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"I had lunch with Taryn today, and she asked how things were going. I couldn't tell her everything, obviously, but I found myself wanting to talk about you. Not about the masquerade or the extraordinary things I've learned. Just you."

She looked down for a moment, smiling to herself.

"I wanted to tell her how much I was looking forward to dinner with you and how funny you can be when you're not deliberately trying to shock me. And how you actually listen when I talk about things that matter to me."

I remembered sitting across from her at the restaurant, watching her explain why she'd loved gothic novels since she was a teenager. She'd grown animated describing the characters, occasionally interrupting herself to ask whether I thought she was being ridiculous.

I'd told her that a man who'd spent centuries around angels had no business judging anyone else's taste for dramatic personalities.

She'd laughed so hard she'd nearly spilled her water.

Now she looked up at me with an expression that caught somewhere beneath my ribs.

"I know this has all happened very quickly," she continued. "And I know we have plenty left to learn about each other. But I've never felt like this before. Not with anyone."

I brushed my thumb along her cheek.

"Neither have I."

She studied me for a moment, then smiled with a tenderness that left me wanting to pull her even closer.

"I love you, Cillian."

For the first time in longer than I cared to remember, I couldn't think of a clever thing to say.

I'd wanted Everly for years. I'd risked everything to reach the mortal world, then discovered that sharing an office with her could be far more difficult than breaking celestial law. I'd watched her refuse me, approach me, become furious with me, and finally invite me into her life with her eyes open.

I knew what she was offering.

I also knew she hadn't said those words because she wanted something extraordinary in return.

I drew her against me, careful of the wings gathered behind my shoulders, and kissed her until I had to lift my head to breathe.

"I love you too," I told her.

Her smile widened, and she reached up to touch my face.

"You look rather surprised."

"I am. I've spent an appalling amount of time imagining what it would be like to hear you say that. The reality is even better."

She laughed softly.

"Well, perhaps I'll have to say it again sometime."

"I'd appreciate that."

She kissed me once more and settled against my chest.

I held her for a long while, listening to the harbor wind moving along the windows. One of my wings rested partly extended behind us, its feathers shifting whenever I breathed.

Everly had told me she loved me while standing beside those enormous black wings. She knew what I was. She knew what I'd done. She also knew I couldn't promise to grow older with her or give her the possibility of a family in the ordinary human sense.

She'd chosen me anyway.

And I loved her enough to want much more for us than the certainty that I'd outlive her.

I had always regarded my immortality as an advantage. There was time to learn anything I wanted, go anywhere I pleased, and recover from mistakes that would've killed a human being. I'd lost much of my celestial power in the fall, but I'd never feared running out of years.