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Eremiel snatched the notepad from my hands and squinted at it. “More kittens,” he read, then leveled a resigned look at me. “We’ve been over this. You can’t keep adding kittens to every soul’s afterlife projection. Baby felines are not the universal key to happiness.”
I clutched my chest and feigned a heart attack. “You don’t mean that.”
Eremiel turned away with a sigh. “I’ll take over from here. Your shift’s almost finished anyway. But I expect you to do better next time. Go.” He waved me out of the room, then growled at my back, “No more kittens!”
I saluted him and slipped out into the corridor while Eremiel re-crafted the woman’s afterlife projection to better reflect her preferences. Pausing in the hallway—bathed in soft light from the dozens of glowing crystals attached to the walls—I considered his words for a second, then nodded decisively and scribbled on my notepad again.
“He clearly said, ‘No—more kittens!’ Punctuation and intonation are very important.”
And with a grin on my face, I headed outside.
* * *
Naamah’s instructions on where to meet led me to a small cliff overlooking more rolling meadows, with a roaring waterfall tumbling over the side of the rocky bluff. The sapphire waters of the river kept snaking through the valley below, a beautiful complement to the dark purple of the plains. The never-changing light of the sunset sky sparkled on the waves and kissed the windswept grass with dramatic colors.
I landed next to Naamah, who waited for me at the bottom of the cliff, on the banks of the river, right next to the gushing spray of the waterfall.
Folding my wings and then disappearing them, I walked up to her. “Quite a remote place,” I said, raising my voice to be heard over the din of the rushing water. I’d had to fly for almost an hour to get here, my back muscles now screaming at me.
“All the better to hide clandestine meetings,” Naamah replied with a wink. “It’s not that easy to find a spot where you two can train without catching someone’s attention.”
I looked around the cliff face and the terrain next to the river, the area covered with either high grass or rocks of various sizes. “I’m not sure we can really spar here. The ground’s not exactly right for it.”
“You won’t train out here,” she said and flicked a finger against my forehead. “You’ll be inside.”
“Inside?”
She jerked her head toward the waterfall. “There’s a large cave behind it. That way, you won’t be spotted from the sky by random passersby, and the noise of the waterfall will mask the sounds of your fighting.”
“Oooh, smart.” I rocked back on my heels and pursed my lips appreciatively. “You outdid yourself.”
Naamah regarded her nails with raised brows. “I don’t know why people keep doubting my skills.”
“So, when is he going to get here?”
“He’s here already.” She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. “He’s waiting for you inside.”
A jolt of excitement zapped me, and my stomach decided to imitate some fizzy chemical concoction. I snuck closer to the bend around the rock underneath the waterfall that supposedly led to the cave, trying to get a glimpse of him first.
His power hit me before I could even peek around the corner. I froze as his energy washed over my senses, arresting my breath. My heart started a mad gallop, my own energy responding with a force that almost buckled my legs.
With a gasp, I tore away from the cave opening and rounded on Naamah. “You didn’t tell me he’s a seraph!” I whisper-yelled at her.
A fucking powerful one, to boot. I’d only felt a similar raw amount of strength in the presence of one of the archangels.
Naamah shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”
I flailed. “I thought you’d get me a dominion, or a throne, maybe even a cherub, at the very most. What am I supposed to do with a seraph?” I hissed, my pulse skyrocketing.
“Learn from him,” she said with an eye roll.
“He’s going to crush me!”
“He’ll do no such thing. Trust me, giving you trouble of any sort is the last thing on his mind.” She leveled a meaningful look at me, of which I didn’t catch half the meaning, I was sure.
And when I opened my mouth to utter some other fear-sparked response, she shut my jaw with a gentle gesture. “You need someone powerful enough to teach you the skills you need to win a competition. He is that. Now quit your whining and go meet him. He hasn’t got all day, you know?”
I inhaled a steadying breath. Right, yeah, I could do this. Pumping myself up, I nodded at Naamah, who gave me a thumbs-up and waved me on, and then I turned to the cave entrance below the waterfall.
