Frank had given him George, a case that was almost as impossible as guarding Satan himself, minus the evil, of course. She was anything but evil, but she wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, either.
Dexter swallowed hard, fighting a shiver. “Was she really supposed to die, Titus?”
That was the way of a guardian angel. Their duty wasn’t to prevent a subject’s fate; it was their duty to help them find their way before biting the big one. To offer them hope beyond the mortal realm, if they were willing to receive it, that is.
Sometimes it was to help them reconcile something they’d done, a regret, a legacy. Sometimes it was to ease their coming passing. Most times, an angel didn’t know their subject’s fate, and any and all choices the subject eventually made were theirs alone, and angels weren’t supposed to deviate from the plan.
He’d deviated one too many times.
Titus shrugged his shoulders as he sat on his haunches in front of George, his silky white and gold robes rustling in the cold January wind. He placed his cigarette-free hand on George’s pale skin, brushing her mussed hair from her chalky-white forehead.
“I don’t know, Dex. You know I don’t. I mean, she did fall nine stories. That pretty much implies death. But you were supposed to wait and see and, if that was the case, send her off to wherever she was supposed to go. Like probably to an expert guardian who could teach her the ways of being an angel. But you can’t do that now, can you? Because if by some miracle—and we are in the biz of miracles—she wasn’t supposed to die, how are you going to explain Heaven having an extra angel who’s technically still half alive? Kind of suspish, right?”
Shit.
He crouched next to Titus, looking to his longtime friend to advise him. “So what now?”
Titus stared at George’s motionless body and took another deep drag of his smoke before he said, “You teach her how to be a guardian angel. You don’t have a choice.”
Dexter blinked. “Me? C’mon, man, I can’t even get my own permanent wings back. How the fresh hell am I going to teach George to get hers?”
Scooping George up in his arms, her small body so fragile compared to Titus’s enormous frame, he gaped at Dexter, the lit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. “I’m sorry, man, but would you prefer I let Frank handle this? Because you know what’ll happen if Frank handles this. Or do you want me to cover for you while I find a way to free up a spot and slip her in without anyone noticing? That’s going to take some finags, good buddy. But I need you, Dex. You’re one of the best I’ve got.”
Titus had this irritating habit of abbreviating words, and right now, it made him want to slug his old friend in the chops—even if he was helping him.
“So what can you finag, old friend?”
Titus blew out a breath. “Well, it’s obvi I can’t do both. It’s either find a way to sneak her upstairs, or I stay here and teach her how to be a guardian myself, and I’m not sure how I’m gonna squeeze that in with all the other stuff I have to take care of. So… Like I said, I really need you.”
That was fair. It was more than fair. Still, Dex had some serious reservations about keeping her out of the line of fire. “But won’t they notice a newb guardian? What if she was supposed to die but she wasn’t supposed to be a guardian at all, Titus? What if they’re waiting for her right now?”
Titus pressed an enormous hand to his shoulder. “You’ve been away from home for a long time, Dex. Have you forgotten how it works? Everyone’s a guardian at first, unless they’re crappy at it and can’t do field work. Remember?”
Running a hand over his chin, Dex bounced his head and snapped his fingers. “Right. They’ll just think she’s roaming around down here with…?”
“Me,” Titus boomed with a grin. “I’ll just tell them she’s under my care. No one will question it.”
“Totally forgot, but that’ll help for the time being. Aaand, if after thirty days, she can’t be a guardian for whatever reason, she becomes a helper—desk job, cleaner, garden work and so on. So I’ve got a little time to right this.”
Titus gave him a solemn nod. “Right. A month and a few days at best if the guys in receiving are bogged down.”
Dex looked at beautiful George and grimaced when another worry came to mind. “But wait. You’re going to have to lie, T. I can’t ask you to do that for me.”
Titus shook his head. “I’m not gonna lie, padre. I’m gonna tell them I handed her off to you because that’s what I’m doing, right? If we get caught before I slip her in upstairs, I’ll just tell ’em my plate was full and I needed some help. You already know George. So it made sense to delegate to you.”
That did make sense. Perfect sense. Mostly. But it didn’t change the fact that it was a lie.
“But it’s still a lie,” he insisted.
He was all for white lies as long as they didn’t harm anyone, but this also meant he had to lie to George about becoming an angel—in that, he didn’t know where she stood being only half angel.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a white one, and I’m willing to take the hit. I need you, Dex. I wasn’t joking when I said that. You’re one of the very best. I don’t want to lose you.”
But then
