Oh, wow. That's the first time she spoke to me today. Pinch me. I must be dreaming.
She continues sliding tomes on the shelf, mid-air, not even sparing me a passing glance.
“Cleo, were youwatchingme?” I accuse her, cocking an eyebrow and smirking. “I’m flattered.”
She halts and abruptly spins to face me, her pretty wings still hovering behind her. “Oh, the sooner you finish your section, the sooner we can leave. That’s all.”
“Sure, we can pretend that’s the reason you were watching me,” I say, my lips curling into a smile.
Her brows furrow, and she scowls a little bit, her cheeks slightly reddening under my gaze—one of my favorite looks of hers.
I nod my chin at the shelf behind her. “Here, why don’t you leave early? I can finish up that row you’re working on.”
She raises a brow skeptically, allowing her wings to lower her to the ground slowly, still holding a book. She looks up at me and asks, “Why?”
This girl.
“Do you always question people’s motives like this?” I sigh in exasperation. “It’s just a nice gesture. Nothing too crazy. I promise.”
She narrows her eyes. “Fine. I guess I’ll leave, and you can do the rest of that top shelf. Just make sure to dust off the books before placing them.”
I bite back a smile at her demands. I love it when she bosses me around like this.
“With all due respect, angel, this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve done several shelves, and assurprisingas it may be, I’ve actually dusted off every single book already. Twice.” I smile and grab the book she’s holding. Then, I grasp her shoulder gently and turn her to face the archives’ exit, carefully avoiding her wings. “Go.Enjoy some free time and read a book or something. You deserve the break.”
As I breathe out the last words of that sentence, her shoulders tense. Sensing resistance, I hook my free arm around her neck and walk her to the exit myself.
“Kai, it’s fine. I don’t really de—”
“Nope, not today,” I grumble, turning and covering her mouth mid-sentence. Her eyes widen as my hand remains clamped over her mouth, and a chuckle slips out of my mouth before I can stop it. Once we reach the exit, I shove her out playfully and close the doors behind her, waving as they shut.
I catch a look of surprise in her almond-shaped brown eyes and bask in it.
I love throwing her off-kilter. It never lasts longer than a couple of seconds, and it tends to take more effort than anticipated, but those mere seconds are worth it.
I walk back to the ladder and the stack of books Cleo left behind for me, then get to work. The sooner I complete this shelf, the sooner I can get to my secret project.
Between random parties and working in the library, I don’t have much to look forward to these days, so this project has been a game changer. Rather than wallowing in self-pity, I've been channeling my energy into something meaningful like this instead.
Partying in the afterlife hasn’t been as fulfilling as I’d hoped, either. I’ve mettonsof new people. I’m an extrovert through andthrough, so I love a good crowd, but some of these angels areveryforward, which I’mnotas into.
After completing the top shelf, I slide down the ladder and roll it to the opposite end of the shelves, then climb to the top shelf again. I reach all the way into it, scooting ancient books aside to unveil my hidden project and supplies.
I gently pull out the battered book, loose pages, glue, cardboard, brushes, cardstock, needle and thread, scissors, book cloth, and headband. I’ve gotten about halfway through this project thanks to Hadley’s enthusiastic help, and I’m determined to put all my free time into it until it’s done. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much time to work on it this week at all, though.
Carefully holding my stack of materials in one hand and keeping my other on the ladder, I step down and let out a long exhale. This would besignificantlyeasier with wings.
Upon reaching the bottom, an angel pops into the room. Teleportation is so sick.
“I just saw her leave. Is it time for our next phase of this project?” Hadley grabs the glue and scissors from my hands, leaving me with just about everything else. Today, she’s wearing a pink peplum dress—it matches her white wings nicely. “Ah, I’ve been so darn excited to see this next phase; it’s all starting to come together so nicely.”
“It was a good idea for us to rebind a different book for practice first,” I reply with a smile. “I appreciate your help.”
“The pleasure is mine! That girl deserves a pick-me-up. She fashions a scowl more frequently than a grumpy house cat.” She shakes her head, setting the scissors and glue atop the table alongside the book press from downstairs. “What would you like assistance with today?”
I scan the supplies, mentally planning how to execute today’s portion of the project. Remembering the way Hadley talked my ear off the last time we worked on this, I scratch the back of my head. I know I’m a yapper, but she is like a super yapper. “You know, I think I’ve got it handled for today. I want to see how far I can get on my own this time.”
She beams, nodding quickly. “Of course—the moreyouown this project, the more it’ll mean.” She pats her dress, backing away from the round amethyst table. “Just let me know if you need any pointers. I’ll keep the angels out of the archives for the next couple of hours.”
