Before I said anything I'd regret, Michael appeared at my side.

He had been waiting for me after cla.s.s, farther down the hall. When he saw Piper accost me and witnessed my obvious discomfort at the exchange, he raced to my rescue.

"Are you all right, Ellie? You look really pale," he asked, once we were alone. I must have looked really bad, because alarm registered on his face.

"I'm not sure if I can do this, Michael. I know we need to pretend, but I'm having a hard time already. Knowing what we know," I whispered.

Michael put his arm around my shoulder and walked me down the hallway. He brought us into a darkened alcove. More than anything, I wanted to stay in that warm, shadowy recess, wrapped in his arms. It was the only place I felt safe. It was the only place that made sense.

Michael placed his finger under my chin, and tipped my face to his. "Ellie, I know you can." He slipped a letter into my hands. He nodded that I should read it immediately, so I smoothed out the paper and started.

My Ellie -Do you remember the first time we went flying over our field? You were so nervous of everything. You were afraid to fall from such heights; you didn't want to embarra.s.s yourself in front of me; you were fearful of doing something so clearly otherworldly. But you were determined and strong. And I watched in awe as you furrowed your beautiful brow, willed your fears away, and took to the air.You were breathtaking up there. The wind at your back, your black hair whipping all around you-you owned the skies. From the very beginning.And the very next day, you walked down the hallways of Tillinghast High School like nothing had happened. Like you were just a regular girl-prettier and smarter than all the rest, of course, but still just a regular, human girl.You can do that again, Ellie. You can walk the tightrope between the two worlds with courage and determination. You've done it before.

I love you,Michael

I smiled as I read the letter. Somehow he had antic.i.p.ated my feelings, and understood-perfectly-how to restore my confidence. How to bring me back to myself. Michael truly was my soul mate.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Just remember who you are. Remember that you walked this walk before, and you can do it again."

I nodded and closed my eyes for a second. Conjuring those days from earlier in the fall, my self-a.s.surance returned. Slowly and shakily. I really had no other option. I had had to successfully playact at being a regular high school junior, concerned about homework and her new boyfriend. Michael to successfully playact at being a regular high school junior, concerned about homework and her new boyfriend. Michael had had to convincingly make-believe that he was an average senior guy, focused on football and college prospects and me. Too much depended on our role-playing. to convincingly make-believe that he was an average senior guy, focused on football and college prospects and me. Too much depended on our role-playing.

Feeling fairly confident, off to calculus I went. As I listened to Mr. Modic rattle off theorems, I stopped fixating on the surreal nature of my situation and started to map out next steps. By the time cla.s.s ended, and I joined Michael in the hallway, I wasn't surprised that his next letter had the same focus. I had already drafted a similar note in my head.

My Ellie-Now that your resolve has returned, did you spend all of calculus thinking about what we should do next? I know you well. I bet you didn't take a single note, but instead stared out the window, dreaming up a strategy.I did the same thing.What should we do next? The trip to Boston definitely gave us a better sense of our natures as Nephilim, and the encounter with Ezekiel linked our births to the emergence of some kind of apocalypse. Crazy as that sounds. But we need much more information in order to act next. We need to know exactly what the Nephilim are and were-creation, history, powers, even mortality- and we need to know how the Nephilim fit into this whole end-of-the-world scenario that Ezekiel revealed to us.But how are we going to get that knowledge-about ourselves and the end days-while playing dumb and suppressing our powers? Wouldn't any research we undertook-either in a library or on the ground-serve as a red flag to our parents or anyone else who might be seeking us? We need to act, but what do we do?My brilliant, brilliant Ellie. Did you drum up any amazing ideas in calculus? We need a plan. Now.

I love you,Michael

Between the last few periods of the day, we exchanged a flurry of letters. We each had our theories on how best to get the information we required, and they weren't the same.

Finally, by the end of the school day, we concocted a plan we could both agree upon. It was risky. But really, it was our only choice.

When the last bell rang, I walked Michael over to the football field for his practice, just as I would any other day. We had decided to keep as close as possible to our usual activities and schedule. Just in case.

Before he headed into the locker room, I leaned in to kiss him, as I always did. But today, instead of the usual "see you later," I heard him whisper, "good luck."

I needed it.

I walked over to the parking lot to meet Ruth for an after-school coffee, having texted her that my cough had subsided and I felt up to our regular meeting. It sickened me to lie to her; we'd always told each other everything.

