“Where are you going?” Gabriella called out.

“I'll be back soon.”

Raphael opened the car door and sat behind the wheel.

Gabriella stood at the edge of the path with the sun pouring over her as though she were a pillar of fire. She was wearing a bathrobe and her face and hair was still damp “Raphael. We have to be there in two hours. Or have you forgotten?”

His eyes were unreadable behind the dark sunglasses and he made no comment as he turned on the ignition.

“This important to me, to us.”

Her pretty face was angry.

“Don't panic. I'll be back in plenty of time.”

Gabriella watched him leave, she felt something else too. Today he reminded her of before, when they had worked together, before their department had been disbanded. She made her anger cool, she would use it, harden it, for today was her day and no one could change that. She shuffled through her clothes pulling out the red crushed velvet dress, tight fitting, long; it encased her body like a second skin. Red was not usually her color, but this particular shade, a scarlet lipstick of a dress seemed to bring out her fire, her auburn hair glowed with added warmth, her skin became creamier, her eyes darker and more luminous. She would look sensational.

On the other side of town another young girl was doing that too. Today was the day, she knew it, knew without being told, knew the moment she had woken up. This was the day that her life would irrevocably change, whatever decision she made. Anina lay on her bed, wearing a white dress, sheer and wispy, looking like Snow White may have looked when she lay in her glass coffin waiting for the prince to awaken her with a kiss.

Anina thought over Shaftiel's offer. Should she go or should she stay? When he had first asked the question she had been astounded, how could she leave her home, leave everything, everyone she had ever known? It seemed like exile but if she decided to stay she would be hollow without his presence, a shell of what she was. The fey child left with memories of a world that existed beyond the sunset, a world that was forever denied to her. Which decision was right?

She wandered downstairs and had lunch with her mother Beth; they sat out on the back doorstep and discussed the tangled mess that was the yard. Beth had high hopes, a herb garden, perhaps some flowers and a creeping vine, if they could buy some cheap paving stones the younger girls would have a play area next summer. Anina listened to her voice, storing it away in her mind, her heart. Then she went inside and washed the dishes and tidied up. She looked in on her two sisters as they slept their afternoon nap and kissed them lightly on their foreheads.

She left the house quietly and stood on the stairs. She felt the warm sun on her face, the playful breeze on her cheeks, birds were singing on the telephone wires, sweet songs of life on the wing. She closed her eyes and breathed the air in, as though she was taking more than oxygen; she was taking part of this house, this existence into her. She heard a car approach, opened her eyes and looked into a familiar face.

He alighted from the car, took off his shades and smiled his wonderful smile. She felt herself fall. She approached him like a sleepwalker. He reached over and stroked her face, very tenderly, very gently. He kissed Anina lightly on her cheek and whispered to her in a language she almost didn't understand, she felt herself splintering inside. She swayed like a young sapling in a delicate breeze. Raphael reached over and pulled her closer. His dark hair and hers intermingled, the same shade and texture, as though they were brother and sister. She felt his heartbeat, it seemed to echo with hers, one beat his, and the next beat hers. There was a familiar smell that had nothing to do with cologne but was the distillation of his body and soul. She breathed it in, wanting to keep it with her forever, so she would always have it as a remembrance. She pulled herself away. If she stayed in his arms any longer she wouldn’t be able to leave, they would be too many regrets.

“Where are you going?”

He echoed the words that had been said in anger to him so many minutes ago. He said them with such tenderness and longing that they changed their structure, floating around their heads like dragonflies.

Anina smiled at him, her friend, her best friend, her soul mate even. Sometimes she wasn’t sure what he was to her. Even who he was? He didn’t look much older than she, yet he seemed so much worldlier. He felt like he had been with her all her life, she couldn’t remember when they had met, or how. She loved him, not that desire kind of love, something more, deeper, part of her core.

“I was going for a walk.”

“Come with me instead. I'm going to a party. It's a music industry do. You might meet important people. It might help you with your singing.”

