“I guess I’m no longer needed,” Uriel remarked, rubbing his chin in that familiar, thoughtful way he always did. He hadn’t changed at all since the last time Gavriel saw him. “Still… just from her reaction, I could tell she went through something. A trauma. Maybe a nightmare?”

He wasn’t wrong. Earlier, Gavriel had been able to feel Althea’s emotions, raw and overwhelming. Fear. Sorrow. Grief so deep it nearly crushed him. She had been spiraling.

But now… there was ...