloud of dust to fly up into the air and float back downwards. 61   

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Rafe was the first to go in, taking one slow step at a time so he could marvel at every little thing. Old furniture from tenants past was pushed into the center of the room and was covered with white, linen sheets. Evan remembered helping her mom to do that several years back. “There’s a bathroom through there, and two bedrooms just beyond.” Evan’s mom stepped in and pointed down a short hallway. “Kitchen isn’t very big as you can see, but, it’ll do for you boys. Besides, there’s always an even bigger kitchen downstairs.” “What do you think?” Evan moved in towards Rafe, but kept a safe distance. “Will it work for you?” He nodded and added a smile. “It’s very nice. We would be more than happy to stay here.” “Great,” her dad replied with a big smile. “But, obviously, it needs some work. The walls need painting, and the floor needs to be refinished so you don’t get any splinters in your feet. I’d be glad to provide you boys with the tools, you just have to do the work. I’d do it myself, but I’m swamped with managing the bistro.” “Don’t even worry about that,” Lyle joined the conversation. “We’re just happy to have a place.” “Then it’s settled.” Her dad exchanged a smile with him. “So, we’ll just let you boys have a minute to look around,” her dad said, backing out of the room. You can join us back in the bistro when you’re done.” “I’ll be down in a minute,” Evan called to her parents as they descended the stairs to the back room of the bistro. After closing the door behind her parents, she sat back on the edge of a desk. “I’ll help you guys figure out how to paint and stuff. It can’t be that hard.” She looked at Lyle. “Now that you have an address, we can sign you up for school. And 62   

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Eurial, when you’re not…watching me, you can help my mom in the kitchen and my dad however. But, you guys are gonna need money for food and stuff, I spent everything I had to get you guys ready. The only thing I can think of is…for you to get real jobs, except you Eurial, you’ll be too busy.” It was sad to think that even angels would have to resort to lowly human tasks. “We’ll do what we have to, but protecting you comes first, Evan. It has to.” Rafe spoke up. “Yeah,” Lyle seconded. “I know.” She nodded. “I just…I don’t want anything bad to happen to you guys either.” She slid off the desk and headed for the door. “We can meet up here tomorrow to start getting things ready.” All three nodded, and she gave them a parting smile before closing the door behind her. A huge breath of relief flew out of her and she took a moment to steady herself before clunking down the old wooden stairs and putting on a happy face in front of her parents. Now that her fear about introducing the angels to her parents was over, another one settled in, and it had four letters: W-i-l-l. He certainly looked better, but that look he had given her made all her nerves turn cold. If he only he knew the truth about the alley… Even then she wasn’t sure he would look at her any better. Probably just think she was a freak. “I’m goin’ home,” she called to her parents while collecting her backpack from the floor by their booth. All she wanted to do was go home and take a long, hot shower.

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Rafe hung to the shadows created by the tall bushes in the park as he walked Evan home. Well, he walked to her house with her—she just didn’t know it. From the way she was holding her shoulders, he could tell she was worrying about something. Since watching over her, he’d learned a lot about what her posture said. And after she saw that boy in the bistro, she’d closed up. Throughout their meeting with her parents, she’d barely said a word, and every time he had looked at her, she was lost in thought. Rafe wondered if she knew the truth, the real truth about what happened in the alley that night, would she still speak to him—to any of them. He doubted it. He knew he couldn’t lie to her, but he also didn’t have to tell her everything. Not yet anyways. Thankfully, now that they would be living above the bistro, he’d only be minutes away from her when he wasn’t on patrol. He was confident that Eurial would do a fine job protecting her, but still, he didn’t like the thought of not being there if something were to happen. She was too important. When the bushes he was using to hide behind came to an end, he ducked farther into the darkness of the park, but was still able to see Evan’s pink sweater. Although, the contacts she had given him made things a little blurry, and he found his eyes drying up and getting irritated at the most inconvenient of times. Like that G woman from the shop had told him to do, he pulled out the bottle of solution and quickly dropped some of it into each eye, curing the dry feeling, but making the cool night air on his eyes seem frigid. Why humans willingly subjected themselves to this was beyond him. But, if it let him be close to Evan, he’d do it. 64   

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Ahead of him, Evan cut across her familiar lawn and up the three steps of her porch. She cast a glance behind her, as if looking for something that she could see. He smiled, realizing she was looking for one of them. In a soft whisper that was barely even audible to himself, he wished her a goodnight. From where he was, he thought he saw her smile and caught himself wondering if she’d heard him, but he shook it off and hunkered down. Evan lingered a moment longer before going inside. Through the curtained windows of her house, he could see where she was turning lights on, and followed the path of light to the window of her room. She briefly appeared in front of it before sliding the curtains across, hiding her room from sight. “Good,” he said out loud. Who knew what other kind of disturbed persons might be able to surveil her. At the same time, he was a little disappointed. As he stared up at her window, he found himself remembering the way her room looked, almost able to imagine himself back in it. Pale pink walls framed the comfortably small space where her cream colored bed and matching dresser made residence. He could remember seeing pictures on the top of her dresser, some of her and a girl with glasses and one dedicated solely to the boy from the alley. He quickly turned away from the picture and saw a door that led towards a bathroom. A smile crossed his lips as he imagined Evan coming out of it and straight towards him. Fortunately, she couldn’t see him, so she didn’t pass out like the first time she had seen him in her room. Her hair was wet and she ran a brush through the damp strands as she stood in front of the pictures, admiring them. Rafe, on the other hand, admired her, taking his time as he 65   

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came to stand next to her. A pleasing tune came out of her as she began to hum, swaying from side to side. He closed his eyes and soaked in her beautiful melody. This to him, was almost like Heaven. Abruptly the humming stopped and his eyes whipped open. Evan had set the brush down and was holding the picture of the boy in both hands. The lively flush in her cheeks dulled to a gloomy pale shade. “Evan,” Rafe called to her, reaching out his hand to comfort her, but she didn’t hear him. “Evan.” “Rafe?” a voice said his name, but it wasn’t Evan’s. Blinking several times the haunting vision of the lovely girl faded and he was standing in the dark park reaching out towards nothingness. “Rafe?” the voice called again. “You okay?” To his left, Lyle was staring at him with troubled eyes. It took Rafe a moment to regain his grip on reality, before replying, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He shook his head out and looked up to Evan’s bedroom window. After a moment, the light that escaped from around the curtains was turned off.

* The sound of her alarm pulled Evan out of her sleepy state. A stippling of sweat lightly coated her forehead and her bed covers were twisted into a gnarled mess after having yet another restless night of sleep. She tried to remember what she had been dreaming, but it was all one big fog, like the more she searched for it the harder it got to piece together. Giving up, she threw her legs over the bed and went over to her dresser to pick out clothes for the day. Sweats definite66   

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ly, she decided. Paint wasn’t known for coming out of clothes. She grabbed a pair of grubby sage green yoga pants that she hadn’t worn in ages and a Jimmy Eat World t-shirt she’d gotten in the seventh grade. As she shut the drawer, a familiar picture on her dresser caught her attention. “Will,” she whispered, picking it up. She’d taken the picture last summer…before their kiss. Back when things were normal. All the events that brought her to this point started to play like a poorly edited theatrical trailer, starting with their ill-fated kiss. “Hey, Ev?” her dad called from the other side of her door. “Uh.” She jumped slightly and put the picture back. “Yeah, Dad?” The door opened and he popped his head in. “I’m gonna go and pick up the paint and stuff for the apartment. Will you let the boys know that I’ll leave it down in the back room for them? Oh, and Mom says she’ll make them some lunch.” “Okay, I’ll let them know.” She gave her dad a smile. “I’m gonna be helping them out anyways.” He gave her a beaming smile. “Look at my daughter, the guardian angel.” “Not quite,” she replied, cringing at his almost ironic comment. He gave her a wave and shut the door. She finished getting dressed in the bathroom and put her hair up into an artful sloppy bun followed by added a little shimmer to her cheeks and gloss to her lips. Pleased with the finished product, she flicked off the light. Downstairs in the kitchen, her mom had scrambled eggs and toast waiting for her. “Mm.” She sniffed the air. “Smells yummy.” 67   

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“Good.” Her mom smiled from her place by the sink. “Dad said you’d be helping the guys out so I thought you better get a good breakfast.” “Won’t argue with that.” Evan took a bite of toast and slipped into the dining chair. “So what did you think of them? The boys I mean.” Pausing from scrubbing a pan, her mom answered, “Oh, hon, they’re great. Don’t seem like city boys though, too polite.” “Yeah.” Evan smiled. “I think that’s why they moved here.” “Well, they’ll fit right in. Especially with you taking them under your wing. Dad and I are so proud of you for helping others who are in need, Ev. It’s very…grown up of you.” Evan could see her mom’s lip quivering, which meant that she was close to tears. “Aw, Mom.” “I mean it, sweetie. One minute, your three feet tall and riding your tricycle in the driveway, and the next you’re a beautiful young woman. I can’t believe how fast the time flew by.” Her mom wiped away a loose tear and gave her a heartwarming smile. Evan crossed the kitchen and gave her mom a big squeeze. “I’ll always be your little girl, Mom. I’m just a little taller than I used to be.” Her mom hugged her back and chuckled…then sniffled. Pulling back, Evan gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll see you later?” Her mom smiled. “Yep. Don’t work too hard.” Evan let go of her mom, and forked the rest of her eggs onto her toast and folded it over, making a sort of breakfast sandwich, and headed out the back door. 68   

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As much as Evan wanted to bask in her mom’s flattering comments, she couldn’t. Evan didn’t feel like she was committing some selfless act of compassion. She was only helping the angels because…well, they were angels and they were here to take care of her. And maybe…maybe she cared about them. But if they really had been three boys who moved here from the city, she wasn’t sure she would’ve been so helpful. “Hiya,” Lyle’s always perky voice greeted her as she crossed the street at the corner. “Hey.” Absentmindedly, she waved her sandwich at him instead of her free hand, but caught how his eyes followed the sandwich like a hawk. “Here.” She held it out to him, remembering how they hadn’t really been able to eat since being in town. “Naw,” he waved his hands. “It’s yours…” He was still staring at it. “Lyle, take it.” She shoved it into his hands. “I’m good.” He looked from her to the sandwich, where his eyes lingered a long time. “Thanks, Ev.” Hearing Lyle call her by her nick name caused Evan to go tense. She was so used to only the people close to her calling her by that name. But then again, Lyle was…Lyle. And they were close. She knew his secret and he knew hers. That was like the very definition of close. Did that mean that she was close to the other angels? She didn’t know. By the time she looked back at him, Lyle was licking his fingers and the sandwich was history. “Good?” she asked. “Mm-hmm.” He closed his eyes, savoring the memory of it. “So what do you guys do all night?” She asked while stifling a laugh. 69   

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“Well.” He checked his clothes to make sure he hadn’t gotten anything on him. “Last night Rafe and I patrolled and Euri slept. Tonight, he’ll patrol while we sleep, although, Rafe rarely sleeps.” “Why?” They rounded the corner of Main Street and Evan waved to the Horshowitcz family across the street. “I’m not really sure. Probably because he’d rather be watching you.” Being Lyle, he didn’t really understand the implications of his statement. Evan’s cheeks turned a rosy pink that had nothing to do with the chilly morning air. “Exactly how long do you guys plan on watching me? Till I graduate…till I’m stronger?” She wrapped her arms around her chest, wishing she’d remembered to grab a sweater. Lyle looked down at his feet as they walked, unsure of how to answer. When he looked at her he had an apologetic smile. “This isn’t temporary, Evan. We’re in this till you…” He didn’t finish. “Till I die. Is that it?” Evan let out a dull chuckle. “That’s peachy.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She shook her head. “You didn’t. The situation did. I know you guys are trying to help…I know that. But it still sucks.” The chime on the glass door clanged as they went inside the empty café. Her mom would be there soon to put the doughy cinnamon rolls in the oven and brew fresh coffee, and in several hours, the café would be packed with morning patrons. Her dad would lock himself away in the small office to work on the budgets and would only come out for refills on coffee and the promise of lunch. It was always like this on Saturdays, like a tradition. 70   

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The chime clanged again, and Rafe was coming in behind them. Other than slightly red eyes, he looked like his usual handsome, distant self. “At night, you guys should take the contacts out to give your eyes a break,” Evan said with a concerned voice as she approached Rafe to check his eyes out. “I completely spaced on that, or else I would have said something yesterday. Sorry.” She almost reached up to touch his face and grimaced. “Why don’t you have a seat, you look…exhausted.” She gestured to a booth. Without making a fuss, Rafe sat down, leaned his head back against the padded vinyl headrest and closed his eyes. Lyle slid into the seat across from him and did the same. For a moment, Evan stood there, eyes glued to the angels. Weren’t angels supposed to be like these awesome beings that needed no human comfort? Yet the three of them needed food and rest and who-knows-what else. She had to remind herself that they had come here without permission, and that was why they were in their current condition. She marveled at their sacrifice as she started to take chairs down and get the café ready for the day. Neither one of them seemed to be disturbed by the sound of chairs clanking, but every so often, Rafe’s eyes would open slightly to search for Evan and when he would see her, they’d gently shut again. With the front all set up, Evan headed to the kitchen and pulled out a pitcher of orange juice and a large bowl of her mom’s fruit salad. As she set it down in front of the boys, Lyle’s eyes flung open and he sat up, ready to dive in. “You guys need to eat, it’s gonna be a long day.” She disappeared quickly to get cups and bowls and by the time she got back, Lyle had already started nibbling on a piece of pineapple. 71   

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“Mm! Evan? What is this wonderful stuff?” “That is pineapple, and that’s orange juice. Here, put the fruit in the bowls. And save some for Eurial.” She looked around curiously. “Where is Eurial?” “Upstairs, asleep.” Rafe replied, sitting up from his resting position. “I hope that’s okay.” “It’s fine. I’ll just go and let him know there’s food.” Their eyes met for a moment before Evan started to leave and her heart did an unexpected leap in her chest. “No,” she told herself as she went up the back stairs to the apartment. “You’re not allowed to do that. The only reason you got excited was because…well, just because. If you don’t get a grip on yourself, you’re just going to get yourself in trouble.” At the top of the stairs, she wavered over knocking or just going in, so she did a little of both. Opening the door slowly, she tapped a few soft knocks against the doorframe. “Eurial? Eurial, are you up here?” Hearing no response, she stepped inside. The sheets that had been covering the furniture in the middle of the room were gone. “Eurial?” He wasn’t in the living room so she went down the hall and peeked into the first room, but he wasn’t there either, leaving only one last place he could be. “Eur—AH!” Just as she began to step into the last room, Eurial’s half-dressed self jumped in front of her with his hand held out, but nothing was in it. When he recognized her, the hand dropped. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” he grumbled, leaning over to pick up his shirt and put it on. Evan noted the bunched up sheets on the floor that he had been using as a pillow. Her hand clutched her heart. “I knocked, and called your name.” She took a few more breaths to calm down the mo72   

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mentary flood of adrenaline to her system. “There’s, um, breakfast downstairs.” He responded with an unintelligible grunt and they were quickly joined by both Rafe and Lyle. “What’s wrong?” Rafe pushed past Lyle to get to Evan first, his bloodshot eyes seeming just a little crazed. “Uh, nothing.” Evan backed up so they could see Eurial. “I just got a little spooked.” Rafe let out a breath and backed out of the hallway. “Expecting someone?” Evan asked as she passed him. He ran his fingers through his hair, while saying through a tight breath, “All the time.” He looked at Eurial, who rolled his eyes, and said, “Come on, there’s food.” Eurial nodded and managed to walk by Evan in the tight hallway while keeping several safe inches in between them. Lyle, anxious to get back to the fruit, was right behind him. Rafe waited till Evan followed them before he left his post at the corner of the hall. They had just gotten settled in the booth as the clang of the door grabbed their attention. “Ah, you guys are already here. Great!” Evan’s dad came in with several bags of supplies in his hands. Rafe instantly got up to help him. “There’s cans of paint out in the wagon.” Sam called from the back room. Without waiting, Evan headed towards the door and around the corner to the alley where her dad had parked, coming up short by the memory the alley held. A flash of Will lying on the ground felt like a ball with sharp spikes bouncing around in her head. Everywhere she would look there were harsh reminders that she wasn’t normal. “You okay?” Rafe came up behind her. She quickly recovered her composure and swung open the back door of her dad’s old station wagon. “Yeah. Fine.” Just 73   

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as she reached for a can, Rafe seemed to do the same thing and the air created by their moving hands tickled each other’s fingers. “Oh, um, go ahead.” She whipped her hand back with the reflexes of a grandmaster. Not seeming to take notice of their near mishap, Rafe easily reached in and grabbed two of the heavy cans with one hand and then two more with the other. Evan had a hard time just holding one. As she stepped back, their eyes met and she instantly felt as if she’d been frozen in place. Rafe’s gaze, while being intense, also revealed other things. Like the way he calculated each and every little move she made, putting her at the center of his universe. An unexpected hand clapped onto her back. “Come on, guys. Chop-chop!” Her dad reached in and grabbed two cans, blocking them from view of each other. As he pulled back, Rafe had already started retreating back to the bistro. She inhaled a deep breath and prepared herself to be dealing with little moments like this all day long. Lyle was coming out of the bistro just as she was going in. As he passed by, he was stuffing several large pieces of watermelon into his mouth while giving her a big smile. Chuckling, she pointed to where the wagon was. He nodded, wiping his sticky fingers on his pants, causing her to groan because she knew she’d be the one trying to get that out later. Inside, she figured she better get upstairs and start making a mental checklist of everything that needed to be done. Moving the furniture out of the way would be the first task. Clutter was never conducive. The boys could easily haul out the trash and leave whatever was useful in the hall till they were ready for it. Fortunately, whoever had lived here before had left several sets of mattresses and an old brass headboard. At least one of the bedrooms would be normal. 74   

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She waited for them to join her and set them on their task while she started sweeping and collecting trash. From downstairs the sweet smell of cinnamon buns wafted up, teasing all of them until finally, Lyle begged for a break. Her mom was more than happy to feed the starving workers and gave them each a gooey bun. Evan grabbed a seat at the counter and nibbled down while the boys took a seat their usual booth. “I think the quiet one has a crush on you, sweetie. He’s always watching you as if his life depends on it,” her mom leaned in and whispered. “Mom!” Evan felt her cheeks growing red as she tried to casually peek over her shoulder. Sure enough, Rafe was watching her intently. Even when he noticed her looking, he didn’t turn away like most normal boys might’ve done. She had to remind herself that Rafe was definitely not normal. “I’m just saying.” Evan’s mom shrugged sheepishly as she went around the corner to serve a customer. Shaking her head to rid her mind of the ludicrous thought, Evan chomped down onto the bun and made herself think of the task at hand, and that was…to paint an apartment. Something she had no clue how to do. She did remember the one summer she’d chipped in to help paint classrooms at the local kindergarten. First, they taped things off so the paint wouldn’t get on the trim and stuff, and then they used the brushes to paint where the rollers couldn’t get to. She shrugged, figuring it couldn’t be that bad. She found out later, that it took forever to tape everything off and quickly learned to hate the process. By the time they were done, the sun was practically setting. 75   

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“I don’t get why we have to do this?” Eurial fussed with a piece of tape that had trapped his fingers together. “We’ve been at it all day.” “Fortunately, we’re done…with that,” she replied, happily tossing her tape roll on the floor. “Lyle, have you got the paint ready?” she called to the younger angel, who she had shown how to pour the paint into the trays. Like most things, this fascinated him and kept him happy. “Yup. Just finished.” As he stood up, he revealed swipes of paint all over his pants from where he’d gotten it on his hands and wiped it off on himself. Cleverly, she’d thought of having him putting his mechanic smock on first. “Great. Now, everyone take a roller.” She grabbed one to demonstrate. After each angel had a roller, she ran hers through the paint in the tray, and then rolled it onto the wall so they saw what they were supposed to do. Lyle bounced up and down, excited to try it, while Eurial and Rafe stood still and studied her movements. With the four of them each taking a room, they managed to get the painting done in record time, and the apartment was coated in a lovely color of dull beige. Eurial was further disgusted when they had to rip off all the tape they’d spent hours applying. He groused about it for a full half hour. “Wow.” Lyle put his hands on his hips spinning slowly to evaluate their work. “This looks…good!” “I’ll say,” Evan agreed. “I don’t think the apartment has ever looked this nice.” “Now what do we do?” “Now.” She raised her eyebrow playfully. “We move in.” 76   