Anina was tempted. A party. It was only for a few hours. It would be fun. She still had time. She wanted desperately to be with Raphael, be here for just a little while longer.

“I'm not dressed properly.”

“You look perfect.”

He steered her towards the car and drove away quickly before she could change her mind. He smiled as he lit himself a cigarette. Gabriella would give him hell, there would be severe repercussions but none of that seemed important. What was important was that he keep Anina close. He didn't understand why. He just knew that he had to. Something momentous was in the wind, he could feel energies accumulating around her as if some massive electrical storm was about to break. He could feel phantoms and dreams pushing at the boundaries of reality and trying to fracture the fabric that held all things in check. A little voice told him this wasn’t his job anymore, he was interfering where he had no right to be. Everything had changed, he wasn’t what he had once been, he should leave it alone.

Raphael arrived at his house; he left Anina in the car while he went inside. The house was very still and quiet, he called Gabriella's name. There was no answer. He found her in the courtyard. She was a brilliantly hued flamingo amongst the shady green leaves. He whistled when he saw her. She was stunning. He appreciated her beauty as he would appreciate any beautiful piece of art. But he felt nothing beyond that. He had tried. They both had.

“You'll knock them off their seats.”

She nodded, feeling his detachment, wishing it were different, feeling the familiar rip of her heart. She kept the sadness inside. It sat with her anger; two little hard balls that made her stomach ache with their presence. She grabbed him around the waist and kissed him passionately. Her lipstick was flame red; she wiped it off his mouth.

“I've invited a friend. I didn't think you'd mind.”

“Who?”

He didn't answer just smiled.

“Don't play games with me today. This day is too important to me.”

“It's important to all of us.”

She searched his eyes for some reassurance but found none. His eyes were a very dark blue today. Too dark. Too blue. She shivered. She remembered how they would darken when he became obsessed with his work. How they took on the fire of a crusader, the hero complex they used to call it in the department. But the department was disbanded now, closed up, as was much of the CR. They had made the change, a new place, a new life.

As they came down the front stairs she saw Anina sitting in the car. Somehow she had known that it would be her. She gave her an icy smile, and hissed at Raphael.

“This is wrong. This is not your concern anymore. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“The right thing.”

He put on his sunglasses.

“Right for who?”

“Sometimes there is a higher purpose. Don’t you remember that?”

“Not anymore there isn’t. It’s all freefall now. Everyone for themselves. Anarchy prevails. Raphael you can’t. It’s not in your hands anymore. Let it go.”

“Just today. And then I’ll let go. Promise.”

She looked at him dubiously.

They arrived at the mansion in the late afternoon; the bay looked like it was on fire with the sun low in the sky. Raphael fetched drinks, bubbly golden wine. Gabriella collected an entourage of males, Raphael found the all-important contacts and said the right things, arranging details and listening to their comments. He was serious and diligent. It was an important day for Gabriella he would do the right thing; he would do what he had to. Anina wandered out onto the verandah; it curved the house like a woman embracing her lover, wearing only a slip of intricate lacy iron. Plants grew around it, exotic Brazilian hibiscus with huge flowers the size of a toucan vying with a simple English rose bush that clambered up one of the balustrades. It still flowered; the petals were blushed apricot and richly scented. Anina gazed at it, unaware of the person who pressed at her elbow.

He coughed a hello. His eyes were very dark almost black. He was in his early thirties, there was something decadent in his poise. He asked her name. She didn't answer. He picked one of the rose blooms and placed it in her black hair, securing it behind the pearl comb.

“If you won't tell me I will have to call you by a name that I choose.” He appraised her body and her face fully. She blushed.

“I shall call you Rose.” He said as he introduced himself as Hartley.

“Do you sing, my little Rose?”

Anina nodded.

“Do you speak?”

“Only when I have something to say.”

