The angel stood before me, glowing softly, their wings folded behind them, but still almost filling the doorway.

“You...You’re a...”

“I am Zahriel,” they said, “an Angel of the Lord.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered, earning that reproachful look again. “Sorry. I just...You’re really an angel.” I don’t know why I was surprised, considering that I’d just spent the last hour with a demon. Azir, however, had at least looked human. This being wasn’t even trying to blend in. “What are you doing here?”

“Setting things right,” Zahriel said with a frown. They regarded me for a moment, then sighed. “I really hate this part of the job.”

I stared, wide-eyed, as the angel drew a long, shining sword from somewhere within the folds of their robes. Blue-white tongues of flame danced along the blade as Zahriel raised the sword in the air and stepped toward me.

I scrambled back with a yell, tripping over my discarded shoes and falling hard against the cold, tiled wall beside the toilet. As the sword swung down toward me, I raised one arm, holding out my hand as if I could ward off the blow. There was a crackle and a rumble like thunder, and Zahriel reeled backward, wings flapping to help them maintain their balance, knocking crap off shelves and clearing the top of my dresser as they stumbled back into my bedroom.

Heart pounding, I slowly straightened up, tearing my gaze from the dazed angel to look down at my hand, where the demon’s mark blazed with the light of hellfire.

“What the hell just happened?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Zahriel said, putting their sword away and giving me a disgusted look. “I can’t believe you let that infernal creature mark you.”

“Well, it looks like it’s a good thing I did,” I said. “You tried to kill me!”

“You’re supposed to be dead,” Zahriel said. “You should have died tonight in a car accident.”

“Says who?” I asked, earning another look from the frustrated angel. “Oh, right. But why? Why was I supposed to die?”

“I don’t know,” they said. “I am not privy to God’s Plan, I am simply sent to set it right when things go awry. Now, will you allow me to do my job and end your life before you cause any more trouble?”

“Hell no,” I said. After everything I went to to escape death, I was …