Back at my apartment, I drank a glass of wine and Lucian had tea. We made smooth, sleepy love. It was effortless. It was blissful.
Brooklyn knocked on my door at two in the morning. I was sleeping, but of course Lucian was just lying there, perfectly still… watching me. The idea sounds unnerving, but he was always watching me, and so I became accustomed to it quickly.
“Brooklyn’s at the door,” he whispered.
I got up and pulled a blanket off the end of the bed to cover myself. “Hold on, Brooke.”
When I got to the door and looked back, Lucian was sprawled on the bed without any modesty. I ran back over and covered him with the sheet. He just smirked at me.
“Oh, stop it,” I said to him.
When I opened the door, Brooke scowled. “Geez, took you long enough.”
“What’s up? It’s late. I have to work tomorrow.”
She leaned to one side of me to peer into the room. I looked back to see Lucian wave to her and smile.
Near my ear, she said, “Was just making sure you were okay.”
“That’s the first time you’ve ever done that,” I told her.
“That’s not true.” She was still trying to look around me, but I was blocking her.
“We’re fine, thanks.”
“What’s up with you and him?” she asked.
“We’re having mind-blowing sex in here, Brooklyn, can you leave us alone?” Lucian called out.
Her eyes widened.
“He’s kidding,” I said. “We were sleeping, and now we are going back to sleep and you are going to your room.”
She shook her head. “Whatever. We’ll talk later.”
When I crawled back into bed with Lucian, he was pretending to be asleep, even fake snoring. I tickled him under the arms. He squirmed but kept his eyes closed. “You’re ticklish,” I teased. I was relentless until he literally begged me to stop.
“Please,” he said, “I’ll tell you anything you have ever wanted to know.”
I stopped. “Anything?”
“Anything,” he said.
“What was the one time you saw me naked? You mentioned that before.”
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose and out of his mouth. “It was a couple of years ago. I was hanging out on your fireplace mantel, just bored. You and Brooklyn were getting ready to go out. Did I mention that I was bored?”
I rolled my eyes. “Go on.”
“You called out something from the bathroom. I can’t remember exactly what it was. You said you thought your breasts were crooked.”
“I remember, keep going,” I said, although I could tell he was tormented by something. As he went on, the story seemed to get harder and harder for him to tell.
“It was weird for me, Evey. I can’t explain it.”
“Try.” With my index finger, I drew circles around the little smattering of hair on his chest.
“When you called out to Brooklyn about it, I heard her say something rude to herself about your breasts. You came walking down the hallway in a towel—you know how Brooke is jealous of you?”
“I don’t think she’s jealous of me.”
“Yes, she is. That’s why she’s knocking on your door at two a.m. I knew she was going to be hurtful that day. I had witnessed it before, and you’ve always been so sweet to her.”
It looked like he was getting emotional. I was too.
“What did you do, Lucian?”
“You were going to open your towel and show her, so I popped into her body just for a minute.”
I remember that day well. I’d thought Brooklyn was out of her mind. She had said, “You’re beautiful, Evey. You have a really nice body, and you should never feel insecure about it.”
Lucian went on. “I got in trouble for that. I’m not supposed to protect your heart, but I didn’t want to see you hurt by Brooklyn’s words. And you were looking at me, just standing there completely naked, looking so pretty and vulnerable. It was selfish of me.”
“No, it was selfless of you.” I cupped his face with my hands and kissed him. “I love that you’d do that for me.”
“You haven’t heard the whole story. The worst part is that when I popped out of Brooklyn’s body, I stood behind her, transfixed. I couldn’t take my eyes off you.” He laughed. “I got turned on. It was the first time I became really worried about what might happen between us. I took off and went and got a bottle. That’s when I started drinking a lot more. I also got a serious scolding from Mona.”
“Well, I’m glad I turned you on.” I smiled.
He laughed once, but it seemed forced. Pulling my head down to rest on his chest, he said, “Go to sleep, Evey. I have some things to figure out tonight.”
I HAD SOME time before magic hour to lie in bed and think while Evey slept peacefully on my chest. I had lost another feather earlier but hadn’t mentioned it to her. I didn’t want to worry her. I gently removed myself from her bed and went outside. I felt weak and thought maybe it was due to extreme alcohol withdrawals. Across the street, I spotted an angel where Zack normally sat.
“Hey,” I said to him.
He flew onto the roof without responding.
Abigail was also nowhere to be found. I plopped down on the stoop until it was time to go find Mona. I flew slowly to the St. Francis soda shop and tried to open the door, but it was locked. I knocked, and then tried to pass through the glass but couldn’t. All I could see around me were humans frozen in motion.
I went to the Star Wars bar, but no one was there.
Standing on the street, I called out, “Mona, Zack, Abigail, anyone?”
I flew toward the Golden Gate. It was raining pretty hard by then, but there were always angels on the bridge during magic hour. It was the best vantage point to see the sun piercing the horizon. About halfway to the bridge, I looked down and saw an angel struggling in the wind and rain. As I got closer, I noticed it was Zack. His wings had always been too weak for bad weather. I grabbed him from above to right him in the wind.
“What are you doing?” he screamed. “Take your hands off me, you traitor.”
“No, Zack, listen.”
“No!” His voice was a high-pitched screech.
“Just hear me out. You’re my best friend,” I shouted over the rushing wind. I directed us to Coit Tower to sit on the roof and talk.
“I don’t want to be here,” Zack said.
“Please just listen to me. I need to know what’s going on. Am I banished? Why can’t I find Mona? Please.” I looked him in the eyes. “You’re my only friend.”
Compassion flooded his expression. “You’re not banished.”
That brightened me up. “I’m not?”
“Worse, I think.”
“What?” I asked.
Hesitating, he said, “I don’t know, Luc. They reassigned all of us, even Mona. They said we weren’t to talk to you.”
“Who is ‘they’?”
“Some David guy, along with you-know-who.”
“No, I don’t know who.”
Zack shrugged. “Your favorite person.”
“Jesus? I love him, and he loves me. He loves everyone.”
“You told me one time that you didn’t get the hype. Now you’re saying you love him?”