It was the day after New Year’s and we were certain that the Akons had singled out which Emerson they needed. Rio was right: it was the one with the olive wave. Emerson had hidden inner strength. The twins went to Emerson’s school to keep a lookout in case the Akons sent Runners to get him. The other two Emerson’s were being followed by Reese and Jay.

Ameana and I went looking for Julian. The last place he had lived in was Roswell, New Mexico. We flew there in hopes of finding him. I’m sure Julian is paranoid. No matter how many cycles he spends on Earth, he always remembers that three large, powerful beings are very unhappy with him.

We arrived at a small café with ugly green paint and scary-looking creatures on the wall. Everything had an alien theme to it, from the alien-head coffee mugs to the flying-saucer pancakes. We asked around and the girl behind the counter pointed to a small room in the back. We walked in and found a small group of people milling around a few booths.

Julian was the first vendor we ran into. “The next show starts in ten minutes,” he said as he motioned to a row of black T-shirts that read, “We won’t go peacefully.” I rolled my eyes. Yeah, this guy is all kinds of nuts. I wonder if he’ll be any use to use at all.

“Are you Julian?” Ameana asked.

“The one and only, honey.”

“Don’t call me honey.”

Julian turns to me and says, “She a real firecracker, huh?”

“You have no idea.”

She glares at me. Yeah, we’re definitely gonna have another fight later. That’s the thing about her; she puts everything on the backburner until the business at hand is taken care of.

“Tell us about your abduction, Julian,” Ameana said.

Suddenly he ran out of the room knocking down everything in his path. We went after him. He was headed down the street. There was no way to fly and get him. Too many people were around. We ran and caught him, but not before he started throwing things in our path to stop us.

“I know who you are,” he said, terrified.

“Julian, we are not here to hurt you,” Ameana said.

“I think they—” Before Julian had a chance to finish, a ball of fire hit the wall next to him and set everything around it ablaze. Ameana yanked Julian down to the ground. I used my body to cover them both. Rage was on the rooftop above us; he threw another fireball that nearly roasted us all.

“Keep moving,” I instructed her. She pulled Julian along with her effortlessly. I picked up a metal rod that lay on the ground and hurled it at Rage. I nearly hit him, but he dodged to the side in a fraction of a second and the rod flew past him.

I blocked Ameana and Julian so that Rage could not get a clear shot. He sent another fireball at me, and I flew around it. The blaze was so intense my wings felt like they were on fire, although I was a few feet away.

I picked up the same rod and launched it at him again. He was so focused on throwing fireballs at Ameana and Julian that he didn’t clear out of the way in time. He howled as the rod ripped through his shoulder. Just then, Julian slipped out of Ameana’s grip. She had put all of her effort into protecting him and didn’t think that he would flee when she wasn’t looking.

Now, out of Ameana’s hands, Julian was an easy target for Rage. Ameana called out for him to duck, but he didn’t do it in time. The ball of fire went right past his head. I flew over to where they were. I tackled Rage, and we both hit the ground. Just then I saw Ameana take out her cell.

“Julian, run,” I said. As soon as I said that, he took off. Ameana came over to Rage and I. She lifted him up into the air and backed him into a plate-glass window.

“The twins just called. The Runners are coming for Emerson,” Ameana said.

“Go.”

“What about you?”

“I can take care of Rage. Go!”

The ball of fire landed right where Ameana stood. Had Reese not called and Blinked her over to him in that very moment, she would have been gone. I breathed a sigh of relief as I headed after Rage.

Julian had not gone far. Rage swooped down and snatched him seconds before I got to them. I was hot on their tail. We were moving so quickly, we looked like a quick white flash. Most people dismissed ever having seen it.

Rage had never been able to out-fly me. He knew I would catch up to the two of them in a matter of time. I wondered why he didn’t just drop Julian. Then I realized that they didn’t want him dead: they knew he would only come back. They just wanted him to prevent him from telling us anything that might be helpful. That meant he definitely knew something.

Right as I caught up, Rage threw down a fireball and set a building on fire. Instantly, people started to scream. I wasn’t torn for a second. Julian could wait. He would have to. I had to make sure the humans were okay. I swooped down and entered the building. People were running out so quickly they were in danger of trampling each other.