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She directed Rafe and Eurial where to put the big items, like the beds and the couch that had seen better days but would come in handy. And she and Lyle brought in the smaller stuff like mismatched dining chairs and table lamps. When they were done, they managed to get both of the bedrooms fully furnished, as wells as a complete living room with an old-fashioned TV that played in black and white and actually worked. Next to the small kitchen was round table with a seventies flower-power theme that was just big enough for four. It was perfect for the angels, Evan thought as she sunk back into the old couch, feeling the waves of exhaustion from the long day of work. Lyle slid onto the floor next to her and rested back against the couch so that his head could nestle on the seat cushion, leaving enough room in between them to avoid touching. Eurial futzed with the TV, swinging the antennae this way and that, trying to pick up a signal. Evan was too tired to bother telling him it was a waste of time. Leaning against the window frame, Rafe looked out over Main Street at all of the different shops and boutiques that lit up the small street. “Thank you for doing this, Evan.” He glanced back at her, letting his eyes meet hers. Again, she got lost just looking at him. It was so easy to just look at Rafe and forget her troubles. It must have been because of his whole “angel” status, she assured herself. “Well, if you guys are gonna be stuck babysitting me till I croak, you might as well have a decent place to live,” she replied, standing up, although her aching body urged her to sit back down. “You’re leaving?” He stepped away from the window and towards her. 77   

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“Yeah. I really need a shower…and a bed.” She laughed, noticing that Lyle had already fallen asleep. Eurial was too busy in his futile effort to make the TV do what he wanted that he didn’t notice her. Rafe took another calculated step forward. “I’ll walk you home then, if you’d like?” She did her best not to get lost in his eyes again. “Sure. That would be nice.” Before leaving, Rafe grabbed a long sleeve shirt from one of the Old Navy bags and held it out to her. “It’s probably cold out.” “Yeah…” She nodded, taking it and pulling it on over her t-shirt. It was obviously way to big and left several inches of sleeve covering her hands, but still nice. He admired it and a small smile started to pull at his lips. “Suits you.” Her parents had closed several hours ago, and the main room of the bistro was empty and dark as they passed through to the outside. For a while, they just walked in silence. Evan got the feeling that Rafe liked it that way. “This must all seem so strange to you…being here.” She motioned to the world around here. He shrugged. “Yes, it’s…strange. But being here, I understand it now—why Man is so special. Your lives are so fragile…so fleeting, yet you carry on, even in the face of death. I can see how it would be easy to feel alone here…I never understood it before.” “You never felt alone…in Heaven?” Even with his shirt, the cold night air chilled Evan so she wrapped her arms around her. “Not like I have here. These eyes,” he motion to his eyes, “they don’t see all that they used to—all the wonder that truly 78   

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surrounds us. At the same time, they don’t see all the terror either. And…in Heaven, as you call it, we were all connected to each other. Our thoughts all echoed each others. It was hard to feel alone.” “Sounds…strange,” Evan replied with a smile. The smile faded and she asked, “Why? Why would you give that up to keep me safe…and spare me all the ‘you need to be protected’ babble. None of the other angels came with you guys, and you obviously had to pay a price for coming. So why would you come here?” She stared intensely at his face, unafraid of what might happen when their eyes met. Rafe walked beside her silently for a while before finally looking at her. “Because you are important.” Evan scoffed. “You are important to me, Evan. That’s why I came.” Evan’s scoff caught in her throat. That wasn’t the answer she had been expecting, and quite frankly, it terrified her. Both of them pulled their eyes away from each other, neither one able to talk. Evan couldn’t even remember walking the rest of the way home as she went inside her house. Her mind was in a frenetic state of chaos. It’s just the fumes from the paint, she told herself as she cranked up the hot water for a shower. He’s just not used to being around them, and they affected his thinking, making him say things he doesn’t understand. He’s an angel after all. They don’t have…feelings like we do. He probably just meant that in the grand scheme of things that she was “important.” “Uggh,” she groaned, realizing she had no idea what he meant.

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Rafe waited in the bushes across the street from Evan’s house until he saw Eurial strolling casually up the sidewalk. Seamlessly, he moved through the bushes to greet the other angel, casting his eyes up to Evan’s darkened window. “You look awful.” Eurial plucked a small twig out of Rafe’s hair and tossed it into the darkness. “When’s the last time you slept?” Rafe stretched out his sore neck, trying to remember. “Several days ago…I’m not sure.” Shaking his head, Eurial replied, “You have to sleep, Rafe. These bodies don’t function properly if you don’t give them a rest.” “Yeah.” Rafe nodded. “You’re probably right.” His eyes wandered back up to Evan’s window. “I got it, Rafe. No one is going to hurt her tonight. So go back to the apartment and get a few hours of sleep.” “You sure?” Rafe hesitated. “Yes. Go.” Eurial’s good temper was wearing thin. Even though Rafe was the lead, sometimes he didn’t know what was good for him. “Alright. I’ll be back when the sun comes up.” Rafe had to force himself to start walking away from Evan’s house and back towards the apartment. He always had this niggling feeling that something bad would happen during one of the times that he wasn’t with Evan. It nearly drove him crazy. At the apartment, Lyle was still passed out against the couch. Turning off the TV the way that Evan had showed him, the fuzzy gray and white screen turned black, and he went over to shake Lyle’s shoulder. “Lyle…Lyle, get up.” The younger angel’s eyes started to flutter and he made groaning noises. “Lyle!” Rafe gave him an abrupt shove and Lyle’s eyes flew open. 80   

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“What? What’s happening?” Lyle jumped up, ready for a fight, then realized where he was. “Oh, Rafe, hey.” “Here.” Rafe handed him his bag of clothes. “Go to bed.” Lyle nodded groggily, taking the bag and heading towards the back bedroom. “And take your contacts out,” Rafe called to him. He grabbed his bag of clothes and went into the bathroom. Looking at his human form was still taking some adjusting. Before, everything seemed to be…different, brighter. Remembering it was becoming a little complicated, as if the memories of his angel life were getting foggy. In the mirror, he could see that the whites of his eyes were marred with red streaks, something he blamed the contacts for. After pulling the contact case from the bag, he painfully removed the contacts from his eyes and dunked them back into their little dishes before sealing them up. His green eyes were gone, and his angel eyes shined brightly back at him, reminding him a bit of his true self. He yanked off his shirt and tossed it back into the bag then collected it and paced to the empty bedroom. It was small, but big enough for the bed and a small dresser. After setting the bag on the dresser, he carefully climbed onto the bed and settled on his back. Sleep wasn’t something he was accustomed to, or liked. It felt like a waste of precious time to him…like he could be doing something important. Yet…it felt good to give his body a rest. Before his eyes unwillingly shut, the image of Evan smiling at him saturated his tired mind. Without asking them to, his lips curled into a matching smile and he sank into a deep, much needed sleep.

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* “No, the coffee goes in this one.” Evan covered the top of a glass cup with her palm and shoved a white mug towards Eurial, who was holding a pot of coffee. “You have to get this right if you’re gonna be working here.” They were sitting in the usual booth while Lyle sat at the counter practicing how to write with a pen. At first he loved it, but after three hours he started to snarl at the thought of writing another string of the alphabet. Evan had told him if he wanted to go to school with her, there were certain things he had to be able to do. Oddly enough, the angels could read and spell…even do mathematics, they just couldn’t write it down. She told herself it was better than them not knowing how to read or spell. Rafe came through the doorway that led to the stairs of the apartment in a flurry. He was still pulling his shirt on and his eyes frantically searched the bistro. He saw Lyle first and started to go towards him until he saw Evan and Eurial in the booth. Hurrying to Eurial, he demanded, “Why didn’t you wake me sooner? It’s past noon.” “Because.” Eurial was still holding the coffee pot. “There were no pressing emergencies, and you needed sleep.” The coffee in the pot sloshed around with each word he spoke. “Morning, Rafe,” Evan’s dad was coming in from the outside. “Or should I say, good evening.” He chuckled lightly to himself as he kept walking towards the kitchen. “Morning, sir,” Rafe called back and took a seat next to Eurial. In a low, stern voice, he said, “Next time, wake me up.” 82   

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“Yes, boss,” Eurial replied blithely, but there was chord of seriousness in his voice that belied his casual air. “Here.” He poured Rafe a cup of coffee. “I’ve heard it does wonders for waking people up.” Rafe took the cup and settled back against the booth, not even taking note of Evan who was watching him with a concerned expression. “I think it’s safe to say he’s not a morning person,” Eurial joked. “Guess so.” She shook her head to clear him from her mind and turned back to Eurial. “Okay, so this is?” She held up a fork in front of her. “A waste of time,” Eurial replied. “Eurial,” she snarled. “I don’t wanna do this anymore than you do so just answer the question.” “Ow!” Under the table, Rafe, who hadn’t appeared to be listening, had stomped on Eurial’s foot. “A spoon! It’s a spoon.” Eurial leaned forward so he could massage his foot. “No. This,” Evan held up a spoon, “is a spoon. This is a for—” The bells on the door jingled as someone came in, and both angels turned to see who it was when Evan didn’t finish her sentence. She was staring open-mouthed in its direction. “Will,” Evan’s mom trilled as she went to put her arm around his shoulders. “I’ve almost got your order ready, why don’t you come and keep me company while I finish it?” “Sure.” He gave a quick look back at Evan before following her mom. Evan sat back in her seat with a blank expression, obviously thinking about Will. She remained that way until Will emerged from behind the counter and left the bistro. The bell 83   

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chimed again, signaling his exit, and her hands clenched into fists. In a flash, she darted out of the booth and towards the door. Opening it, she called out, “Will, wait!” Rafe started to go after her, but Eurial clamped a hand on his arm. “Better let her do this alone. Besides, she has an audience.” He pointed with his eyes towards Evan’s mother who was watching her daughter go after Will. Rafe sucked in a tight breath and leaned back, but his muscles were taut, ready to dash for Evan at a moment’s notice. “Will, please wait,” Evan called again, semi out of breath from running after him. Will slowed down and came to a stop but didn’t turn around. “What, Evan?” She carefully came up behind him, noting the way his shoulders were trembling. “You look better.” “Yeah,” he scoffed. “Well, you can thank my doctor and the local pharmacist.” He started walking away again. “Will…” Her voice came out choked. Will kept walking until he disappeared around the corner. Kicking a pebble in her path, she turned around with shoulders hunched and went back inside. Instead of returning to the booth, she joined Lyle at the counter and rested her chin on her palm before letting out a heavy sigh. “Aw, hon, he’ll come around.” Her mom brushed a kiss on the top of her head as she passed by. “Give him time.” “Not likely,” Evan mumbled under her breath. Lyle, unaware of her internal suffering, sat up straight. “Hey, Ev, look.” He shoved his paper over in front of her and sat back like a dog awaiting its praise for doing a trick. 84   

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On the sheet of paper, he’d written in large boxy letters, resembling that of a first grader’s handwriting, “My name is Lyle.” “Wow, Lyle. This is looking great!” She looked at it a little longer before sliding it back to him. “You think?” he asked with a corny smile, admiring his own work. Setting it down, he looked at her. “Don’t worry about Will. He’s gonna realize he’s being an idiot and come back to you. He just has to work through stuff.” Evan’s jaw dropped. She didn’t realize that Lyle had even noticed any of that. Maybe he wasn’t as naïve as he looked. “You sound like you know from experience.” He shrugged. “I watch people.” Picking up his pen, he started practicing again. “I’ve seen this happen loads of times. It always works itself out…well, almost always.”

* Evan launched herself out the front door at a sprint and didn’t let up until she was skidding to a stop in front of the bistro doors. A millisecond later, Lyle was swinging it open. Stepping in, she set her bag down without acknowledging the two hovering angels in the corner. Her eyes were trained solely on Lyle, assessing his outfit, then his eyes to make sure he had put his contacts in, and when she had looked at everything, she relaxed and said, “You look good. Normal.” Lyle beamed and took a seat at the counter. “Did you get all the papers ready?” “Oh!” She remembered why she had been in such a rush. “Yeah. Eurial, come here.” She collected her bag and plunked it on the counter then pulled out a manila folder of docu85   

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ments she had spent the night creating. Records of Lyle’s previous education. Eurial scuffed his feet across the room and hoisted himself up so he was sitting on the counter next to where she was standing. “I don’t see why I need to be the one to take him.” “We’ve been over this, Eurial.” Evan jabbed the folder into his hands. “You look the oldest, and you’re the one who has a job. We need the principal to think that Lyle has a responsible guardian. Principal Rose isn’t a tough egg to crack, but she’s a stickler for responsibility.” She sucked in a breath and continued. “Now, remember to smile not snarl, be polite and patient, and please, whatever you do, don’t do that lightning thing with your hand.” She stared intently into his brown eyes, trying to see if any of what she was saying made it past his enormous ego. He rolled his eyes and started looking through the folder. “Anything else?” Evan thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, if they tell you that you don’t have all the documents you need, just say that you’ll get them. I think I covered everything, but I’ve never had to do this before so I’m not sure.” “Great. Let’s get this show on the road.” Eurial hopped off the counter and headed for the door. Evan stood like a statue, trying not to panic. Eurial was cocky, but hopefully he listened to something she said. “Coming, Ev?” Lyle called to her from the door. “Mm-hmm,” she mumbled unsurely. Whispering to herself, she prayed, “Please let this work.” Eurial stayed several paces ahead of them as they entered the sunny common square of the school. Lyle mumbled a little practice speech over and over again, while Evan did her best not to freak out. Rafe had followed them closely till 86   

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about two blocks from the school, where he…disappeared. She didn’t know how he did it—he was like a super stealth ninja-angel. The thought made her laugh a little. Most likely he was off in some shady nook, watching her from afar. She looked around in search of the aforesaid shady nook and found several suitable candidates. After their talk on Saturday, neither one had really said anything to each other. A good thing, she told herself. The more distance she kept between the two of them, the safer they’d be. It would be too easy to go falling for the fallen angel and make a world of trouble she wasn’t prepared to deal with. “Alright,” Eurial said, coming to a stop. “We’re here. Now what?” He nodded to a sign attached to the outer wall of the school that said “Office.” “Do just like we talked about. Tell the lady at the desk you’re there to enroll your brother. She’ll tell you what do to from there, and if you get unsure—” “I won’t,” he cut her off. “Come on, brother.” He looked at Lyle and started towards the office. “Be back in a bit,” Lyle replied with an anxious smile and jogged after Eurial. Even though she wasn’t the one who would be talking to the principal, Evan felt more nervous than she ever had. More so than the time she had to give the graduation speech from junior high. “Who was that cutie you were walking with?” Lissy popped up next to her with a conspiratorial smile. “Oh.” Evan hoped she was referring to Lyle and not Eurial. “That was Lyle. He’s gonna be going here.” She led them over to one of the metal benches and sat down. 87   

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“And?” Lissy opened her eyes wide, waiting for more details. When Evan didn’t offer more, she asked, “How did you meet him?” Evan squirmed a little in her seat. “He and his brothers moved into the apartment over the bistro. They just moved into town.” “Ooh, brothers!” Lissy squealed. “Tell me more.” “Lissy,” Evan chuckled. “They’re just boys, what’s left to tell?” She hoped her friend would drop the tender subject. “Well, are they hot? Are they single? Do they like brunettes?” Lissy shook out her long brown hair. “Well, don’t even bother with Eurial, he doesn’t like people,” Evan replied. “And Rafe…he doesn’t talk. As for Lyle, he’s probably gonna be too loaded with work to catch up on to think about girls,” she did her best to discourage Lissy. “Then he’ll be needing someone to help him with all that homework.” Lissy wagged her eyebrows. Evan shook her head disapprovingly, and started fretting on the inside. She had enough to worry about without Lissy getting in the way. Changing the subject, thankfully, Lissy leaned in close. “So, you know right?” “Know what?” Evan asked, curious. “About Will? He’s coming back today. Heard it from Joan, her dad is his dad’s assistant.” Evan’s heart threatened to stop beating and her palms went cold and clammy. “Are you sure?” “Mm-hmm.” Lissy nodded slowly. “Have you guys talked yet?” “No, not really. I saw him at the bistro, but he doesn’t want anything to do with me. I’ve left him dozens of messag88   

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es.” She fumbled with her hands in her lap. “He probably hates me…and the crappy thing is, I don’t know why? Literally, Liss, I can’t remember.” Lissy squeezed Evan’s hand. “He doesn’t hate you, Ev. But you have to give him space to get over whatever happened. I mean, you two were both found in an alley covered in blood. That’s bound to scare even the toughest person.” Evan nodded. “That’s what everyone keeps telling me…but it doesn’t make it any easier.” Overhead, the first bell rang. Lissy pulled Evan off the bench and said, “Let’s go, math awaits. Oh joy of joys!” she joked. Going with Lissy, Evan threw a look over her shoulder in the direction of the office and wondered how the angels were doing. She could just imagine the principal going to pick up a pen and Eurial blasting the pen into oblivion. She slapped a hand to her forehead as more disaster scenarios started to play in her head. Lissy took the last seat in the last row of math class and Evan grabbed the seat next to her, as was usual. It was always easier to text each other without the teacher seeing when they sat in the back. Several more students came rushing in from the hall as the bell was ringing and Mr. Brooks went over to shut the door. As he did, he stepped back and said, “Ah, Will, glad to see you’re back. Take a seat and we’ll get started.” Evan’s eyes flew to the door. Will came in without replying and only raised his eyes to find an open seat. Which, consequently, the only seat that wasn’t occupied happened to be in front of Evan. She glanced over at Lissy who was too busy staring at Will. 89   

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Evan had already seen him since the accident, so his appearance didn’t stand out so much her, but looking at him, she realized that his hair was longer than it used to be and was combed forward so it hid his eyes, making him look moody and unapproachable. He was still pale from staying inside and his whole attitude seemed different. Darker. He moved across the class room, ignoring everyone’s staring and slid into the open seat, without acknowledging Evan’s existence. Mr. Brooks cleared his throat and went to the white board and began writing practice problems on the board. Instead of working the problems out on her paper, Evan found herself staring at the back of Will’s head, wishing she could talk to him…or see his face. After several more minutes of staring, Will turned around, his guarded eyes burned right into hers. “That’s really distracting.” Unable to talk, she froze. “Look,” he leaned in so that the teacher couldn’t hear him, “if we’re gonna have to see each other every day, it’d be easier if you weren’t always giving me those pathetic puppy eyes.” His voice was cold, and so un-like Will. He turned back around and went back to his problems. Blinking through the disbelief, Evan pulled her eyes away from the back of his head, and stared down at her paper, which she wasn’t really seeing. All she could do was replay the last minute over and over in her head. The angry boy sitting in front of her was not Will, not the real Will. Next to her she could tell that Lissy was watching her— probably witnessed the Will-imposter’s cruel announcement and was just as shocked as Evan was. 90   

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It felt like a second later when the bell rang for the end of class. Evan was still putting her papers together when Will got up and disappeared into the hall. “Oh, Evan,” Lissy cooed in her apologetic voice. “I don’t even know what to say, other than…I’m in complete and utter denial. There is no way that that was Will. I mean, he seems so…” “Different,” Evan answered without looking at Lissy. She gathered her stuff and the two exited the class. Evan scanned up and down the hall, but Will was long gone. “You know what we need?” Lissy asked as they headed down the hall to their lockers. “What?” Evan’s shoulders were slouching because of her sinking mood. “We need a girls’ night!” Lissy chirped. “You, me, the best chick flicks that Blockbuster has to offer, and a pint of chocolate peanut butter ice cream.” “Mm, I don’t know.” Evan glumly spun the combination lock on her locker and dumped her book in once it was open. “Oh, come on. It’s worked in the past.” Lissy reached in and straightened the book out. “Things weren’t this bad in the past. You saw that look he gave me. It’s like I’m the scourge of the earth or something.” “Well, then a girls’ night is exactly what you need. You have to get your mind off Will and onto healthier, happier subjects.” “I have had a lot on my mind,” Evan conceded. Before she could say anymore, a skinny blond boy popped up between her and Lissy. “We did it, Evan! I’m in! I’m a real student!” Lyle’s bright blue eyes were wide open and he was panting as if he’d ran all the way from the office to her. She wondered how long it took him to find her. 91   

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“That’s great, Lyle.” She glanced nervously at Lissy who was eating Lyle up with her eyes. In a low voice, she said, “We can talk later, back at the bistro.” “Sure,” he replied. “They even gave me my own little box in the wall to put my stuff in.” He looked at Evan’s locker. “You have one too!” “Ha, ha, you’re so funny!” Lissy stepped around so she could stand next to him. “Hi, I’m Lissy, Evan’s friend. And you are?” “I’m Lyle. I’m Evan’s friend too.” “Then I guess that makes us friends as well.” Lissy inched closer to Lyle. “So what classes did they give you?” “Classes?” Lyle looked confused. “Oh, yeah.” He pulled a wrinkled paper from his back pocket and unfolded it. As he read off the classes he was given, Evan was able to determine that he had the same schedule as she did, except for last period where he had gym and she had study hall. This would make Rafe happy…at least she thought it would. It was hard to tell what he thought about things. Before Evan knew what was happening, Lissy had her arm wrapped through Lyle’s and they were walking down the hall. This couldn’t be good…Lyle wasn’t just some boy…he was an angel. Lissy was barking up the wrong tree. Heck! She was in the wrong park. Unable to risk touching Lyle, Evan went to Lissy’s other side and gently tugged them apart. “Liss, your class is that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction. “Oh, yeah.” Lissy laughed at herself. “Well, see ya ‘round, funny boy.” She looked at Evan and said, “Think about what I said. A girls’ night will do you good.” Waving to Lyle, she turned and headed for class. 92   

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Evan caught Lyle staring after her and began to worry that she might have yet another problem on her hands. “What’s a ‘girls’ night?’” Lyle asked after they continued walking to their next class. “Um, just something girls’ do when they need to unwind. Guys have their own versions of it, but they generally involve less talking and more TV watching.” Lyle nodded as if he understood. “Can I go to your girls’ night? It sounds fun.” Evan laughed. “No, that’s why it’s called a girls’ night—no boys allowed. Although, I don’t think Lissy would mind.” A goofy smile spread over Lyle’s face. “I like her.” “Yeah, I know. That’s what scares me,” Evan mumbled. “Lyle, you know that you can’t…like Lissy, right? Tell me you know what I mean?” She cringed at having to have this conversation with him. Who was she to tell anyone who they could like and who they couldn’t? He shrugged. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t just like her.” “This is true.” She nodded. “Sorry, I…I just don’t want you to get in any trouble.” Laughing, he said, “Then you better start walking faster, class is gonna start soon. Can’t be late for my very first class.” “Right.” Evan realized that he would need time to talk to the teacher. “Let’s go,” she called to him while picking up the pace.

