"Are you okay? You're not hurt?"

"I'm fine so long as you are," I said, lying down beside him. "How do you feel?"

"My body feels weird," Xavier said, and I automatically sprang back up.

"Relax," Ivy said. "It's completely normal. He just needs to rest."

Xavier mumbled something incoherent before closing his eyes and falling into an exhausted sleep. I wrapped my body around his, relishing his warmth and made a promise to myself. As long as I was living and no matter what it cost me, I would never let anybody hurt him again.

NOW that I knew he was okay, he could sleep for a month and I wouldn't mind. Gabriel strode back into the room with his wings retracted. He paused to shake the dust from his robes and plaster fragments from his hair and smiled when he saw Xavier.

"How's Lazarus doing?" he asked.

"He'll be fine," Ivy replied, sinking back on her heels, exhaustion showing on her face. "It wasn't easy."

"I'm sure it wasn't." Gabriel inspected my tear-stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes. I noticed that Gabriel too looked exhausted, his face drained.

"How did it go?" I asked.

"It is done," Gabriel replied. "The students are blaming Mother Nature and emergency services are on their way."

"What about Spencer?" I asked, my eyes stinging with fresh tears as I recalled the last look we'd exchanged before his death.

"He was never there." From the curt way my brother spoke, I knew it was wiser not to probe him for further details. I didn't know what he'd done with Spencer's body, but it must have been difficult for him. Altering states of mind and erasing memories was one of the things he found hardest. He only did it when there was no alternative. I knew he had to be feeling pretty uncomfortable right now. Ivy turned the subject to more practical matters.

"We'd better leave," she said. "Before anyone starts checking these rooms."

For now at least the crisis had been averted and all four of us had come out relatively unscathed. I didn't know whether the Sevens were enforcing God's law or not but I still sent up a silent prayer. Thank you, Father, for delivering Xavier from the hands of death and returning him safely to us. Keep him from harm and I'll do whatever You ask of me.

WE were sitting around a traditional room in a local inn on the outskirts of town where we'd taken refuge, putting a healthy distance between us and the campus where the Sevens had just launched their attack. We weren't worried yet about retaliation. We knew it would take them awhile to regroup.

"Move away from the beast." Xavier opened his eyes and we saw immediately that he was completely rattled.

"Welcome back," said Gabriel with a puzzled look. Xavier glanced up at him without a glimmer of recognition. His eyes wore the glazed look that comes with fever. I touched his forehead to find it burning hot under my fingers.

"The beast is rising out of the sea," Xavier said. He was writhing uncomfortably on the bed and kept looking toward the door even though it was bolted.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"I'm not sure," said Gabriel. "He's quoting from Revelations."

"It's okay Xav," I said, thinking he must be suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress. "There's no beast. You're safe here."

Xavier fell back onto the pillows, his chest beginning to shine with sweat. He gritted his teeth like he was in pain.

"Beth, no." He reached out and grabbed my hand in an iron grip. "You have to leave. Go, now! Promise me you will?"

"The Sevens are gone," I said calmly. "Gabriel and Ivy dealt with them. They won't be back for a while."

"Why don't you get it?" Xavier suddenly sat up arrow-straight, alarm in his eyes. "Nobody is safe. He's here."

"Ivy, what's he talking about?" I turned to face my sister. Nothing coming out of Xavier's mouth was making any sense. "What's wrong with him?"

"Calm down, Beth. Give him a minute. I think he's just disoriented. He was dead, remember?"

Xavier tried to stand up and all the color drained from his face. He swayed dangerously and had to grab the bedpost to steady himself.

"Take it easy," Gabriel said, a look of concern spreading across his features. "There's no rush."

Xavier looked at each of us in turn in complete confusion. Then suddenly, his expression shifted.

"Well, that was fun. Can we do it again real soon?" At first I wasn't sure where the biting voice was coming from. I'd heard Xavier use sarcasm before, but this didn't even sound like it was the same person speaking. I held a hand out to him, but shrank back immediately. Nothing had changed and yet everything had changed. The softness was gone from his face, as if someone had just remodeled the contours to take on a hard, brittle look. His cheeks were more cavernous and I'd never seen him narrow his eyes in such a mocking way. An uneasy look passed between Gabriel and Ivy.

