Susan Ee

“...there’s no such thing as a dirty fight.”

“I shove the horrible, screaming images in my head into the dark, silent place in my mind that is getting deeper and more crowded each day. One day soon, the things I stuff in there will burst out and infect the rest of me. Maybe that will be the day the daughter becomes like the mother. Until then, I am still in control.”

“Nothing short of the end of the world would get our eco-conscious techies to toss their latest gadgets onto the street.”

“Hemos devuelto el golpe.Hemos declarado la guerra a cualquier ser que se atreva a pensar quepuede acabar con nosotros sin una lucha. Sin importar qué tan celestial, sin importar lo poderosos que son, este es nuestro hogar y vamos a luchar paramantenerlo.”

“¿Ni siquiera te gusto, recuerdas? —Eso es lo que trato de decir. Lo querealmente sale de mi boca es más cercano al primer intento de balbuceo deun bebe.”

“NO!" Raffe grips me as if he can bind my soul to my body. An upside-down view of the doorway shows up in my field of vision. Smoke waft through it. Although the pain obscures Raffe's warmth, I feel the presure of his hug, the rocking of our bodies back and forth as he repeats the word, "No.”

“You don't even like me, remember?" That's what I try to say. What actually comes out of my mouth is closer to a baby's first attempt at babbling. "Shh." He runs his fingertips along my cheek, caressing my face. "Hush. I'm right here." He looks at me with deep anguish in his eyes. Like there's so much he wants to tell me but feel it's too late now. I want to stroke his face and tell him that it will be okay. That everything will be all right. And I wish so badly that it would be.”

“That's crazy," I say"In case you hadn't noticed, the whole world has gone crazy. It's time to adapt or die.""By throwing crazy at crazy?”

“—No dejes que mi apariencia te engañe, Penryn. No soy humano. Lashijas del Hombre están prohibidas a los ángeles.—¿Y las hijas de la Mujer? —Intento una sonrisa pícara, pero ésta es plana.”

“-¿Cómo te llamas?Mis amigos me llaman Ira —dice Raffe—. Mis enemigos me llaman Por Favor Ten Piedad.”

“Me arriesgo a ser hecho pedazos por una jauría de perros para que puedas escapar y vuelves corriendo aquí. Tu sentido de la justicia podría usar un poco de sentido común.”

“We walk for about an hour before Raffe whispers, “Does moping actually help humans feel better?” “I’m not moping,” I whisper back.“Of course you’re not. A girl like you, spending time with a warrior demigod like me. What’s to mope about? Leaving a wheelchair behind couldn’t possibly show up on the radar compared to that.”I nearly stumble over a fallen branch. “You have got to be kidding me.”“I never kid about my warrior demigod status.”“Oh. My. God.” I lower my voice, having forgotten to whisper. “You are nothing but a bird with an attitude. Okay, so you have a few muscles, I’ll grant you that. But you know, a bird is nothing but a barely evolved lizard. That’s what you are.”He chuckles. “Evolution.” He leans over as if telling me a secret. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been this perfect since the beginning of time.” He is so close that his breath caresses my ear.“Oh, please. Your giant head is getting too big for this forest. Pretty soon, you’re going to get stuck trying to walk between two trees. And then, I’ll have to rescue you.” I give him a weary look. “Again.”I pick up my pace, trying to discourage the smart comeback that I’m sure will come.But it doesn’t. Could he be letting me have the last say?When I look back, Raffe has a smug grin on his face. That’s when I realize I’ve been manipulated into feeling better. I stubbornly try to resist but it’s already too late.”

“Hey, I don’t call the shots,” he says. “If I was good at marketing, I’d spin you an empty story that sounds profound. But the truth is that we’re all just stumbling around in the dark. Sometimes we hit something terrible.”“That’s it? It can’t be as random as that.” I don’t know what I want to hear, but that’s not it.“It’s always as random as that.”He sounds more like a seasoned soldier than any angel I’ve ever heard of. One thing’s for sure—I’m not going to get a lot of answers out of him.My hand stays out with the offered food long enough to make the moment awkward. “Don’t you want it?” I ask.“That depends on why you’re giving it to me.”I shrug. “Sometimes, as we’re stumbling along in the dark, we hit something good.”

“Penryn? Who are you talking to?” My mother sounds almost frantic now.“Just my own personal demon, Mom. Don’t worry. He’s just a little weakling.”Weak or not, we both know he could have killed me if that’s what he wanted. I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing I was scared, though.“Oh.” She sounds calm suddenly, as if that explained everything. “Okay. Don’t underestimate them. And don’t make them promises you can’t keep.” I can tell by her fading voice as she says this that she’s reassured and walking away.The baffled look the angel shoots at the door makes me chuckle. He glances my way, giving me a you’re-weirder-than-your-mom look.”

“It's strange to see such an evil-looking pair of eyes fill with pity. You couldn't get a more sympathetic response if Raffe had just told him they'd castrated him.”

“And my instincts tell me that Raffe is mine. I found him first.”

“He chuckles. "Evolution." He leans over as if telling me a secret. "I'll have you know that I've been this perfect since the beginning of time." He is so close that his breath caresses my ear.”

“If Michelangelo had seen this in daylight with the sun streaming down from the glass dome, he'd have fallen on his knees and painted 'till he was blind.”

