A huge thank you to JoVersify, without whom this update would've probably been a week late. Wouldn't have been able to keep writing this without you. Thank you to The Lemonade Stand too for featuring this story, I'm honoured! (Check out their website for more fic recs) Welcome to the new readers! And of course thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing, I read all your comments and they make my day! I know I am super behind on replying and I'm sorry! I've been doing quite a lot of overtime at the hospital, was home around 9pm yesterday. All right, enough with my rambling and hope you enjoy the chapter :)


She dug her fingernails into her palms, fighting to stay awake. Edvardiel rested a hand on hers. "Issa," he said. "Just once, won't you give yourself a break?"

"No one gave that other Acolyte a break," she mumbled against his chest. "No one gave—" She couldn't say Yassper's name. Her eyes filled with tears. "His daughter was at that cathedral."

They'd landed somewhere.

"I know," Edvardiel said quietly. "I heard her too when we were in Lilith's void."

Her grief was overriding his calm. She covered her face. This was the third time she'd lost control in less than twenty-four hours. "What's happening to me?" she asked again. "I've never been this… this weak."

"You wanted to be human." Edvardiel's voice was gentle as he put her down. "This is being human." Steam rose behind him and she realised he'd taken her to Eden's hot springs. He remembered how much she liked it. He remembered everything.

"Being weak?" she said. "Is that what being human means?" She had no memories of being human and after seeing Eden, she realised she had no idea what it meant.

"No." He squeezed her shoulders. "Feeling. Being a—what did you call it—stupid empath? Demons don't really do that. Angels don't really do that either. I've come to understand that humans feel more deeply than angels and demons because of their free will. Demons have none and angels aren't made for it. Making choices means more fear, more shame, more regret. It means fighting with self-doubt."

His wings curled, cocooning them in a lulling warmth. His feathers filtered the sunlight and took her breath away. How had she ever found them dull? His grey was the colour of untamed storm clouds, the occasional glimmers of sun reminiscent of lightning. "I used to think it made me weak. But it doesn't—it makes me…." he hesitated. "It makes you good. Because it means we're trying to do better. And that's all anyone can do, Issa." He brushed back her hair. "It's time to forgive yourself."

There was no point trying to hide from him—not when he could see her that clearly.

"You don't know half the things I've done," she only said.

"I know it wasn't your choice."

"The other empaths didn't survive it. Yassper…" It was the first time she managed to say his name to Edvardiel. "Yassper offed himself so that he didn't have to keep doing it. He wasn't the only one. What does it say about me that I lived this long?"

Edvardiel blinked at her. The golden glory in his eyes burned much more brightly now that his wings were back. But unlike her dream angel, his gaze was extraordinarily human in its softness.

"The better question is, what are you going to do now that you've lived this long?"

She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Well, someone's got to make sure you stay alive."

He grinned. "Really? Because I don't recall fainting in the middle of a fight. I don't recall needing to be rescued like a—"

"Oh shut up." She wiped the dampness off her face. "If I kept count of how many times you fainted—"

"Are you sure we're not even?" he teased.

"In your dreams," she scoffed. Then she looked at the wings curtaining them. "We're not dreaming, right? Your wings really are back?"

"You're asking the wrong person," Edvardiel said. "I'm afraid to blink in case they disappear."

His hands shifted down from her upper arms, his hold warmer than fire and his long fingers wrapping around her waist almost completely as he drew her close. Her stomach jolted at the ease with which he touched her—as though there was no question that she was his.

As though there was no question that he was hers, she realised, as she reached for his face to find him already leaning towards her palm. She traced his lip and heard the small catch in his breath as he closed his lovely eyes. A pleasurable tingle fluttered through their bond and she marvelled at how such a glorious being could want her. She felt suddenly awed that she was allowed to touch him at all.

He opened his eyes and her fingers froze.

