Page 1 of Death Match

“I got it. Disney World.”

That won me a skeptical look from Eli as he lay at my side in bed. The late morning light streamed in through the breaks in the curtains, painting strips of gold across his naked torso and muscular arms.

It didn’t matter how much time we spent together, I still marveled at how gorgeous he looked. Like he had walked straight out of a woman’s fantasies.

“What’s aDisney World?” he asked, his innocent smile making my heart flip. Even after a full night of sex and sleep, his hair was somehow unmused, his eyes brilliant, and his broad chest a tempting sight.

I, on the other hand, looked like Ihadexperienced a wild night of mind-blowing sex and restful sleep. My hair was tossed up at weird angles, my mouth was dry, and my skin was damp with sweat.

No matter what, Eli always looked like…well, like an angel. I don’t know how he did it. He was simply too perfect in every way.

During the last two weeks, Eli and I had spent all our time together, rebuilding the relationship we’d once had and exploring what exactly Heaven had to offer. Once I stepped into his house at the Holdings—what they called Heaven’s living quarters—that nagging twinge at the back of my head went off like rapid fire. I’d definitely been here before. And as more time went by, the more I was sure everything Eli had said about me coming here between reincarnation cycles was right.

Déjà vu ran rampant with each place Eli had shown me during his tour of Heaven. And that meant, everything else he had said about us being more than a Guardian/Archangel team had been right.

It was strange to say, but I guess I had a Guardian Angel boyfriend now.

And I… I was still getting used to the idea of me being this powerful warrior angel all along. It was a hard concept to wrap my head around, that was for sure. But could you blame me?

Could you imagine one day having a man knocking on your door, claiming to be your Guardian Angel? You’d think a patient had gotten out of the local loony bin or something.

“How do you not know what Disney World is?” I replied with mock surprise on my face. But truly, it wasn’t too shocking that Eli didn’t know where the most famous cartoon mouse in the world lived. Guardians weren’t used to visiting earth, and they almost never interacted with the living. So, most of my references tended to fly right over his head whenever we talked.

To be fair, most of his angel speak was gibberish to me, too. So, I guess we were even.

Sighing contently, I leaned back into the abundance of pillows Eli kept on the oversized bed. “Heaven is like Disney World. No kidding. Basically, it’s like a sectioned off miniature world that is designed to be perfect for visitors. A place to escape for a while.”

Eli shrugged. “You say it as if it’s a bad thing. What’s wrong with perfection? Or paradise? You deserve to be happy.”

I grumbled at that. Man, sometimes the things Eli said threw me. It was like he’d walked straight off the pages of one of those saucy romance novels women didn’t want their husbands to know they were reading. But perfection irked me. Sure, it was nice to have some arm-candy for a boyfriend, but Eli’s flawlessness brought out my own insecurities.

I wasn’t like him. Not even a little bit. But I didn’t want to pretend to be something I wasn’t, either.

Right away, Heaven had given off the impression of superiority to me. Like, “this is our little slice of reality and only the elite are allowed” type of feeling. At least the afterlife had the souls of normal, everyday people in it. Like Wyatt, Marla, Simon, and Lisa. Everyone here had their noses up in the air like their shit didn’t stink.

I couldn’t help but feel like I didn’t fit in at all. No matter how many times Eli told me this was where I belonged.

I missed my friends. Maybe that was just it. To have found them all but be taken away from them so quickly—it sucked. Plain and simple. Not to mention I’d kill for a drink from A.B.s, Wyatt’s bar, right now. There was no drinking allowed in Heaven.

I know. You don’t need to tell me. No drinking? What kind of paradise was this supposed to be, anyway?

Heaven definitely wasn’t what I had been expecting.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, I swung my legs to the side of the bed and stood.

“Did I say something?” Eli asked, frowning. He started to get up, too.

“No, no,” I said but looked away so that my hair could conceal the uneasiness that was probably on my face. “I’m going to just take a quick shower and get dressed. Then we can do whatever it is you have planned for today.”

Eli’s silent response struck me as odd.

I turned to him. “Whatdoyou have planned for today?”

“Well… I think we should go meet Michael,” he said.

Michael, one of the first angels and my new boss. The guy in charge of the Archangels and Guardians. The head honcho in Heaven, since God was still M.I.A.—if he was even real, that is.

I rolled my eyes. “You’ve tried to get me to meet him every day since I’ve been here,” I told him. “And every time I tell you I’m not ready.”

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