She turned to him. “Do you think my dad has magic?”

“I think so, but it’s not obvious.” He frowned at the wall. “It’s… covered.”

“What?”

“It’s like his power was covered. That’s the way it felt to be near him. Sort of like you in your dreams.”

“The same as my dreams?” She sat up straight. “Exactly the same?”

Malachi narrowed his eyes. “Yes.”

“Do you think Jaron is shielding me and my dad?”

Malachi paused in thought. She could hear his inner voice going crazy. Words tumbled through his mind in a rush.

“If that shielding is a mark of angelic protection,” he said, “then yes. Jaron or another one of the Fallen must be protecting your father.”

“Could it be one of the Forgiven?” Her hope lasted for a moment until Malachi squashed it.

“It’s not possible, reshon. The Forgiven are gone from this world.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Unless one has chosen to fall again, they cannot come back here. Jaron has already shown a connection to you. It’s possible he has one to your father as well. It is the most likely possibility.”

“But why?” Ava asked. “Why would Jaron do that? My father has never… he’s not involved in your world.”

She felt his arms tighten around her. “Our world, Ava.”

She nodded. “Our world. And he’s not involved.”

“How do we know that?” He turned her so he could look in her eyes. “Ava, he knows you’re different. The way he talked about that house he bought for you. The quiet. The seclusion. If his mother was Irina—”

“How could she be Irina and have a child with a human?”

“I don’t know. It might be possible. So many went into hiding after the Rending, Ava. If your grandmother was Irina and had a child with a human, it would be the first to my knowledge.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well I discovered at Sarihöfn that there’s a lot the Irin don’t know about the Irina anymore.”

“You may be correct. It could be possible—even likely—considering you exist.”

“Would a quarter Irin blood be enough to let me touch you?”

He ran a hand up her arm. “I think that answers itself. It has to be.”

She settled back against him. The sun had reached its zenith in the sky, and Ava felt drowsy. The room was warm and her mate stretched out on the couch, cushioning her body with his own. As upset as she’d been with her father, his refusal wasn’t a surprise. It was easy to deal with disappointment when that was all he’d ever given her.

“What are you thinking, reshon?”

“I’m thinking… I like the thought of us getting married. It’ll be easier to explain you to my mother if we marry.”

“You know, you will not grow older now. With our magic combined, there will come a time—”

“Shhh.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “I know. Someday, we’ll have to disappear. For now, let me be happy.”

He fell silent again and pressed a kiss to her hair. “Be happy,” he whispered. “Despite everything happening around us, I am.”

She watched the sun track across the room, dozing every now and then as she rested against him.

“I don’t think she’s dead.” Her eyes felt heavy. “My grandmother. There was something about the way he spoke about her.”

“If she’s alive, canım, we will find her. I promise.”

I promise.

Ava realized as she drifted off to sleep that to Malachi, those words meant something.

I.

JARON WATCHED FROM ACROSS the crowded street. He had taken the face of an old man and was holding a newspaper and watching the humans pass in front of him as they strolled the ocean promenade with family and friends. The winter wind gusted on the Italian coast, but it did not bother the angel, only flapped the threadbare overcoat that covered his narrow shoulders.

Another old man came to sit beside him, holding a bag of warm chestnuts.

“Does she know yet?”

“She’s intelligent. She’ll find the answers soon enough. And the scribe is keener than I expected.”

Barak lifted the steaming bag of chestnuts to his nose and inhaled but did not reach for one. “Mikhael’s offspring are often underestimated,” he said. “Seen more for their physical prowess than their strategy. This is a mistake.”

Jaron nodded. “Mikhael is a great strategist. His prowess rivals Yun’s.”

“Only when Yun is not working with you.” Barak tugged on the grey beard that covered his face. “I prefer the human eras that favor facial hair.”

Jaron lifted an eyebrow at his friend. “Do you? I detest them.”

“You detest every human era anymore.”

“Why do you think I’m doing all this?”

The corner of the old man’s mouth lifted behind his beard. “Why, indeed?”

“Have you heard what your son is doing?”

“I hear everything.” Barak’s face wore a look of annoyance. “Which one?”

“You know of whom I speak. Have you traveled to Sofia lately?”

“No. Kostas is my brightest child in centuries. There is a chance he would sense me if I came close. I have others watching him.”

“And do you approve of what he is doing, my friend?” Jaron was amused. “He would remake the world here, even as we seek to remake the heavens.”