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“Yes.”

I turned away from the dark computer screens. Looking for something to do with my hands wasn't going to make the next part any easier.

“There are limits to what an angel can change. Even the authority I once had didn't permit me to rewrite a protected human life. So I took authority that didn't belong to me. Root authority. The deepest access there was.”

Her gaze returned to mine. “You stole it?”

“I did. I used it to alter my own place in the world: where I could go, when I could get there, and which doors might open to me. I made a route into mortal life that could eventually bring me near you.”

Everly walked a few paces along the sofa, stopping beside the armchair. She looked at it as though considering whether to sit, but remained standing.

“You're saying you arranged to meet me.”

“I arranged the opportunity. Meeting you wasn't certain. You might have moved away, taken another job, passed me on a street and never looked twice. I could create a chance to cross your path, but I couldn't decide what you'd do when we met.”

Her lips pressed together. I watched her work through the distinction and suspected she wouldn't accept it simply because I was the one explaining it.

“Did you make Harbor & Main hire Switchline?”

“No. That was an ordinary contract. Martin arranged the assessment for his own reasons, and Leo and I were assigned to do the work. I didn't interfere with any of it. I came to Witch Harbor because my altered path gave me a way to get here, and I made a legitimate life for myself once I arrived.”

I paused, aware that the word legitimate would sound slippery after everything else.

“My job is real, Everly. So is Leo's trust in me. I'm good at finding weaknesses, and these days people pay me to tell them when I've found one rather than having to catch me afterward.”

Her mouth moved, almost a smile, but it disappeared before it formed.

“And the masquerade?” she asked. “Was that another opportunity you arranged?”

“No. I've gone for years because it's the only crowded room where I can show what I am. Saturday was a surprise. I didn't know you'd be there until I saw you.”

Of everything I'd admitted tonight, that should have been the easiest part to explain. It was also the part she had the least reason to trust.

“You're asking me to believe in a coincidence after telling me you've stolen the power to change your circumstances.”

“I know how it sounds.” I released my grip on the table. “But I didn't arrange those invitations. I'd already booked the Grand before Halloween, and I had no idea your friend would bring you. You can ask her how she got the tickets. You don't need to take my word for that part.”

Everly drew a slow breath and glanced at the phone in her bag. She could check the invitations if she wanted. The rest depended on an explanation no mortal could independently verify, and I knew how little my word was worth just then.

“Show me your hand,” she said suddenly.

I crossed only far enough to hold out my right hand. Everly came the remaining distance herself. Her gaze settled on the pale crescent at the base of my thumb, and I watched recognition move across her face again, this time stripped of the surprise of Monday morning.

“That scar,” she said. “Is it part of this?”

“When I reached for the root authority, it burned me. I could've let go. Instead, I held on long enough to use it.”

I turned my hand so she could see the narrow mark clearly. The skin was smooth now, although I could still remember the pain reaching up my arm, sudden and fierce enough to make my wings jerk open in the place where I'd been standing.

“You told me Saturday that it didn't hurt anymore.”

“It doesn't.”

She didn't touch me. I lowered my hand, and the distance between us returned as she stepped away.

“What happened when they found out?”

For a while the only sound was the low hum of the refrigerator. Everly had already seen what had survived my fall; explaining what I'd lost felt less dangerous than explaining why I'd wanted to steal in the first place.