"Do you remember what happened after that?"

I remember our conversation now.

I moved closer to the creature and there was a gasp from the crowd. It was frustrating not being able affected by our powerI realizedkidd to make eye contact with it. There was nothing to see but deep hollows. I'd never realized how important looking into someone's eyes could be. I felt if he could only see me...but he must be able to see me somehow.

"Gabe," I said quietly, this time in remembrance, not to try to get him to remember me. I reached for his face. His skin was tough as leather, and there was no warmth beneath its surface. There was nothing, not even a hint, of the boy I knew. The transformation was complete.

Will you help us?

I lowered my head and took a deep breath. Then I stepped back and stood straight, chin held high. There was no time for sentiment now. Not after all the work we'd put in. This was not Gabe, not really, but I knew how to get him back.

"Are they coming again? pity f1d; I asked. "Are theor him. A very

Several people in the crowd screamed, and this time I was surrounded in an instant by the sheriff and his officers. Evidently it'd been cool to subdue the beast, but not to kill it outright. One wrenched the gun out of my hand, and the other brought my hands roughly around my back, I a.s.sumed to handcuff me. But I wouldn't let him. I stomped on his foot. He let go of my hands, which I used to strike the officer in front of me. I ducked on his return swing, darted out between the two of them, and was surrounded by three more and the Sheriff. I had no idea what I was doing, but I guess the warrior in me was kicking in, because as each tried to subdue me, I in turn subdued him, until they were all strewn around my feet.

There was another scream then. But a single one, over at the far end of the crowd. Mirabel Jennings, of all people, was flying up into the air, a pair of dark wings framing her and thick arms around her waist. There was a gunshot, another scream from a few people, and the Thrall and Mirabel fell to the ground. Two more gunshots went off, almost at the same time. I turned around, as did the rest of the crowd, just in time to see two shadows fall as well.

"Stop it!" said Pastor Warren, but Wild Frank stepped up and grabbed the Pastor roughly, preventing him from moving. It was probably best for all of us that Wild Frank had found himself a task other than shooting.

Another gunshot. Another. Another. My team was. .h.i.tting each creature with perfect accuracy. I felt a swell of pride. The crowd seemed to figure out what was going on and reacted strangely. There was no more panic, there was no more fear. It was as if they had decided just to trust us. Was this something else I had going for me as a Naphil? The ability to calm a frenzy? Not that I was doing anything, just standing there.

Then quiet fell over the scene. No more gunshots, no more screams. Pastor Warren had even stopped whimpering. Everyone was waiting for something. Antic.i.p.ating something.

"Holy s.h.i.+t, did you shoot me again?"

I whipped around. There he was. Just like the first time we'd ever met. No clothes. Tied up. My Gabe.

"Oh my G.o.d, he's naked," a female voice from the crowd pointed out.

"Frank, give me your jacket," I said rus.h.i.+ng over to Gabe. Wild Frank tossed over his army jacket, and, after I'd untied Gabe, I laid it across him. When I finished I looked into those eyes, finally, as I'd wanted to when he had transformed. I could see confusion and pain. But I also saw something else. Something that made me lean into him and kiss him. I felt his hand on my arm, squeezing it softly, as he kissed me back. We pulled apart.

"Did you shoot me again, sweetheart?"

"I did. Sorry."

"What happened?" He looked down at himself and then back at me, as if somehow I was responsible for his current state. "Why am I naked? Did I..."

"You turned back into one of them. When the door opened."

"Door?"

"That's what you called it."

"I did?" He looked over at Pastor Warren and Wild Frank.

I shook my head and took his between my hands, bringing his focus back on me. "Gabe, you said you were building an army. You wanted my help. That's why you came to me in the first place last year. I think you're their leader."

Gabe furrowed his eyebrows and then closed his eyes. He opened them again. "I don't remember any of it."

"It's okay, I didn't think you would."

"Riley!" It was Lacy climbing up onto the stage beside us.

"Great shooting, Lacy!" I said as I turned to her. But she looked worried. No, not worried, scared. And instantly I was scared too. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"They're not changing," she said in a hushed voice.

"What do you mean?"

"The angels. Or whatever they are. They're not changing."

"I don't understand..."

"They're just lying there," Lacy's voice was getting higher, panicked. "They aren't changing like Gabe did, they're just lying there. I think..." she bit her lower lip, which had begun to tremble. "I think they might be dead."

"That's not possible," I replied.

"Come and see."

I turned to Gabe who nodded. "I'm too weak to stand, and anyway if I did it'd be indecent. You go on with her."

I eye contact with him kidd looked at him hard.

"Riley, I'm not going anywhere. I'm okay. Just go."

I didn't want to leave him, not after I just got him back. But I nodded. Then I turned to follow Lacy off the stage and toward one of the fallen Thralls. As we approached, we pa.s.sed Mirabel with her husband, who was tending to her wounds from the fall. I felt really terrible she'd been injured thanks to us, but she smiled gratefully to me as we pa.s.sed, and it made me feel better. When we reached the Thrall, I stared down at it in confusion. Lacy was right, it was just lying there. A large gray beast, the wings bent at a strange angle beneath it. It wasn't moving. I didn't know if the creatures breathed, if I should look for a heartbeat somewhere. I walked around to its side and crouched down, examining its face. Whoever had shot this one had got it right between the hollows that stood in place of eyes. It was an incredibly impressive shot.

