Raphael was pacing as he explained, the way he always did when he felt guilty. Justifying one of their Father’s more brutal orders always made him contrite, but he obeyed without question.

Seraphs were the mouthpieces of God. They wouldn’t hesitate to carry out His will, no matter how painful it was.

“The wards can’t be taken down to make an exception. It would leave the entire Host and billions of human souls at risk.”

Each word sounded as if it were coming from miles away. Ash didn’t pay them any mind. He was drifting, the part of him that cared what happened next lost. It was as if his mind had become unmoored from the rest of him.

“Ash, please listen.” Raphael waved a hand in front of Ash’s face, his lips drawn down in concern.

Ash blinked, his mind snapping to attention. He began to form a series of desperate plans. One involved witchcraft and trickery, and the other a one-man war with Heaven.

“But our Father did recognize the heroism of Kara’s selfless act.”

Ash snapped his gaze up, meeting his brother’s eyes. “What?” he asked hoarsely.

Raphael walked around the altar to stand on Kara’s other side. He put his hand on her forehead, and then nodded as if he’d just confirmed something important.

He held up his hands. “Father is prepared to offer you a deal, or more specifically, a trade, one that will restore life to Kara. She’ll be healed, and will get to live her life out—”

Hope flooded his breast. Ash leaned forward. “I’ll take it. Whatever I have to do, I accept.”

Raphael rolled his eyes. “Let me finish.”

Merde, he was so annoying. “Fine. Finish,” he said from behind gritted teeth.

The Seraph huffed. “Kara will be restored. She will get to live a normal human life. When it’s over, she will be reborn in another time and place.”

Ash held up a hand. “Good enough. Do it now.”

The Seraph pursed his lips. “Again, let me finish. Because you need to think about this carefully.”

If Raphael didn’t get to the point, Ash was going to kill him. “What is it?”

“God is willing to restore Kara from the veil if you give up your life in trade—”

“Stop! Shut up,” he ordered, waving his brother into silence. “I’ll do it.”

Raphael’s face fell. “Are you certain? You have to be sure because it means you’ll abdicate your place in Heaven—”

“Just do it. Save her.”

The Seraph dropped his hands and sighed. He moved like molasses, coming around the altar until he was standing between Ash and Kara, settling one hand on each of them.

The angel leaned over to whisper in Ash’s ear. “I will miss you, little brother.”

A lump formed in Ash’s throat. He swallowed hard. “I…will miss you, too.” The grudging words were practically torn from him, but Raphael didn’t care. He threw his arms around him in an all-engulfing hug.

Ash rolled his eyes to the ceiling, working one hand free to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder. After a minute, he prodded the angel. “Raph, get on with it.”

Huffing, Raphael straightened, moving to stand between him and Kara. He fished out his jar of oil, opening it and dropping a few drops on the tip of his fingers.

“This may feel a little tingly,” he said, drawing a sigil on Ash’s forehead.

The oil burned like dry ice. His skin throbbed wherever Raphael touched him, but it was nothing compared to the anguish he felt when his brother repeated the process on Kara’s cold skin.

“Give me your hand.” Raphael reached out, closing his eyes. He put the other hand on her.

Heat began to fill Ash, pouring out of the Seraph’s hand. It blazed through him, filling him with liquid fire.

It was like walking out in the sun. Ash squeezed his eyes shut as his vision whitened out. Gasping, he took one last long breath. He hadn’t expected his long years of exile to end this way. It was okay, though. After all this time, the end was welcome. He could embrace it content in the knowledge that Kara would live.

Dying was painful, of course, but not as bad as he thought it would be. The flare of white light dulled to orange and yellow behind his lids.

Little by little, his strength ebbed away like a golden thread being pulled out of a tapestry. The feathers on the tips of his wings began to scorch and crumple until his wings completely burned away.

Ash’s breathing shortened. Burning heat shot through him. He nearly dropped from crushing fatigue, a new and disturbing sensation.

This is dying. He had only one regret. Trading his life for Kara’s meant he wouldn’t be able to speak to her or see her made whole again.

The intense fire faded. Raphael backed away, removing his hand.

Ash blinked, surprised he could still see. “What the hell, Raph!” Had his brother gone back on their deal?

Raphael smiled, reading his mind. “Don’t worry. I didn’t go back on my word.”

A female voice broke in. “I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t get your damn hand off me right now, you’re not getting it back.”

The Seraph snatched his hand away, moving to reveal a beautiful—and not dead—Kara.

Ash shoved Raphael to the side before pulling her into his arms in a tight hug.

Her arms squeezed back hesitantly before she snatched them away. She patted her stomach, now intact. Kara lifted her shirt and started, disappointment marring her otherwise-perfect face. “Did I fail?”

Raphael poked his head into her line of sight. “No, you succeeded. The Firehorse curse has been broken. Now you get your reward—an average human life.”

Ash didn’t understand what was going on. “What about our deal? I’m supposed to be dead.”

Kara’s mouth dropped open. She smacked him on the arm…and it actually stung a bit. “You’re supposed to be what?”

“I’ll explain later, my love,” he promised, gesturing at Raphael to get on with it.

“Well…because of the complications that we discussed earlier,” he said, glancing at Kara from the corner of his eye. “God, in his infinite wisdom, came up with a compromise that will balance the scales, metaphorically speaking. You traded your life for hers.”

“I know that part. But here I am—alive,” he hissed.

Raphael’s smirk was back in place. “Alive and mortal.”

Ash frowned. “What did you say?”

“What you gave up was your immortal life. God stripped it from you. You’re not an angel anymore.” The Seraph checked Ash up and down. He didn’t look all that impressed. “Now you’re just a man, Well, mostly. You’ll still be stronger, faster, and smarter than most. Not all men, of course, but then, you never really were all that bright as an angel ei—”

Kara reached over and pinched the Seraph, making him jump in the air. “Finish that sentence and I’ll slap you.”

Raphael wrinkled his nose. “I begin to see why you like this one. She reminds me of you.” The tone wasn’t complimentary, but Kara beamed at him anyway.

“But I was dying,” Ash protested. “I could feel it. I still feel it.”

“No, you weren’t. That’s just what mortality feels like,” Raphael corrected. “Like everyone else on earth, you’ll die a little every day. Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.”

The Seraph began to back away. “All right then. My job is done here. Enjoy your happily ever after.” He disappeared in a blaze of light.

Kara’s eyes widened. “Wow. Is that guy always such a toerag?”

Ash laughed, the rumble tickling his chest. It was a new and strange sensation, but not an unpleasant one. “It’s sort of an angel trait. Believe it or not, he’s actually one of the least annoying ones.”

“Really?” Kara’s eyes widened and then she blinked, her eyes clouding. “Are you really mortal now?” she whispered.

He ran his hands down his chest and over his arms. Even his skin felt different—thinner and more sensitive. “I think so.”

Her cheeks quivered. “No. That’s not right. You can’t give up your immortality for me.”

He pulled her off the altar. Not only was the blood gone from her clothes, but they were also intact again. “I would do anything for you.”

She continued to shake her head. “But all you’ve wanted for thousands of years was to go home. What if you regret this someday?”

“Don’t worry about that. Not ever. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”