“Angels aren’t supposed to interfere in Death’s work.” I slide to the far end of the couch, putting myself directly across from her. “I won’t apologize for it. I couldn’t let you die, Viv.” Leaning forward, I pluck her hands from her lap.

She’s in shock. Her shoulders slumped, her jaw slack, her hands limp in mine. Her eyes seem far away, staring past my face, but I tell her everything. I start at the beginning and explain exactly what I saw when I landed in the snow and found the reaper over her. What he said. How I responded. Finished, I lean closer, my head bobbing around until she meets my gaze.

“I won’t let him take you, I swear.” My fingers tighten their grasp.

Her face undergoes a kaleidoscope of emotions before she wets her lips and speaks. “On the mountain, earlier . . . he said something.”

He said a few things. “Yes?”

“He said you were a son of an angel in love with a human.” Her gaze slides left, as her cheeks color. “Is that true?” she asks, returning her ice-blue stare to mine.

“There isn’t an easy answer to your question.”

“Then the answer is no.” She pulls her hands from mine and sits back.

I nearly growl. My hand clutches her blanket-covered knee, because it’s the closest thing in my reach, as I lean in, bringing my face inches from hers. “No. The answer isn’t that simple.”

Our eyes lock and hold in a battle of wills before I remove my hand and give her space. “We barely speak, Vivienne. Would you believe me if I said I was in love with you?”

Her hair dances around her face as she shakes her head. “Of course not.”

“But you’re angry?”

Her mouth opens, then closes, her head turning to the fire once again as she exhales deeply. If I knew what love was, if I knew how to decipher the emotions she’s brought to life in the last twenty-four hours . . . the reaper might be right.

“My mother died giving birth to me, did you know that? My father wasn’t around much. I had nannies.”

Sadness clouds her eyes. “I remember the nannies.”

Sure she does. Kids asked me all the time why I had a ‘new mom’ every few years. That’s what happens when your nannies sleep with your angel father—they don’t last long.

“He isn’t the easiest, uh . . . person, for lack of a better word. Feelings are weakness. That’s what I was raised to believe.”

“What do you mean?”

How do I explain the supernatural world to someone who’s never known it? “There’s a hierarchy amongst angels. Good versus evil. The righteous versus the sinners.”

She fidgets in the chair, pulling her legs up. “I know the Bible.”

“Then you know angels aren’t fat, happy toddlers painted on ceilings. We’re warriors, fighters. My father isn’t half blood, he’s Divine. A Dominion.” She works to understand, but her expressive face gives her away. She’s lost. My titles and explanations make no sense. Why would they?

“He isn’t good.” I let my revelation sit for a moment. “And I’m not supposed to be good either.”

Unexpectedly, she huffs a light laugh. “What in the world does that mean?”

“I tell you my father is a Dominion angel of sin and you laugh?”

She laughs louder, her fingers going to her lips. Does nothing unnerve her? She’s extremely calm, considering she’s learned about angels, reapers, and her own near-death experience tonight.

“No, you told me he wasn’t good. That is a far cry from . . . what did you call him? A Dominion angel of sin?”

“They’re pretty much the same thing. Just different levels of bad, I suppose.”

Technicalities. I’m playing a game with words, and Vivienne knows it. Her face twists into the chastising grimace.

“Different levels of bad?” Her shoulders shake with laughter. Her brows knit together, and her smile falters as she inhales sharply. “Is that who the reaper meant, when he said they’d kill you? Was he talking about your father?”

And now she understands the hierarchy of angels. There isn’t much loyalty.

“No. My father won’t kill me.” Not because he loves me as his son. He wants me for what’s to come. Rubbing my forehead, I stretch my neck from side to side. “Honestly, I don’t know what the reaper meant. I healed you. I interceded where I shouldn’t have. There are those who would have a problem with that.” And those who would take issue with me telling her about us to begin with.

“Are you in trouble?” Her forehead wrinkles as she chews at the edge of a fingernail. “What can they do to you?”

Her concern sparks something within me. The pressure in my chest returns, the talons digging in again. “Of all things, you’re worried about me?” I’m astonished.

She snatches a strand of hair and wraps it around her finger. “You saved my life.”

I reach for the hair, rubbing it between the pad of my thumb and index finger. “And I’d do it again. I’m not worried about the consequences. The reaper doesn’t realize who I am. Who my father is.”  

Her hand covers mine, dragging it from her hair as she holds my gaze. “What about me?”

What is she asking?

“What happens to me in this whole situation?”

My cell phone buzzes, saving me from replying. I stand and fish it from my pants pocket. It’s Elias. I hold a finger up to Vivienne and wander toward the kitchen.

“Hey.” I refrain from saying his name to protect his identity. He’s been a resident of this town as long as I have. He runs a business, eats, shops, and plays in the same places the rest of us do.

“What the hell did you do tonight? I’m hearing chatter. You know there are eyes everywhere in this town, Breckin.”

Damn supernaturals. “The reaper I told you about, he’s hanging around and making threats.”

“Threatening you?” Elias’ voice drips with anger.

“Me. And Vivienne.”

Elias growls, and Vivienne’s eyes go wide. He’d cause an avalanche if he were up in the mountains.

“Fine. I’ll see what I can find out. We shouldn’t have a reaper lurking around unless he’s doing his job. I was told she saw you both. The Court won’t like that. Erase her memory.”

