Page 73 of When the Angel Falls First

The ringing changed in resonance, arcing toward a crescendo, and I must have closed my eyes again because Josie was shaking me. Yelling for me to open them back up.

“Come on, we’ve got to get back to the car.”

“I’m out of time, Josie. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“No! Caleb,now. It’s urgent!” She dragged me to my feet, and I stumbled after her. But I knew deep down, even if we made it to the car, I would only have moments after that before I was taken.

Taken back to the heavens and out of her life. Possibly for good, if I couldn’t convince the Host that she was my Chosen.

TWENTY-NINE

Josie

The salt airhad never felt so heavy. Caleb leaned against me, his energy ebbing away as pain gripped him. My heart broke, but I was charged with a strength beyond my own, helping him stay upright as we headed for the car. Every step we took was an ordeal.

“Nearly there, Caleb,” I murmured, doing my best to keep my voice steady. I refused to believe that he was being taken away from me. It wasn’t denial, it was a pure and unadulterated belief to the core of my being that he wasmeantto stay.

I managed to guide his weight into the sleek black classic car. His skin was ashen, eyes clouded, though I felt a radiance rolling off of him. As I let him go, the glow dimmed and he gripped his head.

I closed the door, the solid click echoing ominously. For a moment, I leaned against the cool metal of the car, watching the scene of new love between Marigold and Axel. Jealousy burned in my chest.

Why shouldn’t I get my man? Why was I the one who hadto give him his last remaining artifact, the one that would send him off, possibly never to return.

Never. It was too much—too dark, too deep of a word.

But I had already made my choice.

I loved him too much to keep him.

This was not like seven years ago. Seven years ago he disappeared and I was torn in two. Incapable of facing another day. I was nobody without him, or so I had thought.

Now I knew who I was and IknewI loved him. Body and soul, with all of my heart, and forever. Maybe I would never love again. That was fine, because I already had the love of a lifetime; it didn’t get any better than this.

And I couldn’t be the one responsible for him facing an eternity of torment. It was worth having my heart broken in two if that meant he would be okay. He would forever be my great love.

My gaze dropped to my bag in the car’s back seat. It all came down to a book, and the irony wasn’t lost on me. Seven years to build my bookshop, and our love story was going to end with a book that held the power to send him back to a world beyond what my eyes would ever see. A tool of salvation and a harbinger of our end.

It was his, yet it felt like it was mine, too.

I opened the driver’s side door and slipped in beside him. My hand trembled as I reached into my bag, the cool, embossed leather of the journal meeting my fingertips and instantly heating up. A shiver ran down my spine, the sensation eerily similar to the very first time Caleb had grazed his fingers against mine. With a deep breath, I pulled the book out. It felt heavier than it should, every ounce loaded with the weight of longing, regret, and acceptance.

I met Caleb’s eyes. His features were drawn, the usual sparkof life subdued. I knew there was only one thing I could do to make it better. And in that moment, I could deny him nothing.

“This belongs to you,” I said, my voice a hushed whisper in the car’s confines. As the words left my lips, it felt like a piece of my heart had been torn away.

The journal left my hands, moving to Caleb’s. Our fingers brushed in a bittersweet farewell.

The moment the leather binding met his skin, the pallor left his face. A glow began at the top of his head, cascading downward over his body in a ripple of golden shimmer. His eyes widened, surprise quickly giving way to a profound relief, leaving only stunned silence.

The faintest of smiles danced on his lips. “You found it.”

“I… had it. All this time. When it fell as you ran from me, all I wanted was to keep a part of you.” A blush rose up my neck. “Do you hold it against me?”

“I never could.” The corners of his eyes crinkled. “This is exactly where it was meant to be.”

In that instant, everything around us stilled. Time came to a halt, a perfect frozen snapshot of life as we knew it. The laughter and chatter of beachgoers, the distant honking of cars, even the soothing crash of the Pacific waves against the shore—all was held suspended.

The world had taken a collective breath, waiting, watching, as if it knew the significance of this singular moment.

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