“Raffe looks like someone just broke his heart.”

“Who will guard us against the guardians?”

“...."Penryn, who are you talking to?" My mother sounds almost frantic now."Just my own personal demon, Mom.Don't worry.He's just a little weakling."........"Oh." She sounds calm suddenly, as if that explains everything....”

“He stands with the fluid grace of an aristocrat who's used to rich surroundings. Although the quarter-bag of cat food he’s holding up does mess with the image a little.”

“He kisses me with the disposition of a dying man who believes the magic of eternal life is in this kiss”

“He doesn't even like me.I let the thought roll around in my head. Anything I feel during that time gets shoved into the vault with the ten-foot-think door slamming as soon as it goes in, just in case something in there has any intention of crawling out.”

“When a man in purple and screaming pink stares at you, you know it's time to change your appearance.”

“Nothing natural could cause this kind of fear. It goes beyond a fear of physical harm and into the realm of mental and spiritual. Like the fear of losing your sanity, of losing your soul.”

“So long as you don't bleed in the shape of wing joints, you should pass for human. Oh, and don't let anyone pick you up. They'll know you're not right as soon as they feel how light you are.""I'll be sure not to let anyone but you carry me in her arms.”

“We have struck back. We have declared war on any being that dares to think they can wipe us out without a fight. No matter how celestial, no matter how powerful they are, this is our home and we will fight to keep it.”

“I want to beg him not to leave. Tell him that I’m still here. But I lie frozen. All I can do is watch as he gets up. And disappears from my view.”

“I knew from the start that your loyalty would get you killed. I just never thought it would be your loyalty to me that would do it.”

“How long did you resist?” asks Uriel. “Did you push her away? Did you tell her she meant no more to you than any other animal? Oh, Raffe, did she die thinking you didn't care about her? How tragic. That must just tear you to pieces.” Raffe looks up with murder in his eyes. “Don't. Talk. About. Her.”

“He runs his finger tips along my cheek, caressing my face. “Hush. I’m right here.” He looks at me with deep anguish in his eyes. Like there’s so much he wants to tell me but feels it’s too late now. I want to stroke his face and tell him that it will be okay. That everything will be all right. And I wish so badly that it would be.”

“Pretty soon, you’ll end up being a full-fledged member of my clan. I always knew you would. You’d make an excellent archdemon.” His smile dries up. “Too bad I don’t care to have you as my boss.”

“You’ve acquired a pet, archangel. When did this happen?” There’s puzzlement in his voice, as if it’s normal for Beliel to know of Raffe’s companions. “I’m not anyone’s pet.” “I met her tonight at the aerie,” says Raffe. “She’s been following me around. She means nothing.” Beliel snorts. “Funny, I didn’t ask if she meant anything to you.” He looks me up and down, taking in every detail. “Scrawny. But serviceable.” He saunters toward me.”

“How sad. A leader bereft of followers. An angel with severed wings. A warrior without a sword.” Beliel circles Raffe like a shark as he taunts him. “You have nothing left.""He has me," I say.”

“Run along now while I show off my new acquisition. No one below has feathers. I’ll be the envy of hell.”

“And it’ll be longer still, now that you have those wings.” Beliel grins, but his expression still manages to be cruel. “Women and children will run screaming from you now. And so will angels.”

“I've never killed anyone before. What frightens me isn't that I'm killing someone. What frightens me is how easy it is.”

“Rage boils through my veins. My heart screams for blood. My hands tremble with the need to squeeze his throat shut.”

“I hate it when she does that. There’s nothing more humiliating than being smacked by your crazy mother in front of your friends.”

“I don’t have kind memories of you, Raffe, in case you’d forgotten. After all this time, you show up in my life again with no warning. Making demands. Insulting me by flaunting your human toy in my presence. Why should I do this for you instead of sounding the alarm and letting everybody know you had the nerve to come back?”

“We haven’t been strangers since I pulled you out of the slave quarters to train you as a soldier.”

“You should know,” he says. His whisper is low enough that even angels probably couldn’t hear it beyond the background noise of conversations in the corridor. “I don’t even like you.”

“It is not the gentle kiss of a couple on a first date, nor is it the kiss of a man driven by simple lust. He kisses me with the desperation of a dying man who believes the magic of eternal life is in this kiss.”

“Apparently,they’ve decided that’s a gray zone. It could get them all burned.” Then he adds in a whisper, almost to himself, “But the fire can be tempting.”

“What if they don’t let us go through?” I ask, trying not to move my lips. “They will,” he answers from the dark recesses of the backseat footwell. “How do you know?” “Because you have the look they’re looking for.” “What look is that?” “Beautiful.” His voice is like a caress from the shadows.”

“The next time you have a quarrel with me, I'd appreciate it if you could just talk to me first before resorting to pelting me with rocks.”

“Are you all right?” It’s a stupid question because there’s not much I can do for him if he isn’t all right, but it just tumbles out. He snorts. “Aside from being beaned with a rock, I’ll live.”

“Why would you risk treason for a mud fight?” “You have no idea how much I’d risk for an honest-to-God mud fight between two hot women,” says Dee.”

“I don’t know which is worse—that Raffe didn’t jump in to defend me, or that he bet that I would lose.”