It tickled me to see an archangel having very real and normal teenager problems.

The angels started to disband, gathering their things to leave, when I cleared my throat.

“There is one last thing we should speak about.” My voice wavered a little.

The angels froze, looking down at me, waiting for me to share what was on my mind.

I took a deep breath. “So… I just wanted to inform you all that I’m very grateful to be back and all that, but…” Why was I so nervous?

“But you’re going after Lincoln?” Raphael finished for me.

Damn, I’d forgotten his mind-reading abilities.

I sighed. “Yes, I am. I can’t just let him…” God, I couldn’t even say it.

Michael frowned. “San Francisco is the Devil’s playground. You can’t go there unless you’re deep undercover. Anyone associated with Fallen Academy, or our army is killed on sight.”

Oh God. That put a wrench in my plan, but I’d figure something out soon.

I shrugged. “Then I’ll go undercover. I’ll dye my hair, take a death mark, do whatever it takes to get Lincoln back. I need him to know I’m still alive.” Tears lined my eyes.

“I forgot how passionate human soul mates are. It’s very endearing,” Gabriel said casually.

Raphael froze, and Gabriel seemed to understand that he’d said too much.

The entire world stopped spinning in that moment. Something I’d known deep down inside since the first time I’d met Lincoln had been confirmed.

We’re soul mates.

I’d wanted to kill him when I first met him, but I’d also been so attracted to him. He got under my skin, and worked me up from the very beginning.

“We usually let the humans figure that out on their own,” Raphael scolded Gabriel.

The archangel winced. “Right, I’m sorry. I don’t spend as much time around them. I forget how to act.”

I just sat there, breathing in and out, over and over again.

Lincoln Grey is my soul mate.

I jumped up from the couch. “You have to help me!” I pled.

Michael, who was closest to me, placed a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll help you get as close as possible, but we can’t retract our wings like you can. If you’re seen with us, you’ll meet your death.”

I nodded. “I understand. Just send me in the right direction of where you think Lincoln will be, and I’ll go from there.”

My heart was smashing around my chest like a ping-pong ball.

“Hold on.” Raphael held out his hands. “You can’t run off into the night. Going to San Francisco takes preparation, and you can’t go alone. I’ll send a team of—”

“Noah and Shea will accompany me,” I blurted out, knowing in my heart that they wouldn’t let me go alone, even without asking them yet.

Raphael frowned. “What about your schooling? You could be gone weeks, months even. Noah is needed in the war. He’s our greatest healer.”

I nodded. “I understand that, but nothing is more important to me than finding Lincoln. Nothing is more important to Shea than being with me, and nothing is more important to Noah than being with Shea. It’s a chain reaction. If I go, they’ll fight to come with me. I know it.”

Raphael nearly went cross-eyed as he followed my explanation. “Human relationships are so complicated,” he sighed.

Michael was grinning. He had a human wife and a daughter, so he knew exactly what I was talking about. “God help the person who tries to keep soul mates apart.” He was looking at Raphael.

Raph gave him a quizzical look, which finally turned to resignation. “I’ve already broken my promise not to intervene, so I’ll cover for Noah in the war healing efforts. Come by my office tomorrow morning. I’ll have the protections ready for you three, so Lucifer can’t track you.”

Bursting forward, I flung myself into his arms. “Thank you! You have no idea what this means to me.” Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes.

His arms came around me, holding me tightly. “You’re very welcome, Brielle. I sometimes envy the passionate yet reckless love that humans feel,” he admitted as I stepped away.

Michael was grinning. “You should try it sometime. My wife has a nice lady friend I could introduce you to.”

Raphael looked mortally offended, his cheeks turning pink. “All right, this meeting is over.”

We all burst into laughter as Raphael pretended to arrange papers on his desk.

After walking out, I kept Michael behind in the courtyard to speak with him for a moment.

The way the sun hit his golden hair and tanned skin made him look just shy of real. It took me a moment to remember why I’d held him back, as I was so fascinated with staring at him.

“What motivates Emberly?” I finally asked. “What can I offer her to teach me the whole mind control thing?”

