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Everly didn't have that luxury.

She would grow older. Her hair would eventually turn silver. The hands that had just explored my feathers would change, and one day she'd reach the end of her life while I remained exactly as I was.

I'd already known those things before she asked about them last night.

What I hadn't fully considered was how much I wanted to experience those changes alongside her.

I wanted to know what our lives would look like after the excitement of Halloween had faded. I wanted to discover which books she'd insist I read, what she'd order when we went out to dinner, and whether she'd still find my terrible jokes amusing after hearing them for years.

And if she eventually wanted children, I wanted us to be able to consider that future together. I wanted that possibility for myself, not because she'd demanded it.

I'd known of the Second Life since my fall, but only now did I understand what choosing it required.

Every fallen angel retained the possibility of that final choice. It couldn't be demanded, stolen, or forced into being, and it couldn't be offered as a bargain to win someone's love. It became available only when the fallen angel genuinely wanted to surrender eternity.

Everly shifted against me, lifting her head when she noticed my attention had wandered.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes." I looked down at her, then glanced toward my wings. "There's something I need to tell you."

Her expression grew attentive.

"What is it?"

I drew one wing inward and guided her toward the sofa, where we sat close together. The leather creaked beneath my weight. Everly tucked one leg beneath herself and turned to face me, leaving her hand resting on my knee.

"There is another choice available to someone like me," I said. "A fallen angel can surrender what remains of his celestial existence and begin a fully human life."

She stared at me.

"You mean become human? Completely?"

"Yes. I'd lose my wings, my immortality, and everything else that comes from what I am. I'd age normally. I could become ill, get injured, and eventually die. My body would be human in every sense."

Everly's attention moved over my face before settling on the black feathers behind me.

"Why didn't you tell me this last night?"

"Because knowing it exists doesn't mean I can use it. It's not something I could promise you, and I wasn't going to turn it into another way of persuading you to be with me."

I covered her hand with mine.

"When we talked about your future, I knew there was a possibility I might never be able to offer. I couldn't honestly tell you I had a solution."

She absorbed that, her fingers resting quietly beneath mine.

"And now?"

I could feel the answer waiting, unmistakable in a way it had never been before.

"Now I know I can choose it."

Everly drew a breath, then shifted closer.

"Cillian, that's an enormous thing to give up. Your wings, your powers, everything you've always been. I don't want you doing something irreversible because I happened to mention wanting children someday."

"I know that's not what you asked."