“I’m going to win this war,” I said to Nathaniel.

He smiled gently. “I believe you can.”

The front door opened and Will and Lauren emerged, their arms draped in grocery bags. Nathaniel and I rose to our feet and helped them bring in the rest of the bags from Lauren’s car. I soaked in the early March sunshine and forty-degree temperature. Spring was on its way.

“How was shopping?” I asked Will.

“Horrible.” He sighed. “It was a battle to get past all those women for a carton of eggs. They were vicious.”

I laughed. “Soccer moms too much for you?”

“Apparently,” he replied, giving me a little smile.

“Will can handle the nastiest reapers around, but soccer moms…” Lauren said with a grin as we toted the rest of the bags into the kitchen and unloaded groceries.

“I need to work off some of this aggression,” Will said. “Nathaniel, are you game?”

Nathaniel frowned. “Letting you beat the crap out of me for a half hour? I’m always game.”

Lauren and I sat on the porch bench and draped a quilt over us to watch the boys spar in the backyard. The melting snow added difficulty to their training, making it harder for them to move, and that was why it worked. Will laughed as Nathaniel slipped and splashed in the wet snow and mud.

“Nice move,” Will said, and rested his sword over his shoulder, rolling his eyes.

Nathaniel rolled over and clambered to his feet. He snorted through a wide grin and shoved Will’s shoulder. “That doesn’t count toward points. I slipped.”

Will scoffed. “Come on, man. That’s pathetic.”

“Hey,” Nathaniel said with a wave of his finger. “I’m a reader, not a fighter.”

“Keep it friendly, boys,” Lauren called. “Maybe I should keep score so nobody cheats.” She tugged the blanket a little tighter when a cold breeze blew by, and we exchanged smiles and I shook my head.

Nathaniel spun the sword in his hand just to show off as he advanced on Will. Then he vanished, moving so quickly my eyes lost him for a heartbeat, but Will spun around, sweeping his blade up to meet Nathaniel’s as the other vir reappeared. Will’s sword dwarfed Nathaniel’s, but I was surprised at Nathaniel’s skill and ease with the thin, sleek blade. He was definitely much more of a bookworm than a fighter, which was a part of his charm, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to kick some ass. He seemed to match each of Will’s strikes, at least until Will tired of going easy on him.

The way Will fought was hypnotizing. His graceful ferocity was the most beautiful, calculated thing I’d ever seen. His movements as he dodged Nathaniel’s swift strikes were so slight and effortless that it almost appeared to be a dance he knew to his very soul.

The snow made no hindrance to their battle as it flew everywhere in the air, streaks of white following silver blades and sweeping, feather-light footsteps. Nathaniel deflected Will’s sword with his own and Will’s elbow smashed into Nathaniel’s nose, knocking him back. Nathaniel brought his blade up and Will swung his down, silver crashing together, and Nathaniel kicked his boot into Will’s chest, forcing him to stagger on his heels.

“That’s two points for each,” Lauren explained. “They each made successful offensive and defensive maneuvers.”

“How does one of them win?” I asked.

“There’s no winning,” she said. “They just keep adding points. I forgot both their scores ages ago, but the numbers are ridiculous. Nathaniel holds his own against Will, but it’s obvious who is the more talented fighter.”

“Nathaniel is brilliant, but I almost never see him fight.”

She shrugged. “He’d rather be useful to the war in other ways. Will, on the other hand, can’t get enough of fighting. It wears him out physically and emotionally, but it’s like a drug to him. He can’t function without it.”

Something heavy settled in my chest. “It’s his life.”

Out the corner of my eye, I caught Lauren glancing at me. “It’s yours too,” she said. “But I’m not sure what Will would do with himself if he didn’t have a mission for even five minutes. He’d go crazy.”

As I watched him spin his sword through the air, I imagined him living a quieter life where he wasn’t constantly trying to survive and save me at the same time.

“Don’t even think it,” Lauren warned sharply. “I know that look on your face. He agreed to this. It’s what he wanted. I can’t describe to you the difference I see in him since you came back into his life.”

I gazed across the lawn again at Will. Our eyes met, and I knew he could hear my conversation with Lauren. But he never missed a beat and never let Nathaniel gain the upper hand.

“You chose this too,” Lauren said. “Don’t forget that either.”

She was right. As Gabriel, I chose to become human and fight the reapers. It was my mission to see this through, just as protecting me was Will’s mission.

Will’s sword ripped open Nathaniel’s sleeve and blood shone in the sunlight. Nathaniel spun away with a grunt of pain, holding his arm with his other hand. Will withdrew his sword until it vanished completely.

“I’m done,” he said, winded.

Nathaniel studied his face. “All right.” He said nothing more.

Will headed toward the house tiredly, snow clinging to his clothes and his hair. I rose to help him clean up as he walked inside.