“Nice voice, quite low and husky. What do you sing?” He didn't wait for an answer. “I can envisage you singing blues, smoky jazz, ballads of heartbreaking intensity even, sensitive music of the soul, to soothe our anxieties. I like your face. You look fragile but there is something of the punk goddess in you too. Big eyes. Black hair. Luscious lips.” He leaned closer and said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Shall I make you a star my Rose? I could, you know. I could make you famous.”

He laughed.

Anina remained impassive but inside she felt turmoil and confusion. She had made her decision but now she was being given a chance to sing, a chance to be what she had always dreamed of being.

“How can you be sure? You haven't heard me sing. I could be awful.”

“You'd be surprised how many singers start off with terrible voices. Singing is practice, talent, and being in the right place at the right time. It has less to do with the voice and more to do with the ability of the person to convey complex, tangled emotions. Singing is the touching of the soul. It is soaring above the earth. It is fucking an angel.”

His eyes were somber even as his mouth smiled.

Anina looked away, gazing across the lawns as they swept to the water that was now the color of molten gold.

“Tell me your thoughts, Rose?”

Anina remained silent.

“Come and see me next week. Here's my number.”

He handed her a plainly printed card. She was surprised to see he was a senior executive of a major recording company.

“And you thought I was just trying to hit on you.”

He laughed again.

“How old are you Rose?”

“Sixteen.”

His face was caste in copper hues, and his hair had turned almost auburn in the light. His eyes were blacker than before.

“Ring me. Put your faith in me. You'll find I'm less evil than some that work in this industry.”

He left her standing beside the vine. He turned once, winked and blew her a kiss. Then he disappeared amongst the crowd. Raphael found her standing alone looking at the card with her former decisiveness crumbling. She passed it over.

“This man is big. They call him El Diablo. People would kill for an invitation like this.” He watched her intently noticing how pale she seemed, paler than normal.

“But you have already been offered another world for your soul” Raphael spoke the words as though in a trance. Where had that come from? He wished he still had some of his past abilities; many of them seemed to have dissipated since he and Gabriella had come here.

He heard his name being called. Gabriella was standing at the doorway, gesturing for him to come and join her.

“I'll be back don’t go anywhere.”

The sun was almost setting before she entered the main room again. She helped herself to another drink and watched the people around her. Raphael looked over and smiled, he was involved in a conversation with two men.

In a moment of iciness Shaftiel appeared before her and she was looking into his eyes of shadowed violet. His face was pale; the skin stretched tightly over his cheekbones, his hair was short and the blondeness of a pure white dove.

“Shaftiel.”

“I have come to say goodbye.” His voice seemed to encompass all the sadness in the world.

“No!”

“The sun will soon set and I must depart as the moon rises. I have an hour maybe a little longer.”

Her heart fluttered against her ribs, her pulse against her skin.

“I sense you have made your decision.”

He reached for her hand and held it in his cold one

“I don't know.” Her voice panicking. “It keeps changing. What shall I do?”

“I cannot answer. Only you can.”

She looked into his eyes, which she knew so well, his face, his mouth, his neck and upon his neck the dagger of black crystal, that she knew was his symbol, his charm, the frozen distillation of his power. She brushed over it with her fingertips. It was as cold as a comet and as blazing. Silver stars seemed to swirl within it.

“There is still time.” He said with such longing in his voice that tears filled her eyes. Raphael looked over at Anina, she was talking intensely to someone, his white blonde hair was familiar, he turned his head slightly and Raphael saw his profile. He saw those indigo eyes, saw that heartless smile, saw someone he had not ever expected to see again.

The men beside him called his attention momentarily, Raphael looked at them, then up at the mirror which hung above the marble fireplace and which reflected the room and all those in it. Except one.

Anina was gone. He abruptly ended his discourse and rudely left. He headed towards the front door, pushing his way through the people. He hurried down the steps and reaching the road, saw the cab pull out. A dark-haired girl sat alone on the back seat.

Gabriella reached his side. “What's happened?”

“I've got to go.” He pulled out his car keys.

