Oh, nowthisis interesting. She knows.
She pins me with a look of concern.
I might be reading the situation wrong, but she looks… restless. Damn, I’m more screwed than I thought, aren’t I?
“I know exactly what I did,” I breathe, keeping my cool. “The real question is, how doyouknow?”
Two
Cleo
Idiot.He’s a hopelessly optimistic idiot. And it’s going to get him locked away. Or worse.
This isn't our first encounter. Recently, he needed help accessing the library—more specifically, the archives chamber within the library—and I assisted him. We exchanged small talk, I shared my name, and that was that. The moment hasn’t crossed my mind since.
Yes, I’ve been watching him, but he doesn’t know that.
Ugh.I know what it sounds like, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.
“So, you’re an Archangel, huh? Thought so. You give off the vibe.” He stares straight ahead, nodding. “It makes sense. I wondered how you already knew my name the other day when I visited the library. Do Archangels know the names of all angels?”
My lips press together so tight they burn.
“I’m not an Archangel, Kai.” My eyes bore into his. “I’m a Watcher.”
His eyes widen as he peers back into mine. “Whoa… I don’t think I’ve met any Watchers yet. In fact, Matt specifically told us we didn’t need to learn about Watchers, so he taught us the bare minimum… You watch the Guardians, don’t you? How does that work?”
“We don’t have the time for a full lesson on how watching works—”
“I’d beg to differ,” he cuts me off and crosses his arms. I can’t stand being interrupted, but I let it slide. “We have all the time in the world. Honestly, I really want to hear about what your nine-to-five looks like.”
He spots the small sofa just behind me and lazily walks toward it, patting it down.
“What are you doing?” I turn toward him and narrow my eyes.
“Obviously making myself comfortable. You should try it—you seem tense.” He plops down, leaning back in the seat, then runs his hands through his hair nonchalantly. My lips part in temporary shock at his lack of regard, then I straighten, folding my arms tightly while continuing to lean against the desk.
“Fine. Yes, Watchers watch Guardians, but we’re not alwayswatchingyou all—that would be a major invasion of privacy, and quite frankly, I have much better things to do than watch angels do frivolous things.” I’ve definitely seen some things I didn’t want to see while doing my job before. I let out a sigh. “I digress. Watchers are retired Guardians who choose to stay in this realm—Eloras, in case you needed a reminder—rather than ascend to the golden lands above. We're tethered to our Guardians, similar to the way Guardians are tethered to their assignment, except we feel a physical thread inwardly connecting us to our assignments. Most Watchers are assigned to dozens of angels at any given time.
"When our assignment is close to breaking a divine law, we feel a tugging sensation, and then we draw from our magic within to pinpoint which angel is the culprit. Once we identify the angel, we can tug on our connected thread to reel them back in. If desired, we can instantly teleport to their side to prevent them from wreaking havoc further.”
He furrows his brows and then nods slowly. “So, I was being watched this entire time?”
“No. You weren’t watched the entire time. As I just stated, we only monitor angels for rule breaking, really,” I say plainly.
“How long have you been watching me?” he asks with a tone of suspicion in his voice.
“I was assigned to you a couple of months ago,” I answer honestly. I’ve got nothing left to lose at this point.
If he's a sinking ship, I’m the anchor pulling him under even deeper.
“So, this means you knew that Jasper had the ability to see me when I ran into you recently?”
I nod.
“Did you knowwhyhe could see me this entire time?” His jaw tenses, his patience wearing thin.
“I had my guesses.”
