Three months later

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Jubilee stared at the broken doll at her feet, its serene face at odds with its snapped neck and the sounds of juvenile shrieking all around the playroom.

Her roommate Alyssa had once asked her during their last year of college, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Jubilee hadn't had an answer at the time. But if she had, it would not have been, "Volunteering at an orphanage on the other side of the world, in a city full of faces that look like mine but who speak a language I barely scrape by on."

Perhaps Alyssa wouldn't be too surprised, though. She'd known her friend, Jubilee Li, was mediocre at Mandarin and wouldn't mind getting better.

But Jubilee also would not have said, "Oh yeah…and I'll be able to see angels and demons."

That Alyssa would not have seen coming.

Yet here Jubilee was, in Honghua Orphanage on the outskirts of Beijing, surrounded by screaming toddlers and flanked by a ten-foot-tall angel who looked entertained by her futile attempts to separate a pair of wrestling children.

"She started it!" one boy shrieked, pointing his disfigured hand at the girl across from him. "Ghost-eyes!"

The girl's filmy gray eyes knit together in a fury, and she blindly launched herself in the direction of the boy's voice. Jubilee intercepted her mid-leap, scooping her up. "No name-calling, Haohao," she told the boy sternly, then addressed the child in her arms, who was her favorite. "What's with you, Kailin? This isn't like you."

Kailin blinked her cloudy eyes a few times, then promptly burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Haohao Ge-ge! I'm sorry, Zhuli Ai-yi!" she wailed, using Jubilee's Chinese alias and the familiar honorific that meant 'auntie.' Jubilee had cringed the first time they'd called her that—how old did they think she was, thirty?—but it was better than Mama, which was what they called the paid, permanent employees. She had only committed to staying for a year, which was halfway up so far.

Haohao's angry expression faded to confusion, then to sympathy. As if Kailin's tears were contagious, his eyes welled up and his lip began to quiver. "I'm sorry too!" he wailed, and started to cry with her in unison.

Jubilee panicked. Glancing up at the nearby angel, she mouthed, Help.

The angel looked amused. Try checking her temperature, he advised, his voice filtering into her head in English. Swiftly he passed a hand over both children, and their sobs decreased to sniffles.

Jubilee pressed her palm to Kailin's forehead. "You're burning up, bao-bei," she murmured, using the term of affection she reserved only for Kailin. "That's why you're acting out, huh?"

Hoisting the little girl onto her hip, she turned back to Haohao and ruffled his hair. "You okay now, buddy?" He nodded, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. She continued, "Mei-mei is sick, so I'm going to give her some medicine. Can you go play with Qihou Mama for now?" She pointed at the other caretaker in the room. The little boy nodded and toddled over to the older woman.

Satisfied, Jubilee turned and headed into the hall towards the sleeping quarters, her guardian angel trailing after her. "Thanks, Hellenos," she murmured in English.

Kailin wrapped her pudgy arms around Jubilee's neck and lay against her, closing her eyes. "Zhuli Ai-yi, are you talking to your angel again?"

"Shh," Jubilee hushed her, switching back to Mandarin. "That's supposed to be a secret between you and me, remember?"

"Why?"

"Because most people don't see angels. But you do, and so do I."

Kailin cracked open an eye at Hellenos. Her gaze, usually unable to make out anything more than a few inches away, swept over him. He winked at her, and she smiled. Not for the first time, Jubilee wondered how this little girl could see Hellenos. It probably had something to do with being a child and, ironically, not having physical vision as an impediment. That didn't explain Jubilee's own ability, however.

She glanced to her left at the shimmer gliding alongside them, which she presumed was Kailin's guardian angel because of its constant nearness to the little girl for as long as Jubilee had known her. Other people's angels weren't as distinct to Jubilee as Hellenos, and for that, she was glad. The brightness of his presence alone was overwhelming enough when coupled with the glowing auras Jubilee could see around other people. Even so, it made her feel safe to see the pleasant shimmers gliding throughout the orphanage.

Reaching a door at the end of the hall, she pushed it open and entered a room lined with beds. As Hellenos stationed himself by the entrance, she gently deposited Kailin into one and pulled a blanket over her. "I'll be back with medicine. You rest."

Kailin's brow crinkled, and the usually meek glow around her dimmed with displeasure. She didn't like naps. "Okay," she said sullenly. "I'll try." A black line formed over her head and snapped in two.

Jubilee eyed the line suspiciously. "No, you won't. You're planning on sneaking out of bed as soon as I leave, aren't you?"

Kailin's eyes grew wide. "No, I'm not!" The line reformed and snapped again.

"You should know by now that I can tell when you're lying." Jubilee knelt beside the bed. "How about this instead? Can you close your eyes and count to yourself as high as you can until I get back?"

"That's the same as resting!" Kailin complained.

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Jubilee patted her head. "Maybe, but will you do it for me anyway? As a favor."

Kailin looked at her for a long moment, then finally nodded and closed her eyes. "Okay," she said. "As a favor." This time, the line over her head stayed intact. Jubilee smiled and quietly left the room, Hellenos trailing after her with a chuckle.

Five minutes later she was riffling through a medicine cabinet, cursing herself for being unable to read most of the Chinese labels.

"Where's the fever reducer?" she demanded Hellenos. The familiar orange bottle was one she'd recognize, but she couldn't spot it anywhere.

He shrugged. Why don't you ask someone?

"I just did."

His eyes twinkled with mirth. I meant another human.

Jubilee huffed and went off in search of a worker. She should've known better. Hellenos rarely answered trivial questions.