* “I don’t know what Evan was so worried about. I barely had to say anything and the Principal was shaking my hand 93   

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and welcoming me to town.” Eurial joined Rafe by the school statue, where he was watching Evan in class. “So everything went well? Lyle’s in?” Rafe took his eyes off Evan to look at Eurial. “Yep. Let’s just hope he doesn’t do something stupid.” Rafe settled back against the statue and resumed his watch. “Lyle will do fine. Besides, Evan is safer with him there.” “You don’t think she was serious about me having to work for her parents, do you?” Eurial leaned back as well, only he chose to study a group of girls passing by instead of scouting the surroundings. “Yes, Eurial, I’m afraid she was serious. From the sounds of it, we’re all gonna have to work if we’re gonna have enough money to live normal lives. It’s the key to blending in.” Eurial kicked the ground. “We shouldn’t have to pretend to be normal, Rafe. We aren’t normal.” “No, but to protect Evan we have to blend in and I don’t just mean to the scenery. We have to be able to stay close to her—go where she goes, do what she does. This isn’t easy on her either, Eurial.” Eurial didn’t respond. Rafe leaned off the statue and said, “Keep a close eye on her, there’s something I have to do. I should be back in an hour or so.” After collecting the mechanic smocks from the apartment, Rafe headed in the direction of the old man’s shop. He had made him a promise to return the smocks once they had gotten clothes and now that they did, it was time to complete the promise. Now that he knew a little more about being human, he could only imagine how bazaar he and the others must have looked standing on the deserted road naked and without their 94   

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contacts to shield their fierce eyes. It was a wonder the man hadn’t called the police on them. He was glad Evan was willing to help them instead of sending them away. Things could have gone so much worse. But…that was why he came…because she was special—someone worth falling for. He often found himself wondering why Lyle and Eurial came, but he sort of knew the answer. Lyle had spent all of his time watching the humans, silently wishing he could experience what they did, and Rafe knew all the buttons to push to convince Lyle to join him. And Eurial, well, he still wasn’t sure why Eurial came. He was always putting on such a show of how little he liked it here, but secretly, he probably loved every minute of being able to feel something. These bodies they were in could feel so much more than their angelic bodies, like they were seeing in color after living a lifetime of black and white. Still, it was dangerous. Thoughts that were most certainly forbidden to them could find their way into the angels’ minds and make them forget who they truly were. Make them think they really were human. As Rafe got closer to the garage, he could hear the old man yelling. “Billy! Billy! Get the damn phone!” The phone kept ringing. “Billy! Bil—Fine, I’ll get the phone, and clean the shop, and fix all these cars while I’m at it!” Rafe appeared around the corner as the old man snatched the phone off its hook. “What yeh want!” He waited for the caller to talk. “Yes, Thelma…yes, Thelma, I know yelling ain’t good for my blood press—Yes, Thelma. Well it doesn’t help that I have worthless assistant. Alright, yes, Thelma, I’ll try.” He set the phone down and pulled a red hanky from his pocket before dabbing the sweat from his forehead and taking a deep breath. 95   

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Stepping into the shop, Rafe cleared his throat. The old man heard him and turned to face him. “Sorry, son, got too many cars to take any more. You’re gonna have to take it to the mechanic in Wisterly.” He waved Rafe off. “I’m actually here to return these.” Rafe held up the Old Navy bag he’d used to tote the smocks. “You lent them to my brothers and I.” The old man, studied Rafe closer and moved forward. “By golly, it is you. Damn, son, didn’t recognize you without all the, eh…” The mechanic waved his hands about his head where hair might grow. “Yeah, got a haircut.” Rafe set the bag down. “Thank you for letting us use these.” Nodding to the man, he turned to leave. “I heard from Marty Schroeder that you boys are livin’ in the Hardings’ apartment. That true?” the old man asked, leaning against the side of a car. Rafe turned back around to face him. “Yes, sir.” “You lookin’ for work? As it so happens, I’m lookin’ for a replacement assistant.” “Well, I am…but, I’m afraid I don’t know much about cars.” “Makes no matter,” the old man replied. “I just need someone that’s reliable and willin’ to learn. Unlike that ungrateful dropout that’s workin’ for me now.” He dabbed more sweat away. “So, you interested?” Rafe thought about it, he could fit in time to work here while Eurial watched Evan at school, and then he could watch Evan while Eurial worked at the bistro. “Yes.” “Great.” The man came forward, taking his hand and giving it a shake. “Come back tomorrow at this time, and I’ll put you to work.” 96   

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* “D’you here the good news?” Lyle asked Evan as she joined him and Rafe at their booth. “No, what?” “Rafe got a job. He’s a mechanic.” “More like an assistant to a mechanic,” Rafe corrected, his eyes drifted up to Evan’s and Evan could see that this made him happy. “Congratulations. This is a big step—your first job. Well, your first human job anyway.” She smiled proudly at him. “When do you start?” She waited for Rafe to reply, but got distracted by her phone vibrating. “Oh, it’s Lissy.” After reading her text, she started to tap out a reply. While she was doing that, Rafe excused himself to go and check on Eurial. He was working his first shift at the bistro, and Rafe was curious to see how he was handling it. In the kitchen, Eurial was cutting up fruit for the next morning’s fruit salad. Rafe couldn’t help but laugh when he saw that Eurial had to put all of his hair up into a hair net, making it look like a large brown mushroom on the top of his head. “Laugh it up,” Eurial snarled, chopping a pineapple in half with more force than called for. “Should have let Lyle cut your hair.” Rafe shook his head. Waving his knife at Rafe, Eurial replied, “Not if my life depended on it.” “Your misery,” Rafe said with a smile while leaving the kitchen. He came to complete halt when Evan was gone from the booth. Lyle was still there, scribbling something on a

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piece of paper. Homework, he’d called it. “Lyle, where’s Evan?” Rafe crossed over to the booth. Lyle looked up as if he hadn’t even recognized that she was gone. “Oh, um, I don’t know.” He looked under the table to the other side, and said, “Her bag is gone too…she must have gone home.” “Lyle!” Rafe took off like a bullet towards the door, Lyle was right behind him.

* Evan yanked her bag up around her shoulder as she walked towards her house. In Lissy’s text, she said that she had movies and ice cream and was waiting on Evan’s doorstep. Evan had never heard of a girls’ night taking place on a Monday, but, it still sounded better than hanging around the bistro while trying to avoid troubling thoughts of Rafe…or Will. She’d secretly been hoping he’d show up for his usual— pastrami on rye. A sound in the bushes made Evan’s ears perk up and the little hairs on her neck stood up. Then she remembered that she had three angels that constantly followed her around. It was probably just one of them. Although, why would they be hiding in the bushes when they could just walk with her? She rolled her eyes at their weird behavior and kept walking. When another sound on the other side of the street filled the silence, she started to get a little worried. “Rafe?” she called out to noise. “Rafe is that you, because if it is, you’re freakin’ me out. Why don’t you come out and walk with me?” Nothing but silence. 98   

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“Rafe?” she called out again, but her voice wasn’t as sure. The little voice in her head started telling her to walk faster as it screamed, “Danger!” The sounds of her feet hitting the pavement started to echo in the silence, but her heart stopped when the sounds of another pair of feet joined in. Spinning around, she was so sure she’d see someone behind her, but there was no one there. No one she could see. She drew in a deep breath to keep from panicking and started walking again. Two minutes, she told herself, she was two minutes from her house. She could make it that far. She was so busy calming herself down, she didn’t see the figure in black coming up behind her. A hand clamped over her mouth and she was pulled off the ground so high that her feet were dangling. The scream she wanted to make was trapped behind her lips, which were trapped behind the large, cold hand. Another arm wrapped around her waist and she was being taken somewhere. Up ahead, she could see a black van parked along the street. Knowing she had to do something quickly, before she was locked in the van, she started kicking her heels into her kidnapper’s shins. One landed perfectly and he let out a gasp and his hold on her was released. “Help!” she hollered, running back towards the bistro. “Somebody help!” In the distance, she could see two boys running towards her. Rafe and Lyle. They weren’t going to get to her in time though. The man she had fought off was right behind her. He made a lunge for her, knocking her to the ground. 99   

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He tried to grab her back up, but she flailed her arms at his face, batting him away. With a stern grasp, the man caught her hands and she started kicking him. The man, frustrated, looked up at the boys getting closer and rolled his eyes. He looked back down at Evan, and with a quick flash of his hand, he knocked her out. Rafe watched with terror as the attacker, hoisted Evan’s limp body over his shoulder and started to take her towards a van. His breaths burned his throat as he pushed himself even harder to get to her. He knew he wasn’t going to make it. “NO!” A rush of pure emotion and energy poured out of him and flew towards the van. As the energy wave crashed against the van, it flew backwards, and flipped onto its side. At least the attacker wouldn’t get away in it. Knowing this, the attacker turned to face them as they closed in on him. Rafe snarled when he saw the tell-tale black veins that snaked around the man’s temples. He was a familiar, a human puppet of the demons. It explained how he was able to touch Evan. The familiar lowered Evan so she was on her feet, facing the angels. He held her shoulders with one arm and her neck with another, calculating his odds of survival. “Let her go,” Rafe commanded, stepping towards them. The familiar’s grip on her neck tightened and he yelled, “Stay back!” His eyes darted up and down the streets, looking for an escape, and when he found it, he shoved Evan forward and ran full speed into the darkness. Rafe ran forward to catch Evan, but he pulled back when he remembered the rules. A sick, twisted feeling invaded his chest as he watched her crash onto the pavement, her golden hair splayed across her face, covering her. 100   

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“There could be more of them, Rafe,” Lyle said from behind him, his voice was tense and worried. “We have to get her out of here.” Rafe echoed his sentiments. His eyes searched the darkness for signs of more familiars, but he was too overloaded with emotions to see anything clearly. “What do we do, Rafe?” Rafe wracked his brain for an answer, but there was nothing he or Lyle could do to move Evan. He didn’t like what he was about to do, but it was their only option. “Get the boy.” Lyle’s eyebrows tugged together. “What?” “Get Will.”

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2. AWAKENING LIGHT WILL SCUFFED HIS FEET AS HE WALKED TOWARDS EVAN’S house, his jaw set in a permanent scowl. What could be so bad that that blond boy came to him for help? After pulling Will out of his house, the boy had taken off running, but shouted over his shoulder for Will to go to Evan. Evan didn’t seem to need Will now that she had the three new boys to hang with. He wasn’t even sure he wanted Evan to need him. Not after what happened in the alley. Too many haunting thoughts swirled around him whenever he saw her—images of things that didn’t make sense. It didn’t help that her face seemed to be permanently etched in his mind, it was all he could see when he closed his eyes. Sometimes she was smiling at him, other times she was crying black tears that trailed down her flawlessly pale cheeks. It haunted his dreams. Will had just come around the corner when he saw one of the new boys in the middle of the street, and he was kneeling  

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over…“Evan!” Will’s feet were racing towards her before his mind could work through it. “What’d you do to her!” He put himself protectively over Evan’s unconscious body, practically snarling at the other boy. The boy was looking down at Evan as if the sight of her like this hurt him. “She was…someone attacked her.” “And it didn’t occur to you to get her out of the road!” Will was seething. “I…can’t,” the other boy’s voice was barely audible. He wouldn’t take his eyes off of her. “You have to do it.” “What?” “Just do it.” For the first time, the boy looked at Will. A white fire seemed to burn beneath his green eyes. “We need to get her back to the apartment. She’ll be safe there.” “No. She’s going to the hospital.” Will started to pick Evan up. “No! She’s not safe there.” Just as the other boy finished talking, the blond boy who had found Will and the third new boy came running up the street. Will pulled Evan into his arms and eyed each of the strangers carefully. What had Evan gotten herself into? “What are you talking about? What is she not safe from?” The third boy stepped forward, giving Will the look he might give vermin. “Shut up and do as he says, because I don’t care if I have to drag your unconscious body back to the apartment while she sits on top of you.” The look in his eyes said he meant it. He certainly looked big enough to take Will if he wanted to. Without much of a choice, Will put Evan over his shoulder and began walking back towards the bistro. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Who on earth would attack Evan? And why didn’t any of those boys want to touch her? It was 103   

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only that little detail that kept Will from seriously suspecting them of attacking her. “Take the back entrance,” the bossy boy directed to Will as they got to the bistro. Will stopped and turned around. “You’re not even going to tell her parents?” Bossy boy stepped ominously forward. “Go.” He stared the boy in the eye, thinking that if he wasn’t holding Evan he might have decked him. The other boy picked up on this and gave him a daring smile. “Eurial,” The quiet, dark haired boy stepped in between them. “Go get the door open.” Eurial looked hesitant to pass up a possible fight, but did as the boy had said and took the stairs to the apartment at a jog. “Can you make it up the stairs?” The boy looked at Will and then Evan resting on his shoulder. “Yeah, I got it,” Will snapped, possessively holding Evan’s legs tighter to his chest, as if he was afraid the other boy might try to take her. Carefully, he started up the stairs, leaning slightly forward so that Evan’s weight didn’t throw him off balance. Eurial had the door open at the top and was standing just inside the doorway. “Take her to the couch.” He jabbed his thumb in the couch’s direction. Before doing as he said, Will turned to look backwards and Evan’s arms swung out towards Eurial, who dove out of their way, yelling, “Watch it!” “What is wrong with you people?” Will asked as he set Evan down on the brown, corduroy couch. Neither of the boys answered him. The blond boy stepped forward towards Evan, inspecting her face. “Yep, she’s gonna 104   

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have a bruise. That familiar got a pretty good swipe at her.” He looked up at a confused Will and said, “I’m Lyle by the way, and that’s Rafe.” He pointed to the tortured looking boy who was lost staring at Evan. Evan started to rouse, and in a groggy voice she said, “Rafe?” Will noted how Rafe seemed to stop breathing as he watched her sit up. Her hand flew to her head as her big green eyes searched the room, growing wide when she stopped at Will. “Will?” She looked confused to see him, and at the same time, happy. “Hey.” He kneeled down to her level and brushed back the hair from her face so he could see the welt that was forming on her cheek bone. Trying to keep his voice soft, he asked, “What’s going on Evan? Why did someone attack you?” Somehow, the unresolved anger he felt towards her didn’t seem to matter right now. She started to answer him, but Eurial’s brusque movements distracted her. With hands like vices, Eurial was hauling Will towards the door. “Well, thanks for the help, kid, but we’ve got it from here.” “Eurial, let him go!” Evan got up and started to grab for Eurial but held back. “Eurial!” He ignored her. After shoving Will out, Eurial slammed the door in his face. Will quickly started banging on it, demanding him to open it. Eurial leaned back against it with his arms crossed a pleased smile on his lips. “Open the door!” Evan yelled at him, but he still didn’t listen. “Rafe?” She looked back at the leader of the angels with an exasperated expression. Rafe held her gaze for a moment, before looking at Eurial and nodding. 105   

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Eurial cringed. “You can’t be serious, Rafe? He’s not part of this.” “Yes, he is,” Evan argued. “You guys made him part of this. Now let him in.” Eurial didn’t move. “Let him in, or I’m leaving, and I don’t care if I have to go through you to do it.” After shaking his head disapprovingly, Eurial and stepped away from the door. “He’s all yours…but this is bad idea— getting the boy involved.” Evan waited until he was across the room before pulling the door open. Will stood in front of her with his fist in the air, as if he had been about to knock on the door again. Will and Evan stared at each other for a moment, both trying to see past the surface. “Come on,” Evan said softly, taking his hand to pull him in. As her hand came into contact, the flash of an image, like a memory, darted into Will’s mind. In it, Evan was holding the picture she had taken of him last summer, a tear slid down her cheek and landed on the glass of the picture. When the memory was over, Will let out a quick gasp and hastily pulled his hand from Evan, whose cheeks reddened with embarrassment. Did she really not know why he pulled away? Did she not see the image? Stepping in to the apartment, Will’s eyes darted to Eurial, who was scowling in the corner. Rafe was still leaning against a wall, his subtle green eyes followed Will before moving back to Evan. Evan looked to Rafe. “I’m gonna tell him. He deserves to know.” He didn’t seem too pleased, but he didn’t argue. “It’s your choice to make,” he replied. “Just remember how you felt after you were brought into this life.” Will looked back and forth between the two of them. “Look, I want to know what happened out there. I don’t care 106   

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how bad you think it is.” He put his hands on Evan’s shoulders so she would face him. Fortunately, nothing weird happened when he touched her. “Evan, tell me what’s going on.” Evan’s eyes looked troubled. “Will, with everything that’s happened to you already…because of me…” Her head shook softly from side to side. “Rafe is right. I can’t just throw you into this. It would just mess up your life.” “No.” Will shook her gently, his eyes were intense. “I’m already in this. And in case you haven’t noticed, my life is already messed up!” His voice got louder towards the end of the sentence and Evan looked down, as if she felt responsible it. He remembered what she said, and asked, “What did you mean by, ‘because of you?’” Evan’s eyes darted back to Rafe, looking for reassurance. When his stoic expression didn’t change, she looked back to Will. “Well, if I tell you, there’s no going back…and you’ll probably think I’m crazy.” “I already think that. You’re hanging out with these guys.” Will pointed his thumb at the three silent boys. “You can tell me, Evan.” Evan was silent. Will felt his anger growing in his chest. “Evan, tell me the truth, or I’m walking out that door and the next time your friends need my help, they won’t get it…you either. I’m tired of feeling like something is wrong with me. I need to know the truth.” Evan still wasn’t so sure, but at hearing Will’s words, Rafe stepped forward. “Tell him. We need him.” “What?” Evan and Eurial replied at the same time. Rafe focused on Evan. “We can protect you, but if what happened tonight were to ever happen again, we would be sitting targets. Will can keep that from happening.” 107   

