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THE NEXT DAY, I'M STILL reeling from my encounter with Jophiel. The handsome Archangel has usurped every thought in my head. Alyx and I are in our beds, killing time with our LightTabs. I'm glad she can't see my screen, because I'm searching for shirtless pictures of Jophiel. Believe it or not, they exist.
It's Alyx's fault. She's the one who put the thought in my head. When she mentioned the shirtless picture of Archangel Michael, I started wondering if other Archangels posed for shirtless pictures. That's when I fell down the rabbit hole. I've been staring at Jophiel's lean, muscular chest for more time than I care to admit. He's not hulking like Michael, but he definitely looks good. Actually, I'm not into hulking muscles, so Jophiel is perfect.
When Alyx suddenly speaks, she makes me jump. If she knew what I was looking at right now, I'd be embarrassed for the rest of my afterlife.
“Do you think I could get Wilma Dawes to take me to a Regal Crimson concert?” she asks. “If I promised to work really hard on our next mission, do you think she would take me? It could be my reward.”
“I don't know,” I answer with a shrug. “You'd have to ask her.”
“Maybe it would be too hardcore for her? I mean... she's pretty old, and she grew up in a different era,” Alyx muses. “Still... she's pretty frustrated with me for not putting any effort into the spirit guide stuff. If I play my cards right, maybe I could get her to agree to this.”
I continue our conversation while drooling over Jophiel pics. I still can't believe he would like me. The Archangels are like celebrities here. “Have you learned how to warp yet?”
“No. Have you?”
“Yeah.” I have to consciously sweep a grin from my lips. Even though Alyx used to brag to me about her advanced manifestation skills, I don't want to look like a gloater.
“Aww. Seriously?” Alex whines. “If I knew how to warp, my life would be so much easier. Hell, I could probably make it to the Regal Crimson concert on my own!” Suddenly, she's crossing her arms and pouting like a petulant little girl. “Your instructor's better than mine. It's totally not fair! He's hotter than mine, too. Like... way, way hotter.”
A lot of people seem envious of my time with Taishi. Now that he's softened up a bit, I'm starting to understand why they would envy me. He's got a lot of experience, and I've never met anyone more determined.
Alyx isn't interested in his experience, though. When she pulls up a picture of Taishi Nakamura in an unbuttoned black shirt, I almost choke.
“Daaaaamn girl! You get to hang out with that all day!” Alyx exclaims. “I seriously hate you right now.”
“Um... why are there pictures of Taishi on the LightTab? He's not one of the Archangels.”
“No, but he's close. Look!” She pulls up information on a site I've never visited. “Taishi's got over three hundred thousand fans on Spirit Sanctum.”
“What's Spirit Sanctum?”
“Oh my god, you've never heard of it? Spirits can make fanpages for angels and—”
A sudden knock interrupts Alyx's explanation. When I answer the door, I almost gasp. It's Taishi, and he's dressed like a cowboy.
It takes me a moment to absorb his unusual clothes. He's wearing a form-fitting black vest over a crisp white shirt. His pants are black too, and there's a huge metal buckle on his belt. He's also wearing a studded cowboy hat, black leather gloves, and there are two guns holstered at his hips. I wonder if they're real?
“Hello, Riley-san.” Taishi sounds a bit bored when he greets me. “These clothes should tell you where we're going today.”
Before I can answer, I get a message on my LightTab. It's from Alyx.
Your boy is looking hot as hell.
With a nervous chuckle, I quickly close the message and focus on Taishi. “Are we going to the Wild West?” I ask.
“We are. We're heading to the year 1880. As you might imagine, our human charge will be a bit different this time.”
Another message from Alyx flashes across my screen.
Seriously... cowboy clothes? I'm shook af. Taishi is so hot, I am literally crying on the inside.
I barely have time to check my message before Alyx speaks up. “Hey, Taishi. We were just looking at this picture of you.” With no regard for my future embarrassment, she shows him the picture on her screen. It's the picture where his shirt's unbuttoned.
“That's... interesting,” he replies, looking a bit sheepish.
“Alyx was looking at the picture,” I correct her. I don't want my instructor to think I'm crushing on him.
“Pfft! As if you weren't looking at it too!”
“But it's on your LightTab!” I argue.
“Yeah, but you liked it. Admit it. You think he's hot.”
If I could resurrect Alyx and choke the life out of her, I would. Believe me, I would.
“You're pretty close to becoming an angel, aren't you?” Alyx asks my instructor. “That's why you've got so many fans, right?”
“I am close. I'm one hundred and fifty-six credits away from angel status. And because my rating is rather... high... I'll actually be an Archangel.” Taishi seems a bit reluctant to boast. “Has anyone told you ladies about the thousandth mission?”
“No.” Alyx replies first, then she manifests a lollipop and sticks it in her mouth. “Tell us, Mr. Nakamura.”
Mr. Nakamura? That sounds so wrong, especially from Alyx.
