let Beth take over for the summer?”
“Mom, no. Life as usual, right?”
Her heart sped up, and her muscles tensed. “Right.”
She stood, and I did, too, leaning in as she took me into her arms. She was a few inches shorter than me, even in heels.
“Eden,” she began, “if Levi is going to make this right, let him. But don’t let him be the reason I lose you.” She held me at bay, looking into my eyes. “Promise me.”
“Stop worrying. I’m going to stay away from him.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Bex figured out that … I, um … it’s a long story. I don’t quite understand it myself.”
“Try me,” she said, unamused.
“I’ve been offered a second chance.”
She waited.
“This life … my purpose … ugh. It sounds crazy.”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I’m kind of like Eli. I’ve always been around. I’ve always been the Keeper of the Balance.”
Mom arched an eyebrow and returned to her desk.
“I disobeyed,” I continued. “I’m not sure how. It has something to do with Levi.”
“I think it has everything to do with Levi.”
“I fell in love with him. It disturbed the Balance. I failed.”
Mom leaned forward and intertwined her fingers. I felt like she was getting ready to lecture me or ground me or both. “You’ve fallen in love with him?”
“No. I fell in love with him before.”
She watched me, suspicious. “You’re sure?”
“Eli confirmed it. So did Bex. Dad knows.”
She sighed. “Of course he does. What about Levi?”
“He was told to kill me, but then he found out who I really was, so he left and came here as a human.”
“Are we talking immaculate conception?”
I made a face. “No. I’m sure he chose the first financially stable woman who blacked out at a party and woke up pregnant. He’s the son of Satan, not Christ. He doesn’t care how he got here.”
“Interesting,” she said, tapping a pen on her desk. “It’s all coming together then.”
“Looks that way. Everything is going to be okay, just like Dad said.”
She crossed her arms, sitting back in her executive’s chair, and then stood up. She walked around her desk and put a finger on my chest. “Don’t coddle me.” She smoothed a stray hair and then touched my cheek. “You’re so like your father that way. I’m human, but emotions don’t mean that I’m weak.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never thought you were weak. You did save me from Satan once.”
“Damn right I did. And I’d do it again.” She hugged me, this time tighter.
I held her as close as I could without hurting her, and then the moment I sensed she might cry, I let her go, but she kept hold of my arms.
“You didn’t just come by to say hi. Ask me.”
I hesitated. “Do you regret anything? Falling in love with Dad? Learning about his world?”
“Not a single second. It brought me the two greatest loves of my life.”
“If you’ve loved someone once … can you stop?”
She shrugged. “People do it all the time, but only if they want to. What is this about, Eden?”
“I’m afraid this all looks like a choice, but none of it really is. I’m afraid I’m being set up to fail.”
“Fear isn’t real. Isn’t that what you always say?”
“No, I think I got that one from Dad.”
“No,” Mom said with a smile. “That one was all you. You’ve said it since you were five.”
I thought about that. “Really? Kind of an odd thing for a five-year-old to say.”
“You weren’t an ordinary five-year-old.”
I sensed Bex moving farther away and Claire’s arrival. “I’d better go,” I said.
Mom kissed my cheek. “I love you. I expect to be notified if anything changes.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, you know … news, an attack, war …”
“I think you would know if there were a war.”
A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “Not if your father could help it.”
I laughed once. “I’ll see you at dinner. I’m sure nothing will change between now and then.”
I left Titan for the white light of the hot summer sun and the birds singing from their perch on the electrical wires and maple branches. Somehow, the blue sky and freshly cut grass couldn’t pull me from the storms inside my soul.
Claire stood next to my Audi, her backside leaning against the front fender. Her arms were crossed, her eyes shielded behind enormous sunglasses with round white frames to match her platinum-white hair and skinny jeans. Her stiletto thigh-high boots were peep-toe and black, like her shirt. They were the only pieces besides