Ivy caught my expression of dismay. "It's okay, Beth. He's famous for his bad jokes. We're still waiting for him to grow up."

"And like Peter Pan I hope to avoid that at all costs," Raphael declared.

The idea of an archangel with a sense of humor didn't gel in my mind. I was hardly in the mood for jokes.

"Can you help us or not?"

"'Course I can," Raphael said. "I've got swag."

"Great," I muttered. "Whatever that means."

"What it means"-he strode across to me-"is that your brother and sister have been running on reserve power. But don't worry, I'm fully charged."

"And you're sure you know what you're doing?" I asked.

"Trust me." He winked. "I'm a doctor."

Under different circumstances I might have mistaken him for a college kid trying too hard to impress. Finally Raphael focused his attention on the task at hand and gravitated with mild interest toward the bed.

"Lucifer, what's up, bro?"

I blinked in surprise, not quite believing the casual manner in which Raphael was addressing him.

Xavier's eyes snapped open and he gave a tight smile.

"Don't tell me you're the backup?"

"Surprised?"

"A little," he admitted. "Aren't you taking a risk getting involved in this?"

"Ah, well." Raphael sighed. "What's life without a few risks?"

"No need to tell me," Lucifer rasped.

"Anyway"-Raphael clapped his hands together-"I'd love to stay and chat, catch up on old times, but I think we better cut to the chase."

Lucifer raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Go on."

Jake's ghost looked on wordlessly. It was strange to see him present and yet so inactive. He watched, wide-eyed, like a little boy at a pantomime.

"I'm gonna need the kid back," Raphael said simply.

"Sorry, can't help you."

"Let's not play games. It's insulting to both of us."

"No games. We had a deal and it fell through. Ask Beth."

"Look." Raphael adjusted his cashmere scarf. "We can make this clean and simple or we can make it messy and complicated."

"I have no pressing engagements, so let's go with messy and complicated."

Raphael looked nonplussed. "Fine by me but you're wasting your time."

"Am I?"

"There's something you don't know." Raphael's tone was slightly teasing.

"Please do enlighten me."

"It's nothing earth-shattering." Raphael smiled cheekily. "It's just that, well, I'm stronger than you."

"Are you indeed?"

Lucifer's words hung in the air for a moment and then Xavier began to retch. The veins in his neck pulsed and strained as he was gripped by a paroxysm of coughing. We waited for the fit to pass but it showed no sign of abating. Xavier's eyes rolled back and he gripped the bed rail. A bluish tinge appeared on his lips. Despite his medium stature, when Raphael spoke in his angelic voice, it was as intimidating as thunder.

"Depart this temple of the Lord! Show your face no more."

"He's choking!" I yelled. "Do something!"

Raphael ran to break the fetters around Xavier's wrists and together we helped him sit up. Raphael brought the palm of his hand down hard between Xavier's shoulder blades, again and again, until the source of the obstruction flew forward. The coughing changed to rasping breaths and Xavier fell back onto the bed. I knew how exhausted he was when his head lolled to one side as if it were made of stuffing. Beside him on the mattress I saw the problem: a handful of grisly talons, blood-stained from where they'd torn his throat. I picked one up to examine it. It was a grayish color and curved with sharp tips as if designed for clutching prey. It looked like it belonged to some predatory bird.

Raphael seized this hiatus to perform the exorcism rite, speaking in a measured voice but without stopping to draw breath, as if pausing might interfere with the results.

"I adjure you in the name of your Creator to depart this child of God. Depart, Seducer of Men, Corruptor of Nations, Prince of Darkness. You must bow to a power far greater than yours."

"There is no greater." Lucifer's voice was already fainter, crackling as though it were reaching us through a bad phone connection.

"Do not resist. Your plans will come to nothing. Depart now this holy vessel. Stubborn dragon, the longer you delay the harsher your punishment shall be. We repel your power. Yield. Yield!" He repeated the last word like a powerful mantra.

My heart sank hearing Xavier's coughing resume. Did this mean defeat? But then I noticed the coughing was different this time. Xavier wasn't choking; he was trying to expel something. From his open mouth something long, dark, and reptilian emerged. It was black and scaly apart from a white pulsating throat like a frog. It took me a moment to realize it was a snake, as it forced its way out of Xavier's body, where it must have been coiled deep inside him. It slithered off the bed onto the concrete floor where it writhed and turned, navigating its way along until it found what it was looking for. It settled over a crack that began to widen immediately with a jarring sound. When it was large enough, it swallowed the snake whole with a sucking sound and the crack closed over, leaving only a putrid smell and a black oil stain where it had passed. Jake's ghost vanished with it.

"Beth?" The voice that broke the silence was raspy but there was no doubt it belonged to Xavier.

I sank to my knees by his side and pressed my face into his neck. "I'm here, baby. It's over. It's over."

"We made it?"

"I told you we would." My tears and laughter mingled freely, triggered by relief. Ivy brought him a glass of water. He thanked her and drank so shakily that half of it spilled down his front. Then he took my hands and pressed them over his heart, lying back down on the tattered pillow, pushed to a point beyond exhaustion, but finally free. Seeing his vivid blue eyes belonging to him once more, I was almost euphoric. I couldn't hold him any tighter. I wanted to absorb him inside my own body so nobody could ever hurt him again.

Raphael cleared his throat politely to remind us of his presence. He looked embarrassed to be intruding on our private moment.

"This is Raphael," I told him. "He saved our lives." There was no longer my life and his. They were completely entwined; when one of us hurt, so did the other and if one of us died ... I shuddered to think what would become of the one left behind.

"Thank you," Xavier mouthed. Talking must have been painful because he brought his hand up to his throat.

