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I saw hiuy who dropped the ax when it was his turn to do the chopping Big e

No, I really saw him As he truly is Her voice shook He was so beautiful

Oh, that Bill tossed his head, annoyed

I recognized him I think I've seen hihed That was the first and last time you'll be able to see him like that You saw him, and then you died That's what happens when lory Instant death Burned away by the angel's beauty

No, it wasn't like that

You sahat happened to everyone else Poof Gone Bill plopped down beside her and patted her knee Why do you think the Mayans started doing sacrifices by fire after that? A neighboring tribe discovered the charred remains and had to explain it soht away But I lasted longer--

A couple of extra seconds? When you were turned away? Congratulations

You're wrong And I know I've seen that before

You've seen his wings before,you his true forel? Kills you every ti he can never shoho he really is?

Bill shrugged Not without vaporizing you and everyone around you Why do you think Daniel's so cautious about kissing you all the tiet hot and heavy

Luce felt like she could barely hold herself up That's why I sometimes die e kiss?

How 'bout a round of applause for the girl, folks? Bill said snarkily

But what about all those other times, when I die before we kiss, before--

Before you even have a chance to see how toxic your relationship ht become?

Shut up

Honestly, how many times do you have to see the sa to change? Soed, Luce said That's why I'm on this journey, that's why I'ain--all of hiet it Bill's voice was rising You're talking about this whole thing in very itated, spit flew fro time, and you clearly cannot handle it

Why are you so angry all of a sudden?

Because! Because He paced the ledge, gnashing his teeth Listen to me: Daniel slipped up this once, he showed hiain Never He learned his lesson Now you've learned one, too: Mortal flesh cannot gaze upon an angel's true forrowing angrier herself Maybe Daniel changed after this lifetime in Chich?n Itz?, maybe he'd become more cautious in the future But what about the past?

She approached the li up into the vast, gaping blackness that tunneled above into her dark unknown

Bill hovered over her, circling her head as if he were trying to get inside it I knohat you're thinking, and you're only going to end up disappointed He drew close to her ear and whispered Or worse

There was nothing he could say to stop her If there was an earlier Daniel who still dropped his guard, then Luce was going to find him

Chapter Sixteen

BEST MAN

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL 27 NISSAN 2760

Daniel was not entirely himself

He was still cloven to the body he had joined with on the dark fjords of Greenland He tried to slon as he left the Announcer, but his reat Heavily off-balance, he spun out of the darkness and rolled across rocky earth until his head sla hard Then he was still

Cleaving with his past self had been a vast mistake

The simplest way to split apart two entwined incarnations of a soul was to kill the body Freed froe of the flesh, the soul sorted itself out But killing himself wasn't really an option for Daniel Unless

The starshot

In Greenland, he had snatched it froels' fire Gabbe had brought it along as symbolic protection, but she would never have expected Daniel to cleave and steal it

Had he really thought he could just drag the dull silver tip across his chest and split apart his soul, casting his past self back into time? Stupid

No He was too likely to slip up, to fail, and then instead of splitting his soul, he uise, this dull body, would wander the earth in perpetuity, searching for its soul but settling for the next best thing: Luce It would haunt her until the day she died, and maybe after that

What Daniel needed was a partner What he needed was irunted and rolled over onto his back, squinting into the bright sun directly overhead

See? a voice above hiht place

I don't see why this--another voice, a boy's this tiht

Oh, come on, Miles Don't let your beef with Daniel keep us fro Luce He obviously knohere she is

The voices drew closer Daniel opened his eyes in a squint and saw an ar toward him

Hey there Need a hand?