Page 71 of When the Angel Falls First

We made good time, and I worked on pulling both Marigold and Axel to the beach as we crossed the city. While I usually would have used some vague suggestion, this time I opted for an anonymous text to both of their cell phones.

Anon: Beached orca at Alki. All hands on deck!

They both responded back in the affirmative, and twenty minutes later when we arrived, I could feel their auras rapidly approaching.

“What do we do now?” Josie asked as we climbed out of the car. I saw she’d left her messenger bag behind. I paused, staring at the bag for a second. The ringing in my ears was intensifying, but that made no sense. Marigold was coming from the other direction, and Axel was already on the beach. What about that bag was causing the Host to call me home more quickly?

“Caleb, are you okay?” she asked again, concern stealing over her beautiful features.

“Sorry, yes. I’m fine.Now,we find an unobtrusive spot to watch and pull strings if necessary.” I tugged on my ear, willing the distracting noise to quit so I could finish this match well. It was one of my deepest regrets that I’d thrown these couples off track for their fate; today was my chance to finally rectify that.

“Okay, I kind of thought we could go help them save the orca.”

“That’s also an option.” I shot her a smile.

She tugged me by the elbow, not the least bit put off by the clinging sand. She quickly charged ahead, undeterred by the throngs of beachgoers. I followed, struggling with disorientation from the persistent ringing. It was growing steadily louder as the crowd thinned, and the ground beneath our feet shifted from sand to pebbles.

“Can we just—hang on, I need a second.” I stopped, dropping my hands to my knees. I shook my head, trying desperately to clear it.

“What’s wrong?” She laid a hand tenderly on my back, and I closed my eyes at the touch. She was drawn to me, and the more time we spent together, the stronger the seal between us would grow if it truly had started.

How many more of those little touches did I have left? Not many.

Dread curdled in my stomach at the thought of losing her. Today, tomorrow? The ringing would only intensify until the clarion call came, and I would be pulled back to the heavens to face the Host.

The ringing steadied, and I slowly straightened.

“I don’t have much time left,” I admitted. I owed it to her to be honest, after leaving so abruptly last time. So many mistakes piled up around me like a brick wall, separating me from the life I was supposed to have. The phantom flutter of my wings made me want to weep at how far I’d fallen from grace.

“What do you mean? Much time left for what?” Her brow furrowed, the excited energy of making a match together and saving a whale drained away from her like someone put a pinprick in the balloon of her happiness.

“The call, it’s starting. It means I’m nearly done with my mission, and the Host is about to call me back.” I pointed up to the sky, and her eyes widened.

“What happens then?” She swallowed hard. “Will you… will you be able to come back?”

“I don’t know.” The words were hoarse, and she closed her eyes as if I’d smacked her.

It felt like I’d been punched, too.

After a few long moments, she opened her eyes again, a new determination in them. “That means we’re on the right track, and we don’t have time to waste. Let’s get this coupletogether.” She looped her arm through mine, by my side, despite the fact that I was about to leave her,again.

In that moment, I knew that it wasn’t possible for me to love this woman one speck more than I already did. She’d consumed me, filled up every place in my heart that used to feel so empty. Whenever she was near, everything clicked into place. With Josie, I feltwhole.

And I didn’t know how, or why, or what it would take to make it work.

But I knew it to the very depths of my soul that she was mine, and I was hers. But how could I make the Host see that even though she was human, she wasmine?

We crossed the pebbly shore, and after one more twist in the coastline, we saw the shape of the beached orca, people crowding around it. One of them was pointing and shouting orders, trying to get people into place, while a few others had buckets and were dumping water over it, keeping its skin wet.

“Oh, Caleb, it’s really stuck. How in the world are we going to get it out of here?” Josie asked, immediately focused on the orca’s plight instead of our own rapidly dwindling time together.

The gathered crowd was attempting to get it onto its belly instead of on its side, where it was currently. That was when Marigold arrived. The spark of recognition between her and Axel tipped me off, and I homed in on the two of them.

“They’re here.” I nodded toward the two would-be lovers, exchanging words we were too far away to hear.

“How do they seem? You can tell from a distance, right?”

“They’re okay, both focused on the orca, right now.”

---