Divine Temptation by Nicki Elson

rub the back of his neck. “It’s difficult to explain.”
    Maggie sighed and readjusted to sit cross-legged. Patting the mattress in front of her, she said, “I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a while and you might as well get comfortable.”
    The angel considered her gesture for a moment and then moved onto the bed, mirroring her position so that they sat nearly knee to knee. “Angels don’t remember,” he continued. “That is to say, we have no need of remembering because we don’t forget. We know what we’re meant to know, nothing more, nothing less.” He lifted his fingers to brush them over the deep creases in Maggie’s brow. “I’m sorry; it’s not an easy concept, and it doesn’t matter anyhow. You wouldn’t understand. Not completely. At any rate, the moments I referred to were quick flashes of danger. I stepped in to intercede and lead the people to safety. They seemed to be able to see me and followed, but they may have been obeying an inner voice and not my physical form.”
    “So you didn’t speak to them.”
    He shook his head. “You’re the first I’ve ever spoken to.”
    “Really?” She liked the idea of that. “Well, besides talking to other angels, of course.”
    He shook his head again, and his pale eyes sparked. “First ever to anyone. We don’t need to speak in the other realm.”
    Maggie took a moment to absorb this before asking, “You read each other’s minds? All the time? Are you reading mine?”
    He let out a laugh. “No. It’s not mind reading. We know what we’re meant to know.”
    “Ah, that stuff I won’t understand.”
    “Exactly. But in this case I obviously need to speak for you to get the information you seek. You’ve given me my voice.” As he said this, he reached his hands over to grab Maggie’s where they rested on her knees.
    She felt again as if their flesh was melding together, and a calming reassurance seeped into her. “It’s a very nice voice,” she quietly told him.
    “Thank you,” he replied softly.
    The angel was perfectly visible to Maggie’s eyes and gave no indication that he had any trouble seeing through the darkness, so she hadn’t thought to turn on a light. But now the intimacy of the darkened scene occurred to her, and she slipped her hands from his touch while shifting her mind to a different direction. “Earlier today at work I was thinking, the accounts in the Bible are only summaries, really, so for all we know, it took Mary and Gabriel weeks to figure out what was being asked of her. We can do this. Maybe we should start with what we do know.”
    His slight nod indicated he was game.
    “Okay,” Maggie continued, “I’ve seen you twice outside of my drea—out in public. At the coffee shop and at Somme Park. That was you, yes?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, what could’ve drawn you out both times? At the coffee shop…” Her mind drifted back as she put the scene together, and she snapped her fingers. “I’d just told my friend about seeing you in my dream! Was that it? Were you coming to warn me not to tell people about you? Is this supposed to be a secret?”
    He pulled his eyebrows together and shook his head. “I didn’t know you’d told her about me. I felt…it was an overwhelming need to protect. There is evil in this world, all the time, and part of what we do on Earth is ward off those spirits with our presence. The evil that day was intense, apparently concentrated enough to draw me out far enough to be visible to human eyes.”
    A chill prickled up Maggie’s arm. “Are you protecting me now? Is it, is it lurking closely right now?”
    The angel tilted his face to point upward as he turned his palms out and held them slightly away from his body, staying silent for a moment before answering. “No. There’s always a presence, but I don’t feel anything particularly strong right now. Not strong enough to warrant my appearance. I haven’t felt it the other nights I’ve been here either.” He