Until now, I’d said nothing about Trsiel’s hints that my quest was really a stepping stone to angel-hood. When I told Kristof that, I expected him to burst out laughing. I guess I should have known better. Instead, he listened, then gave a slow nod.

“That makes sense,” he said.

“It does?” I smiled. “I swear, Kris, you’re the only person in the universe who could hear that I’m a candidate for angel-hood and say, ‘That makes sense.’”

“But it does. You may not be the most obvious choice, but if they haven’t caught this Nix in over a hundred years, I’d say the obvious choices aren’t working out so well.” He paused, thoughtful. “I know this may not be the path you had in mind for your afterlife, but you may want to give the offer some serious thought. You’ve been…well, you’ve been better than I’ve seen you in a long time, happier, more…there. First, of course, you’d have to have a very long talk with the Fates, find out exactly what this deal would entail.”

“I—I’ve done that, Kris.”

His brows arched.

I managed a twist of a smile. “Surprised at my foresight? Don’t be. Trsiel told me the catch. And good thing he did, because…” My throat went tight. “Because I came very close to making a very big mistake. I’m not going to be an angel, Kris. The price is too high.”

“Savannah,” he murmured. “You couldn’t watch her anymore.”

“No, that’s not it. If anything, Savannah was the biggest plus to this whole offer.” I caught his gaze. “Becoming an angel would mean I could protect her, that I could have stopped Lily, just like Trsiel did. And, ever since Trsiel told me I might be a candidate, that’s all I’ve been able to think about, how it would help me with Savannah. But then, after you talked to me in Alaska, I wasn’t so sure that was the right path anymore. Then, today, I found out something that clinched it. Become an angel, and they send me off to angel-land. A one-way, one-passenger ticket.”

His brow crinkled, then a blink of surprise, quickly stifled. “You’d have to leave the ghost world, you mean, and you like it here—”

I cut him off with a fierce kiss. “You know what I mean, so stop playing dumb. I don’t care about the damned ghost world. It’s you I won’t leave.”

A slow smile, then he leaned over and kissed me back. A few minutes of that—too few minutes for my taste—and he pulled away.

“So no halo and wings for Eve.” He grinned. “I have to admit, that particular outfit wasn’t one I’ve ever imagined you in.”