Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia

next few days the light that shines from me will grow faint. You need it more than I do right now.” He pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head, letting his lips linger in my hair while I let my arms weave around his waist and pressed myself into his chest.
    “What do you mean your light will grow faint? I don’t understand.”
    That look returned to his eyes. The look of deep longing, of finding and recognizing something that had been lost, but it was changed now. Different.
    “Eight days was my given limit. It’s uncertain if that’s enough time for me to return.”
    Why would that be bad?
    “But then you could stay with me. That’s a good thing, right?”
    He shook his head. “I would no longer be your Guardian. I’d be earthbound.”
    “But we’d be together.” My voice was getting that excited twinge to it.
    “Teagan, I wouldn’t have the power to protect you, not like I’ve done in the past. After all this time, I’m just supposed to stop? And now, facing Hadrian is an absolute certainty.”
    Why was he arguing with me on this?
    “Then we face him together, like you said.”
    “And what if I fail?”
    I swallowed hard at his words. That just couldn’t be possible. “You said I might be stronger than you against Hadrian. You need me.”
    “You’re my responsibility. Not the other way around.”
    Archangel’s blood or not, Garreth wasn’t going to relinquish his day job anytime soon.
    “Teagan, Hadrian is after you more than he is after me. I’m the obstacle in this game.”
    “Then why give me your light?”
    “Because I’m your Guardian. Every time I can prolong your life on this earth is worth it to me. It’s worth giving up mine for yours.”
    What could I possibly say to that?
    Garreth looked past my shoulder into the darkness that surrounded the porch. I took a tiny step closer to him. My heart was having trouble finding the good-bye I knew I had to acknowledge.
    “But what will you…”
    “Shhh. I’ll come back tonight. I promise.”
    I was still afraid, but the newfound courage surging within me was so much stronger than giving in to my fear. Our fingers touched then slipped away, and I watched him walk around his car, open the door, and get in.
    I watched the clouds stretch across the fading light of the day like elegant fingers, curling and crushing the glow from existence. Above the trees the sky was already darkening, as though an ink spill was spreading across the heavens, darker than any night I had ever seen. I took one last look at the blackness that was quickly threading itself into a deep cloud, a blackness that was alive, hovering, waiting. I ran inside and slammed the door.

Chapter Eleven

    I shot a quick glance at the clock as I passed the kitchen, ran up the stairs two at a time to the bathroom, and stared at the face looking back at me. Nothing unusual, just a bit flushed, perhaps. My eyes looked a little wild, but beneath the frantic glimmer in them was something I could only detect as calm. My skin still felt warm from the pure protective light it had just absorbed.
    I went to my room and sat down at my computer. It took a few seconds for it to start up and load. I impatiently bit my cuticles as I stared at the screen, waiting for the tiny icons to appear. The arrow of my mouse finally replaced the poky hourglass and I hurriedly Googled the word “angels.” Thousands of references came up for me to sift through. I didn’t have time for that. I typed in “Hadrian.” Nothing. Finally I typed the word “octagram” and at last it seemed I was getting somewhere.
    The first listing had mathematical configurations involving the shape but it was the second that proved more promising. The website glowing on my computer screen was one containing information about magical symbols and their meanings. I scrolled down, perusing the contents until at last I found the word “octagram” and clicked on it. It took only seconds for the beautiful star to appear and