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Eurial realized the validity of Rafe’s revelation. “Oh,” he sighed, settling back, all of his obstinance dissolved. With a resolved voice, he said to Evan, “Tell him.” She started to bite her lip nervously. “What are you talking about…keep what from happening?” Will was confused. “They can’t touch me,” Evan let out a resigning breath, “because…they’re angels.” Letting out a dull laugh, Will stepped back. “What?” He looked at the unlikely boys. “You’re kidding right?” Evan wasn’t laughing. “No, it’s the truth. They’re angels that came here to protect me, but because of what I am, if they touch me they’ll be sent back to Heaven.” Will had figured the ‘unable to touch’ part out on his own, but he highly doubted that it was because they were angels. “Say they are angels,” he postulated, “and they’re here to keep you safe. Obviously, you need that, although I’m not sure why.” He looked at the bruise on her cheek. “What are you that they can’t touch you?” “You believe me?” Evan asked, unable to believe it herself. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “But certain…aspects of it seem to make sense.” Sitting on the couch, he massaged his temples. “Why do you need to be protected, Evan?” She bit down on her lip again, debating on the right words to use. “I’m a healer,” she said with a slightly fretting lip. “The power to heal has been passed down through my family line and…and it came from…” She wasn’t sure she wanted to say it. “It came from God. It’s because of that power that the angels can’t touch me.” Will didn’t move or breathe for a long time. His eyes watched Evan for any signs that she was joking, but from the anxious look in her eyes to the way she was scrunching her 108   

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hands together, he knew she believed she was telling the truth. Did he believe her…he wasn’t sure. “You’re a healer?” He finally spoke. She nodded, almost apologetically. “How do you know?” She winced at the question and her hands clenched so tight that her fingers started going purple. “Will…” She hesitated and couldn’t seem to find the courage to go on. “Tell me, Evan.” His voice was impatient, bordering harsh. “How do you know that you’re a healer? Did the angels tell you? Or have you just been hearing voices in your head?” Her eyes darted to his. “You’re mocking me?” She looked hurt. “How can you honestly expect me to believe any of this? I’ve known you all my life, Evan, and you’ve never done anything extraordinary. Hell!” He stood up from the couch. “If you’re some healer, why haven’t you healed yourself?” He pointed at her welt. “I don’t know how,” she replied in a whisper. He shook his head, disappointed. “And I actually thought you had something important to tell me. Evan, I don’t know what these boys have filled your head with, but you should seriously think about getting help. All of you.” With loud steps he headed for the door. “I healed you!” Evan nearly shouted it at Will’s retreating back. Before he could take another step, he came to a complete stop. Heaving a deep, steadying breath, he said, “What?” She rose from the couch and came up behind him. Rafe and the others were all frozen as they watched. “I know I can heal, because I healed you—in the alley.” Will slowly turned around, unable to say anything. 109   

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“You were bleeding out, and I was holding you in my arms.” Evan had to fight to straighten out the thoughts in her mind. Her own recollection of the night in the alley was still chaotic, but with Will standing in front of her, she was able to push her way through it. “I told you to stay with me, but you had lost so much blood already.” As Will listened to her, memories of that night flooded into his mind. Like the dam that had been blocking them was breaking through. “I tried to fight it but I was so tired. I wanted to talk to you, but I couldn’t speak,” he found himself adding to her explanation. Evan nodded, tears were pooling up in her eyes, making them seem even greener. “And then…you…you left me.” The tears could no longer be held back and they started to slide down her cheeks, the eyeliner and mascara she had been wearing mixed with them and they turned black—just like the vision Will kept seeing of her in his mind. He knew then, that something had happened between the two of them— they were connected somehow. “Something changed in me, Will. Losing you awakened something deep inside of me,” Evan continued. “I…I couldn’t remember it, not till just now. I was willing to give up my life if it meant saving yours. I gave you all the life I had in me till there was none left, but something brought me back. Something kept me alive.” Rafe, who had been listening quietly, leaned forward. He should have seen it sooner. That bolt from the sky wasn’t Evan’s doing…it was something else. She would have died that night from trying to bring Will back, but like she said, something, or someone, brought her back. As he leaned back, a particularly troubling thought kept repeating in his head. She wasn’t just a healer anymore…she was more. 110   

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Looking up at Will and Evan, who were lost looking into each other’s eyes, a stinging pain started to emanate in Rafe’s chest. He realized that he didn’t like the way they were looking at each other—that he was jealous. Whispering a silent prayer in his mind, he tried to calm himself and push the dark emotion away. If Evan was going to be kept safe, now especially, Will would have to stay close to her. The stinging pain got worse. Will’s mind felt like it had been picked up, shaken, and put back…upside down. There weren’t any resisting emotions of anger towards Evan, or the angels. She had saved him—given up her life for his, and he knew it was the truth. The only mystery that remained was: Why did he need saving in the first place? “I’m so sorry, Evan, for how I treated you. I…I couldn’t remember anything.” Will stepped forward, taking her hand in his. Evan’s breath caught in her throat. This was the first time that Will had initiated any intimate touches. Even when their lives were normal he was always distant. “I know, Will. I never blamed you.” He gave her hand a squeeze before gently letting it go and looking towards the angels. “Why isn’t she safe? Why are people after her?” “Her power,” Rafe answered. “The night that she saved you, Evan became a target. Her power was, no doubt, witnessed and felt by those who would seek to use it for their own purposes. And tonight,” Rafe exhaled a solemn breath, “one of them tried to take her. I don’t think they were expecting us to be guarding her or else they wouldn’t have just sent one familiar. They won’t make the same mistake twice. The next time they come, there’ll be more of them.” 111   

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“Whoa, wait. Familiars?” Will shook his head, confused. Evan’s expression matched his. “Yeah, what are familiars, Rafe?” “The man that attacked you was a familiar—” “A stupid one,” Eurial cut in. “Familiars,” Rafe continued, “are humans that have been possessed by demons. The humans they use have no control over what they are doing—they’re worn like puppets.” “Well that’s great,” Will replied, cynically. “We won’t be able tell a normal person apart from a possessed person. How are we supposed to keep her safe?” Taking note of how Will had said we, Evan shook her head. “No, the guy that attacked me didn’t look right. There was something wrong with his face.” Rafe nodded. “You can tell a familiar from a human by the marks on their temples. It’ll look like black veins going towards their eyes.” “How do we stop one?” Will asked, his voice growing more resolved. “You kill it,” Eurial replied with an obvious voice. “But that’ll kill the human it’s using.” Evan’s eyes winced. Eurial didn’t look to disturbed by it. “So far, we haven’t been able to remove a possession from a familiar safely,” Rafe announced with a cautious tone. “We do what we can to avoid harming the humans, but most times...” He didn’t need to finish. With a depressed sigh, Evan went back to the couch, tucking one leg under her and wrapping her arms around her other knee. “So it’s started then—all the bad stuff you were talking about? More are gonna come back for me?”

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Rafe was off the wall and kneeling before her within a second. “Evan, we’re gonna do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I promise.” “Yeah, Evan, we’ll be right here with you,” Lyle added, his bright blue eyes beamed at her. He had been so quiet up to that point that Evan had all but forgot he was still there. “Everyone knows how much I like a good fight,” Eurial threw his two-cents in. “Let the puppets come, I’ll be waiting for them.” “So will I.” Will stepped forward, putting a hand on Evan’s shoulder. With all of their confident exclamations, Evan even found herself getting hopeful. Maybe together, they would be able to face whatever was coming their way and come out on the other side. And now that Will knew the truth, she felt like a part of her life was somewhat whole again. Not the same as it was, but maybe little better.

* Evan closed the door of the apartment after saying goodbye to Will. He had seemed hesitant to leave, but with his parents still so worried about him, he had to get home before they sent out for a search party. She sucked in a deep breath and returned to the living room where Lyle was plunked on the couch in front of the TV. Rafe was looking out the windows at the street below, probably searching for familiars, and Eurial had gone back down to the bistro to finish his shift. She wondered how he’d explain his hour-long disappearance.

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Now that there wasn’t so much excitement in the air, the pain from the wallop she’d received was really starting to flare up. Her hand carefully traced the edges of the growing welt and twinges of pain made her cringe. In the bathroom, she flipped the light on and saw the reddish-brown bruise covering the side of her cheek reflected back at her from the mirror. What was she going to say when her parents saw this? It’s not like their town was known for attacks. Everybody knew everybody. Attacked. She still couldn’t believe she actually had to use that word in association with herself. She was a victim, or she would have been if Rafe and Lyle hadn’t saved her. The echoes of the fear she’d felt surged back up. It was only when she saw Rafe that she knew she was going to be okay—that he would keep her safe. “You can heal that,” Rafe’s voice was right next to her. She jumped a little from not expecting him to be there and a little from just…him. Pulling back so they weren’t quite so close, she didn’t want to take any chances that they might touch. “How?” “I don’t really know,” he answered, stepping closer so he could look at the bruise. Evan stood like a statue, afraid to even breathe with him being so close. He lifted his hand as if to reach for her cheek, but didn’t complete the movement. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” The frozen look on her face melted. “It’s not your fault, Rafe. I left without telling anyone, and it’s not like you knew that a familiar would be coming for me just then.” “Yes,” he shook his head a little, “I did. I’m always expecting something to happen—like there’s this constant fear that one day, I’m gonna get to you too late and you’ll be gone, or 114   

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hurt, or worse.” The look in his eyes was downright excruciating. Speechless, Evan couldn’t move, or talk, or breathe almost. This was the first time Rafe had ever opened up to her like this. Dangerous feelings started to swirl through Evan and she knew that stopping them would be harder than ever. It was easy to contain them when Rafe was distant, but when he was like this, the feelings were unstoppable, uncontrollable, and inevitable. Her cheeks were burning so she placed her cool fingers over them to cool them down, and when she did, the welt didn’t seem to be as welt-like. Her eyes whipped to Rafe, who was also a little surprised, and then she looked to the mirror. As she pulled her hands away, she could see only slight traces of where the bruise used to be. The skin didn’t feel as tight on her cheek and was changing from a brown to a light purple and then to yellow before returning to its normal rosy complexion. “You did it,” Rafe said with a low, delighted voice. The smile that wasn’t on his lips was emanating from his eyes. No, Evan thought, you did. Somehow, thinking about Rafe had made it possible. Before she could linger on that thought, she announced, “I need to leave.” Rafe was caught a little off guard by the abruptness of it, but nodded and stepped back so she could exit the bathroom. “I’ll walk you.” “No,” again she was abrupt. “Lyle can walk me. There’re some things I should talk to him about…you know, for school. Lyle!” she called to him, already halfway out the door. Lyle scrambled after her, but not before patting Rafe on the back. “See ya soon.” The door shut behind him and Rafe 115   

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was left scratching his head, wondering what had just happened. He moved quickly to the window where he saw Evan’s rapidly moving figure followed by Lyle jogging up behind her. Had he said something that bothered Evan—was she upset with him? One moment she was okay and the next she was practically running from him. With one hand tugging troublingly at his hair, the other grabbed his coat that was slung over a chair and threw it on before running out the door. “Evan! Evan, slow down!” Lyle was running to catch up with her. He knew they should probably get her home quickly, but this might’ve been overkill. “Look, if you’re worried about the familiars coming back, I don’t think they’ll try again tonight. Plus, Rafe is probably following us.” “I know,” Evan muttered, picking up the pace. Lyle finally caught up to her shaking his head and laughing. “So what did you want to talk about…for school?” “Huh.” She looked up at him, a little confused. “Oh, I forgot.” He must have sensed that she wasn’t really into having a conversation because he didn’t ask any other questions the rest of the way to her house, and just nodded as she waved over her shoulder to him. In her room, she threw her bag chaotically on her bed and went straight for the mirror in the bathroom. Her face was still healed, no traces of being knocked out. She put her hand to the place the bruise used to be—no pain either. How did she heal herself? Was it that she healed because she was thinking about Rafe, or was it that she was thinking about healing, like Rafe mentioned? 116   

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Unable to decide, or want to decide, she flipped off the light and went to bed. Except, lying in her dark, quiet room only inspired her to think more about…things. A frustrated breath flew from her lips and she flipped the bedside lamp on. Her backpack lying next to the bed, would make a good distraction she figured, pulling out the next day’s homework. “Why does she keep doing that?” Lyle asked after noticing that Evan’s bedroom light kept turning on and then shortly after, turning off. He’d watched her complete the pattern three times already. “I don’t know.” Rafe replied from his place sitting against a large tree trunk. He seemed almost as withdrawn as Evan did. “D’you two have a fight or something? You’re both acting weird.” Lyle joined Rafe, resting an arm on each knee. Flicking away the grass he had plucked, Rafe shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of. Did she say anything when you walked her home?” “Nope, not a word.” Lyle pulled his own handful of grass and started to twist the blades with his fingers. “Shouldn’t Eurial be watching tonight?” He regretted asking it immediately. “You have something better to do?” Rafe’s voice was somewhat chilly, not something Lyle liked to bring on. “No, it just that…I have to get up early for school.” He nervously ran a hand through his hair. “Going to school was just another way to keep Evan safe, Lyle. If it gets in the way, then—” “It won’t!” Lyle quickly replied, not wanting to hear the rest of Rafe’s sentence. They sat in silence for a while and 117   

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then he stood up. “I’m gonna go check the perimeter.” He did it more to get a chance to think than to “guard.” The light was once again turned off and Evan readjusted her pillow. Another frustrated sigh came out when sleep wouldn’t come and all she could do was ruminate about things she didn’t want to ruminate on. “I’m not gonna get any sleep, am I?” she asked her ceiling. She contemplated sneaking out to take a walk so her mind could get out its energy by looking at the scenery, but considering the events of the evening, walking around a dark neighborhood probably wasn’t wise…and he would be out there, watching.

* Morning finally came, but Evan was still awake, held captive by her restless mind. As the sunlight seeped through the curtains, she felt thankful to the end it brought to her miserable state. Thoughts about her future, her present, and her past had kept her tossing and turning all night long and prevented any hopes of sleep from coming. She was still enveloped in those thoughts as she set off for school, not even catching the glimmer of black that moved with her until it was right beside her. “Hey.” Rafe gave an unsure smile as he began to walk with her. She gave him an equally unsure smile. “Hey.” She only meant to glance up at him quickly, but when she realized he was looking at her, she got stuck in his gaze. In his usual, calm, Rafe-voice, he asked, “You okay?” 118   

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She almost scoffed, but then she would have had to explain it, so she just nodded. “Yeah, fine. Why?” He looked over his shoulder as they crossed the street. “Well, last night…” He didn’t seem so sure he wanted to talk about it. “Last night was…weird—I mean the whole thing, starting with the familiar-thing and ending with my alarm going off this morning. In fact, I’d be happy if we just never talked about last night ever again.” She hoisted her bag further up and focused on looking down at where her feet were stepping. She was expecting a response from Rafe, but one didn’t come. Finally, she looked over to where he was—he had pulled a ninja move and was gone. “Great, I’ve insulted an angel,” she grumbled. “Ev! Ev, wait up!” Lissy called to her while running up the parallel side of the street. She haphazardly looked both ways and came charging towards Evan. “Where…were…you?” she had to ask each word in between a deep breath. Evan thought about it for a minute, and then she remembered she was supposed to meet Lissy last night. Her mind quickly processed suitable excuses. “I got held up,” she explained, figuring it was mostly the truth. “Sorry, I totally spaced.” Lissy nodded. “Eh, s’okay—except for the fact that I ate all the ice cream and probably gained, like, a ton.” She pushed out her stomach to demonstrate. Evan laughed and poked Lissy’s belly. “Don’t hold that there for long or it might get stuck that way.” Lissy quickly sucked it back in. “So…” she started in her mischievous voice. “I was thinking about that funny boy, Lyle, and—” 119   

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“Oh, no.” Evan knew Lissy long enough to know that whenever she was thinking about a boy, it was never good. Lissy elbowed her and went on, “Anyways, I was thinking we could all meet up today after school at the bistro for a homework session.” “Liss…” Evan crooned, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” “Why not? We’re all friends, and friends do homework together,” Lissy was smiling in a way that informed Evan she had no intentions of just being friends. When Evan didn’t relent, Lissy started giving her puppy dog eyes. “Ohh, don’t give me those.” Evan shielded her eyes. She let out a breath, and looked back at her, apologetically. “Lissy, it’s just not a good time.” Lissy dropped the puppy eyes and her expression seemed truly bummed. “O-kay.” She sulked until they were walking through the front gates of school then she grabbed Evan’s arm and asked somewhat hopefully, “You like him…don’t you? That’s why you don’t me to hang out with him!” Evan felt a little sorry for Lissy as she stared into her friend’s hopeful eyes. “No, Liss, I don’t like him like that. It’s just…it’s complicated, okay? I promise when I can, I’ll explain.” She touched Lissy’s shoulder reassuringly and turned to leave. The hand she used to push her hair out of her face with ended up grabbing a handful of it and tugging frustratedly at it. How was she going to be able to keep Lissy on the outside of this whole ordeal without pushing her out of her life completely? She was lost in her thoughts when she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. Turning in its direction, she saw Will walking next to her. She had to remind herself that he was in on the ‘big secret.’ 120   

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“Hey, Will,” she said, somewhat glumly and hung a left towards her locker. Before she got too far away, Will maneuvered his way in front of her and was examining her face. Without thought, he touched her cheek where the bruise used to be. “You healed it.” He marveled at her healthy cheek a little longer before directing his eyes at hers. “Um…” She was still reeling from his touch. He never would have done that before. “Yeah, it just sort of happened.” She knew as soon as she said it, that that wasn’t the truth. It didn’t just happen…it was because of the emotions she was experiencing at the time—she shook her head to get off that train of thought. “Can I walk you home after school?” he asked, leaning against the locker next to hers as she pulled out books for first period. She nearly dropped the book she was holding from shock and was glad that her locker door provided her with a small amount of privacy. “I’m going to the bistro actually.” He nodded. “Then I’ll walk you there.” As she closed the door to the locker, it hit her—the reason he was acting so…different. “You don’t have to do this, Will. The angels—” she quickly looked around to make sure no one heard her use that word. “They’ve got the whole guarding-thing under control.” “Apparently not, or do I need describe the way you looked lying face up on the pavement, unconscious.” He kept his voice low so only she could hear him. “Besides, I want to keep you safe, Evan.” The raw sincerity in his deep blue eyes burned brightly, nearly causing Evan to fall for him all over again…nearly. She wanted to be able to say something in response, but there 121   

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were no words. He could sense this, and put his hand on her back to guide her to class. She went willingly, still in shock. In math class, he took the same seat as the morning before, but this time he sat facing the aisle so he could look back to Evan every so often. Evan was so lost in her own head that she barely took note of the new boy to class, Lyle, who had all of the girls drooling after him. He waved to Evan before smiling at Lissy and taking the seat in front of her. Lissy eagerly smiled back and leaned forward to start talking to him. Evan couldn’t quite bring herself to care at the moment.

