Page 2 of Saints & Sinners

“Will you still come visit?” I asked, my voice small as I stareddown at the gold ring band on my forefinger.

“Of course.” He chuckled softly. “If you need me, I’ll always come to your aid.”

I rested my head on the headrest and gazed at him. “Mmhmm, well, I hope you know how much I’m going to annoy you every time I do get to see you.”

He rolled his eyes, amused. “You’ve been annoying me ever since you learnt how to talk.”

My mouth dropped open, making him laugh, but I huffed and unbuckled my seatbelt instead of verbally attacking him.

“Do you have the new uniform Nadael sent over in your case?” he asked as I exited the car.

I nodded, rounding the boot where a ripped and barely contained suitcase carried all my necessities.

“Well, do you need me to go in and speak with her and make sure everything is all set?”

I shook my head and grabbed the luggage from him with strained effort. “I’ll be fine. You just go and do yourthing.”

“Thing?”

“Yes,thing. You know, the usual duties the Celestials demand of you while I stay here and settle down?”

He stopped to stare at me as concern flared across his sharp features. Same old, same old.

“I’ll see you soon, Joe,” I said, turning away before he could go all father mode on me.

Only when I found myself staring up at the entrance doorway, flanked by towering columns and crested angel wings etched into the stone lintel, did my breath hitch, and I came back running into Joe’s arms.

He had stayed in the same spot I left him, already having expected me to come to say a proper goodbye. His muscled arms wrapped around my small frame as I held onto him tightly andclosed my eyes.

“I’m going to miss your terrible cooking,” I whispered.

He chuckled. “I know.”

We stayed like that for a minute longer before he reluctantly let go of me, and my lungs burned with unfamiliarity over seeing him leave.

“Grace?” A soft voice spoke from behind moments later as Joe drove off.

I turned as a woman came down the front stone steps of Celestia, wearing a pristine deep blue pantsuit.

“Grace Martin?” she asked, smiling once she reached me.

I nodded dumbly, and her smile stretched so wide that the most minor dimples dented the cheeks of her soft caramel skin. She was gorgeous and elegant, with long, dark ringlet curls draped over her slim shoulders.

“I’m Eden,” she said with a chipper tone. “I’m in charge of taking you to your room.”

Oh.

I clenched the handle of my suitcase a little too tight.

“This way, follow me.” She waved me over, and I reluctantly followed close behind her. The brisk air of autumn swept my curls in different directions as Eden took me through intricate pathways. Forests and grassy fields encircled Celestia on either side of me.

A cacophony of laughter pealing through the air made me whip my head to the left, where a few children dressed in active gear wrestled one another on the ground.

“Some Ascendants are given the opportunity to come here from a young age,” Eden said, and I whipped my head to where she was now standing at my side with an amused look in her dark eyes. I hadn’t even realized I’d stopped walking. “Usually, the younglings will be placed in different classes and dorms untilthey reach the age of eighteen, when they will join the adults.”

“What about others who decide not to come?” I asked, my gaze flitting back to the group that couldn’t be any younger than ten.

“Depends. Some choose to have a normal life or wait until they are ready to join us.”

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