"What? What's happening?" I looked from one to the other but whatever they were thinking they chose not to enlighten me.

"Are you feeling okay?" Gabriel asked gently. He seemed to have a sense of what was happening but wanted to make completely sure. Perhaps he wasn't ready to accept it.

"Never better!" Xavier smiled pleasantly. He slid off the bed and slunk around the sofa, never taking his eyes off my brother.

"Xavier?" I watched the smile fade from his face as he returned me a level gaze. I wanted to walk over and shake him to his senses. To let him know we could overcome this hurdle if only he would be himself again. But I had a feeling my words would be lost on him right now and any gesture of affection would not be welcomed.

"I could really use a run." Xavier was pacing now, flexing his arms and bouncing on the balls of his feet. He wasn't the hyperactive type. I didn't recognize him like this-behaving as restless as a caged tiger.

"Maybe you should lie down," I said, taking a tentative step forward.

"Beth, don't," warned my brother.

"No, I don't want to lie down," Xavier said. His voice was shrill as he parodied mine and was colder than a snowstorm. I took a step toward him and felt Gabriel's ringed fingers squeeze my shoulder. I looked up into his silver eyes.

"Xavier would never hurt me," I protested.

"No," Gabriel said. "Xavier wouldn't."

There was something about the inflection in his words I didn't like.

"He's just worn out is all," I said loudly, refusing to accept any other alternative. My emotional threshold had been reached when I'd seen Xavier die before my eyes. I didn't know how much more I could handle.

This had to be a reaction to extreme stress. After all, humans, unlike angels, didn't have limitless reserves of energy they could tap into. Xavier had coped with so much in the last few weeks it was a miracle he hadn't fallen apart sooner. But everyone had a breaking point and Xavier had just reached his. I remembered reading about this in psychology books. If you put someone under enough pressure, cracks were bound to show and they would start acting out in bizarre ways. But I hadn't expected Xavier's meltdown to result in anger that was directed at me. What was happening to him? The hostility in his voice now was worse than a scorpion's sting. It was hard to ignore the way he was looking at me, like I was his worst enemy.

"There must be something I can do," I whispered to delay the tears that were threatening to spill. I needed to stay strong right now for the both of us.

"As a matter of fact, there is." Xavier had never spoken to me so formally. How hard had he hit his head when he'd fallen to the ground? I looked at him expectantly, eager to accommodate whatever request he might have. I walked across to where he stood behind the sofa, cutting himself off from us. He cocked his head as he cupped my face in his hands, studying me as if he were seeing me for the first time.

"Tell me what I can do," I repeated.

Xavier bent his mouth to my ear and whispered in a low voice, "You can stay the hell away from me, you whiny little bitch."

And then I knew. The voice speaking to me through Xavier's body wasn't Xavier's but I recognized it instantly. I would have known it anywhere. It hadn't changed since I'd last heard it in a place I wanted desperately to forget.

Lucifer's voice was still that odd combination of gravel and velvet, syrup and whiskey.

17.

Bad Tenant I clutched my stomach as if someone had just stabbed me there. It seemed a childish reaction but hearing the venom in Xavier's voice felt like a violent physical attack.

I stepped away from him and walked numbly toward the window. Outside, the sun was still shining and cars passed by in a colorful blur, their drivers oblivious to what was happening just yards away from them. Jumbled thoughts collided in my head like a meteoric storm. How could this have happened? What were we going to do about it? Could Xavier be set free before something disastrous happened? But what could be more disastrous than what we'd already faced in the last twenty-four hours?

"How could this have happened?" I said it aloud this time and whipped around to face my siblings. "I don't understand."

"Possession can happen to anyone," Ivy said softly.

"No." I shook my head vigorously. "Things like this don't just happen to people like him. He's supposed to be protected by his faith. There shouldn't have been an opportunity for his body to be invaded like this!"

"Bethany, think about it," said Gabriel gently. "Xavier died.... Those minutes on the brink between life and death were more than enough time to let darkness in."

"But..." I felt my chest constrict and my eyes sting because I knew my brother was right. "I just got him back."