“I can’t.” I turn my back to Vivienne and lower my voice. “It doesn’t work on her. I tried last night. Plus, I need her to know everything until I take care of this. I can’t keep her safe if she doesn’t know.”

“It’s not your job to keep some human girl safe. You’ve got bigger decisions to make, Breckin. Your father will be home soon. He’ll expect your allegiance.”

“I’ve got four months.”

“Breckin,” he warns.

“See what you can find out about the reaper and keep Father and the Court away. I’ll protect her no matter what, but I could use your help. Please.”

“Feeling a bit possessive, are you?”

I look at Vivienne in the mirror. “I’m feeling a whole lot possessive.”

“Of course you are. You’re an angel, and angels don’t like others messing with what belongs to us.”

“Thanks, man.”

The call ends with Elias promising me a message as soon as he has information. Vivienne stands, and I turn with a shrug. “There’s a lot I can’t tell you. Things about Havenwood Falls you’re not allowed to know.”

“There are other angels here?” she asks as she walks across the living room. I nod. “You’re protecting them from me?”

“Not exactly, but I suppose in a way, yes. The less you know the better.”

“The reaper called you a half-breed like it was a dirty word. Why?”

“Angels weren’t created to reproduce with humans. They should have been happy in Paradise, but they weren’t. They wanted more. It was forbidden and caused dissent.” I rub the back of my neck. “It’s really an issue thousands of years in the making.”

Her head bobs in understanding. I’d expected more questions.

“What are you feeling possessive over?” she asks, nodding toward my phone as her lips curve seductively. I doubt she knows she’s doing it. She’s always had this alluring innocence about her.

“I’m two parts of one whole. I’m human, but I’m also angel. My angel side has staked a claim.”

She inches forward. “Staked a claim?” Her brow lifts. “On me?”

“It’s what the reaper sensed. I don’t control my angelic emotions as well as I should. I didn’t mask my feelings yesterday, or tonight.”

She stops an arm’s length away and looks at the floor. “Why did you save me? Would you have stopped for anyone?”

No. I witnessed vampires kill a few months ago. I did nothing. Why was yesterday different? I don’t have the answer, but I’d like one. I debate her questions too long. Vivienne clears her throat and crosses her arms.

“You just did, is that it? For no reason?” Her voice trembles. “I don’t remember much, but it was quick. Something knocked me down, and there was indescribable pain. That’s it. That’s all I recall. I should have died. I should have died, but you saved me, and now here I am.”

I cave, the human and the angel. Her emotions, her fear—it’s too much for me. Snatching her by the waist, I pull her into my arms. “It wasn’t for no reason. There’s something about you. I should have flown right on by, but something hooked me.” My nose burns with the memory. The smell was foreign. “The scent of your blood, something . . . it called to me. I didn’t have a choice.”

I shake my head, frustrated at having so many questions, and so few answers. Vivienne grimaces. “Is there something wrong with my blood?”

The answer to that would open a whole new can of worms. One issue at a time.

“There’s nothing wrong with you or your blood. I’m sorry. I know this is a lot to take in. Trust me, I’m afraid I killed you by saving your life. I thought I could erase your memory, and everything would go back to normal. I didn’t expect a psycho reaper or these feelings.”

Her eyes light up. “I thought feelings were a weakness?”

“As a human, they are. They make you soft. As an angel, though . . . the angel is smarter than the human. He’s enamored with you. I can’t do anything about that, and I will protect what’s mine, Vivie.”

She leans into me, her hands settling on my hips. “So you are staking a claim.”

“How does that make you feel?”

She glances down, before raising her eyes to mine. “I like it when you call me Vivie.”

Her body against mine ignites desire, and I curl my fingers into her sweater as my wings beg for release. “Do you?”

She nods with a smirk. My head lowers; my lips find hers, brushing a quick kiss before drawing back.

Vivienne’s hands slip up my chest, wrapping around my neck and tugging me back. Her lips toy with mine, pressing small kisses back and forth over and over but never drawing me in. My pulse accelerates, and fire ignites in my veins, spreading quickly. Vivienne yelps as I pick her up and plop her on the kitchen counter behind us.

She leans back when I move to kiss her again. “Angel strength?”

“That, and you’re five foot nothing.” I wink and move between her knees, happy she’s somewhat level with me.

“We can’t all be perfectly built angels.”

I’m perfectly built? I study her. The delicate, heart-shaped face, her pouting lips, her silky hair, the graceful ballerina limbs on her petite frame. Anyone with a sinister mind could snap her in two without breaking a sweat. I brush my knuckles across her cheek, my fingers sliding into her hair and moving it from her face. “Everything about you is perfect. Too perfect for me.”

We meet halfway. Her mouth opens, allowing me a small taste. I mold my lips to hers, and her socked feet hook around my thighs, drawing me closer.

“What is happening between us, Breck?” she asks as her fingers lose themselves in my hair. “What is this?”

There’s so much confusion written on her face. I feel it, too.

“I don’t know.”

It’s the most honest thing I can say. A switch flipped last night when I healed her. No, before I healed her. Things changed when I heard her scream. I know plenty of shifters. I’m aware of how they find mates. Angels don’t have mates, we don’t imprint, but I swear to the maker, this girl imprinted on me. On all of me—the divine side, as well as my soul.