“Why? What's going on?”

“Go back to the party. I'll return later.”

“Raphael,” she grabbed his arm. “I’m going to be singing in ten minutes.”

“You’ll be fine. You sing like an angel remember.” He ran his fingers along her cheek, looked into her beautiful face. “I’ve done all I can do. They want you. The contract is signed. The deal is set. Your performance is the lighting of the candles on the cake. They already adore you.”

His eyes spoke of love. But she knew his heart belonged to another. The curse of a guardian.

“Please don’t go.”

She kissed his mouth, his lips responded and then he pulled away.

“I have to.” His voice an anguished moan.

Gabriella's face became hard. “This is not your life anymore, you, we, left it. You weren’t even supposed to know about her. Raphael stop.”

“I have to do what’s right.”

She laughed bitterly. “If you leave now. Don’t bother coming back.”

“Is that an ultimatum Gabriella?”

“You leave now I won't be waiting for you.”

Raphael turned and began walking to the car. Her voice, a mistral of wind heralding the end of the day.

“You've already lost her. You just can't see. She has made her decision. You're a fool to think you can bring her back. You are not what you were.”

Raphael drove through the evening and watched it turn into night. He knew exactly where he was going. Some of his past expertise seemed to have returned. Yet he knew Gabriella was right, he wasn’t supposed to know about Anina. Once the decision to close the department had been made, once he had signed the settlement to go that was that. Yet maybe it was fate that had led him down those corridors, into the large room where all the documents where being shredded. Fate that had taken his hand and placed it on that box, and the small silver book, and when that page had fluttered out and he had just reached for it instinctively. Was that fate that had guided his hands? His eyes? He had looked at it casually. Not assuming anything. Seen his name. Seen hers. The date. The assignment. He should have let it fall from his hands, erased it from his memory. That was what he should have done. Instead he pocketed the page, stored it close to his heart, and on the day she had been born, he had appeared and that was that.

When he got to the place it was ablaze with arc lights so it almost looked like day, the bulldozers and trucks were crushing their way through the buildings; the rubble was piling up, it looked like a war zone. Raphael parked his car and ran past the machinery and began to search the vacant buildings that were still standing. He sensed her near but there was a presence blocking him. He ran frantically, avoiding the already demolished structures, searching the remaining ones. He called her name but the noise from the trucks and bulldozers was a constant hum that blotted out other sounds. He found the card she had dropped. He looked at Hartley’s name. Better an earthly temptation then what he suspected was about to ensnare her.

He found the flower that had been behind her ear, he had almost crushed it under his boot, he picked it up tenderly, it emitted a sweet fragrance. He felt a sense of doom, a remembrance of carrying a crushed flower in the palm of his hand; he thrust the flower into the pocket of his vest. He was almost in the centre of the wasteland, the effect of the lights was fainter here, more of an eerie afterglow and the sound more hushed and distant. He sat down on a piece of rusted girder.

Raphael felt an unearthly tug, as though his blood was ebbing and flowing through his veins like a strange red ocean. The moon loomed monstrous, a half disc visible now above the horizon, and the loonies and the predators, and those blessed with gipsy visions, and some of the children and all of the moths sensed the coming of the sun's mirror.

Anina and Shaftiel stood together on the dusty floorboards, the air had become translucent and misty and fluttered like lacy curtains in an evening breeze. Above their heads the sky was visible and comets swarmed and stars seemed to fall like snowflakes. Shaftiel stood with his arms around Anina, her white dress blended into his white garb. From his back, wings began to grow, feather-like, ivory. They reached full size and the color changed or maybe it just drained away, the wings had become black, like ink or oil or night. Shaftiel kissed Anina on the lips and she responded back. His wings beat slowly, languidly. He kissed her again, a long desirous kiss that was cold, yet it burnt her lips.

For one brief moment she thought of Raphael and her heart fluttered with regret and Raphael felt her near and began to run towards the warehouse calling her name. Shaftiel gazed into her eyes and asked the question again.