"Don't give up hope," Ivy said. "This just means the fight isn't over yet."

I was barely listening to her. The thought that Lucifer had been watching us, waiting for the opportunity to strike was enough to make me shiver. We had been so focused on avoiding the ire of Heaven I'd forgotten we were being targeted by another, perhaps more dangerous predator. Heaven wanted us separated, but it seemed Hell wanted to exact its own revenge. The faceless Sevens were nothing compared to what I was about to deal with. A chilling memory fought its way into my conscious mind: the image of Sister Mary-Claire's face, the nun from the convent in Tennessee. Amid the blood and scratches, bitten lips and ground teeth, there had been a look in her eyes. A completely vacant look that suggested she wasn't present at all. The demon had completely overrun her mind, body, and spirit. That experience had been damaging enough when I'd only been present in astral form and the person involved was a perfect stranger. This time it was happening to Xavier. I wasn't sure I had the courage to deal with that.

I kept my face averted from Gabriel and Ivy, knowing how easily they'd be able to read me. I wasn't naive enough to think I could hide anything from them-I just needed a moment to absorb what was happening and get my raging emotions under control.

"Come on," Ivy said. "We need to get moving. We can't stay here." She tried to sound businesslike but there was an edge to her voice that hadn't been there before.

"Where are we going?" Xavier asked cheerfully. His perkiness was almost child-like and it sounded wrong coming out of his mouth.

"We're taking you back to our house," Gabriel said, his gaze flickering over Xavier's condition. "You can stay there until you ... feel more like yourself."

"Wait, you have a house?" I cut in. "Where?"

"Here," Ivy replied. "In Oxford."

"Since when?" I demanded.

"Since you got here. We've been closer than you thought, keeping an eye on things."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"We thought it was safer if you didn't know. If we were in constant contact, it might have given us away. We just wanted to have a base close by in case you ran into trouble. And it's a good thing we did."

"I feel fine now," Xavier interrupted, not bothering to keep up with our conversation. To prove his point, he began flexing his limbs like an athlete warming up before a workout. There was something showy about it, nothing like how he normally behaved. It made my skin prickle with discomfort. Xavier turned his attention to me. "I'm so lucky to have a girlfriend who won't give up on me." There was something mocking in his tone and his smirk didn't help matters either.

"You're right, we should get him out of here," I said flatly. So much was wrong, I didn't have the strength to do anything but agree with my siblings. "Before he does something to attract attention."

"Gracious!" Xavier exclaimed loudly. "So much for sticking together. What a bad wife."

I nodded at Gabriel, who crossed the room in two strides and gripped Xavier's shoulders.

"Ivy..." he said. "I might need your help."

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy papa bear," Xavier said in a singsong voice, holding up his hands to show his cooperation. "I'm not a flight risk, this is too much fun to miss out on." He laughed and began singing under his breath: "I'm sticking with you, like I'm made out of glue."

Gabriel pushed him roughly in the direction of the door, where Ivy hovered uncertainly. Was he going to make a break for it? Somehow I didn't think so. The demons wanted to hurt us and the best way to do that was to stick around and make us watch. As Xavier tripped toward the door, he paused and looked at me, his blue eyes suddenly filled with disarming familiarity.

"You're coming, aren't you, Beth?" he asked. "You're not leaving me with them?"

When he looked at me like that, with such wide-eyed sincerity, it was hard to tell who was speaking anymore.

"I'm coming," I said, trying to keep my voice level, but my restless hands betrayed me. I silently followed my siblings out to the parking lot with Xavier right behind, humming an irritating tune. I felt like he was a ticking time bomb, ready to blow at any minute. I realized then how vital it was to get him out of sight. He couldn't stay at a hotel and we couldn't let him anywhere near campus. We really had no idea what he might do next.

Xavier's behavior continued to be unpredictable on the drive to the house where Gabriel and Ivy now lived. Despite his earlier determination to have me with him, he now acted as if I were his worst enemy. He sat as far away from me as possible in the backseat of the car, his chin cupped glumly in his hands, his body curved away to the point of looking contorted. He kept his gaze fixed on the buildings we passed, only looking away to throw vicious glances my way over his shoulder.

