Many Galas got Kate’s full name wrong, using Katherine as her American name. However, her mother wanted to use a Russian name since they were descendants of Russians. She had picked out Katerina because, “The first time I laid eyes on you, I just knew that name was perfect,” her mother’s voice echoed.

Katerina was lying on her bed, wanting to be alone. She imagined the scene repeatedly with this Gala with lavender eyes and magic, tossing her around.

What was the point?

“Then tell Michael I said hi,” he mocked.

Midnight rounded the corner, and Kate couldn’t sleep a wink. She kept tossing and turning, wondering if telling the Archangel about this Gala was the right thing. Her thought concluded as she looked up at the white ceiling: What if he wanted me to tell Michael? She went to her side, her eyes gazing out of her window. But what would be the point of that?

She wondered if it was a scare factor, but that idea didn’t settle well in her stomach. If Pitch was truly alive...first, how would that be even possible, secondly, if he had been alive since all this time, why would he come out of the shadows now?

To add to her shaken emotions, Kate wanted to say something comforting back to Michael before she left his office. Guilt fired inside of her, loading more onto the Archangel’s plate, but she understood the rules of reporting Gala’s harassment.

Her phone buzzed on her bedside table, and she picked it up. There was a text message from her brother, Demetrius, saying that they had arrived in the Celestial Realm.

When Michael saved them from the horrendous murder of their parents, he hadn’t asked around for their family relatives or anyone taking them into foster homes for Galas. He simply took them to the Celestial Realm and adopted them from there.

That’s when she met Sara, the odd child lost in her world. Maybe the reason she quickly became friends with her was because they both had something to lose.

Kate couldn’t sleep, and thinking of seeing her brothers from their long-term mission would help settle her emotions and bat away the creeping dread that something horrible might happen. She put on her bathrobe and slippers before she headed out the door.

The Prowler came down the glass staircase, and a smile flashed across her face. She dashed to her brothers, who were at the reception desk, talking to a Choir. Ricky was the first to notice her, and he opened his arms, letting her give him a hard squeeze.

His sister squeaked happily, “I’ve missed you!” She gazed at him with a grin and started to question frantically, “Tell me, how was England? Did you have so much tea that you were drowning in it? What kind of places did you go to? Did you see the Queen?”

Ricky chuckled, ruffling her cinnamon hair. “We had so much tea; I was peeing every hour.”

Kissing his sister’s cheek, Demetrius smiled, “Kate! We missed you so much!”

The girl flustered but giggled hardily. “Put me down! People are looking at us!”

“I don’t care,” teased Demetrius, putting her down anyway. “We didn’t get to see the Queen, sadly, but we saved the Duke and Duchess of Wales from the vampires.”

“Don’t tell me the Duke and Duchess found out that vampires are real?” Kate gasped, flickering back and forth at her two brothers.

Demetrius shook his head with a handsome grin. “Oh, Conductor, no. Michael would kill us if they did. We discreetly found the vampires’ nest and killed them off before they could take over England.”

Ricky nudged his brother. “Although I heard that the Queen knows about Galas being real, that is a rumor.”

“Well,” shrugged Kate, “the Queen does know everything.”

“Sadly, we couldn’t confirm it,” sighed Demetrius. He asked, “How were you while you were gone? We heard that you are watching Sara do missions.”

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“You know Sara is underage to be on missions alone. So Michael wanted me to tag along until she was eighteen. He wants her to be doing missions as soon as she can,” replied Kate.

Ricky muttered, glancing around. “She’s fifteen; she should stay here and train instead of out there.”

Kate agreed but frowned. Then she teased, “Questioning the Archangel’s motives?”

“Speaking of the Archangel,” began Ricky, “We are going to peep in his office and say hi before we retreat for tonight.”

“Oh no, that’s not a good idea. He’s in a bad mood,” claimed Kate, grabbing her brothers’ arms before they could head to Michael’s office.

