"Octavio, I need you to move up a bit, okay?" Priscilla's hands gently tugged at the tattered shirt around my chest. Sitting in the backseat of Gabriel's car, there wasn't much room. But he'd said it when he first saw me, and right before we left—I was bleeding and needed it taken care of. And the longer I stood around listening to shit I couldn't understand, the more I bled out and the weaker I felt.

Priscilla was trying to fix that.

I glanced at her but complied. She had a small box with fresh bandages and alcohol pads. I needed her more than I could admit. And it hurt because I felt like a joke. For those around me to know the cracks in my past, present, and very being... I wasn't sure how to behave.

"Okay, let me know if this hurts." Priscilla gave me a weak smile as she peeled off the first set of bandages. It hurt, but not much. I hissed in discomfort but arched and allowed her the space to do what she needed. "Some of these don't look as bad..." she whispered, brushing her hands over my skin. "Some look better than earlier. Do you heal fast?" She blinked at me.

"He's a demon, Priscilla," Gabriel grumbled from the front seat, "they heal."

Again with his irritation. I got it; I was the enemy. I was probably the main reason Priscilla's soul had been appointed a guardian angel. Gabriel of all angels, for darkness' sake.

But I had good intentions. Once I realized it was Priscilla's soul I needed to kill, I, for one, couldn't do it. And two, I'd settled on protecting her because I knew the others would come. Eventually.

"If you knew he'd heal fast, why did you make such a fuss about his bleeding." Priscilla narrowed her eyes. "You had me worried over here."

"You always worry," he mumbled as he turned the car onto the next street. He glanced at her through the rearview mirror. "You worried about the baby squirrels next door for days. So yeah, you'd worry. But he was bleeding."

"But he's healing," she said quietly.

"Excuse me for forgetting how fast they heal." Leaning back in his driver's seat, Gabriel shrugged. "I don't make it my business to know a demon's health."

"Well, you should," she hissed before looking back at me. Her face instantly changed, and I immediately felt her rays of light. "I'm sorry for how I acted at my place. I'm not like that, and now it's super weird, and—"

"It's not weird." When she pressed up against my ribs to tighten the fresh bandage, I hissed and closed my eyes. I said what I felt. I knew what she was reacting to; our souls connected and merged a long time ago, and being next to her, kissing her, had to bring that back. It brought those feelings back for me. "I felt it, too."

They never left you, Octavio. You thought about her every day and felt her constantly, right?

A deep red spread over her light brown cheeks. She couldn't look me in the eye. Turning her head, she bit her lip. "I um, well shit," she smirked. "I wasn't expecting that answer."

"Could you both not do this in my car, please." Gabriel looked at us through the rearview mirror. His gaze settled on my reflection. "If you're here, you must stay alive until I figure this out. How many demons have tried to hunt you?"

Priscilla tugged at the bandage again. This time it hurt. I clenched my jaw to keep from yelping and looked at Gabriel. "Three," I said. "And you killed one."

"Right." He turned onto another street, slowly approaching a brick building with no windows. "Greed wasn't as tough as I thought he'd be. Who were the other ones?"

I glanced out the side window behind Priscilla's head. I'd been so focused on how she managed to clean my wounds without missing a beat, I hadn't noticed the intense energy Gabriel was driving to. The building was covered with it, emitting a pure light from every brick in its wall. I licked my bottom lip as Gabriel parked the car, leaned over his driver's seat, and asked me again, "Who were the other demons, Envy?"

My gaze snapped to him. He addressed me by my true name, and while I should be grateful, I was conflicted. This morning I woke up believing I wanted that name, my chair within the temple, but after the past few hours... it felt like it wasn't worth it. My life was expendable. Pride made that abundantly clear.

I politely smiled as Priscilla reached into a backpack and grabbed me another one of her gallery shirts. She shrugged as I pressed my arms into it to pull it over my head. "Sorry, it was the only extra stuff I had that could fit you."

Biting my lip, I sucked in a breath and pulled the shirt over my bandaged chest. This shirt wasn't as big as the other one, and I smirked because the print of her face was right above my heart. "It's fine, thank you," I told her before looking back at Gabriel. I cleared my throat. "Earlier, Wrath and Lust came after me."

Gabriel's brows lifted as he stepped out of the car. "Shit, that duo?"

Priscilla zipped up her bag and then stepped out of the car. I slowly followed, looking at her before looking at the building Gabriel stopped us next to. "Yeah, them two," I said.