“Do you come wholly and willingly?”

“No.” Raphael screamed and then he was there with them, staring at her with him. “You.” Shaftiel laughed.

“Raphael” whispered Anina.

Shaftiel laughed again.

“Once a guardian always a guardian. You just can’t give it up. The Celestial Realms have closed down and you’re still here being what you’ve always been. Only now redundant.” His smile was pitiless.

“You two know each other?” Anina asked.

“Forever. We have known each other forever. Since the beginning of time.” Raphael stared at Shaftiel. “Yes forever. Once you were like me, so long ago. Then you chose to become Lord of the Shadows. Have you told her what you really are?”

“She understands. She has made her choice. It is beyond your scope any longer. Leave and return to your earthly existence.”

Shaftiel looked as though he were enjoying this moment.

“Raphael?” Anina looked confused.

“Give my love to the beautiful Gabriella won’t you.” Shaftiel whistled and smiled a wicked smile. “Now there was an angel I would have given my soul for.”

He held Anina tightly; she seemed to struggle for a moment and then leaned into him.

Raphael said softly, ever so softly. “Stay.”

She looked into his eyes, so blue like the sky at twilight, wavered momentarily and then looked up at Shaftiel, closed her eyes and listened to the gentle swishing of his wings.

He was powerless to do anymore, once he might have intervened, once he would have had the sword of fire but no longer. The choice was now hers alone.

He watched as Shaftiel tilted her head forward and brushed aside the tendrils of black hair. Watched as he stroked her neck so white, so smooth. Shaftiel took the obsidian dagger and cut two long slashes from the base of her neck curving around the shoulder blades. Blood dripped down her back framed by her black hair. Red. White. Black.

As black as ebony. As white as snow. As red as blood. Night. Moon. Blood. Raphael forced himself to watch. It wasn’t the first time he had failed; yet this time it seemed personal. Disturbingly personal.

Shaftiel placed his hands against the wound, closed his eyes and began the song, the calling of the ancient words that spun new beings into creation. Gods, demons, angels are just different facets of the same stone, different faces of the same mirror. And Shaftiel was all and more. And the essence that was Anina flowed into the night air and it was sweet like a rose with the dew still sparkling on it, fragile like a lark's song, ephemeral as a rainbow, strong as a spider-web. As her essence emptied, Anina began her own transformation as what was called flowed back into her. And she gained power and cruelty, along with joy and despair. The wings that bloomed from her skin were crimson like a monstrous ruby, the feathers of a firebird, the beginning of a power reborn. For there is always an equal return given as is taken.

Shaftiel smiled at his newly created protégé. Anina shook herself and the wings rustled almost chiming as the sharp feathers brushed against each other. He looked at Raphael. There was a playful look to his smile.

“A wager? What do you say?”

“What?”

“A race. You and me. To Hell and back. You up for it?”

“The prize.”

Shaftiel grinned, his angelic face looking so terribly wicked and so terribly beautiful at the same time. “Winner takes all.”

“And the loser?”

“I think losing would be punishment enough don’t you?

Anina could see different emotions slide over Raphael’s brow like an aurora’s light shooting across the night sky, a wash of green, blue, red. She had never noticed that before, but then she hadn’t really ever known what he was, nor was she what she had been either.

“I agree.” Raphael held out his hand. Shaftiel grabbed it, palm against palm, fingers intertwined.

“I’ll even give you an advantage, knowing that flying hasn’t been part of your lifestyle recently, give you a chance to regain those wings again. I’ll take this little cherub out on her first flight, a couple of spins around the cosmos. I’ll be tired and you’ll have a practice. Can’t say that’s not fair.”

Raphael nodded. Shaftiel took Anina’s hand in his. “Time to fly my fire bird.”

They zoomed upwards like two shafts of light, one vermillion, and the other darkness distilled.

