Page 63 of Guardian Angel

“I don’t have one.”

I felt my brows lift. “How do you not have a birthday?” There had to have been a day that he was born or came into existence or whatever. He’d told me his age after all.

“Days don’t work the same way in Heaven as they do on Earth. I have a day and time I was born, but it doesn’t translate to a human date.”

“I’m confused.”

He grinned at me. “I’m not surprised.”

“That’s it? You’re not even going to try to explain it better?”

“Nope.”

“Why did you want to know my birthday?”

“Because I don’t plan on being the asshole who sleeps in your bed every night and doesn’t even do anything special for your birthday.”

“My birthday is still eight months away,” I said. “You’re safe.”

He didn’t respond to that. Neither of us knew if he’d still be around in eight months. He might never have to worry about celebrating my birthday.

Nineteen

Nathaniel

I hitthe roof of Sierra’s apartment building hard, sending little jolts of pain shooting up my calves. I rocked on my feet to keep from falling on my ass. Not my most graceful landing.

At least Sierra wasn’t there to witness it.

Actually, I kind of wished she was here even if it was just to laugh at me. I wished she was where I could see her, touch her. It was harder than it should have been to leave her alone in bed when I left the apartment this morning.

I scanned the rooftop but didn’t see anything in the morning light. I hadn’t seen a demon in more than a week. Not since Dantalion had shown up with his remaining sons. Instead of relaxing, I was only getting more and more on edge with every day that passed. I knew he wasn’t going to give up. And the longer I had to wait, the worse that fight was going to be. Dantalion was taking his time, planning and regrouping. And I was sitting on my ass, waiting for him to make his move.

I wanted to go into Hell myself and take out the threat. Only I hadn’t come up with a way to do that without breaking every rule of war between Heaven and Hell. And there was the small matter of once the threat was gone, I would almost definitely be called back to Heaven. Job done.

Just the thought of this job being over sent a spike of anxiety through me. I already couldn’t picture my life without Sierra in it. I didn’t want to go back to my apartment in the secret order’s manor. I didn’t want to wake up in an empty bed every morning.

For a week I’d been torturing myself—sleeping in her bed without touching her.

Getting so attached to her was foolish. It wasn’t just about the possibility that I’d have to leave her if she was ever safe enough to not need my protection. Every second I spent getting closer to Sierra, every kiss I gave her, was flirting with the temptation to do more, go further. And I couldn’t. I might not care about myself or the punishment I could face, but I couldn’t putherthrough it. It would kill me.

A part of me was tempted to bail on going to church today. Spending so much time with Sierra wasn’t smart, and meeting her family was only going to make this thing between us worse. She would understand if I backed out. She wouldn’t demand I stick to my promise to go with her. But I knew damn well thatshewould be going whether I went with her or not. And that wasn’t an option.

I needed to get back downstairs, preferably before Sierra discovered I was gone. I wasn’t worried about leaving her in the apartment. She was safe there. I was, however, worried that she wouldn’t stay in said apartment after waking up.

With one last look around the roof, I headed back inside.

Sierra wasn’t up yet, but Kylie was sitting at the dining table, cradling a mug of coffee.

“Where were you?” she asked. There was no suspicion or accusation in her voice. She wasn’t worried, just being nosy.

“Flying.” I didn’t talk much to Kylie despite living with her for the past month. I didn’t mind Sierra’s friend/roommate, but I also didn’t have a strong interest in getting to know her better. Unless we were talking about keeping Sierra safe, I didn’t have anything to say to Kylie.

“So you’re really gracing us with your presence today?”

I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of orange juice, mostly to have something to do with my hands. “I go wherever Sierra goes.”

“Not usually to church.”