Modern Divinity

6. Donovan

Celestine spent the next morning cleaning as a way to try and keep her mind occupied. At one point she hung Donovan's hoodie up on her coat rack, next to Mael's jacket, and contemplated how many other people's outerwear she would collect before her job was over. She found it amusing, though she knew in the end she couldn't take them with her, so they would get them back eventually.

No plans had been discussed the night before, but she knew Donovan would show up if he wanted to. Sure enough, in the late afternoon, she heard a knock at her door while she was scrubbing down her kitchen. She yelled for him to wait, then made her way to her foyer to greet him, drying her hands on her shirt as she went. The door was already arcing open in her hands before she realized she was still wearing her housekeeping clothes. By then, it was too late.

He was still shrouded in his usual style of black clothing, though that day he'd opted to include a spiked choker and wristbands. He stood with his hands in his pockets, raising his eyebrows as she stepped in front of him, barefoot and wearing her sport shorts and exercise tank. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's fine," she said, "I lost track of time, sorry."

"I can always come back later."

"No," she replied, reaching up to tighten her ponytail. "Just give me a minute to finish."

They stood together, her lingering in the entryway and him waiting expectantly for her to speak again.

Sensing she wasn't picking up on the proper social ques, he lifted a hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. The clueless woman still wasn't catching on.

"You know," he began, a teasing half-smile on his face, "one of these days you could always invite me inside."

She turned to look behind her at the interior of her house. "Oh. Oh!" she exclaimed, comprehension dawning at last. "Ha, yes, I'm sorry. Still not really used to the concept of having a home, let alone guests." She leaned back on her heel, preparing to move away so he could step past her, but her phone vibrating in the distance made her pause. "One second."

He looked a little miffed as she tossed the door shut and ran to check her messages.

Thinking back to Donovan's words from the night before, she felt a brief jolt of panic and fretted that her superiors may have been heard the conversation somehow and were texting to admonish her. Extremely unlikely, but still possible as angels had a penchant for snooping via their observational abilities. She thumbed the screen until it unlocked and saw it was a message from Mael instead. There was nothing in it except an address and the ominous words 'be careful.'

Her heart started racing, pumping adrenaline through every inch of her body. Assuming this was the lead she was hoping for, she ran to the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the floorboards. Within a flash she had changed into more street appropriate clothes and slipped a pair of boots on. Mael wouldn't have texted her if he didn't have solid information. Surely he knew not to try that trick twice. Aware this might be her chance; she was completely lost in the idea of going home and willing to do whatever it would take.

Flinging the door open, she bolted past Donovan. He let out a startled 'hey whoa' as she pushed through. She hesitated at the sight of him, the idea of leaving him behind triggering a pang of guilt, but she really didn't want to get drawn into a lengthy explanation. Instead, she held up her phone, pointing at it as she ran down the stairs.

"Important-message-gotta-go-bye!"

Her boots skidded against the cement as she rounded a corner, desperate to find somewhere she could take off without anyone seeing. She considered that Donovan might have followed her, but it didn't matter. As soon as she found a relatively private nook of trees, she spread her wings and was airborne.