Raphael ripped his shirt off, closed his eyes and began breathing slowly, whispering to himself in the old tongue. Slowly lumps began to protrude from his back, undulating under the skin, pushing against the sinews of his muscles, struggling to thrust through. The pain was immense, he had forgotten how bad it could be, and it had been such a long time. But he continued, there was much at stake. Not just Anina but the fate of others now rested on the outcome. Shaftiel was way too powerful. The balance had well and truly tilted.

He fell to the ground as the wings finally broke through the skin and penetrated out into the air, huge wings, dripping with a slinky wetness and shining a golden hue like the sun rising at dawn. Through the pain he flapped them, laboriously they beat into the night, he was feeling exhausted already, and he hadn’t left the ground. But he continued pushing through the pain barrier and into some realm where nothing else existed, that Zen state of being, of amplified nothingness.

When he felt strong enough he threw himself up into the night sky, towards the moon that had risen and was bathing the world in its clear and cold light. Only a mirror of light, reflected light, an illusion really like much of the universe. He zoomed like a comet upward and around. It was exhilarating, unbelievably electrifying. He had forgotten how good it felt.

When he descended Shaftiel was back, Anina looked wild eyed and different. Well your first flight does that to you, he thought, nothing is ever the same after.

“Ready? Or do you need some time to recuperate.” There was the hint of sarcasm in Shaftiel’s voice.

“Ready.”

“Anina my love, you can start the race. And you will be here to greet the winner, whoever he may be.” He handed over a staff, at its head was a depiction of an open mouthed demon, tongue curling out, eyes glaring, teeth glinting. A little too real, Anina could almost hear it hissing.

The two angels stood together, She raised the staff and brought it down hard against the ground. Sparks fizzled out like some strange firework and the two were gone, gold and black wafts of dust dissipating around her.

Focus, Raphael told himself, don’t look back, don’t try to sense where he might be, just fly, no expectation, no anticipation, just fly because you can, go with the surge, onwards, upwards. The pureness of being, the pureness of purpose, nothing but matter streamlined into light. He lost all sense of self, past, present, future. He practically collided into Shaftiel, some weird sonar warning him in time. He somersaulted a few times and landed on the grass, Shaftiel serenely floated down.

“Is this some trick?” Raphael said as he lay on the grass, Shaftiel arranging himself beside him.

“Just an intermission.”

Shaftiel smiled and leaned over and kissed Raphael, a kiss of ice, his lips as they touched Raphael’s steamed like liquid nitrogen. And Raphael was thrown back thousands of years, to their first kiss, when they had been young, so very young. He felt Shaftiel’s weight move so he was half across his chest. Their bare skin sliding against each other, Shaftiel's black wings beating into the air, the taste of him, hot and fiery beneath the cold. Raphael stroked the angel’s skin, felt the bones beneath, his body responded as desire took over. A desire he had for so long forgotten.

“You remember don’t you?” Shaftiel murmured. “It was here, right here.”

He slid off and lay back on the grass. Raphael looked around a hilly meadow, long grass turning heady in the late afternoon light.

“We were so young. So fresh. So innocent.”

“Yes we were.”

“Dreaming our dreams. Our lives. Women and wine was all we desired. So simple it was. Even that afternoon it was simple. We wanted to make love to those girls we had seen a few days earlier. But we were stuck on this hillside, you, me, and the sheep. And you were so beautiful. The face of an angel, everyone would say. Even what we did was innocent. Even as it felt so wicked.”

“The world was more innocent then.” Raphael sighed.

“Was it? Are you sure?”

“Ilium, it was like the world began and ended here. The most beautiful city on earth. It was all we wanted.” Raphael felt all of a sudden so old. So old and alone.

“Then we were recruited. And our wants changed. I remember that. How easily we slid into our new skins. The power we had.”

“The power we were given. To be used for good.” There was a critical tone to Raphael’s voice.

“You just fell for the whole thing didn’t you? You bought it all. No question.”

