The light fades away, revealing a woman wearing whiter-than-white robes and flexing her wings inquisitively as she looks them over.

I see before me an angel. The kind that shows up in classical artwork and on Christmas cards, not the spooky four-headed type they actually talk about in the Bible. She looks… mostly human. For the moment, she seems to have not noticed me, and is instead looking towards my apartment building.

“Uh… hi,” I say.

She turns her attention to me, smiling as our eyes meet; hers are the truest blue I’ve ever seen. Two unreal circles of a color that would make the sky jealous on a cloudless day.

“His soul is within you, is it not?” she asks, approaching me and apparently ignoring Lee.

I blink.

“The one named Brody,” she says. “He belongs to me.”

“Yeah, he’s in here,” I say, gesturing to my general self. “I kinda accidentally… killed him last night,” I add after glancing around to make sure there weren’t any non-spiritual beings listening in. “Who are you?”

“Bad news,” Lee says.

“Ah, Lethanos,” she says, as if seeing him for the first time. “I would not have expected to see you involved in this business.”

“Bad timing on my part,” he says. “Seriously, she’s bad business, Jenn. Nothing but trouble. Please, I know I’ve jerked you around so far, but you need to run right now.”

“My name is Artene,” she says as I ignore the soul who’s given me little reason to trust him and turn my attention to the one with the eyes and such. She extends her hand to me for a handshake.

I take it. Oh my God, it’s so soft and wonderful! Woof. Calm down, Jenn. Find your cool.

…So, lemme take a time-out here to address something.

I need a second to collect myself anyway.

There’s this super-gross idea that all bi people are equally attracted to everybody and anybody. That we’re just constantly looking at people and thinking about how much we want to have sex with them.

That’s not my scene on any day but today, I promise. And if that’s your thing, more power to you! Like, don’t harass people and such, but you do you, friend!

Generally, though, the most reserved flirt in any given room I occupy. This woman standing in front of me just so happens to be the most beau

tiful being I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I can’t believe I ever thought that anyone else could ever even come close. Like, Lee is OK, but my attraction to him was more of a, “Hey, this person is hot” kind of deal. With Artene here, I feel something more than that. Something that makes me feel like I know what love actually is.

On the other hand, I’m still rebounding pretty hard and just had a delicious breakfast, not to mention all of the other malarkey going on, so my judgment isn’t exactly guaranteed to be error-free. Still. Thought it’d be important to clear that up.

OK, now we can keep going!

“I’m Jenn Lewis,” I say, keeping it together. “Nice to meet you.”

“He’s telling the truth, Jenn,” Brody says. “I know her too, and she’s gonna give you nothing but grief. You’ve gotta get out of here!”

“Likewise,” Artene says, smiling. “If I am not mistaken, Brody is currently presenting you with a tremendous amount of turmoil. Am I correct?”

“Regrettably, yes,” I say. “Could you do anything about that?”

“Please,” Lee says. “I’ll teach you how to make Brody shut up! I’ll even teach you how to make me shut up! Just run, right now!”

“I might be of some assistance,” Artene says, brushing her hair out of her eyes and ignoring Lee. I like her style already. “My specialty is in taking care of mortals that have had problematic dealings with the spiritual realms. But tell me, is there some place more private that we could discuss this matter?”

“My apartment’s just over there,” I say, pointing to the building.

“Marvelous. Lead on, then?”

I do.

“…Well, the multiverse had a good run,” Lee says, trailing behind.