* “Alright that’s it! What’s wrong?” Eurial demanded after watching Rafe watch Evan for the last hour, seeming more brooding than normal. “Nothing,” Rafe replied without taking his eyes off the girl. “Whoa-no! Not good enough. If I have to sit here one more minute and watch you mope, I’m gonna lose it!” Eurial waved his hands in the air animatedly. “Now, what are you pouting about?” Under his breath, Rafe said, “I’m not pouting.” “Have you seen yourself?” Eurial replied skeptically. “You’re definitely pouting, or maybe it’s pining—either way, it’s pathetic. So tell me about it, or get over it.” For the first time, Rafe felt the same way Lyle did towards Eurial. He could be really annoying at times, but he probably had a point. Ever since last night, Rafe had felt off, wrong. He asked himself what was bothering him…but he wasn’t really sure he knew. The one thing he was sure of, was that it 122   

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had something to do with Evan. Was it that she was being hunted, or was it something else? “You heard what she said last night, didn’t you?” Rafe asked, his eyes still focused solely on Evan. “What part?” Eurial came to lean next to him at their usual spot by the school statue. “About being saved by something.” When Rafe looked at Eurial, there was serious distress in his eyes. Eurial thought about it for a while, and then a realizing expression spread across his face. “Oh,” he said in a disturbed tone. “You don’t think……That would mean that she’s—” He started to pace in a miniature loop. “I didn’t even think about that.” He was now pulling at his hair while trying to think. “This means that a lot more of them are gonna come looking for her, Rafe. And if they get her…” He shook his head at the unspeakable realization. “I know,” Rafe nodded solemnly. “And she has no idea what’s been done to her, or what could happen.” Eurial stopped pacing to look at Rafe. “You gonna tell her?” Rafe shook his head, hesitant. “I don’t know…I’m not sure if it would help.” Together, they both looked back at the blond girl in the window. At the moment, her life was still somewhat normal, but in the blink of an eye, it could all be turned upside down. “This shouldn’t have happened,” Rafe said, feeling sick. “It’s all my fault.” Eurial clamped a hand on Rafe’s shoulder, giving him a firm shake. “You couldn’t have known, Rafael. You thought you were protecting her—and none of us could have ever imagined that she would be the one to fulfill the prophecy.” 123   

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Rafe refused to be consoled. Pulling out of Eurial’s grip he said, “If there was anything I could do to change this—I would.” Grim determination flooded his stormy green eyes as the light from his true eyes nearly burned right through the contacts. “Careful, Rafael, talk like that is dangerous.” Putting a hand to his temple, Rafe shook his head, “I know, but…I’m not sure if I care.” This disturbed Eurial, more than he let on. He watched his fellow angel, his brother, with troubled eyes. “We’ll keep her safe, Rafe, I promise, but you need to take care of yourself too. We weren’t meant to live like this.” He motioned to his human body. “We weren’t meant for these dangerous emotions, and we can’t let ourselves indulge in them. If we do, we have failed.” Rafe was quiet as he let Eurial’s words sink in. After a while, he let out breath. “You’re right. I can’t let these emotions affect me.” He felt a sort of strength building up inside of him as he began to try and see things from a different perspective—a perspective that was free of human emotions. Keeping Evan safe was a job—a duty—nothing more. He couldn’t let himself get confused. As long as he was seeing things clearly, he would be able to make the tough, but necessary decisions, instead of being blinded by human feelings that would only lead him down a forbidden path. He parted ways with Eurial, and forced himself not to look back at the girl in the window. Just a job, he reminded himself, but the thought of catching one more glimpse of Evan was almost undeniable. He made his feet walk faster and was only able to take a breath once he was out of sight of the school. Eurial will keep her safe, I have other duties. It was little-to-no reassurance, but it would have to do. 124   

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There was music pouring out of the open garage door at the mechanic’s shop. The old man was leaning over the front of a car, working on the…engine. At least, that’s what Lyle had said was in the front of cars. Rafe shrugged, figuring he’d find out soon enough. He waited quietly behind the man, observing him, until finally the mechanic stood up for a break. “Ah, good, you’re here,” he gave a rough chuckle before dabbing his forehead with his red hankerchief and then pulling out a pair of glasses from the front pocket of his shirt. He gave Rafe a stern looking over before asking, “So whatta you know about cars, son?” Rafe gave the car a quick glance before admitting, “Nothing.” “S’what I thought. Hmm…” The man hobbled over to a work table. “Okay, see these parts here?” He gestured to the grungy pieces of metal that littered the table. “Yes,” Rafe nodded, looking at each little part. “These go to an engine I’m rebuilding for Mrs. Jones. Now, since you don’t know nothin’ bout engines, yet, I just want you to work on cleanin’ these up—make em’ shiny and new-like. When you’re done, we’ll work on puttin’ the engine back together. Can you handle that?” Still looking at the parts, Rafe nodded. The old man let out another chuckle and started back towards the car. Before he disappeared under the hood, he said, “Oh, and,” he reached for a piece of paper balancing carefully on a spare part, “Thelma, my receptionist, made this for yeh to sign, and clock yer hours. I don’t much bother with the paperwork side of things, but she can be a real pain if I don’t do as she says.” 125   

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Rafe took the paper and stared at it blankly, not sure what to make of it. The old man took the paper back and said, “Yeh know, don’t even worry ‘bout that yet, son. I’ll have Thelma fill it out for yeh, she likes doin’ paperwork.” He tossed Rafe a rag. “Now, get ta work!” he bellowed jovially and returned to working on the car. Before he started cleaning the parts, Rafe organized all of them into neat rows based on their size. When he was done he began with the first part from the first row and reverently removed all of the grease from it until it was all a uniform color of stainless metal. As the man walked by to retrieve a tool, he smiled at Rafe’s method. “Good, yeh like organization. Could use some of that ‘round here.” He motioned to the shop, where tools and parts were scattered here and there with no determinable system of organization. “I could fix that,” Rafe offered. “Thought’ya might,” the man replied, pleased. The more Rafe worked, the further his troubles seemed to get, as if the act of being busy gave him a temporary break from his other duties and responsibilities. Rafe had polished the parts for the engine and organized all the different shelves of spare parts when the old man clapped a hand on his back. “Alright, son, let’s call that a day. Ya done good.” He marveled at his modestly organized shop. “Helluva lot more than the worthless slop I had before. Tomorrow, we’ll work on that engine—give yeh some hands on experience.” Rafe liked that, and actually found himself excited for the next day to come. 126   

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* “Is Mr. Murray always that…” Lyle thought for the right word to describe their science teacher. “Odd?” Will supplied. “Yeah,” Lyle laughed. “Always,” Evan answered. “Once, I caught him having a conversation with Bugs, the class rabbit. And I mean, a real conversation, with detailed responses.” She chuckled at the memory. “Can’t be as bad as when I caught him on his hands and knees, sniffing my lawn,” Will added. Both Lyle and Evan chuckled, and the three of them headed down the school steps. “Hey, guys!” Lissy came up beside them. “Hi, Lissy!” Lyle said in a voice that was too high. He quickly cleared his throat. Lissy gave him a smile before linking arms with Evan. “So what’re you guys up to?” “Just going back to the bistro,” Will replied. Evan cast him a warning glance, but he didn’t catch on. “Evan and I are gonna help Lyle catch up in science.” “Oh,” Lissy sounded confused. “I thought…” she started to say. “You should come,” Lyle blurted before she could finish. Lissy started to smile, but the smile vanished when Evan exclaimed, “No!” She realized how bad that sounded and grimaced. “What I mean is…Will is gonna work with Lyle, and I’m gonna…help Eurial. So…” She searched for more words to help, but none came.

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“I get it,” Lissy replied, in a small voice and didn’t even make eye contact with Evan before turning to leave. Immediately, Evan felt like crap…worse than crap. When she looked up at the boys, both were looking at her like she had lost it. Lyle even looked a little upset. “Am I missing something?” Will asked. In a very un-Lyle-like voice, Lyle said, “Evan doesn’t want Lissy and I to talk to each other—thinks I can’t control myself.” Now, Evan felt worse than worse-than-crap. “Lyle,” she crooned, “I do think you can control yourself, but I don’t think Lissy can control herself. I mean, it’s not fair. She doesn’t know what you are, and she likes you. I think we both know that that’s not a good combination.” She took a deep breath. “And…I don’t want her getting pulled into my mess.” Lyle’s big, blue eyes softened when he heard her side. “I see.” He heaved a sigh and got lost in thought. Moments later he perked up. “But, what if I tell her up front that I don’t like her—that I just wanna be friends. Besides, you can’t just tell her not to come around because I’m there, Evan. I’m always gonna be around—you’d never get to see her.” Will joined in, “Ev, he’s gotta point. She’s your best friend.” “I know,” she groaned. Looking at Lyle intently, she asked, “You really think you can convince her to just be friends—and mean it.” Lyle nodded excitedly. “Uh-Huh!” Evan gave a relenting nod, but had serious doubts. “Fine, I’ll talk to her, try and explain. But I’m warning you, Lyle, she’s really persistent.” In response, Will gave her a supportive shoulder bump. “It’ll be okay, Ev.” 128   

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She leaned against his strong shoulder, needing the support. Lyle, was all smiles—for some reason, that made her stress out even more. At the bistro, the three of them had a mountainous pile of books covering the table at their booth. Will was explaining the homework Mr. Murray assigned, and Evan was taking a break to help Eurial out. Her mom had put him on counter duty, and so far…he wasn’t doing too bad. He’d only snapped at one customer so far—Travis Stolts. Travis couldn’t decide between the rice-crispy treats decorated like Spongebob or the worms-in-the-dirt pie. Travis also happened to be six. “I recommend the pie,” Evan said, taking the seat next to Travis, who was staring at the dessert menu with a perplexed grimace. “Yeah,” Travis agreed, “but it’s a dollar more than the Spongebob, and if I don’t spend all my allowance now, I’ll have money to buy Timmy Johnson’s frog from him—I’m gonna put it under my grandma Agnes’s pillow…” He looked torn. Eurial rolled his eyes with impatience. “Ah,” Evan sighed. “I see… Well, that pie is really good, trust me—even better than scaring your grandma.” The sound of the door chimed and Evan spun on her stool to see who was coming in. Rafe was still wearing his mechanic smock and there was grease smeared across one of his cheeks. Even with the grease he was still stunning. She smiled at him and spun back to Travis. “I’m sure you’ll make the right decision,” she said, patting the boy on the back. Travis sighed and continued to debate. Evan cast Eurial a warning look that was supposed to remind him to be patient and slid off her stool. 129   

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“How’s he doing?” Rafe asked as they met up in the middle of the bistro. He was watching Eurial thump his foot impatiently. “He’s getting there,” she said with a laugh. “Although, patience is definitely not one of his virtues.” “Nope, not Eurial,” Rafe replied with a chuckle of his own. “How about you?” Evan asked. “How are you doing after your first day at the shop?” “Good,” he answered. “I liked working there, it was…” “Nice?” With a lazy smile, he said, “Something like that.” The longer they stared into each other’s eyes, the more Evan forgot what they were talking about. “That’s, um, good…” Rafe looked just as lost as she felt. “Yeah…” “Ev, you coming?” Will called from the booth. She quickly snapped out of her fog and replied, “Yeah, uh, be there in a sec.” Rafe cleared his throat and said, “I’m just gonna go clean up… You’ll be okay?” She nodded. “I’ll be fine.” After nodding a reply, Rafe headed for the apartment stairs, and Evan let out a gusty breath while running her hand through her hair to clear her head. Tossing herself in the booth she rammed her shoulder playfully into Will’s and said, “Alright! Let the homework begin!”

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“Goodnight,” Evan said as she gave Will a quick hug. He, Rafe, and Eurial had walked her home. Mostly it was only her and Will that talked, while the other two just…walked. As they’d walked, she kept glancing over her shoulder to the angels behind her. Rafe’s eyes were always searching, looking for some unseen threat in the darkness. When Will pulled away from the hug, he had a puzzled look on his face. Evan waited for him to explain, but he just said, “Under the bed.” “What?” Now it was Evan that was puzzled. “You’ll figure it out,” he replied with a confused smile. “I think… Goodnight.” He waved over his shoulder and descended he steps of her porch. Evan waited there till he was out of sight, still confused. “What was he talking about?” Rafe stepped forward. “I dunno.” She gave a shrug and looked down to Rafe from her place on the top step. At the sight of him, her breath caught, and for a second, she knew how Juliet must have felt as she looked down from her balcony to Romeo. The moonlight was illuminating Rafe’s silhouette, and a soft breeze carried the scent of the rose blossoms that were weaving their way up the porch columns. Rafe had one foot on the bottom stair and the other on the ground, but from where Evan was, it looked like he was kneeling before her. The image of Rafe as her Romeo was enough to cause her knees to wobble. “Evan?” Romeo started to climb the balcony. “Evan?” When Evan realized that she was daydreaming, she pinched herself back into reality. Rafe was standing on the stair below her, still looking like Shakespeare’s tragic hero. “Evan, are…are you okay?” He was 131   

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so close that Evan could almost see the golden light shining from behind his contacts. “Mm-hm.” She backed away. “Yeah, fine.” Her hand found the doorknob and she turned it. “G-Goodnight.” “Goodnight,” Romeo—Rafe—called softly. “Hhhh!” With the door closed behind her, Evan hid her face in her hands and let out a helpless sigh. Would it ever get easier to talk to him—without getting lost? She walked with a blank expression to her room and carelessly tossed her bag on the floor before flopping onto the bed. It was time to be honest with herself… Lately, it had been getting harder and harder to deny it, but, the feelings she was trying to ignore were getting more and more demanding. First, they had been keeping her up at night, and now, they were invading her conscious mind. What exactly were these forbidden feelings though? Evan had been fighting so hard to hide them she wasn’t even sure she knew. They definitely revolved around Rafe…Rafe. “How did this happen?” Evan groaned, when she realized what the feelings were. When had her heart veered so offcourse? When had the quiet angel stolen the center stage of Evan’s emotions? What about Will? Evan quieted her internal investigation and listened to what her feelings told her. She thought about Will and all the time they had spent together. Her lips curled into a smile just thinking about him. There weren’t words to describe just how much Will meant to her—but, there weren’t words to describe just how much Rafe made her feel. Her feelings for Rafe were uncharted, heavier than anything she’d ever felt, and very, very forbidden. Why though? 132   

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Why were these uncontrollable feelings so wrong? Because he was an angel? Because she was human? The more she thought about it, she realized that she didn’t think she was good enough for him—whoever could be good enough for an angel? Her humanity would taint him—scar his beautiful perfection, and she could never allow herself to be that greedy. Her Sunday school classes as a kid always talked about the war that was waged for our souls—human souls—and the consequences of that war. But what about the souls of our guardians—the quiet ones who couldn’t be seen, but kept us safe nonetheless? Didn’t angels face similar temptations as humans? After all, the Bible had talked about how angels found beautiful human women, and made them their wives. These angels were fallen of course. Fallen. Rafe and the others were fallen, but not out of grace. They could return to Heaven when all of this was over—but if…if she and Rafe ever crossed that line, went too far…he would fall for real Evan pulled her pillow over her face and let out a dull scream into it. What had she done to deserve this? She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling and said, “I could use a little help here.” She waited, half-sure she would get a response, but none came. In the silence of her room, she let out another built up breath and lay still, but just like the night before, sleep wouldn’t come, just thoughts about all of the current dilemmas that were drowning out the existence of her normal life. “Lissy! Lissy!” Evan was jogging up to her sullen friend, who had been ignoring her calls. “Liss, wait, please…” 133   

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Lissy cast Evan a glance from the corner of her eyes and replied, “Hey.” Her voice held no traces of being happy to see Evan. Taking a breath, Evan announced, “I’m an idiot.” That got Lissy’s attention and she looked at Evan, with mouth open. “What?” “I’m an idiot,” Evan repeated. “I treated you horribly, Liss.” Lissy acknowledged that with an agreeing nod. “What I did was wrong, but the motives behind it weren’t. I…I didn’t want you to come with us yesterday, because I know that you like Lyle. I can see it all over your face whenever you’re with him, and I was trying to protect you.” “Protect me? From what?” “Well…” Evan thought for the words. “Lyle’s sort of in a relationship with someone from his past.” She stopped there, omitting the fact that the “someone” happened to be God. Evan could see the disappointment welling up in Lissy’s face. “He is?” Evan nodded apologetically. “Oh.” Lissy slowed down so that Evan could walk with her. “I guess I should be thanking you.” “No,” Evan replied. “I should have just been honest.” “Hey,” Lyle, who had the worst timing, approached them. Lissy went rigid. “Hi.” She regarded him with a tight smile and turned to Evan. “I’ll see you at lunch.” Without another look at Lyle, she headed for her next class. Lyle’s smile dropped and he looked at Evan, baffled. “She didn’t seem very happy about the good news.” “Good news? Lyle, I had to tell her that you were unavailable, how is that supposed to be good?” 134   

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“I guess I thought that since we could all hang out now that things would be better.” He scratched his head, confused. Evan scoffed. “You have no idea how a girl thinks! She was bummed at first because I was being rude, but now she’s bummed because she thinks the guy she likes, you, are in a relationship with someone else. So, now, she doesn’t want to hang out with you because she has feelings for you.” Evan had to take a deep breath after saying it all. Lyle was blinking slowly with a glazed expression filling up his face. “I don’t understand any of what you just said.” “Just nod and pretend you did.” Will strolled up behind Evan. “Things will be a lot easier if you do.” Lyle nodded, but still looked perplexed. Will chuckled and then looked at Evan. “Can I walk you to class?” Evan’s heart did a little flutter, but not quite as big as it used to whenever he would offer to walk her somewhere. “Sure.” She briefly thought of Rafe, and told herself to snap out of it. The two of them started walking, and Lyle joined up behind them, still thinking about what Evan had said.

* Rafe had stayed at the school as long as he could until his shift at the shop started. Leaving Evan was hard, but he knew that once he got to the shop, he would start to feel better. He passed Thelma’s 1950, cherry red, Cadillac as he headed for the bay door of the shop. Somehow, he still hadn’t met this “Thelma” that the old man was always going on about. 135   

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She always stayed in the office of the shop and the old man always stayed in the work bay. But throughout the day, Thelma would call and remind him of things that needed to get done. The old man was waiting for Rafe when he got inside the bay. He gestured to the table of parts that Rafe had cleaned and said, “You ready to put it all together?” “Definitely,” Rafe replied, liking the idea of doing something with his hands. If he was busy, he wasn’t thinking about…her. Together, he and the old man carried the clean parts to the engine that needed rebuilding. The man instructed him on what each part was, and why it was needed. Then, he showed Rafe how to install it. It was a time consuming process, but Rafe enjoyed learning about the engine. The man sensed this, and asked, “You got wheels of your own, son?” “No, sir,” Rafe answered while finishing with the last little part. A wrinkly smile crossed the man’s face and he said, “C’mere.” He waved to Rafe, and led him outside the shop and around to the back, where a sort of salvage yard was located. Hobbling across the lot, he stopped in front of something that had been covered with a tarp. “Help me out, son,” he said, starting to pull the tarp away. Rafe quickly joined in and had the tarp removed in no time. A truck, older than the man’s, was revealed. From the bottom half of the doors down was a rusted white color and from the top of the doors to the middle was a faded minty, greenish blue. The tires were completely flat and the both windshields were cracked. The old man patted the hood of the truck and said, “I know it ain’t pretty, but, if yeh want, it’s all yours. I can teach 136   

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yeh all yeh need to know about fixin’ her up and makin’ her look nice.” Rafe stood stunned for a moment. “You would give this to me?” “Sure, son. I ain’t ever gonna use it, and yeh seem like a good kid. Besides, teachin’ yeh to work on this will give yeh practice for the real jobs. So, yeh want it?” Rafe opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn’t think of words appreciative enough. His mouth dropped and he nodded vigorously. “Mm!” “Good,” the old man chuckled. “Now let’s cover it up, and later, we’ll make a list of the things that she’ll need.” Rafe covered the truck meticulously, marveling at every inch as he went. This will be great to take my mind off of…things. They went back inside and got back to work on finishing the jobs for the day. Rafe was tidying the shop and thinking about the truck when something warm and tingly filled up his heart and his head. The warmth he felt was calling him somewhere, beckoning him to follow its trail. Instantly, he knew what it was… Power. He’d felt this when Evan had healed Will in the alley. What was going on that he would feel this now? Had she been hurt? Was she being attacked again?! He felt the need to dash out the bay door and run to Evan, but he knew that would seem a little odd to the man. As if the man felt his urgency, he said, “Well, I think that’s all for today, kid. You can head on out.” Rafe nodded with a anxious expression and without saying another word he took off full blast towards the school.

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“What’s going on?!” he yelled to Eurial as him came to sliding stop next to the other angel who was pacing by the school statue. “I don’t know! I’m guessing you felt it too, the Power?” He had a distressed scowl as he continued, “I’ve been waiting for screams or sirens, anything, but everything appears to be all right.” Rafe realized this too. The school quad was its same old, usual calm. Students passed by without seeming to have noticed anything disturbing, such as an attack on another student. Just then a group of girls walked by, they were talking extra loud. “Oh my gosh!” exclaimed a girl with blond hair. “Did you hear that snap when she hit the floor. Uuuh!” The girl did a gesture that expressed disgust. “I mean, she had to have broken something, right?” The girls with her all nodded in agreement. Snap? Hit the floor? Broken? All the blood in Rafe’s cheeks drained, and he suddenly felt cold. He just knew Evan was involved. Beside Rafe, Eurial grabbed his shoulder and pointed to the exit of the school. Lyle was coming out of it with his head hung low and he was tugging his hands through his hair. He looked…awful. “Oh no,” Rafe felt his heart stop beating, he just knew something had happened to Evan. Time seemed to stop, and it felt like an eternity before the two of them could reach Lyle. The blond angel raised his eyes slowly to them, and with a blank, depleted voice, he said, “I couldn’t get to her fast enough.” 138   

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Rafe knew he had to keep a calm head, but currently, the world was starting to spin around him and his knees felt weak. Eurial took lead and grabbed Lyle’s shoulders in a firm grip. “Tell us what happened, Lyle.”

