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perishable. And everything seemed that way to her—perishable.
    But not this. This was knowledge. It was a solid foundation upon which she could stand. She could live with spending her inheritance on an education. It was perhaps the one thing in the world worthy of its cost to Sophie.
    She had also saved most of the money she’d made working as a housekeeper at various hotels in Pittsburgh. She loved the job. She just put on her iPod, let AC/DC or Leonard Cohen or Valley of Shadow seep into her bones, and danced her way through the rooms, making each one as welcoming as possible. She was good at her job, and though it didn’t pay much—just enough for rent, food, and clothes—she almost never failed to receive a tip when her clients left. More often than not, there would be a twenty sitting on the bedside table with a note of thanks. Or a ten-dollar bill and a hand-drawn picture from a five-year-old. These tips she put into the same savings account that held her parents’ money.
    She’d received the acceptance letter from Berkeley almost four weeks ago, and the fact that it was in a ginormous envelope filled with a folder and course catalogs had given the acceptance away even before Sophie had read the words on the front page. The acceptance and scholarship constituted a change in her luck that she was completely unprepared for. She hadn’t known how to react to it. She was afraid that if she was too happy, the fates would take it away from her. If she celebrated, she would ruin it. She was afraid to brag, afraid to even smile.
    Now, finally speaking the words out loud had a dual effect on her. It was liberating. And it was also terrifying.
    For a moment, Juliette just stared at her and blinked. Sophie was sure that a number of questions were most likely going through her best friend’s head:
Berkeley? Sophie applied to school? When did this happen? A full scholarship?
    And then a smile spread across Juliette’s face and her green-brown eyes glittered with understanding. “So
that’s
why you were talking about going back to school the other day,” she said, referring to the afternoon that she and Sophie had spent walking through the Hogsmeade-style streets of Edinburgh. The subject had turned to school and aging and now Juliette obviously put two and two together and figured out why. Sophie had been thinking of her own situation, her own acceptance, and the fact that she would be a twenty-five-year-old freshman working on her undergrad degree at one of the most famous universities in the world.
    Sophie mirrored Juliette’s smile and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it was.”
    Juliette turned to fully face her and took Sophie’s hands in her own. Her smile was so genuine, it melted Sophie’s heart. Again, she was struck by how lucky she was to have a friend like Juliette. It was what Sophie imagined having a sister would be like.
    “I’m sorry I can’t act surprised,” Juliette said with a laugh. “’Cause I’m not. I knew you would break down and apply one day, and I knew they would beg you to come once you did.” And then Juliette’s eyes were shiny with what looked like tears. “You’re a dancer, Soph. I bet your audition tape knocked ’em dead.” They hugged. A wealth of unspoken congratulations for each other passed between them in that moment. They both had a lot to be grateful for.
    “Can I get in on this?” came a deep brogue.
    Sophie pulled away enough to see Gabriel Black, Juliette’s new husband, standing on the stone steps of the castle behind them. His silver eyes were shining and his smile was stunning. He looked like a model in a tuxedo catalog, too good to be real. And then Michael and Uriel joined him on the top step. The three of them together in their respective finery was a breathtaking sight. Sophie blushed and Juliette laughed.
    But under the blush, Sophie realized she felt something else. Azrael wasn’t with his brothers.
Where is he?
she wondered. It was incredibly disconcerting