Angels of Darkness

two sides added interest to the architecture. Otherwise it was a plain rectangular space, flat as a floor, with little to recommend the view.
    By the light of the full moon, I could pick out the curls in Corban’s hair and the interlaced quills of his wings. He was facing away from me, and I had an excellent view of the way his wings sprang from his back to make their distinctive bell shape. I could see his hands braced against the half wall. His fingers were balled into fists; there was tension in the line of his shoulders.
    I was certain he had heard my arrival, and I was too contrary to speak first. So we waited a few moments in silence while I studied the silhouette of his body and he contemplated some thought too private to share.
    When he did speak, he sounded irritated already. “You don’t like to make things easy for people, do you?”
    That made me grin. “Honestly, I don’t,” I said.
    He pivoted, his wings making a lovely, majestic sweep. “You don’t even say hello. You don’t even let me know you’re here.”
    â€œYou knew I was here.”
    â€œThat’s not the point.”
    â€œYou think I’m rude?”
    â€œI think you’re—” He searched for the right words. “Deliberately provoking.”
    I grinned. “That’s about as accurate a description as I’ve heard.”
    â€œMy question would be, why? Is it your goal to make people dislike you?”
    â€œDo you dislike me?” I responded.
    His brows twitched together. “I was talking about other people.”
    â€œI can be accommodating when I feel like it,” I said. “I can get along with people if I want to.”
    â€œSo you reserve this provoking behavior for me .”
    â€œNot just you. I was very insubordinate with the housekeeper at my last job, for instance.”
    â€œAh. So you like to challenge authority—or people who believe their station in life puts them above you.”
    â€œYes, but you can see that I only harm myself by such behavior. I lost that position a couple of months ago. And the one before it.”
    â€œYet you don’t try to be more submissive. More conformable.”
    â€œThere is a certain contrariness at the base of my personality,” I allowed. “It is so hard for me to act the way people expect me to act, even if it’s in my own best interests.”
    â€œHow, I wonder, would someone come by such a trait?”
    Oh, there was a story it would take half the night to tell. “I was born with it, I believe,” I said lightly.
    â€œBut I don’t,” he said.
    I was lost. “Don’t what? Don’t believe me?”
    â€œDislike you,” he said. “Most of the time.”
    â€œI can try harder to be annoying,” I offered.
    â€œI’ll let you know if that becomes necessary.”
    It was peculiar to have an angel tell me he didn’t dislike me—though that didn’t mean he liked me, and, at any rate, it scarcely mattered, since I doubted my future held many more intimate nighttime conferences with this one. Because I didn’t know how to answer him, I changed the subject. “So why are you out here on the roof?”
    â€œI was thinking about something you said.”
    â€œReally? What’s that?” I rubbed my arms. It was probably ten degrees above freezing and I’d only worn a light jacket since I hadn’t expected to be outside any longer than it took to climb the hill.
    â€œFlying.”
    â€œ Really? You think you might be ready to attempt it again? You think you can sense the buildings and the trees—”
    â€œNot that, not yet,” he interrupted. “I don’t even know if my wings can support my weight.”
    â€œWell, we aren’t very far from the ground up here,” I said. “Three stories. You could jump off the roof and just try to glide down. You’d be careful because you know the ground isn’t very far away.”
    â€œThat’s a possibility,” he said gravely. “But I want to try something else first. Coming back to the roof.”
    â€œThat seems harder,” I commented.
    â€œYes,” he replied. “A better test.”
    â€œAnd you’re not worried about losing your bearings?”
    â€œYou’ll have to help me, of course. You’ll have to call out to me. I would not get so far from the house I would lose the sound of your