before I leave for that stupid field trip to Heaven.”
“Oh, you’re going with the RDC,” Davien finally realized. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “What for?”
“Domina is going to be a bitch.”
“Come on. How do you know? You told her you’re not into her yourself.”
“She still holds you responsible.”
“Here’s a suggestion,” Seth said as he got dressed. “Go back to your seraph girlfriend, and I can take care of Yoli. She doesn’t need us both.”
“She’s not my girlfriend!”
“And I do need you both,” I said. “Now get out! I need to sleep.”
They grumbled as they finished putting on their clothes. Seth kissed me goodnight, and Davien couldn’t leave without doing the same. They teleported away, and I pulled myself to my feet and went into the bathroom. Before I slipped in the shower, I looked at myself in the mirror. A huge smile spread on my lips.
“Not bad,” I whispered at my reflection. “Not bad at all.”
Who knew what tomorrow might bring? For now, I knew one thing: neither of them was willing to give up on me, which meant I was most likely stuck with both. I was totally on board with that.
CHAPTER NINE
There were eleven entrances to Heaven and eleven entrances to Hell in the world, and two of each were in North America. The entrance we were going to use was on Mount Shasta, in California. Since not everyone could teleport, – me included, Jesus! – Heaven sent a private plane to fly us from Grim Reaper Academy to its very gates.
“Normally, we’d take the stairs,” Ivor said. I’d decided to stick with him, so I was. “The NDC didn’t take the stairs either because of Hayley.”
“I don’t get it.”
He chuckled lightly. “Humans. Professor Maat has to take that into consideration.”
The plane dropped us right before the tall, white gates, and as we got off, I realized that it was cold up here, way above the clouds. Okay, now I got it. Too cold for humans to climb the infamous stairway to Heaven. The gates opened, and Saint Peter emerged. Before he allowed us in, he exchanged a couple of words with Nefertari Maat, then studied us thoroughly. His small, gray eyes moved from one student to the next, and when they stopped on me, the old, wrinkled man gasped slightly. Did he know me? How? He quickly averted his gaze, and I shrugged. Maybe it was all in my head. Not everyone knows you, stupid. Be real. He then proceeded to give a long speech about what we were going to see beyond the gates and how we had to behave so as to not disturb anyone. Heaven was full of rules. We weren’t allowed to interact with the angels, no, we weren’t going to see God’s palace from up close – only from a distance, and we absolutely had to stay with the group at all times. Professor Maat was our guide, and we were supposed to consider every word of hers an order. The speech went on and on. I yawned, covering my mouth politely. I hadn’t caught much sleep the night before, and then both Davien and Seth had teleported in my room early in the morning. They’d both brought me pills, so I took one and stored the other in a safe place. Seeing how I tended to lose my head around them, who knew when I might need it?
Domina and Scarlett had behaved so far. They hadn’t paid me much mind, and Domina had even avoided my gaze every time I looked her way. I wondered if she knew that Davien had spent the night with me. Why would she, though? I was getting paranoid. Or, maybe… I wanted her to know? No. I’d never been the possessive type in my past relationships, so I sure as hell wasn’t going to become now. I had to stop thinking about Domina and about what other people thought of me in general.
Saint Peter finally deemed us ready to visit Heaven, so we followed Professor Maat through the impressive gates. It was going to be a long day. We started with the First Sphere of Heaven, and we were going to make our way to the Ninth, with a lunch break in the Fourth. The First Sphere was the realm of the angels – the lowest order in the hierarchy of divine beings, – and of the souls who’d abandoned their vows in their previous lives. The angels’ job was to guide these souls