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"I'm serious. I love you exactly as you are. I meant that."

"I know you did." I lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. "And I love you. That's the important part. You haven't asked me to change, and I don't need to change to keep you. But I want to grow old with you, Everly. I want to find out what it's like to have a life that doesn't go on forever."

Her eyes shone as she looked at me.

"Are you certain?"

"I am."

She leaned into my shoulder for a moment, and I rested my cheek against her hair.

I'd stolen extraordinary power once because I couldn't bear the thought of never reaching her.

Now I had her love, freely given. I could have remained a fallen angel, loved her throughout her mortal years, and endured whatever came afterward.

Instead, I wanted the same ordinary lifetime she had.

I kissed the top of her head and rose from the sofa.

Everly stood with me.

"What happens when you choose it?" she asked. "Is there something you have to do?"

"Nothing complicated. But I think you'd better give me a little room."

She moved back toward the sofa, watching me as I stepped beneath the loft's highest ceiling.

My wings opened behind me.

I extended them slowly, letting the long black feathers spread until they filled the open space between the windows and the worktable. Their familiar weight shifted along my shoulders, and I could feel the cold air moving against their outer edges.

Everly stood a few feet away, her hands clasped loosely in front of her.

For a moment, I simply held the wings open.

They'd carried me through the skies of Heaven and the night air over Witch Harbor. They'd blackened when I fell, becoming a permanent reminder of the choices that had brought me into the mortal world.

I would miss them.

That didn't make me want to keep them.

I reached inward toward the final choice that had become available to me and accepted it.

Pain tore across my back.

I staggered, catching the edge of the worktable as my wings snapped to their full span. The sudden movement sent a rush of air through the loft, stirring loose papers and lifting the corners of Everly's discarded coat.

My celestial markings burned across my chest.

I gritted my teeth against the pain, feeling it spread through my shoulders and down my spine. I'd endured injuries before, but my supernatural body had always recovered almost immediately.

This was different.

I felt the strength that had supported my wings begin to drain away.

"Cillian!"

Everly came toward me, stopping when the nearest wing swept across her path.