"You're glowing again," he said softly. He cupped her face with one hand and the desire in his eyes blended with reverence. "This glory…" His thumb caressed her cheek. "It's yours. You're not an amplifier, Issa. You're Nephilim like me, and a damned powerful one."

Her memory flashed with her dream angel's unsettling grin. Think about your power, child.

She forced it to the back of her mind. All of it seemed too bizarre to be real. "I don't know about that."

"I do," Edvardiel said. "Issa, when you were unconscious, you bled gold. Only angels bleed gold."

"That's not possible," she said. "My blood is red."

"It is now," he said. "But for a few moments, it was gold. Look." He unfurled his wings slightly. The edges of his wings were smeared with red—her blood and his, probably, but right in the middle, there was a patch that wasn't red but a shimmering gold. He stretched it out. "Right there. See? You have angel in you."

Issa eyed it sceptically. "But your blood doesn't change colour."

He shrugged. "Maybe if I used enough glory, it would." He dropped his voice. "I had to get you out of there. You saw what they did to that Acolyte. They hate angels even more. Ezekiel told me about it. He showed me their Edenium weapons."

She stared. "Is that why you abandoned that boy?"

"No," he said. "He was tied to Lilith's will—he would've tried to hurt you. He'd have tried to kill all of the humans."

"But you helped me," she said. "And you have your wings now, your glory isn't running out anymore."

"I'm not invincible," Edvardiel said. "Blocking Lilith isn't easy—" He cut himself off and exhaled. "Even if I could help him, how would I have explained it? Can you imagine the likes of Tanya or Jessica or Mike welcoming a servant of Hell—free will or not—into Eden? He was a dead man either way and trying to save him would've implicated you."

"What do you mean blocking Lilith isn't easy?" she asked. "I thought it's not a problem now that you have wings?"

"It's just... it's just not easy," he said.

He was such a bad liar. Or maybe she'd just learned all his tells—the way he'd avoid her eyes, the subtle tightening in their bond, and now, the way his wings curled slightly into themselves, as though they, too, were trying to hide.

"Edvardiel—"

He gathered both her hands between his own. "I took you here to make you sure you're alright." He looked her up and down and Issa realised belatedly that she was no longer injured. When did he heal her?

"Edvardiel—" she tried again.

"I need to go back and check on the gates," he said. "I'll strengthen it with glory. We need to make sure the Nephilim are safe before we call angels to Earth. I owe it to my mother to keep her home safe."

"You're…" she struggled. "You're going to open Heaven's gates?"

Edvardiel tilted his head. "Wasn't that our plan all along?"

Your father unleashed Hell on Earth just to be rid of you.

Issa rubbed her neck. She couldn't tell how much of her dreams were real. Maybe it was the after-effects of the void. Maybe it was Lilith messing with her head. Besides, as long as Eden's gates were intact, the Nephilim were safe, and the angels surely wouldn't harm the other humans. Surely they'd do something to stop Lilith.

"I guess," she said. "Do you need me to help? I mean, since you said I have glory—"

He shook his head. "I can manage Eden's gates on my own. You gave me back my wings, remember?" He smiled and spread them. He was trying to be playful but his wings were too majestic and she blinked, wonderstruck. "You should rest. Enjoy the springs. I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

Right. He was strong now and he didn't need her stumbling about, fainting and bleeding gold everywhere.

He gave her a peck on the cheek and waved as he took flight. She waved back, feeling lost as she watched him soar towards Eden's gates.

Heaven's abandoned princess.

She brushed away the taunting dreams. Her angel loved her and he was going to be back. All she needed to do until then was stop her overactive imagination from ruining the hot spring. How hard could it be?


Since we're 36 chapters in, I'm curious, which scenes do you like the most so far?

The one I especially loved writing was chapter 7 where Issa was floating around hitting the cathedral ceiling, haha I had so much fun with that. I have a couple of other favs (our angel getting back his wings is among them of course) and am excited to see if the scenes I enjoyed writing are the ones you guys enjoyed reading too. Till next Friday!