I picked up an old lady who had fallen near the entrance. I carried her out and placed her safely on the side walk. I went to leave her, but she called out for me.

“Please don’t leave me,” she begged.

I asked her what her name was. She said it was Clara. I told her how pretty her eyes were. She took my hand. We waited for the ambulance. When we got to the hospital, she said I could go. I guess she knew that I had somewhere to be. Before I left she said, “You’re an angel. Thank you.” I smiled and walked around the corner.

I wasn’t worried that Clara knew that I was an angel. She mistook me for a kind human with a good heart. In truth there are three (here I would add the Paras—making it four) kinds of angels on Earth. The least powerful angel is the Traveler. They are the go-betweens for the council. They travel back and forth from Earth to give news bulletins to the council so they stay current.

The second type of angel is the Ground Walker. They are the ones most talked about in books and movies. They are the stars of the angel world. They get to follow humans around and guide them into making good decisions. The misconception about Ground Walkers is that they actually have bodies. They don’t. They are on Earth as pure spirit and travel from person to person. A Ground Walker will see a good soul who might need courage or strength and will go inside that person’s body and help them help someone else.

The last kind of angel is us—Guardians—teenagers who died too soon and who have been chosen to ensure humanity won’t meet a similar fate.

As I landed on the roof, I saw Rio there waiting for me. I knew they were worried. I was supposed to be back hours ago, but the fire had really held me up.

“Where you been?” he asked.

“Rage thought it would be fun to barbecue a building full of people.”

“Everyone okay?”

“Bruised, but not broken. What’s up? Why do you look so upset?”

“Just thinking….”

I knew what that meant. Someone had brought up his Core. He hated talking about the last moments of his life on Earth. Both of them did. Since we all know that, I guessed the Emerson guy had brought it up. I didn’t think it was a good idea to press the issue, so I let it go.

“How’s this Emerson guy?” I ask.

“He’s fine, considering he isn’t a ‘he’ at all.”

“He’s a girl? Are you sure?”

“I haven’t been on Earth in a while, but I think I can still pick out a girl from a guy.”

“What’s she like?”

“She has purple eyes and a weak stomach.”

“Purple eyes?”

“And absolutely no sense of fashion.”

“Is that all?”

“No, she’s pretty cool. I mean she cried a lot, but that’s to be expected. All in all, I like her. And Miku’s in love with her.”

“Miku loves everyone. Tell me more about Emerson.”

“She threatened to beat up Jay if he didn’t get out of her way. I was right: she’s got a little fight in her.”

“Good. She’s gonna need it.”

We went down to the living room where Ameana, Jay, and Reese were already gathered.

“Where were you?” Ameana asked.

“At a barbecue.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, but Rage got to Julian.”

Reese called out for Miku and the girl to come out of the bedroom. I picked up the Muse and started looking through it. I had a feeling that Tony-Tone wasn’t being completely honest with us. I would have to run that by Ameana and see what she thought.

Finally, Miku and the girl came out of the room. I had already set it in my mind that I wasn’t going to like this person. She would somehow try and get in my way, and that meant that I had to be leery of her.

I focused on the Muse. Miku introduced me to the girl. “Marcus, this is Emerson Baxter. She’s gonna help us save the world.” I looked at her quickly, then went back to the Muse. She was too short. Her hair was a tangled mess. Her T-shirt had a cartoon pig on it and was ugly and ill-fitted.

I wanted her.

I wanted to touch her. My eyes wanted—needed—to see her again, to do nothing more than to spend the rest of forever getting to know her.

Angry at my visceral reaction, I forced every part of my body to stay put and focus on the Muse. I had to give her instructions, but I would not, could not, allow myself to look her again.

What the heck is going on? Why can’t I focus? I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. No, still can’t make out the words in front of me. There was a buzzing in my ear, a painful sound that came from looking away from her. I didn’t ever want to look away from her.

I didn’t talk to her, I talked at her. I never took my face away from the Muse. I told her that we needed to know everything about her and that she had to stay in crowds. The Akons could not attack her in crowds. She told me that they came after her already. That enraged me.