It looked dead. That was all there was to it. Dead. Lifeless.

What was going on? Why hadn't it changed?

"Riley?" Lacy's voice was thin and scared.

"It's dead. It's...dead..." I replied. But it just didn't make any sense. Gabe had changed back. Was he special? Why would he be? He was just like the rest of them. He was taken like the rest of them.

No, I thought suddenly. No, actually, he wasn't like them at all. He'd been taken by angels and not by a Thrall. Been turned by angels and not by a Thrall. He was the one responsible for turning the others into Thralls now, and, as he so often pointed out, he was no angel.

"Oh my G.o.d," I said when I realized it. I wasn't sure, but I felt sure. Where was my guardian? I had to talk to my guardian.

Somehow it knew I wanted to ask it something, and it was then at my side, visible, I knew, only to me. Only me who was "special" enough to see it. Cursed enough to see it.

"Is Gabe different from these other Thralls?" I asked it.

"I don't know," replied Lacy, "I'm not talking to you," I snapped back, instantly feeling bad that I had. How was she supposed to know I was talking to a guardian angel and not her?

Yes.

"Because he was changed by the Circle."

Yes.

I could see Lacy take a step backward. I was probably freaking her out right now, but it didn't exactly matter. I pointed at the fallen Thrall before me.

"And they were changed by him and his friends."

Yes.

"And obviously they didn't do quite the same quality of job at it."

Yes.

"You couldn't have mentioned this to me before? When you saw us making our plans and everything?"

You didn't ask.

"That's right, I didn't ask. Blame me, the person who didn't know there was a question to ask in the first place." Then I realized. It should blame me. They should all blame me. "So they're dead."

Yes.

"I killed them."

No. Your friends killed them.

"Leave me alone," I said so softly no one but an angel would have been able to hear it, and it was gone. I stood up and looked at Lacy who was eye"> contact with him kidd stax201c;Is that

All there was was white. There was nothing else, no fete, no town, no people. Just bright light that radiated through me, over me, beyond me. All there was was white and, at the same time, a million different colors. Then it was gone. Like the string of a kite being pulled out of your grasp and into the sky.

I held my head in my hands and keeled over, my forehead touching the ground.

"Riley, are you okay?" asked Gabe.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

"Did I see what?"

I guess not, then.

The screaming started up again then, and I raised my head to see what was going on. I saw expressions of horror on the faces of the Alexander brothers and Lacy. I turned to follow their gaze and was grateful I'd been sitting down, otherwise I was certain I'd have fallen from the shock.

Everyone was staring at the Ferris wheel, which looked like it was on fire. But it wasn't. You could tell that it wasn't. After a moment the shapes became visible, and I knew instantly what they were, though I'd never seen them before. Standing on seven pa.s.senger seats were seven ma.s.sive figures. Human in shape, their faces seemed to be human too, though it was hard to tell at that distance. Each had wings, spread open and wide, and though each figure looked the same, they also didn't. They were striking to see. They were beautiful. But it wasn't something I concluded in looking at them. It was something I knew deep down inside. Beauty in this case was not in the eye of the beholder. Beauty was a universal truth.

I didn't need to ask if Gabe could see this. He was staring at them too, just like everyone else in our town was staring. The screaming and panic had died down now. All there was was quiet, as we waited for the next thing to happen.

"Stand Riley Carver," the NephilimngidDJ said a voice that was melodic and low.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Gabe, and he nodded. Then I realized that he'd always been able to see my guardian too, so maybe he wasn't the right person to ask. I turned to look at Lacy.

"You should probably do it," she said when our eyes met.

That answered that. I turned back around and with Gabe's help stood up. The little girl in the yellow dress took my hand.

I sensed a s.h.i.+ft. Though none of the beings moved, I knew their focus was entirely on me now.

"You are one of the Nephilim," said the voice again. This time it felt like a single voice and not an entire chorus.

"Yes," I said. I wondered if they could hear my reply. It hardly traveled further than my own lips.

"We did not know you were here. We have not been to this place in many years."

"I know." I felt a little braver, the words were a little stronger. "How did you find out I was here?"

"A guardian told us."

I remembered what my guardian had told me about the Circle. About it summoning the guardians to their side. It didn't make sense. "Well, I certainly didn't send my guardian to you, and if you forgot about me, how could you summon it?"

"We did not summon your guardian. But we were sent a guardian. Not yours. A guardian belonging to a fallen angel."

"My father?" I asked immediately. "Can you tell me where he is?" My heart was pounding now.

"He is not your father."

I felt a great disappointment, but I knew this wasn't the time to solve my Daddy problem. "Who was it then?"

"His name is Charoum. And you are holding his guardian by your hand."

I looked down at the little girl in the yellow dress. So did Gabe. As usual, the little girl smiled up at me. I glanced over my shoulder at Lacy and the Alexander brothers and saw their confused expressions.

Of course.

They couldn't see her. Only Gabe and I could. It was then that I understood all the strange looks over at Etta Mae's, the suspicion, the special attention just for me. "Mr. Clayton."

"He is Charoum, a fallen angel who has tried over the years to regain favor. He sent his guardian to tell us of your existence. As a gift."