I decided to test Xavier's reaction by reaching out and placing my hand gingerly on his knee. His whole body went rigid and he made a low growling sound like an injured animal in the back of his throat. I almost thought he was going to bite me and I quickly withdrew my hand.

Soon Gabriel was turning into a long driveway and pulling up in front of a pale blue house with a pitched roof and wraparound porch. Fall chrysanthemums in pots stood outside the screen door. I looked around with some curiosity. Up until then I hadn't seen where my siblings had taken up residence. In fact, I'd hardly even thought about it. The house was old and like most Southern homes, felt like it belonged to the past, like it had a story of its own. I could almost picture the wife of the confederate soldier faring him good-bye as he went off to fight for the Old South. But it also had a strangely familiar air, like it was a friend welcoming us home. We walked through a short hallway to a country-style kitchen with white cabinets and stippled blue walls. Antique lights hung over the island bench and white shelves above the sink displayed a collection of colorful old china. I spotted Gabriel's guitar propped against a painted dresser. Just for a moment I allowed myself to pine for Byron and the happy times we'd all spent there. Then I turned my attention back to the troubling present.

I slid onto one of the rush-seated stools at the bench and waited for someone to say something to diffuse the mounting tension in the room. Gabriel was watching Xavier like a hawk.

"Cool pad," Xavier commented as he walked around, uncharacteristically picking up books, cups, and candles and turning them over in his hands. "What is there to drink around here? Where do you guys keep the good stuff?" He flopped down full length on the window seat in the breakfast nook, ignoring Ivy's look of disapproval.

"We don't keep liquor here," she said, going to the fridge and retrieving a bottle of soda. Without warning, she hurled the bottle like a discus, aiming it straight at Xavier's head. It whizzed through the air but just before it hit him, Xavier casually threw out a hand and caught it. He hadn't even bothered to adjust his reclining position. No mortal athlete, even one as skilled as him, had the reflexes to do what he'd just done.

"Nice throw." He twisted off the cap and downed half the contents without taking a breath. When he was done, he stood up, propping the bottle on the floor.

"Where's the bathroom?" he asked with a winning smile. "I really need to take a shower."

"Upstairs, first door on your left," said Ivy. She threw Gabriel an uneasy look.

But Xavier never made it out of the kitchen. A split second later, Gabriel's wings snapped open, sending objects on the countertop crashing to the floor. He flew at Xavier, grabbing him around the waist and wrestling him to floor. Gabriel had him pinned within a matter of seconds but Xavier wasn't so easily subdued. With what seemed like a show of supernatural strength, he used his legs to propel Gabriel across the kitchen. He slammed into the counter so hard a crack appeared in the marble. A moment later, they stood facing each other, archnemeses poised for a fight.

"Stop it! What are you doing?" I yelled at them both. I made a move forward, hoping to come between them and make them come to their senses. But Gabriel turned to me, the intensity in his face stopping me in my tracks.

"Stay out of the way. He will hurt you."

Unintentionally, I had distracted Gabriel long enough to give Xavier the advantage. He lunged forward and I heard a sharp crack as his fist collided squarely with Gabe's jaw. It caught him by surprise, stunning him for a moment, before he retaliated with a thudding blow to Xavier's ribs. Xavier doubled over, winded, but recovered in time to duck the next blow. Seeing that the front door had been left open, Xavier spied a chance at escape and darted down the hall toward the entrance. Gabriel ran after him, impeded by his wings colliding with the walls. He pulled them back and threw himself after Xavier, grabbing him by the ankles. They crashed through the screen door together, tumbled over the porch railing and landed in the carpet of dead leaves in the front yard.

Angel and mortal wrestled in the dust while Ivy and I stood helplessly watching. Across the street two ladies sat drinking sweet tea in white rockers on their porch. Their necks stretched out like cranes when they saw the commotion and they squinted over at us, not believing what they were witnessing. I doubted they saw many brawls in this neighborhood. In fact, I got the feeling it was the first time any sort of scuffle had happened in their respectable street. One stood transfixed with her hand over her heart while the other grimaced and then scuttled inside.