Then she said she wanted to go home. I wondered what her home was like. What kinds of things she liked. Was she the girly type with tons of teddy bears and scented writing paper? Or the rock ‘n’ roll poster type who had no problem breaking the rules? What was her favorite song? Where was she when she first heard it? Who was she with when she first heard it? Was she with friends? Family? A guy…? Stop it, Marcus. Stop it right now.

I told Reese to Blink her home. I dared to look in her direction just then. She was going to get into Reese’s arms. I had to leave the room. For some reason I couldn’t bear to see her in another guy’s arms.

I told Ameana we needed to talk. We went into her room. But it’s like the girl was still there. Her powers didn’t diminish because she was no longer near. If anything, they seem to get stronger.

Once in the room, Ameana looked at me strangely.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Why?”

“You looked flushed. And why were you so rude to her?”

“Are we sure she’s human?”

“Yeah, I asked Rio earlier and he said she has a soul.”

“Maybe she’s a Pawn.”

“I don’t think she’d do evil things for money. When I pointed the gun at her, she looked terrified. She’s not used to being around them. I’ve never met a Pawn who wasn’t familiar with weapons. And if she was working for Lucy, why would Lucy send people after her?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“What’s going on? Why are you so unfocused?”

“I don’t know. Rage took a lot out of me. He burned down a building and lots of people were hurt.”

“I’m sorry. Did anyone die?”

“No, but it was…bad.”

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. I sat down in the chair by the window. I wasn’t lying (not completely, anyway): the blaze was hard to watch. I wondered if there had been a way to stop Rage before he set the building on fire. Any time humans get hurt, it gets to us. For me, the guilt is worse. If I were a better leader, would any humans be harmed at all? I looked out the window, deep in thought about the humans who had been hurt in past missions.

Then I wondered about the girl. Something could happen to the girl. My chest tightened and my jaw clenched. I ran my hands through my hair again. Ameana always said that was my way of telling her that I needed time out from being in charge. I guess she was right, ‘cause I really didn’t want to lead anything at that moment.

Ameana came over to me and sat on my lap. She weighs almost nothing. She wrapped her hands around my neck. I lifted my head and looked into her face. After all this time we still have secrets the other has yet to discover. Looking in her eyes, I was certain there were things she hadn’t told me. I was also aware of how much I enjoyed being in her embrace. She had a softness to her that she rarely lets anyone see.

“Hi,” she said simply.

“Hey.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Work.”

“Is that the only thing you can think about?”

“Can you suggest something else I could focus on?”

She leaned in closer until our lips were almost touching. She never kisses me first. She likes to test me to see if I can get close to her and not kiss her. I never pass the test. I cannot be that close to her and not touch her. I moved in and closed the gap.

Her lips are soft and giving. She leans in and kisses my ear and down my neck. I gently return the favor. I’m slightly more forceful in kissing her than she was in kissing me.

It had been so long since we got close. It felt great to hold her again. Her skin was flawless and warm. I hold her face in my hands. I kiss her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks. Then I tug gently at her lips. I make my way down her neck. I know it’s about to happen, and I know she hates it, but I can’t stop myself. I was about to make her Shine. A Shine is a hickey on an angel.

A hickey on a human is actually a broken blood vessel that appears after a love bite. Since angels don’t have blood, what appears comes from the glow and pureness of our souls. It’s silver and luminescent. Also, instead of appearing on our necks, for some reason, it appears in our hair.

Ameana seldom gives me one. She thinks it is unbefitting for a First Guardian to walk around with a streak of shining hair. But every now and then I would give her one. I don’t think she minded, per se. Shining only lasted a day or two depending on how much work went into giving it.

I think her issue was the team making fun of her. Namely, Reese and Jay. They were almost always the first ones to notice. She would wear a hat or try to hide her hair so that the Shine was sort of hidden. But they always knew.

Sure enough, the moment I pulled away from her, a long strand of Ameana’s hair started glowing. Within seconds her head was completely illuminated.

“I’m sorry, Mimi,” I said ruefully.

“Yeah, you look really sorry,” she laughed as I went in for another kiss.

Good, Marcus. This is good. Kissing Ameana and not thinking about the human. That’s very good. Yeah, I’m not thinking about her at all….