All right, so everybody I must say, thank you for all of the reviews! They were heartwarming, really, and I love the support. Pretty much everyone who responded said to weave in Eternal, so I did my best with that. The change is fairly short, and not really too noticeable because I kept most of the original script. In fact, there's really only one part (which I'm positive you'll recognize). Still, let me know how I did!

Chapter Twenty-Four

Once I'd calmed my thoughts, I reopened my eyes. Nora's body was slumped precariously onto mine, and I wrapped an arm around her to keep her from falling onto the floor. For a few minutes we sat there, silent and still. I looked at her expression. Her eyes were crunched in concentration, but the rest of her face was blank. It was like she was asleep. I was so confused. Part of me wanted to push her away, so she couldn't possibly see anything. Part of me wanted to watch her continue in peace. If she was peaceful she wasn't running away.

I placed my head on hers, savoring the closeness. I knew that I was taking advantage of her unconsciousness, but I just wanted to do it. Just in case she decided that…well, that she didn't want to be close to me when she was finished. To distract myself, I began to build this crazy plan in my mind. If she didn't want to be with me, I'd follow her. I'd pursue, and eventually if she decided to be with another, I'd still be there. No one could protect her like I could, and I'd make sure the asshole knew exactly how he should treat her. Maybe I'd just save myself the trouble and scare away every potential suitor. She'd go to the grave annoyed at me. Nora, old and wrinkled, still hissing at me like a puffy white cat from her porch. Damnit Patch, it's been decades! Get lost! I chuckled evilly at my illogical dream.

I was imagining all the different ways I'd punish men for approaching her when, finally, Nora twitched. My stomach clenched, and all my amusement vanished. Her skin was flushed, and she showed signs of shock. I looked at her, uncertain of her next move. What did she see? She twitched her fingers, and was subtly nodding her head, accepting whatever it was.

"Then you're definitely not human. You really are a fallen angel. A bad guy."

A 'bad guy'. Like a cartoon or something; so simple. "You think I'm a bad guy?"

"You possess other people's….bodies." she continued.

I nodded. She didn't say it with too much disgust, so that was a good thing.

"Do you want to possess my body?"

Not in the context you're thinking. "I want to do a lot of things to your body, but that's not one of them."

"What's wrong with the body you have?"

Here was where things got complicated for me.

"My body is a lot like glass. Real, but outward, reflecting the world around me. You see and hear me, and I see and hear you. When you touch me, you feel it. I don't experience you in the same way." I spoke the words that put me through so much. "I can't feel you. I experience everything through a sheet of glass, and the only way I can cut through that sheet is by possessing a human body."

"Or part human." Nora added.

My mouth tightened, and I felt disgust. Chauncey. Was it a little late to regret all the smart assed things I'd said to him? Was it wrong that I didn't really want to? I wonder what encounter she'd seen with him.

"When you touched my scars, you saw Chauncey?"

"I heard you talking to Rixon. He said you possess Chauncey's body for two weeks every year during Cheshvan. He said Chauncey isn't human either. He's-Nephilim." She whispered the last word.

I was impressed with Nora, as well as relieved. I knew the memory she was talking about- the summer just before the school year began. I'd made my firm decision to get my human body. There was talk of being a guardian but…no. She was taking this surprisingly well, especially after her earlier outburst. Maybe letting her touch my scars wasn't such an awful idea.

"Chauncey is a cross between a fallen angel and a human. He's immortal like an angel, but has all of the mortal senses." A cross-breed; a mutt; who had everything I wanted. "A fallen angel who wants to feel human sensations can do it in a Nephil's body." Dependence on a Nephil. It was insult to injury.

Nora's eyes pointed toward the bed, and she blushed.

"If you can't feel, why did you kiss me?"

Because love is an emotion, silly girl. I placed my finger on her collarbone and traced it down to right over her heart. Her breath caught. "Because I feel it here, in my heart. I haven't lost the ability to feel emotion." I caught her eye, and hoped she could see just how deep my feelings were. "Let me put it this way. Our emotional connection isn't lacking."

I watched as Nora's breathing became faster, and her heartbeat become irregular.

"You mean you can feel happy—"Her pupils dilated, and I could see a small sheen of sweat form on her neck "or sad or—"

All signs of "Desire." I answered, a tiny grin forming. Nora Grey wanted me. I could actually see it.