In the end, however, her coworkers had no answers either. Reluctantly, Jubilee made her way to the matron's office. "Um, excuse me." She nervously rapped her knuckles against the open door. "It seems we're out of...uh—" She realized she didn't know how to say fever reducer in Chinese and wavered. It made her feel inadequate to resort to English with Director Huang, even though the other woman had a decent understanding of the language. Jubilee babbled on in Mandarin, "I've got a child with a temperature, and we don't have..." She gestured vaguely. "The right medicine." Nailed it.

The middle-aged lady glanced up from her paperwork, the glow around her flickering with a harried sort of tension. "Yes, there seems to be a cold going around," she said, then sneezed. She returned to her work. "You have my permission to go and buy medicine."

Jubilee's eyes widened. The other woman's aura faded from her sight, as did Hellenos from where he'd been standing beside her. "Like...outside?" she stammered. She'd rarely ventured outdoors since arriving in China, and certainly never by herself.

"Where else? You have a break until you teach English lessons, don't you?" Director Huang glanced at the shift schedule taped to the wall below a peeling wooden cross. "It's not too cold today, and the store isn't far. I'll reimburse you. Just save the receipt."

"That's not—I don't—" Jubilee took a deep breath. The last thing she wanted to admit was that she still couldn't read signs or navigate the city after living there six months. She also couldn't tell the matron that, if Jubilee got what was coming to her, she was sure to get mugged the moment she stepped onto the street. And there was no way she could explain that going outside freaked her out—because the sea of otherworldly lights and colors that would assault her senses, as well as the possibility of seeing a myriad of angels and demons following other human beings, was far more than she could handle. Especially the demons. She didn't want to bump shoulders with any of those if she could help it.

"I, um, don't like crowds," she offered lamely. It wasn't a lie...but it was a bad excuse because she'd moved here from Chicago, and Director Huang knew it.

The matron shot Jubilee a hard look over the rim of her glasses. "Then you picked the wrong city, Xiao-jie." Waving a hand to dismiss her, she continued curtly, "Do or don't. Our supply run comes in at the end of the week, and the fever may go down by then anyway. Just keep the child in bed. But in case you haven't noticed, everyone else is currently on shift."

Which meant that if someone were going to get Kailin medicine right now, it would have to be Jubilee. With a sinking heart, she nodded glumly and wandered back down the hall to Kailin's room.

On her way there, she grabbed a washcloth from the closet and ran it under a nearby faucet. Maybe Director Huang was right. Some bed rest and fluids and Kailin would be up and running again in a few days. There was no need to risk running into demons. Right?

Back in the bedroom, Kailin was sound asleep, her brow knit together in discomfort and slick with sweat. She gave a soft whimper and turned over as Jubilee approached her. Gently, Jubilee laid the damp cloth over her forehead. Then Jubilee leaned back and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh.

Things were so much easier when she'd cared only about herself.

Hellenos snorted quietly at her thoughts, startling her. She hadn't noticed that she could see and hear him again.

Because you were too busy worrying, he said, tapping her on the head.

"Can't even worry in private," she grumbled.

He shrugged. You think some thoughts louder than others. In particular, you worry loudly. He paused, then amended, Very loudly.

She grimaced. Gesturing at the sleeping girl, she asked, "Well, can't you do something?"

The angel quirked a brow at her. I don't have clearance to dish out your every wish like some genie. You expect the Father to keep doing everything for you?

"Hey! I do stuff." Her gaze went to her feet. "And no, I don't expect Dad to keep doing anything for me. He's already done enough." Remembering the first, overwhelming moment she'd opened her eyes to see angels, demons, and a plethora of other unearthly sights, her tone became flat. "More than enough."

Hellenos appraised her for a moment. Then what are you afraid of?

"You asking me that question," she shot back.

He rolled his eyes, a habit he'd most certainly picked up from her. I meant about going outside.

She glanced at the ceiling. "...Muggers?" she suggested.

Beijing has a lower crime rate than the rest of China, he countered.

"Getting lost, then."

Your phone has GPS and Google Translate.

She scowled and turned to him. "Being surrounded by invisible beings who can speak into my head. One is enough."

They won't interact with you, he said. Unless you engage first.

She threw her hands up. "I just don't like being out there, okay? Things are a lot more bearable in here. Fewer adults and less spiritual craziness following people around. It's overwhelming, and I don't want to deal with it." She glared at her guardian angel. "Happy?"

He considered her. Seeing that you intend to hide inside for the rest of your life, no, not particularly.

She crossed her arms and turned away, feeling as petulant as her young charges. Some people waited and prayed their whole lives to see and hear angels. They didn't know what they were asking for.

I heard that.

She groaned and dragged a hand down her face. "I didn't ask for this," she muttered. "Why would Dad give the gift of spiritual sight to someone who's done the things I've done? I don't—"

Kailin gave a little moan in her sleep, cutting Jubilee off. She leaned over to adjust the wet cloth on the girl's brow. Kailin stilled under her touch, and Jubilee's heart swelled with a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time.

Straightening with a sigh, she left the room and hurried to her quarters. Quickly she threw on a heavy coat, stuffing her things into its pockets, then yanked open a drawer and dug out her pocket knife.

"Just in case," she told Hellenos when he quirked an eyebrow at it. Then, taking a deep breath, she left the room.

As she made her way down the hall and to the entrance, she mused to herself that this could be a sign of her healing. After all, she finally gave enough of a flying flip about someone else again to step out of her comfort zone. That had to count for something, right?

Encouraged by the thought, she exited the orphanage doors, walking out of the tangible sense of warm security enveloping her there and into the frosty February air. Ahead of her, throngs of people scurried about on the busy street, a million different lights and colors hovering over them.

Squaring her shoulders, she stepped forward and joined the crowd.