“Is this why we’re here? You trying to convince me again, to join your cause.”

“You were always the good shepherd. Even then. Wouldn’t, couldn’t bear it if any of our flock strayed. Had to find them. Keep them safe. Those little lambs, away from the bears, the wolves, the dangers of the world. No wonder you made such a great guardian.” Shaftiel laughed. “But you were wrong. You do know that?”

Raphael shook his head.

“You never understood that it was freedom we sought. Freedom to think, to be, freedom to experience. Freedom to die even. They wanted to control it all. That’s why the rebellion came. It was us young ones against the establishment. A changing of the guards but they couldn’t let it happen. So we were banished. Thrown out.”

“Shaftiel, I wasn’t interested then. I’m not now.”

“And now they have gone.” Shaftiel said softly, his eyes looked right into Raphael’s eyes, into his soul. Raphael looked away; Shaftiel had always had that ability, even before.

Shaftiel continued, “they have left you, all of them, decided it was a lost cause, a few too many millennia, better cut their losses now, since the case was hopeless. Retirement finally looked inviting.”

Raphael shrugged. Their departure had made him uneasy, too many unanswered questions, the feeling it had all been for nothing. That feeling of manipulation that would come over him regularly, that only ever left when he had saved a soul from falling. And even that felt hollow now.

“They were old, our gods, old even then but were they wise? We are old. We look young but we are so old, ancient, part of another time. Are we wise? Have we learnt anything? That’s why I’ve begun recruiting. New blood. New vitality unencumbered by archaic doctrine. Fresh, alive to new possibilities.”

“Justification for your corruption.”

“We are on the same side Raphael. You think I’m one of the bad guys. I’m not.”

“Let her be.”

“Raphael, it’s too late. You know that. I can’t undo. I’m not that powerful.”

“You can give her back her humanity.”

“She’s still got that. Nothing was taken that she didn’t wish gone. You still don’t get it do you?”

Shaftiel stood up, rustled his wings, his whole stance so very familiar, Raphael knew exactly what he was thinking. And he realized that he missed that. Missed Shaftiel. Missed the friendship that had been. Missed it like some huge hole inside him.

Shaftiel turned, his face whiter than marble, his wings like two huge shadows hanging over his shoulders.

“You don’t know what’s coming. Why they really left. I do. It’s big. It’s evil. Really Evil. Makes my gang look like naughty schoolboys. I’m serious. Pure evil is winging its way to us. You can join me or not. It really matters little to me. But if you truly cared you would at least think about it.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’ve never lied to you. Ever.”

He looked down at Raphael, and time tilted, and they were the two shepherds once again, just another afternoon minding their flock, best friends since birth, two boys on the brink of adulthood. On the cusp of their future. And the afternoon was golden and their future was like the rosy glow of tomorrow’s sunrise.

And then he was gone. A fast arrow of blackness shooting off into the sunset. Raphael sat and wept. The race was over. It had never been about winning. It had been about reconnecting, he realized, about remembering. He flew back; riding the jet streams like some atmospheric snowboarder, when he arrived the warehouse was empty. Two feathers lay on the ground, one red, and one black. He sat down and held them both, one in each hand. And the memories came, all of them racing into his mind like some dam had broken, kicked apart by Shaftiel. And his world fell away and became nothing. The mirror cracked from side to side.

Across town, a chandelier tinkled perceptibly but it was doubtful that anyone noticed, except Gabriella who looked up at the diamond cut glass that was still trembling and felt the same trembling go through her body. And she understood.

The moon was now high in the sky, yellow harvest moon depicting the turning of the seasons, the turning of the tides, the turning of a moment. And the answer came to Raphael as he lay dazed on the ground where he had fallen, his first charge and his last, come together like a circle finally completed. It had never been totally about Anina, he realized, or all the others, the ones saved, the ones lost. It had always been about Shaftiel, the responsibility thrust onto him so very long ago, protect the flock, protect your friend. And he hadn’t. Couldn’t.