She inhaled, and shook her head. "Why did you fall?"

I didn't want to think about it. I decided to go with the simplest answer I could find outside of 'stupidity'.

"Lust."

"Money lust?"

I had to stroke my jaw to stop the smile from coming out, but it wasn't working. So, she didn't want to assume it was lust for a woman, hm?

"And other kinds. I thought if I fell, I'd become human." My smile slowly abated as I remembered my foolish pride the night I'd left Heaven. "The angels who'd tempted Eve had been banished to Earth, and there were rumors that they'd lost their wings and become human. When they left Heaven, it wasn't this big ceremony the other angels were invited to. It was private." I tightened my fists, but kept my expression calm. Even the first Fallen, the original sinners, were secretly tossed from Heaven. They'd had a trial among the highest Archangels. "I didn't know their wings were ripped out, or that they were cursed to roam Earth with a hunger to possess human bodies. Back then, angels my age rarely concerned ourselves with fallen angels, because it was taboo. We didn't think it could ever happen to us. So it made sense, in my mind, that if I fell, I'd lose my wings and become human. At the time, I was crazy about a human girl, and it seemed worth the risk."

I was so naïve. Naïve, proud, and stubborn. I knew the other Archangels knew how powerful I was, and I only relished in the idea. I couldn't imagine that they would make such a humiliating example out of me. I should have just had my wings torn out. Instead, they dragged me in front of everyone I knew, bellowed my crimes to the Heavens (literally), and then had one of my closest friends rip my wings from me and discard me from my home. Just the memories brought me extreme anguish, and I banished them from my mind.

Nora brought me back to the present. "Dabria said you can get your wings back by saving a human life. She said you'll be a guardian angel. You don't want that?" she asked, confused.

"It's not for me." I didn't want to be stuck correcting some silly human's mistakes. I wanted to make my own human mistakes. "I want to be human. I want it more than I've ever wanted anything." Until maybe now.

"What about Dabria? If the two of you aren't together anymore, why is she still here? I thought—"

My mind zoned the rest of her sentence out. Why is she still here? Why is Dabria still here?!

"Dabria's still on Earth?"

"She's got a job at school. She's the new school psychologist, Miss Greene. I've met with her a couple times." Nora stiffened. "After what I saw in your memory, I thought she took the job to be closer to you."

To be closer to my plans, more like. But why?

"What exactly did she tell you when you met with her?"

"To stay away from you. She hinted at your dark and dangerous past. Something about this is off, isn't it?"

Very. As much as I wanted to stay with Nora all night, I was no longer in that sort of mood. Just the idea of Dabria still being on Earth, and getting close to Nora at all, was giving me a bad feeling. She was up to something, and I needed to find out what it was. Knowing Dabria, the fact that I wanted Nora so much, dead or alive, probably drove her mad with irrational jealousy.

"I need to take you home. Then I'm going to the high school to look through her files and see if I can find something useful. I'll feel better when I know what she's planning." I pulled the sheets off of the bed and handed them to Nora. "Wrap yourself in these."

Nora's face took on a sick look. "She still has feelings for you. Maybe she wants me out of the picture." She said. I locked eyes with her. It wasn't beneath Dabria to ruin lives when she felt like she wasn't getting her way. I knew that very well.

"It crossed my mind." I turned to get my shirt from the bathroom. I needed to move quickly.

"I'll go get the Jeep. I'll pull around to the back exit in twenty. Stay in the motel until then."

All right, so, this next upcoming chapter is my longest in a while. However...it might be some time before I post. Maybe like...like next Thursday type stuff. I like to keep myself two chapters ahead, so that I'm motivated to actually get on here and post them(if I don't, I'll just get lazy and stop and you all might strangle me through the computer if I stop writing) But I've got a part-time too ha so most days I'm like "home...food...bed...ahhh..." The reviews are wonderful, again!

Read and review!

P.S. Guest reviewer, who mentioned the use of the passive voice, or lack thereof? I'm a little confused by your review- I've always personally liked passive voice, and it has its uses.

P.P.S.- Other Guest reviewer, yes, I do own the books. I keep Hush, Hush right next to my computer, so I don't get anything wrong. Most of Patch's responses and underlying emotions are what I added in, as thru most of the book to Nora he seems perfectly controlled all of the time.