too bad Margery wasn’t born in spring because I like that one best. Pink is the prettiest by far! Don’t you think so?” She turned to Koji, patiently waiting for his agreement.
“I have noticed your preference for the color,” he replied carefully. Too carefully.
“What?” she demanded. “Do you have a problem with these?”
“There are several … inaccuracies.”
“Really?” Prissie eyed the figurines critically. “I think they’re very flattering.”
Koji studied the lineup of slender, serene-faced angels. “These are all females.”
“So?”
“There are no female angels,” he stated emphatically.
“None?” she asked, stunned.
“And feathers,” he noted, sounding mystified.
“Obviously,” she retorted. “They’re wings!”
He gazed at her, dark eyes solemn. “Angels are not birds.”
“Are you saying angels don’t have wings?”
“No,” he replied patiently. “Many angels do, but they are not like these.”
Prissie stooped to peer at the next shelf down in the case, which held a large selection of fairies. “What about these?” she asked. The brightly colored figurines had butterfly wings, dragonfly wings, and a few in the back had bat-like dragon wings. “At least they have pointed ears, right?”
Koji shook his head in consternation. “I will have to ask Shimron about this. It makes sense since no one ever remembers clearly … except in dreams.”
“Do you have a halo?”
He tilted his head to one side, considering one statue’s tiny angelic accessory. “I do not wear a ring of light over my head, but I can become too bright for you to bear. Perhaps that is what the sculptor wished to signify?”
“I can bear you just fine,” Prissie countered, upset that her traditional gift for Margery was being criticized.
“Also, they are unarmed.”
“Why would they need weapons?” she scoffed. “You aren’t armed!”
He glanced over his shoulder and scanned the store, pausing at various points as if he was seeing something she couldn’t. “Observers are not, but any angel is in danger when they are in this world.”
“Danger? Why?” Prissie exclaimed, looking around the quaint little shop nervously.
“Do you not know?” Koji inquired softly. “We are at war.”
A creeping sense of dread latched onto her heart. “With whom?”
“The Fallen.”
“Fallen angels, as in demons?” she asked, her blue eyes widening.
“Protectors and Guardians do most of the fighting,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Messengers are at the greatest risk, for the Fallen often target them. Observers must take great care, for the enemy is merciless to any who are caught unawares. That is part of the reason we are in teams. Those who fight protect those who do not.”
“Just as a precaution, though, right?” Prissie asserted. “There can’t be many bad angels in West Edinton.”
Koji’s brows knit. “Why would you believe such a thing?”
“This is just a quiet little town. I’ll bet your ‘Fallen’ are much more interested in big cities.”
“Prissie,” he said in a low voice. “The Observer who was assigned to this team before me, Shimron’s previous apprentice—the Fallen took him.”
Prissie’s mouth felt suddenly dry and she swallowed hard. “What happens to angels when they’re captured?” she whispered.
“I do not know; I have never been taken before,” Koji replied. “But those who have been returned bear terrible scars.”
She glanced uncomfortably at the case filled with lovely winged women and backed away. “I guess I’ll look for something else.”
Koji carelessly swung his feet as he gazed up and down Main Street, but Prissie crossed her ankles. “When I was really little, Momma told me that if we ever got separated while we were in town, I should run to this gazebo and wait for her. She would come and find me.” Prissie peered up at the neat octagonal pattern of the rafters overhead. “Good things have always happened to me here.”
“Like what?” prompted Koji.
“One day when Momma was standing in line for a prescription at the pharmacy, she let me come here to wait for her. I hadn’t been here very long when Milo showed up. He was new in town, and since he was a stranger, I wasn’t sure if I should talk to him. But he was wearing his postman’s uniform, so I guessed he was safe.”
“What happened?”
“He asked if I was lost, and I told him that was impossible since this is my town.” She shrugged a little, then continued, “Momma found us talking and invited him over for dinner. That night, Daddy invited him to our church, and he’s been there ever since.”
A pleased smile brightened Koji’s face. “This is where you first met Milo!”
She nodded and focused on a squirrel dashing across the lawn, wishing she could stop the color rising in her cheeks. Already, she