Page 289 of Castings & Curses

“Strolled? Baby, I don’t take long walks in Heaven for the fucking fun of it,” he says as he runs a hand through his hair, looking around at our surroundings.

It’s then that I notice we’re in a very dark area. A corridor or alleyway of some sort. The air is humid and thick, and smells of forgotten sandwiches and moist earth.

Deciding to let his attitude go for the moment, I switch the conversation. “Where are we?” I run my hands through Mercy’s hair, feeling her skin. It’s not hot or sweaty, which is a good sign, and she looks to be sleeping peacefully.

Steam wafts up through the vents in the ground, blowing around trash and debris in the alley, and I hear a groan.

A human groan.

Endor must hear it, too, because his gaze settles on the heap in the corner from where the sound came.

My own anxiety flashes, a lifelong fear instilled in me even in the afterlife: I am a woman with a child, and we are in danger.

It’s a strange sort of instinct, given I’ve never had children of my own. Hell, I haven’t even had sex, period—which makes the danger that much more profound.

The man under the mass of newspapers and blankets looks up at us, his bright blue eyes standing out against the dismal, dreary walls like the sun on the horizon.

“Angel...” he says in awe, and Endor’s wings stretch out, all menacing black feathers and his eyes narrow on the man.

“You should not be able to see us.”

The man looks from Endor to me. “I shouldn’t be able to see a lot of things, son, but it’s God’s will.”

Endor scoffs, his feathers bristling as he closes in on the man.

“God did not send me, and I am no angel.”

I can’t deny the shiver that runs down my spine at the tone of his voice. The way his shoulder blades tense, the way his wings shimmer in the low light of the streetlamps…

I feel a warmth in my core that begs to spread further and wants him to turn around. I want to look into his eyes and see the glow I know he must be emitting. Angels have a golden glow, much like Matthew did earlier. Though, I’ve never engaged in such things myself—never thought to.

I wonder if I would have that same glow, and I find my thoughts wandering to what a demon’s glow would look like, what it would feel like…

Get a hold of yourself, Val!

Mercy shifts in my hold, and it’s enough to break the weird spell I’m under, enough to bring me back to the here and now.

“Endor, stop. He won’t hurt us,” I say as realization overcomes me. The man looks at me with tired eyes and I can see the aura around him, and it’s… peaceful.

My heart suddenly aches for this man, not knowing what circumstances led him in this alley, but feeling a duty to provide him the grace I know he seeks.

“Please, sir… I… I mean no ill will,” the man speaks, his voice tinged with fear and awe.

Endor lets out a growl, but he does not retract his wings.

“Then what is it you want?”

The man’s voice shakes. “I just want to… live.”

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. It isn’t money, or shelter, or a drink. It’s life.

I watch as his aura flickers against the dark walls, fading in and out.

This man is dying.

Endor turns for one moment to look at me, and I see it.

A question, a moment of contemplation, and then, he turns back to the man and speaks.

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