“Do you really believe the Glorious One outlined every aspect of this existence in a guidebook?”
I bite my lip, unsure. “What about Eli? I might be reassigned.”
Gabe groans loudly and, somewhere in the trees, a crow squawks before taking flight. “You Guardians never get it.” He talks as if he’s consumed all the universe’s wisdom. As though he’s been a Fallen longer than I’ve been a Guardian. “Sometimes, the choice isn’t thisorthat. It’s thisandthat. You just need to ensure one is as important as the other.”
“It’s not that—”
He sighs disinterestedly. “It’s in the damn text: a lovegreaterthan the one you have for your charge or the big G.O. is the problem. Balance them. Love the brat and the boyequally,and they’ll love you. It’s the circle of life. Cue the Beyoncé.” He fixes the cuffs of his blood-red coat. “It’s aguide, not a rule book. Quit being pathetic.”
“I’m not pathetic.”
“Prove it.” He pats my shoulder. “Anyway, it’s almost midnight. Time for a ten-car pileup on the freeway.”
Then he’s gone. Shadows and scorched grass and wisdom.
He’s replaced by Zion, hands shoved into his joggers pockets, the slow rise of his chest beneath a navy-and-yellow sweatshirt. He’s tucked his coat around a shivering Eli.
“He told me,” Zion says. “Everything.”
“Good.”
He digs the toe of his sneaker into the dirt where Gabe once stood. “I hate that they make him feel this way. Unworthy. Unwanted. He’s too young for that.”
“You were too.”
“I survived.” He grimaces. We both know that’s not something you should have to survive.
“I’m taking him back to my spot for the night,” Zion continues. “He can crash on the sofa. My roomies won’t mind. Coming out is... a lot. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
“Me too.”
He doesn’t turn my words into another fight. He doesn’t blame me for interfering or calling him out. Silence rests between our unsaid words. Our eyes never meet.
“Zion, I—”
He holds up a hand to quiet me, smiling. “I don’t get all the rules of this Guardian thing. It’s a lot.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“But if my feelings for you are the problem, I’ll back off. You should choose Eli over me.”
“I don’t have to choose,” I say, unwilling to explain everything. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out if Gabe’s right. Can I have both?
I mean, Zion’s giving me an out. He just said if his feelings are...
“Wait.” I blink at Zion as if I’m not sure he’s there. As if his words are only ghosts singing in the night. “Yourfeelingsfor me?”
He chuckles. “Wasn’t it obvious? I always sit next to you at the diner. I share my pie!”
“Would you consider that... flirting?”
Again, Netflix has let the world down.
Zion’s head tips back as he laughs. It’s music and art, and those embers I’ve cooled reignite in my chest. He says, “Not to be dramatic, but IthinkI’m falling for you, Micah.”
It takes a second for my throat to work. I whisper back, “It’s a shame I’ve already fallen.”
“When?”
