We stayed in Cherie’s cave for four whole days and nights. I didn’t see the sun or the moon that whole time. I didn’t miss them. I never even thought about them until the stone sleep came or left.

All I thought about was her—squeezing her soft body, smoothing my hands over her feathers, rubbing my nose against her silky white eyelashes.

“I can’t believe you’ve been here this whole time and I never knew it,” I told her.

“Right? Doesn’t it feel as if we should have felt each other?” She scrubbed her round cheek against my chest. “As soon as I saw you, I felt like I had been waiting my whole life for you to find me.”

I laughed. “Sorry I took so long.”

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“I’m just glad you’re here now. Stay with me?”

“I’ll stay ’til you’re just bones picked clean. Or I am. One of us.”

“Good.” She kissed me. “That’s forever. Nobody dies here.”

“I might.”

You could tell from her face that she didn’t like me saying that. She pushed up on her elbows so she could look into my eyes.

“Why might you die?”

I shrugged, and the movement of my wings rustled her nest underneath us. “The Angels where I come from died all the time. Monsters got them, or they ate something bad, or got sick or hurt, or walked off into the woods and never came back. It just happens.”

“But monsters never come in this far, and as long as you get inside before the night sleep, nothing can get you. All my food is safe, and so is my water, and no one here ever gets sick. As long as you don’t walk off, you’ll be safe with me forever.”

“All right,” I said. “I won’t walk off.”

Me promising made her feel better. She settled back down and snuggled up to my side.

“I won’t either,” she promised. “Maybe I couldn’t feel you before we met, but I would now if I lost you.”