As the car doors locked, Gabriel walked around the front of it and over to the building. Two large metal doors glowed as he approached. I knew spiritual energy could be used on inanimate objects, but a small warehouse? Angels were something else, huh? I'd never heard of it.

"That leaves who else? Sloth and Pride?" he asked as he passed his hand over the doors. The opened on impact.

I looked at him as Priscilla stepped into the building. She pressed a hand over Gabriel's arm, looking up at him with a small smile before looking back at me. The slight shimmer in her eyes silently told me everything would be okay, but I wasn't worried about what could happen. I mean, I was, but what Gabriel just said took priority.

He said the names of the remaining souls, not including mine, because I stood in front of him, but he didn't say anything about Gluttony. Was my old friend the demon in his plan?

So many secrets, so little time.

"If you're in here, they can't sense you," Gabriel said, motioning for me to walk inside his building. "Because with Greed dead, they'll be coming. And I need time to figure out how to deal with this."

Gabriel was right. Greed was dead, which meant the Seven needed to react. And needed to respond fast. How much time did we have? A day? A week? It couldn't be a month. When the Seven are threatened, they'd act fast; Wrath and Lust coming after me is only proof of it.

This made them the enemy.

Which meant... I was the enemy.

Gulping, I stepped toward the opened door, but before I could step inside, Gabriel reached out and touched my shoulder. "Just so you know, I don't think you're the enemy."

My eyes widened.

"I just need us to be ready. I haven't spent all these years watching over Priscilla, protecting her, and teaching her things normal people don't know for it all to crumble now." He slowly nodded. "So, I appreciate what you did," he sighed, then slapped my arm to get me inside. "Doesn't mean I have to like you."

Well, shit, that changed quickly. I knew he didn't have to like me, but he didn't have to say it. I had to be a hindrance in his plan, right? Not a part of it.

"Okay, relax." Pricilla stood in the middle of the building's ample open space. A clean scent filled my senses as I stepped close to her. With her hands on her hips, she shook her head, watching me as I approached, then scowled at Gabriel. "Not everyone needs to know how you feel."

"Really?" Gabriel closed the door behind me. The lock echoed in the space. I glanced back at him before letting my gaze pass over the shelves and trunks stacked upon each other, each making small aisles, like a maze. Curiosity took over, and I stopped in front of a rack lined with books, organized by size and color. Eyeing the gold lettering on one of them, I wanted to touch it.

"Don't." Gabriel walked over to me and gave me a look paired with a warning. "Don't touch them."

"I don't think your book collection is important today, Gabriel," Priscilla sighed. "You brought him into your little sanctuary. You might as well let him explore."

Even without touching them, I could read the spine: Demons, Sins, and the Dark Realm. I cocked a brow. If he was an angel like I thought he was... would he need to learn about us through mortal literature? Wouldn't there be inaccuracies? Stories mortals made up to put meaning behind what they didn't understand?

"No, I don't." Gabriel pulled his pistol down on a table beside one of the trunks. I watched as he pulled additional ammo from a slot on his belt, then shrugged off his jacket. "I don't need to let him explore," then he looked at me, "I also don't need to be educated with the knowledge I am born with. This literature is for entertainment."

I asked that question in my head. Could he hear my thoughts?

It's best to be careful around him, Octavio.

"I don't understand..." Sliding my hand over my chest, I cautiously turned and stepped to him.

I stood a foot from Gabriel in took in a deep breath. "Which part?" Clearing his throat, he shrugged off his trench coat. I saw the scars on his arms, dark and deep in his brown skin. He looked like he wasn't a stranger to a fight, but with who? I had never heard of demons and angels fighting. Or was that a secret, too? "I exist, just like you," he said. "And now I need to protect you as I protect her," he motioned to Priscilla. "That's why you're here, in my place, where no one finds me."

Priscilla placed her bag next to his pistols and smiled at me with a small shrug. "It's where he prayers and prepares for the end of days and stuff," she said. "An angel never stops... angeling, I guess."

Angeling? I pursed my lips. "So you've been here before?" I asked.

"Mhm." She nodded. "Have for years. I read those books, listened to his stories, and learned all about..." she chewed on her bottom lip, "us, I guess, A demon and a soul breaking all the rules."

"And that... never bothered you? Confused you?"

"Not really," she sighed, "at least not anymore. Years ago, sure, but the more I learned, the more it intrigued me. I felt, I don't know, majestic and important."

"Important?" I looked at her, then at Gabriel. "I don't—"

"You don't understand, yeah, yeah, I know." Gabriel licked his lips before walking through his makeshift aisles. "You two get some rest and relax—not with each other—while I prepare."