He chuckled. “Well, she has a penchant for old comic books, and is always trying to earn money doing chores around the house to buy them. She can’t legally get a job until she’s sixteen, so…”

Comic books and money. I could work with that. “All right. Thank you.” I waved him off, and started to walk inside, due to meet Shea in the lunchroom.

“Brielle?” he called back.

I spun around and his wings were fully extending, ready for lift-off.

“She has her mother’s sharp tongue, and independent streak. Good luck.” He winked and then burst from the ground, taking flight.

I barely registered his words; all I could think of was if I was ever going to see Lincoln wink again.

When I walked in the double doors of the lunchroom, I saw the main crowd was gone and only a few students were milling in the space.

Shea saw me and ran up to tackle hug me, holding on longer than usual.

“I’m going to hug you forever now. I missed you so much,” she informed me as we clung to each other.

Laughter bubbled out of me. “I missed you too.”

I still couldn’t believe I was back. It didn’t feel real.

Her face lit up at my approval of our future long hugging sessions, but then she leaned in closely, raising one eyebrow. “How did the meeting go? Did he grill you about the promise you made to Lucy?”

All my friends had picked up on my pet name for the Devil and were using it every chance they could.

I shrugged. “A little, but they were cool. Said I should ask Michael’s daughter to train me to withstand Lucy’s mind control. I was going to go find her now.”

Shea’s eyes widened. “I sort of know her! I’ll introduce you.”

“Cool,” I replied half-heartedly, but grabbed Shea’s arm before she turned to leave. She spun back to face me, concern in her gaze.

“I’m going after Lincoln. I leave tomorrow,” I blurted out to her.

She nodded as if expecting it. “I’ll go with you.”

A heavy sigh made its way through my lips. “It’s super dangerous, and we have to go undercover.”

She shrugged. “I don’t give a shit, I’m going. Noah will want to come too. He’s been pining over Lincoln being gone for a long time.”

I swallowed hard. “How long has he been gone?”

Shea blew air through her lips. “About five weeks.”

“No word from him?” I asked, bitting the inside of my cheek.

She shook her head. “He’s undercover as a Dark Mage. Shaved his head and everything. He… he totally lost it after you…”

“I understand.” I didn’t want to hear about Lincoln’s dark days. It tore at my heart.

Shea took my hand in hers. “We’ll find him and bring him home. Together,” she declared.

I squeezed her palm. “Good, because we’re never parting again. Ever.”

She smiled as we exited the cafeteria hand in hand to find Emberly.

Chapter Nineteen

Emberly’s roommate informed us she was in one of the small gyms training.

“How did she get into Fallen Academy so young? She’s like fifteen, right?” I asked Shea as we walked across the campus, nearing the gym.

Shea shrugged. “I heard her powers started getting uncontrollable. Her dad tried everything to contain them until she could come of age, but eventually it just wasn’t enough…”

“Whoa” was the only intelligent thing I could think of to say.

Shea nodded and then stopped, grabbing my arm. “Just a heads-up. She’s… different-looking.”

Okay…

“Different how?”

“Her eyes… glow. Actually, her skin glows too, and her hair. Oh, and she has these swirly glowing tattoos of light where her dad tried to contain her power. Basically everything glows. She’s like a lamp. And she’s, like, sickeningly beautiful. I want to be her.”

Whoa. I guess a human and an angel creating a child can be unpredictable.

With that warning, Shea trudged forward, and opened the door to the gym.

I stepped in gingerly behind her and scanned the room. There, off in the corner punching a speed bag like a prized boxer, was a glowing girl.

Emberly.

Like her father, her skin had a luminescent glow, but her hair was like silver moonlight. It shook with each pounding of her fist, but it was her wings that transfixed me the most. They were silverish gray, and along the tops they were bound with leather and metal-plated armor. I remembered then what Noah had told me the night before; that they’d been broken or something, and she’d needed braces for them.

This girl must’ve gone through a lot in her short fifteen years.

“Can I help you?” She’d obviously noticed my staring, and had stopped her workout to question me.

She also had a fair amount of sass in her voice, which only made me smile and remember myself at fifteen.

“Hey, Emberly. Remember me?” Shea stepped forward.

Emberly squinted. “Shea, right?”

My bestie nodded. “That’s me. This is my best friend, Brielle. She—”