“After you've completed your thousandth mission, whether your rating is high or low, you have to make a choice,” Taishi tells us. “Either you can continue your spirit work and aim for angel status, or you can be resurrected in the mortals' world. You can enter a new life without any memories of your old one.”
“Wow. Why did no one tell us this?” Alyx complains. “That seems like an important piece of information.”
“It is,” Taishi agrees. “You're a long way off, of course, but it's something to consider. Anyway... are you ready, Riley-san?”
I can't even look at him right now. Ever since Alyx showed him the picture, I've been staring at the floor. “Uhh... yeah. Sure. Do you think I should change my clothes?”
“If you want to. You're certainly welcome to do so.”
I do a quick search for “cowgirl” on the LightTab, hoping for some inspiration. While I'm looking at pictures of my potential new clothes, I get another message from Alyx.
I just decided something. Your instructor is hotter than any of the Archangels. For real. I just changed your contact name from Leigh to Lucky Bitch.
I trash her message and go back to choosing clothes. When I finally find my inspiration, I close my eyes and manifest some jeans, a plaid shirt, and a ten gallon hat.
As soon as I'm dressed, Taishi doesn't wait for me to tell him I'm ready. He grabs my wrist and whisks me down to earth. As we drift through space, he seems quieter than usual. So am I. Alyx's semi-shirtless picture of Taishi has killed our camaraderie. I hate her right now.
When we reach our destination, my eyes swell. We arrived in the middle of a hanging. There's a guy with a noose around his neck, and a small crowd is waiting for him to drop.
“What's this?” I whisper to my instructor.
“This... isn't what I expected.” Taishi's teeth clench as he checks his LightTab. “Riley-san, that is our charge.”
“Who?”
“Him.” Taishi points at the curly-haired cowboy with the rope around his neck. “He's the one we're supposed to help. His name's Jamie Weston, he's twenty-six years old... and apparently, he's been sentenced to death.”
“You weren't expecting this?”
“No.” Rare worry creases my instructor's brow.
Our charge is standing on a barrel. At any moment, his executioner could kick the barrel, and Jamie would swing. “Why are they hanging him? Do you have any idea?” I ask.
“Well, he's an outlaw,” Taishi reveals, sighing heavily. “He's robbed banks and trains... and he set fire to a mayor's house. This mission is supposed to teach you a very specific lesson, Riley-san. You might not always agree with your charges, but you still have to support them.”
“Okay.” I can't stop staring at the rope around Jamie's neck. “To begin with, we should probably try to prevent his death.”
“Obviously,” Taishi agrees. “Do you have any ideas?”
“None. Literally none.” Taishi's better at this, so I think I'll leave it up to him.
To my surprise, Taishi sprouts wings. They're not the same as angel wings. They're smaller and grayish. They're more like a pigeon's than a dove's. Sensing my confusion, he explains, “You get your wings after your three thousandth mission.”
“Ah... okay.” I can't stop staring at them. There's something really odd about a cowboy with wings.
Taishi flies up to the gallows and tampers with the noose. I move closer, trying to get a glimpse of his handiwork.
“What are you doing?” I ask, but Taishi doesn't have time to explain. The executioner kicks the barrel, making me gasp.
Thanks to Taishi's intervention, Jamie doesn't swing. The rope snaps, and he hits the wooden podium. As Jamie rolls across the stage, a few men pull their pistols and try to fire at him. Taishi hovers in front of him, shielding him from the rain of bullets.
“Riley-san... that horse!” Taishi hisses at me. “Send it over to Jamie!”
“What horse?”
As Taishi and I deliberate, Jamie leaps from the gallows and sprints for cover. Taishi stays with him, protecting him from gunfire. “That horse!” He directs my attention to a reddish-brown gelding.
“Does it belong to someone?”
“I don't know, and I don't care... you just need to get it to come over to us!” When Jamie ducks behind a boulder, Taishi goes with him.
“Uh... how?” I run over to the horse, and to my surprise, it seems to be looking right at me.
“Animals can sense our presence a lot better than humans can,” Taishi explains as he and Jamie rush from cover to cover. “Try to talk to it.”
“Okay.” As I stare into the horse's almond-shaped eyes, it holds my gaze with interest. “Hey, boy...” I whisper to the animal. “Will you come with me? Please?”
The horse thrashes its head. It looks like he's nodding, so I take off running and motion for the horse to follow. To my amazement, it works. The horse follows me to Taishi and Jamie, who dodges a pinging bullet as he mounts the horse.
“Good job, Leigh!” Taishi praises me. It's always a bit jarring when he says my name. When I'm with Taishi, I expect to be Riley-san now. “You're a charmer of animals, apparently.”
“I have no idea how I did that! I don't... aaahh!”
All of a sudden, Taishi grabs my waist and flies with me. His wings lightly flap as we follow Jamie's horse.
“Uh, next time, can you give me some warning before you do that?” I gasp.
“Sorry. I didn't have time,” my instructor weakly apologizes.
“Really? I think you did.”
I'm crushed against Taishi's body, he's holding my waist, we're flying through the desert, and we're following an outlaw.
My day couldn't get any weirder.