* “Evan, hurry we’re running late!” Lissy was half-jogging, half-walking through the emptying hallway towards gym class. Evan was still busy throwing her book into her bag as she tried to keep up. “I’m trying! I’m trying!” Once she had the last book in, she picked up the pace and caught up to Lissy. She was slightly out of breath, but she asked, “You’re not mad at him are you, Lyle I mean? He really wants us all to be friends.” Lissy grumbled a little. “I guess I have to be okay with it. I mean, you and he are friends, and you and I are friends, we’re bound to bump into each other. I guess I should have known that someone like him was taken already.” They quickly rounded the corner and Lissy pushed the door to the gym open. “I’m sorry you found out like you did,” Evan replied. “S’okay. Better now than later when I might’ve been beyond saving. At least now all I have to do is get over a girly crush and not a broken heart.” “Yeah.” Evan pondered that deeply. Was she beyond saving? If someone didn’t stop her, would she end up with a broken heart? “Hurry up, girls! Class starts in three!” Mrs. Craig, the gym teacher yelled. She was setting up an obstacle course with pylons and basketballs. 139   

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In the locker room, they changed in a flash and rejoined the group of classmates back in the gym. They were arranged in a large circle, being led in warm up stretches. Evan and Lissy filled in a large gap of the circle and started touching their toes. The large, muscular boy next to Lissy turned his head in her direction and said, “Hey, Lindsey.” Lissy almost snarled. “It’s Lissy.” “Hm,” the boy replied with a smile. “Even better.” Lissy’s snarl almost dimmed and she turned to face Evan and not the boy. “I’m Kevin by the way,” he continued. She rolled her eyes so that only Evan could see and then turned back to him. “I know. You’re the boy who smashed my science fair project two years ago.” His brown eyes widened, appalled. “I did?” “Mm-hmm. You and your friends decided to play football in the hallway, and you ran into me while I was carrying it to class. Didn’t even apologize either.” Her voice was full of rebuke. “Oh…” He got quiet. “Well, I’m sorry. I was a real jerk back then.” Evan could tell that Lissy wanted to add something like, ‘And you’re not now?!’ Instead, she let out a little scoff and went back to stretching. Kevin paused from his stretches, no doubt trying to remember destroying Lissy’s project. Evan didn’t think he could, because he thought for a long time. Evan, on the other hand, remembered it clearly. He had been going long to receive a pass from his buddy, and wasn’t watching where he was going. His muscular frame ran right into Lissy, and her complex project, smashing it utterly to 140   

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pieces. Lissy even got banged up in the incident. She had bruises for days. After he ran into her, he just chuckled and went after the football he’d missed. Since then, he’d been on Lissy’s list of people she almost hated—she was too nice to actually hate anyone. “Okay!” Mrs. Craig’s gruff voice distracted Evan’s thoughts. “We’re gonna divide into teams. One team will start with this basket.” She pointed the basketball hoop to her left. “And the other will start on this one.” She pointed to the hoop to her right. “Each member of the team must get the ball through the hoop before you can advance to the next basket. The first team to get through all six baskets wins and won’t have to do laps. Questions?” A petite blond girl, Tessa, raised her hand. “Um, yeah, I’m like not allowed to do anything strenuous because I just had my wisdom teeth pulled.” “That was three weeks ago, Miss Fuller. “Unless you have doctor’s note from this week, you’ll join the rest of the class.” Tessa, sulked, and her group of friends stifled their giggles. If there was a popular crowd, Tessa and her friends were it. In fact, Tessa and Kevin had just recently broken up. Maybe that’s why he was talking to Lissy and not mooning over Tessa as usual. Mrs. Craig went around the circle of students, splitting everyone into teams. Sadly, Lissy and Evan were put on opposing teams. Even worse, Lissy ended up on Kevin’s team, and Evan was put with Tessa. They both groaned as they went to join their teams. On Evan’s team, the more athletic members of the team went to the front of the line. Evan was last. Mrs. Craig counted down, and then blew her whistle. The first four people on her team were done in a flash, then it was Tessa’s 141   

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turn. She grumbled and complained about messing her manicure up as she clumsily tossed the ball towards the hoop. It hit the rim and ricocheted off, hitting Tessa firmly in the chest. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, including her so-called friends. She gave them dagger eyes and they promptly shut up. It took Tessa three more tries till she finally got it in. Tessa’s friends weren’t as fussy when their turns came and they quickly got done. Then, it was Evan’s turn. She looked over at the other team and saw that Lissy was also trying to get the ball in the hoop. Evan moved up to the free-throw line and tried to mimic the way she’d seen one of the boys shoot the ball. It was close, but it was too high, and hit the backboard and came right back at her. She managed to catch it before it could bean her, and then tried again, this time with less oomph. But, when she shot, it wasn’t enough force, and died before getting to the basket. She snarled and dashed for the ball. The cries of the boys to hurry up were making her self-conscious. For the third time, she lined up the ball to the basket and then followed through. As the ball fell through the laces of the basket, a pretty swishing sound was made, and her team let out a cry of joy, then quickly ran to the next basket. They had just barely beaten the other team. They repeated the process two more times before the other team had met up with them, and they had to share the basket. Both teams were trash talking to the other, and loud cheers and boos filled the air. Evan got through her turn and passed the ball to Tessa, who nearly fell over just trying to catch it. Lissy was still working on her turn. She couldn’t quite seem to get it to go in. 142   

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On the sideline, Kevin was trying to coach her through it. “Okay, good, now square you’re shoulders to the basket, bend your knees. Straight up and follow through!” He sounded delighted as the ball headed straight for the basket, but Tessa’s ball came out of nowhere and knocked it slightly offcourse. As Lissy’s ball started to come down, it caught in the corner where the basket and the backboard met. Her whole team groaned. Tessa laughed evilly and hurried to get her ball and try again. She missed, of course. Lissy’s team was looking around for the coach, but she appeared to have stepped out of the gym. Lissy bit her lip, and then looked at Kevin. “Give me a boost!” When he understood what she was asking, he gave a big smile and without further questions, wrapped his large hands around her petite waist. “Whoa! Lissy get down!” Evan called to her friend, going to stop Kevin from helping her. Evan pulled back when Lissy’s swinging foot nearly knocked her out. Kevin already had her sitting on his shoulders. Evan put her hand over her mouth, worried. Lissy extended a hand to reach for the stuck basketball, but she wasn’t tall enough. “I’ve gotta get higher!” she exclaimed. “Can you stand?” he asked. “NO!” Evan yelled. “Lissy don’t be stupid.” Lissy either didn’t hear Evan over all the cheering, or she chose to ignore Evan. She carefully put one foot on Kevin’s matching shoulder and then the other. He grabbed around her ankles to steady her, and she slowly and wobblingly stood up. 143   

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“Oh God,” Evan groaned, watching her friend balance delicately on Kevin’s broad shoulders. She wanted to hide her eyes, but she couldn’t pull them away. “Almost there,” Lissy said, reaching for the ball. It was only a few inches away from her. The tips of her fingers were practically touching the bumpy, rubber surface of the ball, when another basketball came out of nowhere and hit Lissy in the back of the head. Tessa had tried to make another basket, and it was her ball that hit Lissy. It was enough to throw her off balance, and Lissy started to fall backwards. Evan couldn’t even form a scream as Lissy’s slender form slipped from Kevin’s grasp and hit the hard floor of the gym with a gross slapping sound, joined with a disturbing, loud snap! The whole gym got deafeningly silent, except for the sound of Evan shrieking. “Lissy! Lissy!” She ran to her friend’s side, but Lissy was passed out, at least, Evan hoped that was all. This made all of the memories of finding Will in the alley surge back up. This was the second friend she’d seen seriously injured. She looked at Kevin, and harshly said, “Call an ambulance!" To another kid, she said, “Get the principal!” Both of them ran off to do as she said, and she fought to keep from losing it. The sound of the gym door opening was followed by the reappearance of Mrs. Craig. “Why are you all standing ar—” Mrs. Craig stopped when she saw Lissy, and her green eyes got tight. “All of you, out in the hall. Now!” The class snapped to attention and exited the gym. Evan refused to leave Lissy. Thankfully, Mrs. Craig didn’t try to make her. She told the teacher that Kevin was calling for an ambulance, and then described what happened. 144   

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Mrs. Craig’s features went from worried to furious. “They did what?!” She put a hand to her forehead. The gym door opened again, and both Evan and Mrs. Craig looked to see who it was, hoping for EMTs. Instead, it was Lyle, he looked terrified. When he saw Evan, he relaxed a little, but then he saw Lissy. He ran over to them and kneeled beside Lissy. With pained eyes, he looked over her, then to Evan. “What happened?” Evan looked up and made sure that Mrs. Craig wasn’t focused on the two of them. She leaned closer to Lyle and said, “I tell you later, but right now, I need you to distract her.” She gestured to the gym teacher. “What?” Lyle whispered. “Just do it!” Evan tried to command without yelling. Lyle nodded, obediently, and stood up. Evan could tell he was thinking about how to distract the teacher, and finally, he seemed to land on an answer. He approached the gym teacher and said, “Are you okay, Mrs. Craig? You don’t look so well.” Mrs. Craig looked confused, and before she could say anything, he reached out to touch her shoulder. As his fingers came in contact with the teacher’s arm, Evan could see a small golden light emanate from the tips of them. The teacher’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she slunk forward, unconscious. Lyle had been expecting it, and staggered to lower her safely to the ground. Evan wanted to ask what he’d done, but knew she didn’t have the time. “Thanks. Now you have to leave before anyone else sees you in here.” “What are you gonna do?” he said, hesitantly. “I don’t know, but whatever happens, don’t come back in here.” She didn’t want him involved with anything weird that 145   

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might happen. She had to keep her angels out of the curious eyes of the townspeople. “Go!” she shouted to him, and he started to run for the door. When he was gone, Evan looked down at Lissy. Her breathing was shallow, and her lips were starting to turn blue from lack of oxygen. “Oh God, Liss.” Evan whispered to her friend, placing a hand on her cheek. She had saved Will when he was hurt—dead—and she prayed she could save Lissy now. “Come back, Liss. Come back.” She closed her eyes, holding her friend tightly to her. Memories of her and Lissy growing up together started to loop in her mind. She laughed at some of the funny ones and then cried. “Lissy, come back to me. I need you—you’re my best friend.” The more Evan talked to Lissy, the more tired she felt, like energy was being drained out of her. She held on tight until she felt too tired to hold herself up…

* Lyle had just started talking when the ambulance pulled up next to the curb and EMTs were rushing inside with a gurney…then another gurney. Lyle felt his pulse drop when he saw the second gurney. “Oh no, Evan!” He started to rush forward, but Eurial held him back. “Not now.” Moments later, the first gurney was being brought back out of the school. Lissy was on it. Lyle followed it with his eyes, and he felt dread rush through him. Somewhat upset with himself, Rafe felt better when he saw that it was Lissy on the gurney, and not Evan. But…he knew 146   

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there was still one more gurney left. Students started to gather around the exit, and he saw the blue shirts of the EMTs exiting the school with the second gurney, but from where he was, he couldn’t see who was on it. He pushed through the crowd, his heart starting to beat faster and faster. Finally he broke through the crowd, and his breath was caught in his throat when he didn’t even recognize the woman lying on the gurney. “The gym teacher,” Lyle said, coming up next to him. Relief was also starting to flood into Lyle. “I had to stun her.” “Where’s Ev—” Rafe didn’t even get to finish his sentence before a girl with pale gold hair, and emerald green eyes emerged from the door of the school. She looked paler than she should have, and there were dark circles under her eyes. He took one step towards her and came up short when a boy with dark brown hair came up behind her. Will. He put his hand on her shoulder and she turned to him. Rafe felt a slicing pain go through him when Evan fell into the boy’s arms, and the boy cradled her against him. From the way she was breathing, Rafe could tell she was crying. “Come, Rafael.” Eurial put his hand on Rafe’s shoulder. “She is safe for now.” When Rafe didn’t move, Eurial added some force to his grasp, and pulled Rafe away. Lyle followed them, lost in his own head. He couldn’t stop seeing the way Lissy had looked. He wasn’t prepared for the way that it made him feel. He hadn’t felt this emotion before. It was like he had also gotten hurt. He walked with Rafe and Euri till they were almost to the statue, and then he veered off path, his feet taking him somewhere else entirely. It felt like an instant before he was coming up the path to the hospital. He had remembered the first time he had come here, right after Evan had saved Will. Now, it was Lissy. 147   

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Maybe Evan had a point about not letting the people she cared about get involved, they all seemed to get hurt. Although, how had Lissy gotten hurt? Lyle headed for the same wing that Evan had been taken too when she was in the hospital, and asked if Lissy was here. The nurse behind the counter replied that she was, but that no visitors were being allowed in yet. Lyle had sort of expected that, and went to sit in the waiting room. He knew he should go back to the others, but, he didn’t want to leave until he knew that Lissy was okay. With each passing minute, the waiting room started to fill up with more and more people that were there to see Lissy. Some stayed and some simply left cards and flowers to be given to her. It was an hour or so later when a familiar voice called to Lyle. He looked up and saw that it was Evan—Will was with her. Lately, he always seemed to be with her They joined him, and Lyle could see that Evan had been crying. “Are you okay?” he asked. She nodded. “I just can’t believe this happened. I mean, it all seems so unnecessary.” She was staring off, remembering the accident, and her eyes started to get watery. Will reached out and took her hand to comfort her. “She’s gonna be okay, Ev.” Lyle leaned forward to ask Evan something, and got distracted by two dark figures entering the waiting room. Rafe and Euri. Euri took a place in the corner of the room, and Rafe took the seat next to Lyle. His dark green eyes first noticed the way Evan’s and Will’s hands were interlaced, and then noticing Evan’s expression. “How is she?” he asked, quietly. Instead of Evan answering, Will replied, “We don’t know. The doctor hasn’t come out yet.” 148   

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Lyle remembered what he’d been about to ask, and said, “Evan, did you…were you able to…” He wasn’t able to phrase it the way he wanted to and urged her to understand him with his eyes. “I don’t know, Lyle,” she replied with a hopeless tone. “I was barely with her when the EMTs came in. She still wasn’t awake.” Will wrapped his arm around her and she rested her head against his chest, looking completely fatigued. It was in that moment Rafe realized that he wanted to be the one holding her, the one making her feel safe. Dark jealousy reared up, and he had to do all he could to fight it down. But seeing Evan with Will wouldn’t allow him to do that, so…he was left with one option. To leave. Evan followed Rafe’s retreating figure with her eyes, and quietly wished he wouldn’t go. But wishing for him to stay with her wasn’t any better either. He couldn’t say the things she wanted him to say, and he couldn’t hold her the way Will was. She realized it was a hopeless situation and closed her eyes. With her ear pressed to Will’s chest, she could hear the strong beat of his heart and the sound of air filling his lungs. She had healed those lungs when she had saved his life. She hoped she had done enough to save Lissy too. Whatever happened between her and Lissy hadn’t been as draining as it had been with Will, but then again, Will had been dead. She shuddered at the memory. Will must have thought she was shuddering from the cold, because he started to rub his warm hand over her bare arm. Lyle got up to go and check with the nurse again, leaving them to themselves. 149   

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Will lowered his lips towards Evan’s ear, and he whispered in a low, soothing voice, “I don’t think I’d ever been as worried in my life as when I heard that you could have been hurt.” His fingertips started to make circles on her arm. Evan pulled up slightly so she could see him. His blue eyes were open and sincere—very unlike Will. He continued in the same, low tone, “Evan, you mean more to me than you, or I, will ever know.” The words made her happy…and sad all at the same time. They held each other’s gaze for a while longer before she curled back up to him, neither saying another word. Rafe had taken a spot by the window, watching the parking lot fill up, but not really watching it at all. His thoughts were elsewhere. They were lost thinking about a beautiful girl with radiant blond hair that seemed to shine like the sun itself. Then, the sunlight in his vision dimmed by the jealousy of seeing Will weave his fingers through that hair. Rafe would give almost anything to touch Evan. But since that one touch would sentence him to an eternity away from her, he would never take it. His fingers curled into tight fists that he wanted to smash through the fragile glass of the window. “Breathe,” warned Eurial. Rafe hadn’t seen the other angel come over to join him, but he did as Eurial instructed. “Good,” Eurial said when Rafe was able to relax his hands. Eurial was facing the waiting room, Evan and Will to be more exact. “This is hard on you, seeing the two of them like that,” he said matter-of-factly. Rafe only looked at them from the corner of his eyes, but could tell that Will was still holding her. Fresh anger was 150   

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coming up. “Yes.” He drew in a ragged breath. “I’m becoming weak.” Eurial let out a muted chuckle. “No, not weak. Just…more like them.” He gestured to the dozens of humans filling the room. “It’s bound to happen when we have to live like they do.” “It doesn’t seem to be affecting you,” Rafe said, with a tight voice. “Yeah, well, I don’t love any of them.” The word caught Rafe off-guard. He’d known he felt deeply for Evan, but he’d never classified what he felt with a name. “Love?” “Yes, love.” Eurial turned away from the waiting room and looked out the window. “They always say that hate is the darkest emotion, but I disagree. Love…love will consume you and pull you in until you have no control. And on a whim, it spits you back out into the cold, making you crave it like a drug. Humans are helpless to it, and we, we are helpless from feeling like they do.” Rafe wasn’t sure that he felt any better. “Great pep talk.” Eurial laughed dryly. “I’m just saying, be careful or you’ll get lost.” He gave Rafe a tough pat on the back before returning to his corner. I already am lost, Rafe replied in his head. In the glass of the window, he could see the reflection of a girl wrapped in a boy’s arms, and he closed his eyes, in pain.

