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She shook her head, another tear streaking down her face. “How could you think that? You’re an angel.”

His grip loosened, letting her slide to the floor. He backed up, breaking their connection. “You know nothing of me or my kind. Being a seraph does not make me perfect or good. It means only that I am a soldier in a never-ending war, and you are now shackled to that same fate.”

He turned away from her, moving to the window once more. His massive wings hid most of his frame, but the profile of his face was clear as his brows dipped low.

Adalaide padded forward, touching one soft feathered wing, and Gabriel’s whole back convulsed in response.

“Don’t do that.”

His wings curled closer to his back, putting more distance between them.

Adalaide reached forward, trailing a finger down the ridge of his wing, marveling at the softness coating its surface. It was like touching a lamb's ear.

He shuddered. “I said, don’t.”

Emboldened, she ran her hand over the myriad of sparkling feathers running all the way to the floor. There was an iridescence to them, refracting the air. It was almost as if they glowed. She leaned closer, inspecting the individual feathers that made up each wing.

They were each their own slightly unique color, all in shades of white, and each wing was ever so slightly dusted in silver.

Gabriel spun around, catching her as she nearly collided with his chest.

“I bonded with you to ensure you lived. You are under no obligation to stay or to choose to spend your immortality with me. When you die, you’ll be given the choice again. You will have the chance to change your mind.”

“Gabriel—”

“You can reject this fate. All humans have free will, and that includes Nephilim.”

“Gabriel—”

“You don’t have to decide anything now.”

“Gabriel, will you listen to me?!”

He closed his mouth, his brows dipping. She may have spoken a bit forcefully, but damn him, he wasn’t giving her a chance to speak.

“We don’t know each other well, and we come from very different worlds.”

He shuffled his feet, his gaze dropping to the floor.

Adalaide pressed a finger under his chin, lifting it to meet his eyes. “I may know nothing of what it means to suffer an immortal existence alone, but I know what it means to suffer a human one. To wake each day and wonder if anyone would miss me if I died.

“I have been utterly and completely alone since the day I lost my parents. I envisioned this as my life until the day you found me. Saved me. Can you imagine? An angel swooping in to rescue me and telling me I’m his soulmate? Me. An unremarkable human with no practical skills.” She stifled a laugh, but Gabriel’s face remained frozen in that blank mask she hadn’t yet learned to decipher.

“What I meant to say was, I want whatever a life with you means. I’m yours.”

Chapter 24

Gabriel

Gabriel tried to swallow the grin threatening to overtake his face for the third time that day. It had hurt when he left, but it was nothing compared to the agony of resisting the bond. Although the tug in his chest was worse now that his two halves had been reunited, the pain of separating was less.

When she had bared her soul to him, speaking the truths he’d felt for so long, he’d finally understood. She was more than a perfect vessel to house his lost soul. She was the same desolate creature, longing to be made whole. She was his equal in all things.

They had spent the night slipping seamlessly between vocal and mental conversation, and through it all, their unified soul rejoiced.

He had expected it to feel as it had before—when his soul was intact and he’d never known the pain of being torn in two, but it was something new. He never could have fathomed it would feel better.

When he left, she’d cried, asking him to stay. It destroyed him. Did his siblings feel this way leaving their other halves? Adalaide understood how important his work was though, not just to her but to all humans. Sanura must be stopped; her creatures ended. Now more than ever, he was invested in the outcome.

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