I let out a breath, relieved he hadn’t stopped thinking that. Maybe it was petty, with everything else that was happening in the world – but so much had changed already, without changing how Alex viewed me, too. I wanted that to stay the same, for ever. “Thanks,” I said.

He propped his chin on top of my head, looking amused. “Well, it’s sort of a no-brainer. You’d be gorgeous if you shaved all your hair off.”

I laughed. “Let’s not test that one, okay? I think this is radical enough for one day.” I rested back against his chest, taking in his tousled dark hair and blue-grey eyes in the mirror. “Gorgeous” was actually the word I’d use to describe Alex, not me. It still gave me a tingle like Christmas morning sometimes, to realize this boy I was so much in love with felt the same way about me.

Meanwhile, my hair had not stopped being very short. Or very red. I kept getting mini jolts of surprise every time I saw myself, like my mind hadn’t caught up with what had happened yet.

“I wish there was some kind of dye we could use on your aura, too,” said Alex after a pause.

I nodded, rubbing his toned forearms. “I know. We’ll just have to be really careful.”

My aura – the energy force that surrounds every living thing – was silver and lavender; a distinct mix of angel and human. Any angel who spotted it would know instantly who I was: the only half-angel in the world, the one who’d tried to destroy them all. It was a risk that couldn’t be avoided, though, unless we planned to go live in a cave somewhere.

“Anyway, hopefully people won’t be trying to shoot me quite as often now,” I said.

“That’s the idea,” he agreed. “Because, you know...I kind of want you to stick around for a while.” His eyes flickered with memory, and I knew what he was thinking without trying, because I was thinking about the same thing. The worst day of both our lives: when he’d held me in his arms, just a day ago, and thought I had died. My arms tightened over his. The truth was, I had died. If Alex hadn’t been there to bring me back, I wouldn’t be here now.

“That’s what I have in mind,” I said softly. The crystal teardrop pendant he’d given me sparkled in the light. “Sticking around with you for a very, very long while.”

“Deal,” said Alex.