His other arm came around me, pulling me against him. I felt his muscles tense and bunch. For a moment, I thought he was going to lift in the air and take me away. Put me in a cage just like he said.

But he didn’t fly in the air. He jumped sideways, and there was a second of realization. I lost my hold on the grace. The Sword of Michael collapsed just before we crashed through the water.

We went down together, a tangle of legs and churning bubbles. His gaze met mine through the rushing water as we sank and sank. His lips moved as he spoke, and Jesus, were angels part-fish or something? Were there gills in those feathers?

There was a better question to ask. Was he going to drown me? It was all too easy, with how tight he held me to him. There was no breaking his hold.

Before that question could give way to panic, he pushed off the bottom of the pool. We broke the surface moments later, and he let go. I didn’t sink back, finding myself in a shallower end, where the water reached my waist.

Gasping for air, I backed up as I wiped under my nose. I glanced down, and in the faintest traces of the encroaching dawn, I could see the darker gleam of blood was absent on my fingers.

My heart stuttered again. Had he...had he known or remembered what my blood would do? Was that why he tossed us both in the pool?

I looked up, watching him...watch me. Neither of us spoke as I backed into the wall of the pool. He was close, his features clearer than they should’ve been to me. There was a tautness to the set of his lips, one I had only barely begun to understand but recognized nonetheless. My heart hammered now for a wholly different reason. He came closer, his wings slicing through the water behind him. I stiffened, but I didn’t move.

He stopped in front of me, and I had to tilt my head back to meet his stare. “Why did you kiss me earlier?”

His question caught me off guard, and it took me a moment to answer. “Because I...I wanted to reach you.”

Thick lashes I shouldn’t be able to see lowered, shielding his gaze. “Did you?” he asked, his voice softer. More...more like Zayne than I’d ever heard.

A shivery wave of awareness skated through me. “You’re here,” I said thickly, lifting my hands from the water. I didn’t even know what I was doing until I did it, placing my hands against his chest.

He seemed to suck in a deep breath at the contact, as I flattened my palms against his too-cold skin. I didn’t push him away. I just...just touched him.