"Don't mention it."

"Wait." He propped himself up. "Raphael-as in the archangel? Patron saint of travelers?"

"You know your angelology." Raphael looked impressed.

"Ex-altar boy," Xavier rasped.

My eyes fell on Xavier's bruised wrists. They looked chafed and swollen where the iron had cut into his flesh. I hadn't done any healing in a while. Did I still have it in me? Or had that power been confiscated as punishment? Xavier flinched when I touched the raw flesh but didn't pull away. I focused hard on sending healing vibrations and soon my hand was tingling. As I continued to lay my hands on him, the swelling reduced and then the rawness faded slowly, leaving only unblemished skin in place of the injuries.

"You've still got it," said Xavier, and I beamed at him, pleased with my achievement. I chose to read the fact that my ability hadn't deserted me as a sign that there was still hope.

Movement from the other side of the room drew my attention. Ivy was helping Gabriel to his feet. He still seemed unsteady. I saw him wince as he retracted his wings quickly before any of us could see their mangled state. His face was still pale and he kept his arm around Ivy's shoulders for support. Still, I watched him swallow hard and lift his chin to address his brother.

"What made you decide to come?" he asked Raphael.

"I guess I'm just a sucker for a lost cause."

"So you don't think we can win this one?" Gabriel stumbled slightly from light-headedness, but Ivy caught him.

"Doubtful." Raphael gave a cheerful smile. "But you can have fun trying."

Gabriel pursed his lips and without saying another word, headed upstairs, his arm still draped around Ivy's shoulders. I helped Xavier off the bed and Raphael watched, a smile on his lips, but sadness in his eyes. And we all trudged up the stairs back to the house, a sick and sorry procession.

21.

We'll Make It, Y'all IN the kitchen Ivy's brewed coffee and homemade brownies revived us. I still felt like I'd been run over by a bus, so Xavier and Gabriel must have felt ten times worse. I knew I'd recover from the physical exhaustion but the trauma of nearly losing Xavier twice in the same week was going to haunt me forever. We ate glumly, shoulders slumped and faces withdrawn. Gabriel didn't eat anything; he just sat with his face pressed into his hands. Only Raphael was in high spirits. He looked appraisingly at Ivy's figure when she went to the fridge for milk.

"Still the hottest angel I know," he murmured.

"It's beyond me how you're still on staff," Ivy replied.

"Must be because He appreciates my sense of humor. Can't have everyone being criminally serious." He glanced around at us. "We've got enough of that."

Despite our moods, Raphael's cheer was infectious. Even Ivy couldn't help smiling.

"You ought to smile more often," he told her. "Makes your whole face light up."

"Will you stop flirting?" Gabriel protested, without lifting his face. "It's unbecoming."

"Anyway, aren't you all, like related?" Xavier asked.

"The brother-sister thing is really more symbolic than genetic." Raphael gave a toothy smile.

"But angels don't normally feel..." Xavier scratched his head, uncomprehending. "They're not supposed to ... have those feelings ... for each other?"

"No," Ivy answered firmly. "But once in a while we throw out a deviant." I knew she was joking but I couldn't help thinking that was how she and Gabriel thought of me.

"Usually as a result of fraternizing with humans too much," added Gabriel drily.

"I happen to find humans good company. Beth and I have that in common."

"Is that why you travel with them?" Xavier asked.

"That plus the fact that I'm easily bored." He sipped his coffee calmly. "Humans might cause a lot of trouble and drive us crazy." He looked at me over the rim of his mug, a smile in his eyes. "But they're so worth it."

A pensive silence followed as everyone considered these words. Raphael broke the mood by leaping to his feet and searching his pockets.

"Does anyone have the time?" he asked. "I can't find my cell."

"It's just after six," Ivy replied, without needing to check. "Party to get to?"

Raphael ignored the jibe. "Tell me there's a TV here."

"Yes."

"And..." He waved his hands impatiently. "Where is it located?"

"The living room."

We followed Raphael as he bounded to the front of the house and made a beeline for the couch. He didn't even bother trying to find the remote; with a snap of his fingers he switched the TV on.

"Football?" Ivy asked. "Seriously?"

On the screen, kickoff was about to begin, the first game of the season, the Rebels against the Razorbacks. People had been talking about it all week.

"You're not a fan?" Raphael sounded surprised. "You're missing out."

"Good, it hasn't started yet," said Xavier, settling himself comfortably on the opposite end of the couch. "Don't forget to check the score of the Bama game."

I stared at Xavier, worried that this sudden return to normality might be a sign he was repressing dangerous emotions. He smiled when he saw my face.

"Relax," he told me. "The game will help take my mind off things." He patted the space beside him. "Come sit with me?"

I glanced at the screen and the bird's-eye view of the stadium with REBELS stamped into the ground in huge letters. I recognized some of the faces as the camera panned the sea of red-and-blue fans. I knew Molly would be among them somewhere. She hadn't stopped going on about tailgating in the Grove since she'd arrived. I watched the Rebelettes in their sequined outfits wave their pom-poms in the air. The words ARE YOU READY? flashed on the Jumbo Tron and the crowd erupted into the "Hotty Toddy" chant.

WE were losing by the end of the first quarter. I left Xavier and Raphael to yell at the screen and went into the kitchen to join Ivy. Gabriel had disappeared to his room and locked the door. I wanted to go check on him but Ivy said he needed space to meditate and recover.

When the game ended, Raphael reappeared, stretching lazily. Xavier followed, looking more relaxed if a little sheepish about his protracted absence.

"Sorry, I wasn't planning to watch the whole thing."

"It's okay." I patted his arm. "You need your man time."