I woke up alone.

"Jack?" I called out to him, but he didn't answer. "Jackaboy?" I got out of bed and looked around upstairs, but he wasn't here. I quietly tiptoed down the stairs. It was dark down there. I flicked on the light, but didn't find him.

I ran back upstairs and grabbed my phone. I called his phone, and I heard it ring. I followed the rings outside, to the backyard. I ended the call when I saw Jack's green hair. He was sitting in a lawn chair, his head tilted up, looking toward the sky.

I looked up.

I saw stars.

I remembered the stars, too. From the night I met Jack. The night I made the horrible mistake of reading from that fucking book. The night I changed both of our lives.

I stood there, watching him. He lifted a beer bottle to his lips and tilted it back, never taking his eyes off of the sky.

I walked up behind him and touched his shoulder. "There you are. I was worried..."

A deep, gravely voice replied, "awww, now why would you go and worry about little old me? I thought you had forgotten about me, Mark." His head turned, and I saw those blazing, hellfire green eyes.

"FUCK!" I shouted, and backed up. Sean chuckled. I immediately felt a soft, steady heat rise up in my belly, and I felt a wave of strength push through my body. I knew my eyes began emitting their even, golden glow.

"Now, now... Angel... Let's not do anything we will regret," he said, still sitting. He turned his gaze back up to the sky. "I'm not here for you."

"Yeah, I believe that," I growled. "That's what you said the night you poisoned me and watched me die. You left me there! You wouldn't even let Jack out during my last breath!"

"Purely accidental, I assure you," Sean said. "I did what I set out to do... I killed that fallen angel, didn't I? It wasn't my fault your chest was in the way," he said, smiling.

"I even cleaned up the mess I made. And I didn't even get a thank you."

"FUCK you!" I spat. "Let him out. NOW!"

"Oh, but I can't. I have some... business to attend to," he said, standing up and turning to me.

"What could you possibly have to do? You have been gone for a year!" I said, but I have to admit, I was curious.

"You remember your good friend Sarah, don't you?" He stepped closer to me.

"What about her? She is dead."

Seal laughed. "Dead? Is that what you think?" He stepped closer to me. "Oh no, Mark. She is anything but dead. See, your great great great triple great whatever great grandpappy Darkie worked some fallen angel mumbo jumbo on her corpse before I blasted his heart open, and that girl is still out there. And she has something that I desperately desire..."

There was no reasoning with the demon, so I desperately tried reaching Jack.

"Jack, baby? Jack, listen to me. You have to fight him. Remember all the research and training we did. Reach deep, Jackaboy." I took a step back.

Sean started shaking his head. His hands flew to his head, covering his ears. He started saying "No! No no no!", then he squeezed his eyes shut and dropped to his knees.

He let out a deafening roar, then it was quiet. I stood, watching, still on guard. He tilted his head up, and opened his eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the sapphire blue eyes gazing back at me.

"You did it, Baby!" I squealed, running to him and scooping him up in my arms. "It actually worked!"

Jack looked at me, wide eyed. This was the first time he had ever seen my angelic side. The only other time it happened in front of Jack was when he wasn't Jack. He stared into my golden eyes.

"Mark? Are you... good?"

I chuckled. "Yeah. I'm good. No worries."

I breathed in deep as I hugged him, and by the time we pulled apart, I had gone back to normal.

I never told Jack, but I had been reading from the Book of Angels and the Book, and I taught myself how to tap into and control my nephilim blood. Jack and I were working on ways for him to control Sean, and this was the first time he ever had to use what he learned. He did it perfectly.

"I guess all of our training has paid off," I said to him, grabbing his left hand. I could feel his ring, cold and hard against my fingers. "C'mon. Let's go to bed."