“No, I didn’t.” Xavier’s left hand balls into a fist and he punches his leg. “I wasn’t thinking about right and wrong. I just felt things. I felt the need to protect you.”

I purse my lips and frown. Hmm. That’s an awful lot of lovey-dovey talk out of Xavier. I turn my attention to Mom, who’s doing way too much blushing and retying her robe. Definitely some attraction there.

Xavier steps closer. “This shouldn’t happen to someone like me.”

Mom looks up from her robe, her head cocked to one side in her ‘confused look.’ She isn’t the only one. I’m stumped as well. What’s all this ‘someone like me’ stuff? He’s a common angel, right?

Mom sets her hand on her throat. “What’re you talking about?”

Blue light flares in Xavier’s eyes. “I’m an archangel.”

I stagger back a few steps, my body reeling from the shock. A freaking archangel? They’re rarer than greater demons, and totally badass.

“An archangel? But there was nothing in your record.”

“That’s why I came to Purgatory. Few know me here. After the first few millennia of celebrity, I’ve chosen a low profile.” He closes his blue eyes. Points of white light sparkle around his shoulders. Great golden wings appear on Xavier’s back.

Mom’s fingertips brush the long gleaming feathers. Her voice is low and breathy. “So beautiful.”

Xavier shivers and opens his eyes. The wings disappear.

“An archangel.” Mom slides her hands into the pockets of her robe. “I didn’t know there were any left.”

I sniff. What Mom doesn’t know about angels and demons is a lot. A greater demon can be born or made. Armageddon became one when he was crowned the King of Hell. But archangels? Limited supply from the beginning of time. They’re so old and powerful, they rarely hang out with mortals at all. Most common angels never meet one. My eyes almost bug out of my head.

I can’t believe Mom worked with an archangel. Cool.

Xavier sets his hand on the living room wall, leaning onto it for support. “There aren’t many of us. I led our armies in the Battle of the Gates, the one that drove demons from Heaven. Armageddon was the general on the opposing side.” A sad look washes across his face. “He was a common demon then.”

I remember Xavier and Armageddon in the Senate committee meeting. That pair hate each other’s guts. I shake my head in disbelief. They fought in the War of the Gates, a thousand years ago. That’s one long grudge.

Mom examines his face for what feels like years. “Why are you telling me this now?”