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Evan followed the nurse, anxiously wringing her hands together. Apparently, Lissy was awake and talking…that was a good thing. She had asked that they bring Evan to her room. Lyle had been giving her the saddest expression as she left him in the waiting room. Considering that he was the first one of their group to go to the hospital, she felt bad that he hadn’t gotten to see her yet…and that he wasn’t likely to since Evan had lied to Lissy about him being in a relationship—well—it wasn’t really a lie, but it was close enough. “Evan!” Lissy looked up from her pudding cup and gave a smile. She seemed…Lissy-like. Evan inspected for bandages or wrappings of any kind, but Lissy looked perfectly normal. Evan gave a relieved smile and joined Lissy on the bed. Both waited for the other to talk, and Evan gave in first. Her smile dropped and she said, “What were you thinking?!” She was referring to Lissy’s stupid, daredevil stunt. Lissy blushed. “I don’t know. I guess I just got too competitive. I really wanted to win.” That didn’t really seem like Lissy, so Evan raised an eyebrow. “You, competitive?” Blushing further, Lissy added, “Well…I might have been acting a little out of it because I was…upset.” “Upset? About what?” When Lissy looked up at Evan, Evan could tell that she was totally embarrassed. “Lyle.” “Lyle! You did all of that because of Lyle?!” A nurse poked her head in the room to check on them, and Evan had to calm herself down. “Liss, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” “I know,” Lissy acknowledged. “I was really bummed, and I thought that if I was the kind of girl who would go and get 152   

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what she wanted, then maybe…” She didn’t finish her thought. Evan was glad. Just the thought that even though Evan had tried to keep Lissy safe from the consequences that came with Lyle, and yet she still managed to get hurt anyway…it was, well, it was crazy! “How’s Mrs. Craig?” Lissy asked. “I heard that she passed out.” Evan remembered the tale she had told when the EMTs found both Mrs. Craig and Lissy unconscious in the gym. She’d told them that Mrs. Craig had gotten so worried about Lissy that she just collapsed. So far, everyone bought it, including Mrs. Craig—she had no recollection of Lyle ever being in the gym. “Oh, um, the doctor said she’d be fine. She was just over stressed.” “Oh, that’s good I guess—that she be okay I mean.” Lissy nodded. “What about you?” Evan asked. “What did the doctor say about you?” Lissy shrugged. “He said that everything appeared normal, except for some minor bruises on my back. He said that if I had hit the ground any harder, I could have broken it.” She stared off into space, imagining what that could have been like. I don’t have to imagine, Evan thought. She knew that she had healed Lissy, and that her back had been broken. That was why she wasn’t able to breathe in the gym. She figured that there were still bruises because she hadn’t been able to finish healing Lissy. Beads of sweat started to collect on her forehead when she realized just how close she had come to losing a friend…again. 153   

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A knock on the door interrupted both of them and they looked to see who it was. Kevin was standing there, with a huge collection of flowers…daffodils it looked like. “Hi,” he said, sheepishly. “Hi,” Lissy replied, smiling slightly. He took this as a good thing and stepped further in the room, nodding at Evan as he did, and then looking back to Lissy. “I just wanna say that I am so sorry. I…what I did was stupid. You could have gotten seriously hurt—I guess that happens a lot whenever I’m around you.” Evan thought it was odd to see the ginormous linebacker cowering in front of petite Lissy, obviously feeling responsible for the accident. As he should! Both of them had acted stupidly! Evan chided him in her mind. Lissy cleared her throat and said, “Well, I am the one who asked for a boost.” Kevin looked up at her and a hopeful smile spread across his face. Realizing that this was a good time to evacuate, Evan stood up and said, “I should let you two talk.” She smiled at Lissy and made her way to the door. Before she could leave, Lissy said, “Hey, Ev?” Evan turned around. “I’m not sure why, but I feel like I should thank you. Like you kept me safe or something.” Evan shrugged. “You’re my best friend, Liss. You don’t ever have to thank me for that.” She gave one more smile and left the room. “How is she?” Lyle jumped out of his chair when he saw Evan coming back to the waiting room. “She’s fine. Just a few bruises.” 154   

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Lyle’s urgent blue eyes started to calm down. “So you were able to heal her.” Evan nodded. “Just not all the way—it was a close one.” Lyle’s complexion started to turn green and Evan said, “Lyle? You okay?” “Huh? Yeah.” He shook his head in the gesture that meant ‘no,’ further confusing Evan. “Is she sleeping?” he asked. “Oh, um, no. Kevin is with her.” “Kevin?” “Yeah, Kevin Rafferty from our gym class. He was the one she was…standing on.” “Kevin Rafferty came to visit her?” Will asked, sounding baffled. “The Kevin Rafferty? The one with all brawns and no conscience? The one who broke her science fair project?” “Yeah,” Evan shrugged. “He feels sorry that she got hurt.” “He should,” Lyle said in almost a snarl. It was the first time Evan had ever seen him express something resembling anger. “That’s the spirit!” Eurial clamped a hand on Lyle’s shoulder. Sobering his expression, Eurial looked to Evan. “It’s getting late, and since your friend is gonna live, we might as well go back to the bistro—no reason we should all suffer.” With a scowl, Lyle threw off Eurial’s hand and started for the elevators. “Do you always have to be a jerk?” Evan asked rubbing her temples with exhaustion. Eurial contemplated. “No, but it’s way more fun.” Stepping around Evan and Will, he said, “See you around, William.” Will rolled his eyes and then looked down to Evan. “Is it bad that I find myself constantly wanting to punch him?” 155   

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“Yes,” Evan sighed, “because you’re only thinking about it and not doing it.” Will let out a laugh and Evan put her hand on his arm, adding. “No, no, I’m just kidding. Please whatever you do, don’t hit him—I don’t know what he’s capable of.” Will was still smiling from her joke as he took the hand that was resting on his arm and folded it in his hand. He held it for a moment, and then said, “Will you call me later?” Evan wrinkled her eyebrows. “You’re not going with us?” He shook his head. “My dad heard about what happened and he’s worried I might have some sort of break or something. Wants me to come straight home.” “Oh.” She hadn’t thought about what this might be doing to Will. “How are you feeling about all this?” He took a small step closer to her. “You worried I might break too?” “No.” She shook her head. “Just worried.” “Don’t be,” he replied, soothing his thumb over her knuckles. “I’m fine. I just want to make sure you’re okay too. I’m always here for you, Ev.” The same butterflies that had danced in Evan’s stomach the day she and Will first kissed flew back and started dancing again. She could feel his soft, steady breaths getting closer to her lips. She watched Will’s lips and remembered the way they felt against hers, and wished that they would swallow her up again. He was bringing them closer and closer…then the elevator bell made a ding, and a lean, dark figure stepped out of it. Rafael. She wondered when he had left, and then realized that she was no longer thinking of Will, but Rafe, who was watching her back. For a moment she thought she could see the hurt in his expression, and she felt almost guilty. Like a switch, he turned off any emotion he had, and stood like a statue. 156   

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Evan cleared her throat, and Will snapped back to reality. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Will,” she said, surprisingly easy considering their almost intimate embrace. He seemed a little stunned, but he nodded. “Right.” After Will was gone, Evan threw a hand to her forehead. “Oh my gosh,” she said in an almost inaudible grumble. Things were never easy anymore. She remembered that Rafe was still watching her and she straightened up, cinching her bag further up on her shoulder. Slowly approaching him, she didn’t stop when she got to him, but gave him a weak smile and kept moving towards the elevator. He followed silently behind her, and they both boarded the empty elevator when it arrived. Lame elevator music took up the silence. Tapping her toe silently, she watched the little light go from floor to floor until they were at the lobby. As the door opened, she heard Rafe suck in a breath of relief. It disturbed her more than she thought it should. Was it possible he was feeling more than he let on? She was still looking at him when she noticed his expression go from tight to worried. “What is it?” she asked. He scanned the lobby once, twice, and a third time before responding. “Lyle and Eurial….they’re not here.” She looked around and confirmed what he’d said. “Oh, is that a bad thing?” She realized once she said it that of course it was a bad thing. Without the two of them, Rafe and Evan were left by themselves. Not a good thing. Evan drew in a deep breath and continued walking towards the exit. So what if the other angels weren’t there. She and Rafe weren’t children, they could contain themselves for the five minutes it took to get from the hospital to bistro. 157   

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Rafe especially could contain himself. In all of the time he’d been protecting her, he had only let himself show any emotion in the apartment bathroom—and even then, it was contained. In fact, Rafe didn’t have any problem whatsoever with containing his emotions, Evan did. Even more, Evan was finding that she had a problem with how good Rafe was at hiding his emotion. It wasn’t fair that she was suffering with these daunting emotions and had no idea if he gave one iota about her. For all she knew, he might not have cared for at all! She could feel the blood rising to the surface of her skin making her face red. “Evan?” Rafe finally said. She was so enlivened with her own inner breakdown that she spun at him. “WHAT!” she hollered. He tugged his eyebrows together, concerned. “You’re about to pass the bistro.” He gestured behind him, where she had walked right past the bistro doors. “Oh.” She cleared her throat, embarrassed. “Thanks.” Inside the bistro, Evan headed straight back through the kitchen and into her dad’s office before Rafe could say anything else to her. She closed the door with a defiant slam. Eurial, who was working in the kitchen, noticed the whole thing and walked out towards Rafe. “What did you say to her? She looks pissed.” “I didn’t say anything,” Rafe replied with a worried shrug. Eurial flared his nostrils. “You didn’t say anything? The whole walk here and you didn’t say one word to her?!” “What was I supposed to say?” Rafe defended. “Oh, I don’t know, how about, ‘Golly, I’m glad you’re okay’ or ‘Gee, I was really worried about you!” Eurial retorted with skeptical, sarcasm. He let out a frustrated breath and returned to the kitchen. 158   

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Rafe played the whole conversation over in his head, and then the walk with Evan. He could have at least said he was glad she was safe…but, when he found her and Will, practically kissing…he was sent down the dark path of jealousy again. He turned around to go to the apartment, and then stopped. He couldn’t let Evan think that he didn’t care—he did care, more than was good. He turned again, and passed Eurial on his way through the kitchen. Stopping at the door to the office, he knew Evan would have locked it. He considered knocking, but quickly disregarded it. Waving his hand in front of the knob, a small flash of light illuminated him and then he turned the unlocked knob. Evan looked up from her place behind the desk. Her eyes were red from crying and she was caught off-guard. “Rafe?” Rafe stepped inside the office and shut the door behind him so Eurial couldn’t eavesdrop. He drew in a deep breath and made eye contact with her. She was still a little stunned at his appearance. “Evan, I…I’m glad you’re okay. More than glad.” He had to bite his tongue to keep from saying more than was safe. “You are?” Her red eyes softened and almost seemed hopeful. “Yes,” a vehement breath rushed out of him as he said it, and he moved uncontrollably closer to her. Though Evan didn’t stand up, she leaned over the desk, as if she wanted to be closer to him too. Both of them wanted to say more to each other, wanted to leak all of the feelings they were hiding, but both knew that they couldn’t—they shouldn’t.

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“I—” Evan started to say and bit her tongue. “Thank you,” she added carefully, and using every drop of her willpower. Rafe made a small bow to her, unable to speak without betraying his true thoughts. The only words he could manage were, “Goodnight, Evan.” He spoke them, low and reverently, like a lover’s farewell. Evan wanted to bask in the sound of his voice. She drew her eyes up to his and sighed. “Goodnight, Rafael.”

* Lissy’s accident had been nearly two weeks ago. Evan still found herself questioning whether it really happened or not. Everyone, including Lissy, seemed to move on from it without even blinking—everyone except Evan. Since healing Lissy, something was niggling inside of Evan, wanting to be let out. But what? It didn’t help that this niggling got worse whenever any of the angels were around, and they were around a lot. Evan could barely step foot outside her door without running into one. Lyle picked her up for school, Eurial lurked while she was in school, and Rafe…well, Rafe followed her back to the bistro. Since their small connection in the bistro office, he’d started putting up boundaries between them. For instance, he rarely allowed himself to be alone with her. And if they were alone, he kept a good twenty feet of space in between them. Evan knew it was for the best, but still, she didn’t have to like it. She wasn’t the only one going through the relationship doldrums. Lyle had a serious case of the blues, which seemed to start when he found out Lissy and Kevin had been hanging 160   

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out. He never said anything to Evan about it, probably because he didn’t want her to think he couldn’t control himself, but Evan could see right through his façade. He obviously cared for her human friend, but he was facing the same internal battle that Rafe was. Evan shared a similar case of the blues, because ever since Kevin had shown up at the hospital with his goofy grin and a bunch of flowers, Lissy and he always seemed to have plans whenever Evan wanted to hang out with Lissy. And hanging out with the angels had gotten almost strenuous because of the embargo on emotions. Evan couldn’t talk to Rafe for obvious reasons, and she didn’t want to talk to Eurial, for obvious reasons, and she was trying to avoid talking too much to Lyle because she didn’t want to slip up and mention Lissy. Every time Lyle heard her name, his innocent blue eyes would flare up with excitement and then grow sad. In essence, Evan was surrounded by people, and somehow, totally alone. Rafe had just finished installing the last tire on the truck the old man had given him. Since he’d started working on the truck, he’d rebuilt both the engine and the transmission, replaced the carburetor and timing belt, and lastly, installed tires. “Not bad!” The old man joined him in the back lot, admiring the rusty truck. “Starter up, son!” He tossed Rafe the keys, which had a red rabbit’s foot attached to them. Rafe sucked in a nervous breath—he hadn’t tried running the truck for real yet, and he prayed everything ran right. The man had repeatedly commented on how quickly Rafe picked up on the mechanics of the truck. ‘A natural,’ the man had said. 161   

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The door of the truck whined as he opened it, and the smell of stale fabric and moisture greeted his nose as he climbed into the stained, red bench seat. He slid the key into the ignition and put his foot on the brake before turning the engine over. It came to life with a powerful roar, and the old man let out a hoot of praise. A new emotion coursed through him. It felt good, but unfamiliar. Pride, he realized. I’m proud of myself. For the first time, Rafe had done something solely for himself…and he liked it. If he hadn’t had the truck to distract him, he was sure he would have done something—something bad—by now. Keeping space between he and Evan was becoming more than just a task, it was becoming unbearable. There was the human side of him that lusted for the human side of Evan…but then there was the angel side of him that hungered for the Power that resided in Evan. Her Power was building inside of her, getting stronger, and it called to him— to all of them. Each of them was dealing with the crave for her Power in their own ways. Rafe worked on the truck, Eurial threw himself into work at the diner, and Lyle focused on his schooling. This worried him, because it only started to confirm his worst fears—fears he had tried to ignore. Since talking to Eurial about the possibility that Evan was the girl from the prophecy, Rafe had tried to deny it and push it out of his mind. But when she saved Lissy—and she had saved Lissy— she only further proved that she was getting stronger, and would continue to get stronger—something only the girl from the prophecy would be able to do. The prophecy… He had said those words over and over in his mind, contemplating what it all really meant. The prophecy he spoke of was one that was whispered through the halls 162   

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of Heaven, waved off as falsehood. But there were those that believed it was real. In the prophecy, it described a human—a girl—who would hold the Power of Heaven and Hell, and with that Power, she would bring about the Beginning of the End. To fulfill the prophecy, this girl would have to be Blessed twice from Heaven and Cursed twice from Hell. Evan had carried the blessing of her ancestor, giving her one of the two blessings, and when she was struck by the bolt that saved her life in the alley, she was blessed a second time. She fulfilled half of the prophecy. No other human in the history of Earth had ever come that close. That leaves the Curses… Rafe prayed, begged, that Evan wasn’t the girl from the prophecy. If she was, he didn’t know if he would be capable of protecting her from all of the awful things that would seek her out. “Whattya think, son?” The old man was standing next to the driver’s window of the truck. Rafe had spaced out for half a minute as he got lost in his thoughts about the prophecy. He blinked the thoughts to the back of his mind and replied, “This is great!” He could feel his hands vibrating on the steering wheel from the pulsating of the engine. He’d been used to having power in his hands, but nothing quite like this. “Well,” the old man stepped back, “taker for a spin!” “Really?” Rafe’s normally steady expression lit up. He didn’t wait long enough for the man to reply before putting the truck into gear. He put his foot gently down on the gas pedal, just as the man had said to do, and applied pressure. The engine roared slightly louder, but the truck didn’t move. Thinking something was wrong, Rafe set his foot down all the way on the pedal. Adrenaline shot through his system when the truck let 163   

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out a howl and then took off like an angry hurricane, flying across the lot. He was getting dangerously close to the chainlink fence that boxed in the perimeter of the lot when he heard the old man yell, “Brake!” After slamming both feet onto the brake pedal, the back end of the truck skidded out to the side as the truck came to a screeching halt. Rafe’s heart was pounding in his chests and his breaths were quick and shallow. “Good golly, son!” The old man was hobbling towards Rafe as fast as he could. “Yeh pert near rocketed to the next state!” Little drops of sweat were starting to collect on the man’s brow and he swabbed them away. “Now try it again, but ease your foot onto the gas—gently.” Rafe nodded, still a little lost in his adrenaline rush. He put his foot back onto the gas pedal and, millimeter by millimeter, he pressed down until the engine grew louder. Then finally, the truck started to move forward. Another flow of adrenaline hit his veins, but this was steadier, more controlled. The man made a sort of obstacle course out of old pylons and loose parts for Rafe to practicing maneuvering around. After perfecting his parking and reversing as well as turning both left and right, the old man deemed him good enough to take out onto the open road. The old man joined Rafe in the truck and gave the door a firm slam to make it latch, then said, “Okay, now pull her out onto the street. Remember, stop and look both ways, so yeh don’t hit no one.” Rafe pulled the truck to a stop at the exit to the street and looked left then right down the quiet street. “It’s clear.” “Okay, now pull into the right lane,” the man directed. “Good,” he added when Rafe did so. When they approached 164   

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the light, it started to turn yellow. “Okay, now what should yeh do?” Rafe remembered what the man said about the lights and replied, “Slow down.” “Mm-hmm, and get ready to stop.” Rafe put all his focus into making sure he did everything just right. When the truck was stopped, he looked up and saw Evan’s school across the street. Although he couldn’t see her, her Power was calling to him—and he wanted to obey. When he didn’t start the truck after the light turned green, the man said, “Son? Yeh okay?” He cleared his throat, pulling his eyes away from the school and replied, “Yes.” He took his foot from the brake and put it down on the gas, taking them away from the school…and Evan. “Here ya go, Liss,” Kevin said, bringing over a cherry coke and setting it down in front of Lissy. Lissy beamed up at him through her glasses. Her brown eyes seemed extra sparkly today. Evan was sitting next to her in one of the booths at the bistro. Will was across from Evan and Kevin slid in next to him. Despite the fact that Will and Evan weren’t a couple and neither were Kevin and Lissy, this sure felt like a double date. An awkward double date—Evan’s mom kept flitting by smiling, and obviously listening in to what they were saying, and Lyle was sitting at the bar, occasionally glancing at Lissy with pained eyes. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Eurial had been the one that took their order, all the while, looking at Evan as if she was doing something wrong, but he kept his snide comments to himself. 165   

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As Evan was pulling her book towards her on the table, her pencil escaped it’s nook in the crack of the book and rolled right off the edge of the table. She let out a groan and ducked down to pick it up. Her eyes bulged open when she saw Lissy’s foot, wrapped up between Kevin’s large feet. Were they…? Are they…? She grabbed the pencil and shot back up, looking back and forth between Kevin and Lissy. “Are you two…together?” She did her best to keep from saying it too loud, just in case Lyle was listening. Lissy’s cheeks turned rosy and she giggled. Kevin’s eyes started sparkling the same way Lissy’s had been. “As of today,” Lissy said with a big smile. “Oh.” Evan’s face went blank while she processed. Although she was sad for Lyle, this was a good thing—a very good thing. If Lissy was preoccupied with Kevin, she wouldn’t get caught up in angel drama. Evan liked this— Evan liked this a lot! A big smile crept over her face. “Congrats!” “Yeah, man,” Will added, looking at Kevin. “You two make a great couple.” “Don’t we,” Lissy trilled before laughing. Evan smiled as she watched Lissy and Kevin hold hands, and then she realized she was staring. She looked away and up to Will’s face. He was smiling too, but he wasn’t looking at the new couple—he was looking at her. “What about you two?” Kevin asked. “Don’t think nobody sees how you two are always giving each other those longing looks.” Now, Evan’s cheeks were blushing. “What?”

