Excerpt

1

Confused and angry, she was back at the job, crossing over souls. Why? Why wasn't she still with Jack Casey?

Angel of death, Talia stood on the side of a dark, lonely stretch of wet coastal road south of Cannon Beach, Oregon. Her dove grey wings unfurled and fluttered in the wind, dusty grey robes rustling. Her halo was like a searchlight in the indigo velvet night, the air smelling of sea spray and burning rubber.

Why was she here? She'd been human. She had a soul and someone she loved. She pulled in a breath. She'd been at Jack's side—in his arms.

And now, just like that, she was an angel of death again. Like none of it had ever happened. Had Heaven erased Lucifer's wager? Cold fear trembled through her.

And her time with Jack? Would he even remember her now?

Something felt very wrong and she was terrified that Jack wouldn't know who she was anymore. Now, that she was back to her angel of death duties again. Why had Heaven taken away the one thing she needed most?

Jack Casey.

Night was a wool blanket in the fog that wrapped around the fir and cedar trees lining the black asphalt curve. It clung to the rocky cliffs that stretched toward the wild surf pounding the beach below. The cool air smelled hot with gasoline and crumpled metal, plastic shards littering the road, a lone white car smashed against a guard rail.

Two people sat motionless in the car. Bloodied. Trapped. Persistent tick of the engine clicked beneath the soft, steady beep, beep of a car alarm that pulsed like a heartbeat above the crashing waves below. Everything else was deadly silent, not even a seagull's mournful call echoing across the roiling Pacific Ocean.

And now, her heart ached at the task of crossing humans over, much worse than before.

Before, she was numb, bitter, and angry, unable to relate to her human charges—any of them—finding them clumsy and intentionally trying to kill themselves. But after spending seven weeks among them, being human like them, she hurt for each and every human that drew a final breath. Living their final moments.

Was that what Archangel of Death, Azrael had intended all along? Break her heart and take away the one that she loved most—to make her a better angel of death? That was cruelty that even rivaled Lucifer.

She bit her lip, jaw tightening as she approached the car, broken window lit by the pale gold light of her halo. She knew the regrets they felt. The pain, the loss, and the broken dreams. Leaving loved ones behind. It made her eyes leak with tears and her throat clench.