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EPILOGUE
“How much longer are you going to laze under this tree?” Cora asked, jamming a sunhat on her head.
Liam squinted up from his shady spot on the grass. She was standing over him wearing a pink sundress with a ruffled hem and a pair of flip-flops. She could’ve looked like a little tea cake, the way she had the day he’d climbed through her bedroom window a lifetime ago. But her long suntanned legs and bare shoulders gleamed under the sinfully short dress, so tea and cakes weren’t the first things that came to mind. “You said we were coming to the lake to relax, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“Fine.” Cora kicked off her flip-flops and grabbed a towel from a bag in the grass. “Laze all you like. But I didn’t drive thirty minutes out of Providence Falls on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon just to sleep, so I’m going swimming.”
“Me, too,” Suzette sang out from the picnic table near the shore. “Just as soon as I finish blowing this up.” She was holding a gold, glittering flotation raft in her hands. It sparkled brighter than the sunlight glancing off the clear blue lake. Cora had proposed the beach trip to Lake Allure after the weekend wrapped up with no further leads on the Brady case. According to Boyd, the selfie picture from the college girl Lindsey Albright had been a bust, so they were at a standstill. Liam and Cora tried to follow up with Lindsey for more questioning a couple of days after she visited the station, but she wasn’t around. Her roommate told them Lindsey often stayed with a boyfriend over the weekend, so they’d have to wait until next week to talk to her. All in all, things with the murder investigation weren’t looking good, but Cora wasn’t going to give up easily, and neither would he.
Liam propped his back against the tree and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler beside him. The air was warm and thick with the scents of summer flowers, suntan lotion and barbecue. Children’s laughter floated up from the shoreline, and somewhere in the distance a radio played a song about a brown-eyed girl. Liam took a drink of icy water and tipped his head back to gaze at the canopy of leaves above him.
“Hello, thief.”
Liam let out a strangled choke. Sucked some water down his airway. Coughed. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”
The two angels hovered in the branches above him like snowy-winged wraiths. A fine mist clung to their hair and robes.
“You two will give me a heart attack one of these days,” Liam said, wheezing. “Can’t you give a man some warning before you appear?”
“Heraldry and golden trumpets aren’t standard in our department,” the blond angel said. He was leaning against the trunk, looking more relaxed than usual. “And you won’t startle to death. That’s not in the plan.”
“How about just showing up like a normal person for a change? A knock on the door, perhaps. A quick phone call to tell me you’re stopping by. Even a message by carrier pigeon would be appreciated.”
“But we aren’t ‘normal persons.’” The blond angel tilted his head. “Though, I suppose we can consider your request, since we’ll be watching you for the duration of your time here.”
“Good,” Liam said. “Great.” He was more than a little surprised that they could be so accommodating. Should he push his luck? Always. “And what are your names, anyway?”
The blond angel’s brows drew together. “I fail to see how that matters.”
“It’s just that I don’t know what to call you.”
“You don’t call us. We appear when we choose.”
“Aye, I’m aware,” Liam said under his breath.
“My name is Agon,” the dark-haired one announced with a smile. He was sitting on a branch, swinging his legs like he hadn’t a care in the world. And maybe he didn’t. Maybe dealing with Liam’s situation was just another boring day at the celestial office for them.
The blond angel shot Agon a disapproving look. “That’s not protocol.”
“It can’t hurt, Samael. He may as well call us by our names.”
“Agon and Samael,” Liam said. “Good to know.”
“Enough useless chatter.” The wind ruffled Samael’s blond curls and the tips of his feathers. “We’ve come to—”
“Let me guess. Remind me that I must remain on task?”
Samael squared his shoulders. “Yes.”
“Got it. Doing it.”
“I don’t see Finn here today,” Samael pointed out. “Cora and he are no closer to falling in love than they were the day you arrived.”
“I’ll get to it,” Liam said testily. He didn’t like talking about it. “I can’t force them together every single moment of the day. Things have to unfold naturally, or she’ll never go for him. She’s headstrong and smart, and she won’t be pushed into anything. It’s going to take time.”
“Which you don’t have,” Samael said. “You’ve already squandered an entire month, and you’ve strayed from your task on multiple occasions.”
“I was a bit preoccupied with keeping my job and staying out of jail, and I managed it, didn’t I?”