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“Come on!” Lissy bumped Evan’s shoulder. The door to the bistro chimed just as Lissy exclaimed, “It’s sooo obvious you two like each other!” Evan’s and Will’s eyes met, both quietly blushing. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt like she was in trouble. Then she realized why. The sound of the door chiming had been Rafe coming in from his shift at the shop. He was still standing at the door, looking at their table, her more specifically. Her throat went dry and a lump formed, making it hard to breath. Rafe regarded her with a flat expression before looking away and heading for the stairs to the apartment. She wanted to cuss, spit, and throw a tantrum. He wasn’t supposed to hear that. Why did Lissy have to open her big mouth?! “Excuse me,” Evan grumbled, nearly shoving Lissy out of the booth so she could get away. She could feel the eyes of the group watching her, but she was too preoccupied with her own internal drama to care. She retreated back to her dad’s office, which was quickly becoming her safety zone. Once the door was closed, she pulled at her hair with frustration. It was wrong that she felt good with Will and felt bad for feeling good. Rafe had cast a spell over her heart that caused it to act all wonky. Emotions that used to function properly were now all out of whack. She got sad when she should have been happy. Happy when she should have been sad—and worst of all, she loved when she shouldn’t have, and loved who she shouldn’t have. She curled up in her dad’s big office chair and sat in that same position for several hours until someone knocked on the door. When it opened, she hadn’t expected to see Eurial. He must have just pulled his hair net off, because his hair still 167   

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held the same bulging shape of the hair net. He still managed to make the funny style come across as fierce. When she didn’t address him, he said, “It’s late, Ev.” Ev? Did he just call me Ev? Evan’s eyes flickered up to him with surprise. He pretended not to notice and continued, “I’m gonna walk you home—Rafe’s asleep.” Evan knew that was a lie. Rafe didn’t—wouldn’t—go to sleep if it meant that Evan would be unguarded. Evan nodded and stood up. As she got to the door she stopped and looked up at him. “Eurial?” “Yes.” “Please don’t lie to me.” Eurial puffed up as if he was about to deny it, but he stopped mid-puff and exhaled an assenting breath, nodding. He held the door open for her as they exited into the quiet, night. Her parents were still wrapping up things at the shop and waved to the two of them. Eurial nodded to her dad and gave her mom a smile small while saying, “Goodnight.” For a moment, Evan forgot about all of the drama in her life, and took time to acknowledge Eurial. He had integrated into human life way better than Evan ever expected. And he had even made her parents shop run smoother than it ever had. Managing the bistro perfect had become his personal mission. New menus had been created, everything was neatly organized, and surprisingly the bistro was doing really well. Customers even stopped by just to see Eurial—Evan couldn’t really believe that part. “What?” he asked bluntly when she hadn’t taken her eyes off him for a full minute. “Nothing, it’s just…you’re doing really well, Eurial.” 168   

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Eurial’s tough expression softened a little. “Thank you.” Just the fact that he said ‘thank you’ was proof enough to Evan that Eurial had changed a lot since he’d gotten here. In fact, all of the angels were changed. She started to think about each of them, and their differences—then she wished she hadn’t, because it only led to thinking about a certain green eyed angel. Her shoulders slumped forward. “What is he really doing?” she asked with a desolate tone. Eurial shrugged. “Dunno, probably torturing himself over—” he cut himself off, but Evan was pretty sure he was about to say, probably torturing himself over you. She cringed. Eurial studied her expression and said, “I see he’s not the only one with masochistic tendencies.” “Why?” Evan asked breathlessly, “Why would he be torturing himself?” She was pretty sure she knew the answer, but confirmation would have been nice. Too nice. Evan knew it was twisted, but she almost thought she liked the idea that Rafe was torturing himself over her. After all, she was torturing herself over him. Eurial knew what she was doing and said, “Cut the crap, Evan. You know why he’s not here. And what you’re doing isn’t helping him. You think you’ve got it bad because you think you care about him, and you’re trying to deny it…but trying isn’t enough.” Eurial’s dark brown eyes held Evan’s with severity. “You can’t keep him hostage, Evan. He’s ashamed of himself for the feelings he has for you.” He had stopped walking so that he could focus on talking to her. “You think I’m the one hurting him?!” Evan asked, reproachfully. “You think I don’t feel bad for feeling this way either?! You have no idea what I’ve been through!” 169   

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“I know,” Eurial tried to say in a calm voice, but Eurial didn’t really do calm. “I know you’re hurting too, but can’t you at least try to…try to stop from feeling those things? If you can let go of him, he’ll be able to get over this. Yes, he’ll hurt, but it’s better than the road you two are heading down. Do you understand what I’m talking about?” Evan spotted a wooden bench near a copse of bushes and collapsed onto it. Sadly, she did understand Eurial. He was saying that she had the power to stop the drama—and keep Rafe from getting hurt in the end. If she could make Rafe believe that she didn’t care for him, then he would be able to move on. This was like some sort of drama, straight from the silver screen. “I understand,” she replied heavily. “But I can’t just make myself turn off like that, Eurial. Do you understand?” Eurial’s strong expression melted a little as he thought about it and replied, “No, I don’t understand, and sometimes I wish I could.” Evan was a little caught off-guard by his admission. She never thought she’d hear Eurial wish to feel something like a human did. He was always so tight and cynical about how weak humans were. He could see her confusion and joined her on the bench. “I’m not heartless, Evan. I can feel just as much as you can, but for me, a guardian, it’s not an option. If we are supposed to protect you from harm, we can’t let our hearts be distracted. We have to remain focused on our task. Rafe is already weakened by his emotions for you. Otherwise he would be here with me, guarding you.” His voice was not as firm as it always seemed to be, but there was still enough tension in it to remind Evan that he meant what he said. 170   

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He has a point, she conceded to herself. Rafe should be here. I am making this worse for him. “You’re right,” she said, surrendering. “I am getting in the way of his duty.” “Not you, Evan,” Eurial clarified. “The emotions he feels for you…and the emotions you feel for him.” He leaned back on the bench and said, “There is a reason you, humans, were created. The emotions you feel are so strong. In Heaven, we can feel your praise and it lifts us up. Your curses are like daggers to us…and your love…well, love is intoxicating to any creature.” Evan cocked her head to the side. “Are you saying that Rafe is intoxicated by my love?” The idea of it was romantic and scary. Eurial made a straight smile. “In a way, yes, and by other things you have.” Evan furrowed her eyebrows. “Your power, Evan,” he answered her unasked question. “Your power is reminiscent of the Father’s. In our Home, we would gather just to feel the power of his strength and glory. That was our true drug. Some of us got too greedy for it, and…well you know the story of Lucifer and his followers.” Evan’s hands clasped each other. “So you can feel my power? All of you can?” He nodded. “It’s why you’re in danger.” The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Was she really some beacon of drug-like power that demons and angels alike lusted for? An even sadder thought entered her mind. Did Rafe really care for her, or was he just attracted to her power. That thought scared her more than Eurial’s statement about danger. 171   

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“Come on, let’s get you home.” Eurial stood up and started to turn for her. His calm expression went suddenly tense and his eyes flew from left to right, as if he expected something to be there. “What is it, Eurial?” “Even, ru—” he started to say something but was cut off when two large men, seemingly out of nowhere, jumped into view and tackled him to the ground. Evan felt a scream reach her throat and she felt her panic surge. A third man—the one who attacked her from before— moved out of the darkness and was coming towards her, determination written all over her face. A familiar…and he’s here for me! She threw herself out of the bench and when she went to run back towards the bistro, but the familiar cut in front of her. She came to a skidding stop, and darted her eyes back to Eurial. One of the men— another familiar—was holding him down by his arms. The second man who’d jumped him was trying to find a way to get a swing at him, but Eurial kicked out and knocked him off his feet. “RUN!” Eurial yelled to her. Run where? The familiar had blocked her in. She started backing up, trying not to scream again. Where was Rafe? Why wasn’t he here to keep her safe? The familiar, who temples were swimming with writhing black veins, stepped towards her slowly, as if she were some horse that he might spook. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to help you,” he said in a calm voice. He took two more cautious steps towards her. In the background, Evan heard Eurial grunting as he struggled to get free. She wanted to look back at him but she was afraid if she took her eyes off the encroaching familiar that he would leap for her. 172   

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“Who are you?” she asked, still back up. “That’s not important. All that matters is that you come with me.” He started to extend his arms to her, willing her to put her hands in his. Evan eyed his hands distrustfully. “I know what you are. You’re not here to help me.” Below the surface of the familiar’s calm expression, Evan could see something beginning to boil. More impatiently, he said, “You are not safe here. You need to come with me. My master will protect you better than the weaklings can.” He pointed a finger to Eurial. “They are pathetic imitations— weak and useless.” He started closing in on Evan, faster than he had before. “Evan!” Eurial shouted. She looked over at him just in time to see him pull one of his arms free. The familiar that had been holding him down went to reach for it, but Eurial rolled to his side and yanked his other arm free. He was just starting to get to his feet, when he put his hand out in front of him. A light, so bright it hurt Evan’s eyes came from his palm. It was similar to when he’d made her doorknob disappear, but this light was stronger. A terrible scream filled the air and the light disappeared. Evan expected to see Eurial on the ground, but he wasn’t. He was standing over the familiar, who was bleeding out from a wound on his chest. The familiar made sickening gurgling noises as blood filled his mouth, and both of the remaining familiars were frozen in place, watching the third on the ground. Even Evan couldn’t bring herself to move. With one last choking sound, the familiar’s head slacked to the side and his eyes went blank. He was dead. 173   

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“No!” the familiar closest to Eurial yelled. He started to charge the angel, but stopped when the lead familiar called his name in a warning. Eurial lifted his hand towards the familiar, as if to repeat the light attack. The lead familiar’s eyes grew to a rolling boil and his voice was filled with hatred. “She will never be safe!” His eyes darted to the other familiar, and together they disappeared back into the dark street just as fast as they’d appeared. Evan watched them leave with teary eyes and trembling hands. Her eyes slowly moved towards Eurial, who was panting with exhaustion. Several cuts marked his cheeks and his shirt had been ripped open where the buttons met. Then, even more slowly, her eyes turned to the dead familiar. The black veins on his temples were gradually fading, until finally, his face looked human again. A large pool of blood surrounded his motionless form and stained the sidewalk. Her heart clenched as the sight of the familiar made her remember Will when she found him dying and bloodied in the alley. This was almost déjà vu—horrible, gut wrenching déjà vu. Eurial stepped in front of the man, blocking him from her sight, but she stared straight ahead as if she could still see him lying on the concrete. “Evan,” Eurial’s voice was low and commanding. “We need to move.” Evan moved her head, but she wasn’t sure if she was saying yes or no. She was barely aware of being escorted to her bedroom by an anxious Eurial, and of him saying that he would send Rafe to guard her. She almost pulled out of her catatonic state by the sound of Rafe’s name, but something stronger held her under. 174   

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There was something wrong with what had just happened. It wasn’t just the fact that she had been attacked again, is was something much worse—something that was screaming at Evan to pay attention. She drifted in and out of consciousness while lying in her dark room. Memories of tonight played in her head and then memories of the night she found Will mixed in with them. She almost thought she had the dilemma solved when a sound in her room pulled her just out of its reach. The window pane made a soft creak as it was slid upwards, and then the thudding of shoes hitting the floor of her room echoed. Evan held perfectly still, believing that if she didn’t move, she wouldn’t be seen. They’ve come back again! This time they found my house! They’re here to take me away for good! Her mind went silently out of control with horrible thoughts. “Evan?” She would know that voice anywhere. Her heart picked up a little as she replied, “Rafe?” Sitting up, she saw his dark, lean silhouette as he closed the window. He turned his eyes to her, and they illuminated the darkness with their golden glow. He hadn’t been wearing his contacts. Beautiful… She found herself mesmerized, forgetting for a second the terrible events of the night. He turned on the light and the illumination of his eyes was drowned out, shocking her back to her senses. She squinted to see him in the new brightness, and was finally to clearly make him out. He was pale and drawn, worry lines creased the perfect skin of his forehead. Even his shoes were untied, as if he’d just thrown them on and dashed over. “I…” He fell to his knees beside her bed, looking up at her as if his world had almost been ripped apart. Evan could tell by the look in his eyes that 175   

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he was about to say things that he wouldn’t be able to go back from—things that she had dreamed of hearing him say over and over again. But now, she didn’t want him to say those things. She needed him to be strong. “Don’t, please,” she said softly, but seriously. It took all of her strength to put the seriousness into her eyes and to make herself hold his gaze without breaking down. “Don’t say anything. Just…just sit here with me.” Rafe nodded, accepting the real reason she stopped him. He leaned against the side of the bed, resting his head on Evan’s soft, lilac colored quilt with his eyes trained on hers. They stayed that way for a long time, both just taking what they could get. Their eyes stayed intertwined for the longest time, until Rafe’s slowly drifted close. Evan felt a warm tear escape her grasp, and move down her cheek, burning. He was so close to her, so close to telling her everything she wanted, but he might as well have been a million miles away. She could never let him give in—she could never give in. She wouldn’t be the reason for anything bad happening to him, not if she could stop it. Evan’s eyelids finally got too heavy to keep open, and she leaned back against her pillow, taking one last look at Rafe, and then closing her eyes. The same disturbing memories of the dead familiar began playing in her mind again, like pieces of a puzzle she couldn’t finish. One piece, Eurial holding his hand out followed by light clouding her vision played, then the next piece, the man falling on the ground. The next piece was Will in the alley dying. And the last piece to play was Eurial standing over a body. The pieces played over and over again, until they finally seemed to flow into one, long event: Eurial in a dark alley, extending his hand outward towards a boy. Light fills the al176   

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ley—light coming from Eurial. The boy falls to the ground, bleeding. His navy blue eyes start to glaze over as Eurial steps over him. A girl’s voice fills the air, and she’s calling a name, “Will!” Eurial backs away into the darkness of the alley, out of sight just as the girl comes around the corner of the alley. A terrified expression takes her over—takes Evan over—as she sees Will on the ground. Evan jerked up off of her pillow and her hair flew up around her face. Glistening sweat stippled her forehead and she could still see the image of Will lying on the ground. “No!” she shouted. “NO!” Her eyes started to take on a crazed look. Rafe, who had been asleep beside her bed, wrenched up into a stance of attack. He scanned the room, looking for the cause of her disturbance, but he saw nothing. “Evan…” he started to go towards her, but her mom’s voice was coming down the hall outside her closed door. Her mom must have heard her shout. Casting a glance back at Evan, he quickly darted for the window and shoved himself out of it once the pane was opened enough. Her face had been filled with pain and…and betrayal. After shooing her mother back out of her room, Evan ran to her bathroom clutching her stomach. The urge to vomit was so strong, and it came from the stabbing pang of disbelief that coursed through her. She doubled over her sink as a dry heave rolled through her, followed by another. Fighting the convulsive movements of her body, she latched her fingers around the edge of her vanity and willed herself to be still. When she was able to stand up, she could see her sad reflection in the mirror and the tears that were welling up on her 177   

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lower eyelids. “It can’t be…” she whispered to her sad mirrorself. Her knees started to feel weak, and she turned and slid down against the vanity, wrapping her arms around her bent knees. She had had all of the pieces to the puzzle long before last night. How could I have been so stupid! She threw her head against her sharp knees, wishing to take away the painful knowledge inside of it. First, there was the incident with Will in the alley. She could no longer call it an accident, because it wasn’t one. Then there was the mysterious appearance of her guardian angels. Evan’s brain worked as fast as it could to place all the pieces of the puzzle together. Will had told her that when he was attacked, the only thing he could remember was a bright light. And it just so happened that the first time Evan saw the angels was in the alley, after she had saved Will. How Evan hadn’t put it together when she saw Eurial use his power to make her door knob disappear… She cringed again, feeling like a fool. It was so obvious! I just didn’t pay attention! Eurial had been the one that had killed Will. He had attacked him in the alley and left him there to die! The sickening feeling returned. She rocked back and forth reeling from the painful truth. How could someone who was supposed to keep her safe do something like kill her best friend? And if Eurial was in on it, then so were Rafe and Lyle? Oh God! She wanted to pass out from the maddening emotions that started to rumble deep inside of her. She had been betrayed, and by the three people she trusted most. 178   

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Evan scrambled from her sprawled position, running straight for the door of her room and then out of the house. The adrenaline that was pumping through her veins made her feel like some sort of Olympic runner as she flew through her quiet, sunny neighborhood street and then onto Main Street. She gripped the metal handle of the glass door at the bistro and yanked it open so hard it made a loud crashing sound as it swung back on its hinges. Everyone in the bistro froze and their attention was brought to her. She didn’t notice, she was too busy scanning for a specific face. Her eyes narrowed into angry slits when she saw Eurial standing by one of the booths. “YOU!” she hollered. “YOU DID IT!” Eurial went rigid as a board and his complexion dropped two or three shades paler. He seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. “Evan—” he started to say. Evan didn’t want to hear it. She started to charge him, just like the familiar had done last night. Her hands were outstretched, and it became clear that she didn’t care if she touched him. He was frozen in place by the hate in her eyes, and she was only several feet away and gaining. “Evan!” At the last second, Will jumped out of a booth and grabbed Evan by her waist, yanking her backwards. Her hands clawed hungrily at the air, reaching for Eurial’s throat. “Evan, stop!” Will demanded. She was too lost in her rage to hear him. “Evan?” a softer voice asked, it was Lyle’s. He was coming towards her from his spot at the counter. Evan’s eyes ripped towards him and she regarded him with just as much loathing as she had Eurial. Just like Eurial, Lyle was frozen in place. 179   

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Evan’s struggles started to get even more desperate, and patrons seated around the bistro started whispering and exchanging worried looks. Will realized this, and started tugging her as hard as he could towards the back exit. “Move!” he yelled at a bewildered Eurial, who stood in the way of Will’s path. Eurial snapped back to life and quickly got out of Evan’s reach. “Let me go, Will!” Evan started clawing at his hands to free herself. Will hung on tight, even though she was leaving red scratches on his skin. “What’s going on?” Rafe burst in through the back door, panting from running hard. Evan leveled a hateful look at him. “GET OUT! MURDERER!” The word caught both Will and Rafe off-guard. Will fought to keep her contained and looked at Rafe. “What is she talking about? Why is she so upset?” “They did it, Will! They’re the ones who hurt you!” her voice was like acid and fire in her throat. “They’re the reason you died!” Rafe’s face drained of all color when she finished. “Evan...Evan please let me expl—” “Get out,” Will cut him off. His blue eyes were hard and unrelenting. Rafe seemed unable to take his eyes off of Evan’s crazed face. Will spoke up again, “Get out before I let her loose and you don’t have a choice whether you stay or go.” Evan was still squirming to get free. Rafe took one more concerned look at Evan, seeming almost crushed, and turned to leave. Evan still pushed at Will’s arms, but he hung on until she finally exhausted the last of the adrenaline in her system and sagged against him. Now, he was holding her to him for com180   

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fort. Long, painful sobs rolled out of her and she had no strength to hold herself up. He cradled her while slowly settling both of them on the ground, so she could rest. When the sobs stopped coming, he asked, “Evan?” She staid still in his arms. “Evan?” He pulled her away from his chest so he could see her face. “What happened?” Her cheeks were covered with the moisture from her tears, and her hair was wild and mangled. “Last night,” she started with an empty voice, “we were attacked, Eurial and I.” Will’s hands tightened on her, informing her that he didn’t know about the attack. “There were three familiars, and two of them were holding Eurial down.” Her eyes were glazed over as she replayed the incident in her head. “He managed to get one his hands free and stand up. Then he…he killed one of them—with his power. It was so bright, Will, and when the light disappeared the familiar was on the ground…” She stopped there and collapsed back against him, unwilling to relive the rest. “And this is why you think it was the angels who killed me?” He tried to steady his breathing so he didn’t start breaking things. How come Eurial hadn’t told him about any attack?! If Evan had been put in danger, Will had every right to know about it! “Don’t you see?” She pushed off of his chest. “Eurial killed the familiar the same way he killed you!” She was starting to get worked up again. “He blasted his power into the familiar just like he did you. The injuries were almost identical, Will.” Will stared into her beautifully intense, green eyes, trying to make sense of what she was saying. His memories of the night he was attacked were foggy at best. He only had brief flashes from that night, most of Evan. He could remember 181   

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seeing a blinding flash of light, but he’d shrugged that off as the headlights of passing car. “What would they get out of killing me, Evan?” he asked the question to himself as much as he did to her. What would the angels gain out of his death? “I don’t know,” she replied in a ragged whisper. “But I know that it was them.”

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MUSIC FOR

BLESSEDLY FALLEN: These are songs that I’ve heard, loved, and feel that they fit the flow of the book. They’re also just plain addictive! Enjoy! If you have any suggestions, leave me a scribble! I’m sure that I’ll be adding more and more as I discover other cool songs, so keep checking back! -Click songs with purple text to hear the song on YouTube! And the turquoise text to hear the song from Myspace! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find free listening for the songs with black text. If you’re able to find a free link for a song with black text, let me know so I can add it to the list! --

¤ AQUA LUNG – STRANGE & BEAUTIFUL ¤ CLINT MANSELL – LUX AETERNA (THIS SONG IS EPIC!) ¤ EISLEY – BRIGHTLY WOUND ¤ EISLEY – INVASION ¤ EMILY HAINES & THE SOFT SKELETON – OUR HELL ¤ FAUXLIAGE – RAFE ¤ FLYLEAF – ALL AROUND ME ¤ JOY WILLIAMS – SPEAKING A DEAD LANGUAGE ¤ KATHRYN WILLIAMS – HALLELUJAH ¤ KATIE NOONAN & THE CAPTAINS – PAGE ONE

¤ KRYSTAL MEYERS – MY FREEDOM (The fifth song in the list) ¤ LISSIE – EVERYWHERE I GO (I LOVE THIS SONG!) ¤ MODEST MOUSE – WORLD AT LARGE ¤ NOTWIST - CONSEQUENCE ¤ PLACEBO – RUNNING UP THAT HILL ¤ SIGUR RÓS – UNTITLED 6 ¤ STACY CLARK – HELLO AGAIN ¤ THOM YORKE – SKIP DIVIDED (MODESELEKTOR REMIX) ¤ THRICE – DIGITAL SEA ¤ TRESPASSERS WILLIAM – LIE IN THE SOUND (Beautiful song, goes perfectly with the book!) ¤ LA ROUX – IN FOR THE KILL

   

* If you enjoyed reading this, use the stars to rate it. It helps me to know what you think. And if you really liked it, then leave me a comment! And if you subscribe to me, you’ll get updates when I post more to Blessedly Fallen. While you’re at it, check out my other books.

--Ali