A honey-soaked voice, made of laughter, answered, “I’ve been called many things, little one, but not those.’’ Slowly, a form coalesced in the fog. It was a tall, ebony-skinned Celestial, gloriously naked except for a large white sack strapped over her shoulder. She had eyes that glimmered like the night skies on Earth, and a smile as soft as moonlight. “I am Sabriel,” she said. “One of the First Children. I am also known as the Healer here in the Celestial Realm. I have your gifts here.”
“Gifts?” I blinked away sudden tears. “For me?” She held out one hand, and I lifted my own to take what she offered.
It was long and bright pink, with lighted circles on a control panel down one side. If I didn’t know better, I would have said it was an impressively girthy, vibrating dildo. But that would be…
“You’ve entered what you call Heaven in your thoughts, young one,” Sabriel said, using her nimble fingers to switch the vibrating feature on. “Of course there are rechargeable vibrators.”
My mouth dropped open, but I just stood there holding the buzzing sex toy in one hand. Though it really needed two hands, if I was ever going to use it successfully. “It’sperfect,” I whispered, my voice raspy with emotion. I switched it off, giving it a loving pat. “Does everyone get a dildo when they come here?”
Her breath against my ear gave me chills as she leaned forward to murmur, “Everyone gets exactly what they need tohelp them understand that they’ve arrived at the Fields of Joy.” She reached into her bag, which I noticed was now squirming, and lifted out something else. “Most only need one gift. Apparently, you required two.” She smiled, her hands full. “For you, Feather, though something tells me this gift is more of a responsibility.”
Sabriel looked at my sudden tears with alarm, but I couldn’t stop crying. “A puppy for me?” The wriggling white bundle was a mass of soft ears, wrinkles, and floppy paws large enough to make it obvious this little guy was going to grow into something Shetland-pony sized. Or bigger. “What’s your name, little fella?”
“Well, we sure as shizz aren’t going to letyouname him, birch.” The voice hit my ears about a second before Sunny’s arms wrapped around me, squeezing me as tightly as possible. “You’d probably call him something pornographic.”
“Almost definitely,” I agreed, hugging her back just as hard. The movement made the vibrator in my hand come to life, and she jumped back.
Sunny’s dark eyes got even wider, and she slapped a hand over her mouth, her curls bouncing. “Feather, hide that! How did you even get a vibe into this place?”
I gestured to my entirely naked body. “Hide it? Where?” Our eyes met, and we broke into peals of laughter as we both thought the same perverted thought. “I’ll ask Righteous to hide it for me,” I wheezed, as the man in question came anaconda-bobbing through the clouds.
“Hide what?” he asked as he landed beside me, his eyes on the puppy. “What a perfect little fellow.” Tucking a small leather bag under his arm, he scooped the puppy up, over my protests. “Who’s the prettiest pup in the whole realm? It’syou. Yes, it’syou, little wrinkle ball.” He spoke in perfect babytalk, and my angelic ovaries almost exploded when the puppy licked his cheek and he kissed it right back.
“What did you get, Ry?” I asked, rubbing up against his waist with my free hand just enough to get his attention. Then I rubbed a little more, for good luck, and also because his skin felt super silky. Had they given him a bunch of moisturizer as a welcome gift or something? He was supple. Even his legs felt softer, shinier…
Sunny stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. “Ew. Hands off the soulmates until I’m not around,” she complained.
Righteous scratched the puppy’s chin, who was now gnawing at one of his wing feathers, and shrugged. “The only thing I needed besides you, my love.” He held up the small bag, which I recognized instantly.
It held the ancient rose petals I’d picked for him in my first life on Earth, when I had been Tili and he Ashtad. Back when we had been friends, before we were old enough to even think about romantic love.
“The rose petals?” I swiped at my cheeks as he smiled, his heart shining in his eyes.
“They’re all I wanted. What did you receive?” he asked, eyeing my hot pink present.
I ignored the question, still teary-eyed. “I need a handkerchief. Or a tissue. A sleeve, even. Do we really get no clothes?”
As if on cue, Mikhail came flying through the clouds on his great bronze wings, an armful of white cloth bundled under one arm. “I have clothing,” he said once he’d landed and kissed me thoroughly enough that Sunny started making retching sounds. “It was my homecoming gift. Only things I was sad about leaving in Sanctuary—the only objects, that is.” His eyes flashed with sudden grief, and I knew he must be thinking of Gavriel. I dropped my gaze, knowing I had to tell him and Righteous aboutmy birthmark sooner rather than later, and my eyes fell on the clothing he was carrying.
I squealed. “My t-shirts? The ones I made for you?” He unfolded them with a proud grin, showing off the designs I’d hot glue-gunned onto the fronts with sequins and…
“Oh, sweet Mother of us all,” Sabriel sighed. “This isn’t going to go over well.”
“What?” I asked, showing her the one that saidDaddy Bear Fits Just Right.
Haneul joined us, and she was the one who answered. “Well, it’s the first sign.”
“What is? Sign of what?” I set the vibe down, pulling a t-shirt over my head that saidFeather’s Snack, Get Your Own.Once I was dressed, I blinked up at Sabriel, who was now whispering with Haneul. “Come on, what’s the sign? Sign of the times? Astrological sign?”
Sabriel pointed at my arms, where a few flakes of gold and pink glitter were scattered across my skin. She rolled her eyes. “It’s an old myth, about glitter.”
Haneul mumbled, “Old prophecy about how we all die,” but Sabriel kicked her in the shin. “My apologies, Sabriel. I’ll go prepare their rooms.” She bowed low before flying away.
“Glitter?” I shook my head as she left. “Who doesn’t love glitter?”
As if she’d been summoned, Precious flapped clumsily through the cloudbank, burbling happily. “Mama!” she shouted, slamming right into me. I was still weak, and fell to the fluffy ground with her on top of me. She babbled and drooled on my shirt, her tiny fingers poking at the sequined letters. Glitter filled the air around us, a few sprinkles landing on her face. Not that anyone would notice.
Precious, my Glitter Baby, was as colorful as ever. Her hair was a deep shade of purple, with charcoal gray horns pokingthrough adorably. Her skin was covered with her usual sheen of dark glitter, and her eyes… “Oh, Precious, your eyes have changed!” They’d looked like Rumple’s at first, but now, they had swirls of turquoise, black, gold and my own bright green in them.