Amid all the cars and all the kids preparing to bolt from school, I didn't spot her at first. But then I caught a glint of her red hair against the backdrop of the gray day. I hustled over to her used, green VW Bug, not sure what reaction I'd get. Did she remember seeing me fly or didn't she? How was I supposed to behave?

"You look really really ready for a latte," Ruth p.r.o.nounced, sounding very normal. ready for a latte," Ruth p.r.o.nounced, sounding very normal.

"I am really really ready for one," I said, attempting to match her light tone. ready for one," I said, attempting to match her light tone.

As we got into her car, I thought how pretty she looked under those wire-rimmed gla.s.ses. I smiled a little thinking about how shocked our cla.s.smates had been when Ruth unleashed her inner runway model at the fall dance. Only to tuck that beauty away again for school on Monday. Loyal, whip-smart, but incredibly reserved, Ruth loathed any unnecessary attention. She saved up her animation and lovely smiles for a select few, and most of Tillinghast High School didn't make that cut. I just hoped that the frank conversation I planned for our coffee break wouldn't wipe the pretty grin right off her face.

I tried to mask my nervousness as we rode to the Daily Grind, and to bolster my courage by remembering the words of Michael's first letter that day. We chatted away, mostly about a benign argument she had had with her new boyfriend, Jamie, about his chronic lateness. The conversation continued as we ordered our coffees and settled into two brown club chairs that sat side by side. As I feigned interest, I lifted my latte to my mouth for a sip. Suddenly, I noticed that my hand was shaking. I put the cup down on the table; I didn't want Ruth to see and wonder why. Not quite yet, anyway.

Once she finished, I waited until the Daily Grind buzzed with noise. Then I scanned the room to make sure no one was paying us the slightest attention. Leaning over the arm of my chair, I slipped a piece of paper into her lap.

I prayed that the information divulged within wouldn't shatter her world. More fervently, I prayed that, after she read the contents of the letter, she wouldn't decide Michael and I were crazy and alert my parents to the disclosure-in an effort to "help" us with our delusions, of course. That would undermine everything that Michael and I were trying to accomplish.

Either way, it was a gamble Michael and I had to take. We had no other options.

Ruth stared down at the letter sitting in her lap, and said, "What's this?"

"Just read it, Ruth. Please."

Laughing, she said, "So we're pa.s.sing notes now? What are we, in the third grade?"

I bit my lip and motioned for her to read the letter that Michael and I had so painstakingly crafted. Hesitantly, she picked it up and unfolded it. I held my breath as she did. In the letter, we told her everything we knew. We begged her to help us better understand who we were and what the end days were. We couldn't undertake the research ourselves; if anyone was looking for us or watching us, they would realize that we knew knew.

Even though Ruth had been my best friend for nearly ten years, I really didn't know how she would respond to our plea for help researching the nature of the Nephilim and the looming apocalypse. How could I possibly predict her reaction to the claim that I was an angel of some sort? That our world teetered on the edge of annihilation?

Ruth cleared her throat, and whispered, "So you do do remember?" remember?"

I was flabbergasted. Nothing in her behavior had given me the slightest hint that she remembered anything. "You do too?"

Ruth leaned toward me. In a voice so low that I could barely hear it, she said, "I remember watching you and Michael fly. And I remember taking you to the train station a few days ago. Today is the first day I've seen you since. I've been so worried about you and Michael, but who could I ask? Certainly not your parents."

Relief coursed through me. I reached over to hug her, and said, "Thank G.o.d."

Ruth squeezed me back, and whispered, "I thought you had forgotten what you could do, or that I knew about your and Michael's... abilities. Or that you didn't want to talk about it for some reason. So when you pretended you were sick earlier today, I kind of backed away from you."

"Now you know why I haven't mentioned it." I tried to apologize. I felt her nod against my shoulder.

"So you'll help us?" I whispered.

"Yes, Ellie. I'll do the research that you and Michael need."

"You understand that there are risks? Huge risks?"

"Of course. That seems very clear." Even though her voice sounded firm and strong, I wondered if she really comprehended the dangers. How could she, unless she'd stared evil in the face as Michael and I had?

I started to cry. "Thank you, Ruth. Thank you so much for helping me and Michael."

"Ellie, I'd do anything for you. You know that. But, I'm not just doing this for you and Michael."

"No?"

"I am doing this for everyone, Ellie. Because if I understand your letter correctly, everyone is at risk. And the entire world is at stake."