he nally said, "It's getting late. They're expecting you at Shoreline before midnight." He stepped on the gas, taking a quick left into downtown Mendocino. In the side mirror, Luce watched the mobile home park grow smaller, darker, until it disappeared completely. But then, a few seconds later, Daniel parked the car in front of an empty all-night diner with yellow walls and oor-to-ceiling front windows.
The block was full of quirky, quaint buildings that reminded Luce of a less stu y version of the New England coastline near her old New Hampshire prep school, Dover. The street was paved with uneven cobblestones that glowed yellow in the light from the streetlamps overhead. At its end, the road seemed to drop straight into the ocean. A coldness sneaked up on her. She had to ignore her re exive fear of the dark. Daniel had explained about the shadows--that they were nothing to be afraid of, merely messengers. Which should have been reassuring, except for the hard- to-ignore fact that it meant there were bigger things to be afraid of.
"Why won't you tell me?" She couldn't help herself. She didn't know why it felt so important to ask. If she was going to trust Daniel when he said he had to abandon her after longing all her life for this reunion--well, maybe she just wanted to understand the origins of that trust. To know when and how it had all begun.
"Do you know what my last name means?" he said, surprising her.
Luce bit her lip, trying to think back to the research she and Penn had done. "I remember Miss Sophia saying something about Watchers. But I don't know what it means, or if I'm even supposed to believe her." Her ngers went to her neck, to the place where Miss Sophia's knife had lain.
"She was right. The Grigoris are a clan. They're a clan named after me, actually. Because they watch and learn from what happened when ... back when I was still welcome in Heaven. And back when you were ... well, this all happened a very long time ago, Luce. It's hard for me to remember most of it."
"Where? Where was I?" she pressed. "I remember Miss Sophia saying something about the Grigoris consorting with mortal women. Is that what happened? Did you ...?"
He looked over at her. Something changed on his face, and in the dim moonlight, Luce couldn't tell what it meant. It was almost like he was relieved that she had guessed it, so he didn't have to be the one to spell it out.
"The very rst time I saw you," Daniel continued, "it wasn't any di erent than any other time I've seen you since. The world was newer, but you were just the same. It was--"
"Love at rst sight." That part she knew.
He nodded. "Just like always. The only di erence was, in the beginning, you were o -limits to me. I was being punished, and I'd fallen for you at the worst possible time. Things were very violent in Heaven. Because of who ... I am ... I was expected to stay away from you. You were a distraction. The focus was supposed to be on winning the war. It's the same war that's still going on." He sighed. "And if you haven't noticed, I'm still very distracted."
"So you were a very high angel," Luce murmured. "So you were a very high angel," Luce murmured.
"Sure." Daniel looked miserable, pausing and then seeming, when he spoke again, to bite out the words: "It was a fall from one of the highest perches."
Of course. Daniel would have to be important in Heaven in order to have caused such a big rift. In order for his love of a mortal girl to be so o - limits.
"You gave it all up? For me?"
He touched his forehead to hers. "I wouldn't change a thing."
"But I was nothing," Luce said. She felt heavy, like she was dragging. Dragging him down. "You had to give up so much!" She felt sick to her stomach. "And now you're damned forever."
Turning o the car, Daniel gave her a sad smile. "It might not be forever."
"What do you mean?"
"Come on," he said, hopping out of the car and coming around to open her door. "Let's take a walk."
They ambled to the end of the street, which didn't dead-end after all, but led to a steep, rocky staircase going down to the water. The air was cool and moist with sea spray. Just