Demetrius looked down at his sister worriedly, whispering, “Can you tell me what happened?”

There was no doubt Kate trusted her brothers to tell them everything, but Michael had explicitly told her not to tell anyone anything. She shook her head, “Sorry, I can’t.”

Ricky huffed, and Demetrius looked at the doors of Michael’s office, knowing full well she couldn’t betray the Archangel’s trust. Not only was she the Archangel’s personal sidekick and did the hardest missions that he asked her to do, but she kept everything confidential, which made her a very strong and loyal sidekick.

Her brothers were so proud of her for being one of the youngest Harmonies, besides Sara, to be Michael’s sidekick.

“Demetrius!” a girl’s voice rang out happily, running to him. She had tangerine hair and bright neon eyes, pressing her hot lips against his. “I’ve missed you so much!”

Her fingers trailed down to his butt, and Demetrius blushed. “Not here, Ashley.” He grinned and returned the kiss. “I’ve missed you so much too.”

Ricky pointed to the staircase and said, “This is my cue to say goodnight.” He grabbed his suitcase.

Taking his backpack for her brother, Kate swung it over her shoulders. She followed him as the two couples kissed away. As they walked up the stairs, down the hallway, and into the hotel, she so badly wanted to tell her youngest brother about the incident but heeded Michael’s orders. So, instead, she told him on the way to his room about the mission with the Anti-arches and how successful Sara and she were.

She put the backpack on his bed, hugging Ricky tightly. “See you in the morning.”

Ricky saw that there was something hidden behind his sister’s eyes, but bit back on his question, “See you in the morning, sis.”

Kate headed back to her bedroom with a heavy sigh. She loved being Michael’s sidekick, and her fans adored that she was doing the hard missions and saving the world, but she hated keeping secrets from her family. There was only Sara who she could talk to, but her friend was usually off training or doing whatever she did—most of the time, Kate found her sleeping on Michael’s lap.

For some reason, thinking of Sara’s and Michael’s relationship, which wasn’t her concern, made her a twinge of sadness, or was that a spark of jealousy flaming instead of her?

Her legs seemed to be moving on their own, and she wished for comfort tonight. She wanted to know what Sara’s thoughts were about this Gala, and it had been a while since she had a sleepover with her best friend.

She started to turn the doorknob, but before she jarred it, she heard Sara’s muffled voice through the soundproof walls. She knocked softly and walked in, hoping not to intrude on whoever her friend was talking to.

Scanning the room, she expected maybe Michael would talk to Sara about something, but Kate didn’t see anyone else in the room. Her friend flung up from her bed, a bit startled. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“I swear, I thought I was hearing you talk to someone…” Kate shut the door behind her.

Sara’s face beamed, and she hastily replied, “Ah, just saying my goodnight prayers.”

“But,” Kate stopped herself short, “never mind. Um, do you mind if I sleep here tonight? My room was feeling lonely, and I just wanted to talk to you.”

Her friend nodded in her unicorn pajamas, moving over to give her friend plenty of space. “Yeah, sure.”

Kate smiled gratefully and took off her slippers and bathrobe, slipping onto the bed. She rolled over to face Sara and began to ask what her thoughts were about the Gala. She tried not to frown during their conversation because the thing was; she knew her friend very well, and Sara knew Kate like the back of her hand.

Her friend hadn’t prayed since they were little when Michael used to tuck them goodnight. Sara was a horrible liar.

However, she didn’t want to press her friend. Well past midnight, they talked for almost the whole night. When Sara fell asleep during a conversation, Kate stayed awake, thinking of many things. She finally rested about her mother’s statement, which was cut off before she could finish it.

She desperately wanted to know what her mother was going to say.

“Katerina, you are—”

What special?

Not to be egotistic, Kate realized she had always been different than most Galas. Most Galas didn’t have a heavenly fire burning through their veins, which didn’t kill them immediately with agonizing pain.

But why did her mother say her name, rather than Demetrius or Ricky? The thought swirled in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.