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time, they did not know they were born half-angels.”
    “I thought all the Nephilim were wiped out?” Naomi asked.
    Raphael smiled. “You know your scripture very well.”
    “Catechism classes every Wednesday. I skipped once, but Chuy ratted me out to Welita. I couldn’t sit down for a week.” Naomi sighed with a smile on her face, as if remembering.
    Raphael took a deep breath as if what he was going to say next was difficult. “Among the humans, the Nephilim stood out for their beauty and strength. Many people in the city worshipped them as if they were gods. Jeremiel”—he threw a wary glance at Lash—“was favored above all, both human and Nephilim, for his skill and strength. There were many families who desired to betroth their daughters to him, including your family, Naomi.”
    “That figures,” Lash mumbled.
    Naomi patted his leg. “It’s all in the past. I’m here with you now.”
    Looking up at her, Lash brushed his finger across her cheek. “Yes, you are.” He turned back to Raphael and saw a strange expression on Jeremy’s face again. He ignored it, not wanting to upset Naomi again.
    “It was not that you were unskilled or lacked strength, my son. I fear I may have encouraged the people’s attention directed at Jeremiel and away from you. From the day you two met, it was clear Naomi wanted only you. And I”—he swallowed thickly—“I did everything I could to turn Naomi away from you.”
    He looked at Lash with tormented eyes. “That is a memory I wish I could forget. Believe me when I tell you, Lahash, there is not a day that goes by when I have not regretted my actions.”
    “Why would you do such a thing?” Naomi said, her voice sounded raw with ache. “Why would you have wanted to hurt your own son like that?”
    Raphael threw a glance at Jeremy and then turned to her. “Because I...I favored Jeremiel.” He paused, his eyes fixated on the floor, the words coming slowly, carefully. “And he favored...you.”
    Lash jumped up and screamed at Jeremy. “Get out!”
    “Come on, Lash,” Jeremy said in a soft voice, looking up at him. “That was a long time ago.”
    Lash took a menacing step toward him and looked down at the golden angel who threated to take everyone he loved away from him. He’d done it in the past. What was to stop him from doing it again? “You’ve been acting strange ever since you set foot in this house. Why is that?”
    Jeremy swallowed. “We didn’t exactly leave off on good terms the last time we saw each other. I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
    His eyes stared intently at Lash as if he were struggling to convince him.
    Lash searched his face, trying to read him. Jeremy was wearing his poker face. Damn it! He’s hiding something .
    “What aren’t you telling me?”
    “Please, Lash. This doesn’t matter anymore.” Naomi’s soft hands touched his tense arm and turned him around to face her. “For the entire time you’ve known Jeremy, that you can remember, has he ever tried to take anything away from you?”
    “Yes. He let you die. He could’ve saved you.”
    “That was different. His job was to bring me here. When I first met him, you told me he was your friend. And if you remember, I wanted to take a tire iron to him.”
    Lash grinned. “Those were good times.”
    Naomi looked at him expectantly.
    He sighed. “Oh, all right. No, Jeremy never took anything from me.”
    “And?”
    “And, he was always up front with me.”
    “So, why would you expect anything to be different now?”
    She was making too much sense, and he didn’t like it. Memories or not, he just couldn’t shake off the feeling that Jeremy still wanted her. He gazed into Naomi’s pale blue eyes framed by thick black lashes. She was so beautiful. How could he blame any man or angel for wanting her?
    “You’re right. I guess I’m just being paranoid.”
    She pecked his cheek with a kiss and then turned to Raphael. “I don’t remember any of this, and what little