“See, I’ve got this really bad feeling that we’re not going to get rid of you,” said Alex. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think you’re planning on heading back up to Chihuahua now that you’ve met another half-angel.”

Seb’s gaze went to me...and all at once I knew that no power on earth would make him leave. Now that he’d finally found me, he’d die before he ever let himself be separated from me again. And to my alarm, what I felt wasn’t far off from that. It made me shaky to admit it, but it was true – something primal that I couldn’t even control. Seb might be the only other half-angel I’d ever encounter. There was no way I wanted him to go back to Chihuahua.

“No, I’m not going anywhere,” said Seb. “Not unless you want me to,” he added to me.

I was so conscious of Alex standing beside me, of what he might be feeling about all this. “No, I don’t want you to go,” I admitted softly.

Alex glanced down at me in surprise. I tried to tell him with my eyes that this had nothing to do with him and me, and everything to do with needing to know another of my kind. To my relief, I saw understanding cross his face. He didn’t look happy, exactly, but I could see that he got it.

“You were holding his hand,” he said after a pause. “What did you get? Can he be trusted?”

Remembering what I’d seen, the question almost made me laugh. Seb had been a thief for years; he’d picked more pockets and stolen more cameras and purses than he could count. But I did trust him, I realized. I’d trust him with...anything.

“Yeah, he can be trusted,” I said.

Alex seemed to make up his mind. “Okay, look,” he said to Seb. “If you came back with us, could you teach Willow how to do that aura thing?”

Seb’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know how?” he said to me.

I shook my head, shocked that Alex was even suggesting this – though on second thought, it made perfect sense. My half-angel aura put me in danger every time I went outside; I knew how much he worried about it. “I’m not usually that aware of auras,” I told Seb. “I mean, I can see other people’s if I try, but I’ve never seen my own unless I was in my angel form. Trying to change it never occurred to me – I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Seb’s hazel eyes were concerned. “Yes, I’ll teach you. It’s much safer.”