Priscilla followed him with her eyes before turning in his direction. She slid her hands over her arms as she watched him. "Prepare for what?" she asked.

"I don't know," he called out. "Possibly war, onslaught, our mutual enemies." He turned, looking at us with his hands raised beside his head. "Shit's going to happen, and we need to be ready."

***

1873

For three days, we walked through the wooded area behind her house. For three days, I protected her while out and in the open. The feeling of being watched faded after the first night. My fear that the Seven would come for me for neglecting my duty, for refusing to kill the soul, disappeared after the second night. And as the sun started to descend along the horizon for the third night, I thought of nothing but her.

She had turned a horrible, terrifying, ghastly situation into a moment of fun and adventure. Though we wandered, her free spirit guided us away from the dangers of the decapitated men and the consequences paired with them. We were far from her home, farther from her father and the town he'd walked in and never returned to; we were within ourselves to do as we wished.

I found all of it... exhilarating.

As Priscilla stopped on top of a boulder beside a thin, clear stream of water, she focused on the dipping sun. The wind pushed through her curls, and she caught the loose strands before they covered her face. I stood beside her in time to see the gentle smile on her face.

Standing beside her, I helped and pushed a loose curl behind her ear. "Are you sure you're all right?" I asked, tensing as she turned her bright, beautiful eyes in my direction. My heart hammered with sudden excitement. "I can take you to a nearby town and ensure someone will care for you. We don't have to keep running."

And by 'we,' I meant her. No one should have to do this.

She bit her bottom lip. "Do you want to leave me?"

My heart thumped. "I..." I held my breath for a moment. "I don't want to, but—"

Turning, she gently placed her hand on my chest. Her fingers softly fisted the fabric of my top. "I'm afraid of what will happen when I'm alone," she whispered. "To be in an unknown town where no one is familiar with me or my father, to not have the presence of another, I don't believe I'll be safe. And you, good Octavio," she came closer, breasts against my chest, legs brushing against mine, "have done nothing but help me since our first meeting. If I am abusing your kindness, I apologize, but give me another day of peace."

The more I looked into her eyes, the more conflicted I felt. The darkness in me reminded me that her soul mustn't live another night. I was to rip it from her body and present it to Him and Her without delay. The rest of my heart battled with emotions; mortal emotions that could plague any man or woman. I wanted to help and save her, but I also wanted to keep her with me, selfishly claiming her soul as mine instead of a gift to my creators.

Was I truly selfish if she wanted me here? I offered to take her to a town, and she refused. She wanted to remain out here with me.

'Be honest with her and let that push your decision.'

"Priscilla, I am not a good man—" I wasn't a man at all and hadn't been for over a century. "—and staying by my side will do more harm than good."

"I don't think you would allow harm to come my way." Pressing herself up on the tips of her toes, she cupped my face, lips hovering over mine. "You haven't yet, and I doubt that will change."

It wasn't just her soul I saw; her heartbeat was unmistakable. The nervous anticipation made the organ pound in her chest, pushing blood through her veins with a force I could see. It both radiated and captivated me. Wanting to feel the pressure of mortal decisions, I gently cupped her neck, allowing my fingers to press beneath her chin and behind her ear. Her mouth parted. What was I doing?

"Growing up, I heard stories from women about fairy tales." Her gaze passed over my face. "About princesses in need of a savior and the dark knights riding in with the wind to protect them and pull them from their terrible lives."

I gulped, listening.

"They would always tell me that while the stories were enticing, they weren't true and would never be. I wasn't allowed those liberties, allowing myself to believe a knight would come and sweep me away from my awful life."

I thought to take a step away. It was best to put distance between us, but my heart wouldn't allow it, and her spirit kept me glued to where I stood. "Priscilla..." I breathed.

"Won't you allow me this choice? Even if it is false and you will leave, let me believe in the stories I heard outside the brothels. Allow me to believe, even for a moment, that a knight has come to my rescue and will allow me the life I deserve."

With her words caressing my ears like warm silk, darkness slipped away. I could think of doing nothing else but what she wished.

But what of the consequences? If I remained with her, protecting her, would they find us? What would they do to me? To her?

I was a Sin, and I would do more damage than good.

"This freedom isn't granted to someone like me," I whispered honestly, wishing she understood me without context.

But as she softly smiled and shook her head, I felt as if she either didn't need it or refused to hear my reasons why. "And I am not allowed this freedom. Let us take the light presented and run from the darkness of our existence." She brushed her nose against mine. Our lips brushed against one another. "Escape with me, Octavio."