Antiphon

gaze shifts back to me, “I think.”

I can’t stop laughing, but I nod.

The guy doesn’t look sure, so I work really hard to stop giggling. “Thank you, but I’m okay.”

He eyes Luc warily. “If you’re sure.”

I clear my throat and try to look serious. “I’m sure.”

As he climbs back in his car and pulls away, I feel Luc’s arms snake around my waist and pull my body into his. “Are you done beating me up?” Luc says into my hair, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Maybe.” I spin in his arms and wipe a smudge of dirt off his cheek. “Are you done pissing me off?”

He grins. “Maybe.”

He grabs my hand and tows me back to the car. But as we pull away, something he said hits me hard, like a fist to the gut, and I feel suddenly sick.

“Do you think I cheated?”

He loops his arm over my shoulders. “What?”

“You just said I could pretty much have whatever I wanted. Did I make you love me?”

He turns and looks into my eyes, a bemused smile on his perfect lips. “You did.”

“No, I mean did I make you love me. Like, you didn’t really want to but my. influence-this Sway thing or whatever it is that Gabe thinks I can do-like, made you.”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Not to me.”

“Frannie, what matters is that what I feel is real and genuine. I wouldn’t want to go back to what I was. How I got here doesn’t matter, just that I’m here.”

“That’s just stupid. That’s like saying I beat you in poker ’cause I stacked the deck, but you’re glad I have all your money.”

“If you took my money and bought me paradise with it, I would be glad you had it. And that’s what you’ve done.” He reaches for me and draws me to his shoulder. I shove him away and look out the window as he pulls back out into the road. I feel his eyes on me, but I can’t look at him, knowing what I’ve done. I’ve given a whole new meaning to the term “mind games.” But more, in some selfish little corner of my mind, I hate that he didn’t fall in love with me. He was pushed. He doesn’t love me for me. He loves me ’cause he had no choice.

Luc

Frannie’s sitting on the arm of a chair, staring out the window, and Gabriel is sitting on his couch looking at me like I’m nuts. “The Shield only works for angels and some mortals. Last I looked, dude, you’re no angel.”

“What do you mean, ‘some mortals’?”

“Well, Adam and Lilith were the first we tried it on, and you know how well that went. But there have been others where it’s worked.” He shrugs. “Go figure.”

“You mean Eve-Adam and Eve,” Frannie says to the window.

Gabriel cocks half a smile. “You’re right, it didn’t work on Eve either, but Lilith was Adam’s first wife.”

She turns and looks at him, then at me, as if hoping I’ll confirm that Gabriel has lost his mind. I shake my head. “Long story.” Then I turn back to Gabriel. “Why didn’t the Shield work on Frannie?”

Gabriel glares at me. “It did. Until you showed up.”

“Oh.”

“What didn’t work on me? What’s this Shield?”

Gabriel answers. “It’s essentially a shield against detection by evil. It hides you from all things infernal.”

Hope sparks in her eyes. “Could it hide me from angels too?”

A sad smile flits across Gabriel’s lips. “No.”

She looks dejected again as she asks, “Why didn’t it work on me?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes it partially works. It only takes one demon who’s particularly sensitive to you, for any reason. ” He shoots a glance at me.

She looks at me, uncertainty in her eyes. “So you’re saying, even with this Shield, Luc found me anyway.”

“Looks that way,” Gabriel says, but her eyes stay locked on mine.

I nod reassuringly at her and smile. She’s so afraid she manipulated me into loving her. It hurts that she can’t see how much more it is now. How big it is. It may have been her Sway that started the ball rolling, but the way she makes me feel. that’s not her Sway. It’s just her.

Her gaze shifts to Gabriel. “Try it on me again.”

“You’re still under the protection of the Shield. I think that’s why Lucifer is the only one who’s found you so far.”

I frown. “And Belias and Avaira.”

Gabriel’s eyes shoot to me. “What are you talking about?”

“Your radar sucks. They’ve been here for a few weeks.”

His surprise turns to antipathy. “You should have told me, but I’m sure Belias found you, loser. You’re like an infernal lightning rod. You’re still bound to them, and that psychic thread will be hard to sever.”

I can think of one way to sever it right now. “Which brings me back to my original request.”

Gabriel eyes me warily. “I’ve never heard of anyone trying it on a demon. I’m thinking this isn’t such a great idea.”

“But I’m not a demon anymore, remember?”

“In body, you may be becoming mortal, but in essence you’re still theirs-a creature of the Underworld.”

I know he’s right, because I couldn’t have done what I did with Frannie earlier otherwise. “If no one’s tried it on a demon, how can you be sure it won’t work on me? What’s the risk?”

“The risk. well, let’s see. There’s the risk of death. Forces of light-especially forces this powerful-tend to kill forces of evil. Even if it didn’t kill you, it could alter you in ways I can’t even guess at.”

Frannie stands and steps toward me, her eyes full of concern. “Is somebody gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Gabriel looks at her with a sardonic smile. “Lucifer is asking for a miracle.”

She rolls her eyes. “Aren’t we all? But, really. ”

I can’t help the smile. “He’s serious. That’s exactly what I’m asking for.”

“A miracle,” she says, as if waiting for the punch line.

“Yep.”

That obviously wasn’t the answer she was hoping for. “Great.”

Gabriel laces his fingers in hers and stares into her palm. “The Shield of Light makes angels invisible to detection by forces of evil. Angels can protect a mortal under their Shield when it doesn’t work directly on the mortal. That’s part of the reason I’m here-to shield you.” He looks up at her and she holds his eyes with hers.

Chocolate.

Jealousy bubbles up and I choke it back-for her sake. “Your radar sucks and your Shield must be defective too. I smelled you coming a mile away,” I smirk.

Gabriel’s eyes stay locked on Frannie’s. “I let you detect me. Hoping to scare you off.”

A bark of a laugh escapes my chest. “As if!”

“So, what is this Shield? What would Luc have to do?” Frannie asks.

Gabriel pulls his eyes away from Frannie and shoots a cynical look at me. “Grow a halo.”

She rolls her eyes again. “Be serious.”

We both look at her, dead serious.

“Great,” she says again.

Gabriel eyes me skeptically. “It will only work on a pure heart with the purest intentions.”

Frannie cracks a smile. “I could have told you that wouldn’t work on me.”

Gabriel is still staring at me. “It would be dangerous to try on a mortal tagged for Hell, and I think you’re a