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socializing with guardians who have important business elsewhere.”
    The promenade is reminiscent of those at amusement parks. Some people appear as if they’re on a mission, others like they’re out for a stroll. A famous face catches my eye — a young Hollywood actor. I had such a crush on him in middle school. He’s shorter in person, less airbrushed. He looks disappointed. I wonder how he died.
    Of late, newly ascended souls have included the lead singer of a popular girl band that went down in a small plane and a baseball star who died on a Jet Ski.
    Despite being dead, and undead before that, I still find myself attuned to news out of the U.S. However, I’m told that on the other side of the pearly gates, national alliances fade fast. Heaven is a place without borders, and there’s no such thing as a language barrier. I’m not certain of the mechanics, but basically it’s like everyone has a Federation universal translator. I pause on the promenade as a werecat in animal form springs by.
    Behind me, a voice whispers, “Psst! Miranda!”
    “Hello?” I turn all the way around. “Hello?”
    A tall, feminine figure steps to my side. “I’m the guardian Idelle.”
    Like all angels, she’s exquisite — in her case, with waist-long, dark, curly hair, full breasts, wide hips, and long, tapered fingers. She’s wearing the standard guardian uniform — the white robes and strappy gold sandals.
    “You’re Zachary’s former assignment?” she asks.
    I pause. “Yes, I’m Miranda.”
    “Walk and talk,” Idelle urges, and we merge into the crowd. “Is it true, what they say you were?”
    I didn’t realize “they” were talking. I glance at my hands as if I can still see the blood on them. “Yes.”
    “I heard another vampire connected to Zachary arrived in October.”
    “That would be Harrison,” I reply.
    “And a third only two days ago?”
    Cheered, I reply. “Mitch.” I didn’t realize how much I’d come to root for him until after he died for good. “He’s here at the Penultimate?”
    “No, he’s the uncomplicated sort. He proceeded through the gates right away.”
    Last night my angel returned to the site of Mitch’s destruction. He lit a candle, said a prayer, and downed a tequila shot. If only I could reassure him that his friend died at peace.
    “Three fully redeemed vampires.” Idelle purses her lips. “My first assignment — an exceptional young man, a firefighter and father of two — was cursed with unholy blood, and so I was immediately reassigned. Now, I learn that he might still have been saved —”
    “At least for the first year or so,” I put in, oddly reminded of castle politics.
    “Yes, for that long, I abandoned him to face probable damnation when there was still a chance that he could’ve eventually joined us upstairs.”
    A parakeet swoops between us and then angles higher, above the crowd.
    “Should we be talking about this?” My minister often said that God was everywhere, but I feel his presence here at the Penultimate in a way I never did before. If he’s listening, the last thing I want — me, of all souls — is to show disrespect.
    It’s as if Idelle can read my mind. “Michael is my supervisor, but he’s not the Big Boss. He’s been given a lot of leeway in running the GA operation. That doesn’t mean he’s infallible or omnipresent.”
    “You’re certain that Michael can’t hear us?” I’m not eager to antagonize him either.
    “Not unless he’s making a special effort, and if he’s going to take anyone to task, it’ll be me, not you.”
    Of all the luck! There’s unrest among heaven’s angels, and Zachary and I have become symbolic of their main point of contention. This can’t help his chances of reinstatement, our dream of reuniting someday.
    As the lobby lounge comes into view, Idelle changes the subject. “I heard that you were looking for Joshua. He’s working in the stables today, which is strange. He should be watching