“It is. Most Archs don’t believe we should exist, and the…Others see us as the enemy as well.”

“Archs?”

“There are several types of angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones…there are nine in all. Archangels serve as protectors for humans. They relay messages, fight demons on occasion, and protect their Taleh against harm, from demon and human alike. But all humans have Archs, and even if their Taleh is threatened by another Arch’s Taleh, Arch’s are forbidden to harm humans. They are strictly protectors, but that protection has limits because of the Laws. Claire, Bex and I are half-human, freeing us from many of those restrictions, just like my father when he chose to live as human.”

“So…Gabe…turned human?”

“No. He relinquished the ability to transfer planes….” My expression must have reflected how foreign the words sounded to me, because he stopped to explain. “To be invisible. Falling from grace has a price. Archs are cursed when they choose to stay, and that curse carries on to their offspring; although, it lessens with each generation. As the blood is diluted with the human gene pool, so is the curse.”

“What kind of curse?” I asked. His world was much darker than wings and harps.

“Archs are obligated to protect their humans even after they fall, and because their priorities have been compromised, so to speak, the curse keeps that obligation in check. Fallen and their offspring, like Archs, don’t get sick and we can’t be killed. But unlike Archs, we experience a degree of pain and have a limited life span. Once our Taleh die, we almost immediately fall ill and expire.”

“So you lost your father when I lost mine,” I whispered.

Jared nodded infinitesimally and wiped a tear from my eye.

I leaned away from his hand. “Please don’t do that. Don’t comfort me for your father’s death.”

Jared shook his head. “I can’t stand to see you cry. Not when I’m close enough to stop it.”

“I’m so sorry, Jared.” I couldn’t imagine having to experience the constant worry of not only my father’s mortality, but someone else’s as well, for the sake of my father.

My eyes widened as my thoughts shifted. “I’m you’re Taleh?”

“You are.” He sat up a bit taller as his sad expression warmed at the thought.

“How do you know?”

“It’s a feeling we get. When you’re in pain, embarrassed, scared, sick, happy…aroused—,” he looked down for a moment, seeming embarrassed—“…we feel it to a lesser extent.”

“You can feel it when I feel those things?”

“It’s hard to explain. I guess I could liken it to a mosquito buzzing in your ear.”

“So, if I…bump my side on my father’s desk?”

“I can sense it,” he confirmed, amused that I had caught on.