“When I was little, I always thought I’d be Cinderella, but I guess this makes me the wicked witch.”

“Asleep, he looks like a bleeding Prince Charming chained in the dungeon. When I was little, I always thought I’d be Cinderella, but I guess this makes me the wicked witch.But then again, Cinderella didn’t live in a post-apocalyptic world invaded by avenging angels.”

“. . . he lies on the couch with only his pants, boots and bandages wrapped around him. I thought about taking off his pants and boots when I sprayed the blood off him in the shower, but decided that I wasn’t here to make him comfortable.”

“Are you really an archangel?” I whisper.He gives me a cocky grin. “Impressed?”“No,” I lie. “But I have some complaints I’d like to file about your personnel.”“Talk to middle management.”I follow him out the door, giving him mydeath-by-glare expression.”

“Sure, I’m pissed off. But my actions are not entirely without thought. I might regularly open my mouth without thinking, but I never start a fight without consulting my brain. For this one, I figured I’d won as soon as I made the first move. Intimidation tactics like his are common among bullies. The smaller, weaker opponent is supposed to cringe and back off.”

“I'm not an actress and I suck at lying. I am also far from being a seductress. It's hard to practice the art of seduction when you're always pushing your kid sister around in her wheelchair. Not to mention that daily jeans and baggy sweatshirt do not a seductress make.”

“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.”