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Jo lingered outside the hall. Ephraim had given no sign that he even recognized her, let alone remembered what they’d had before. She wanted so badly to believe in him, but after he’d abruptly dumped her without giving her any kind of reason, it was hard.
The war was over now, and Ephraim was one of the angels sent to the camp to make sure everyone knew that the war was over. He would be staying in the town, an arrangement that had Jo confused. When he left before, he’d made it quite clear what he thought of humans and humankind.
The flow of people out of the hall was a trickle, now, and Jo still hadn’t seen Ephraim go by. She peeked inside, where Ephraim was carefully packing away the papers he’d brought with him. After a moment’s hesitation, she went back into the hall.
Ephraim looked up at the noise, and smiled softly when he saw Jo. “I’m glad you’re still here. I can finally give you the explanation you deserved three years ago.”
Jo blinked. She’d expected… she didn’t know what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this. “Why didn’t you acknowledge me earlier?”
“We both kept our relationship a secret from our people, for good reasons. I didn’t know how that had changed after I left, and didn’t want to put you in an awkward position if you hadn’t told anyone.” He paused, coloring a little as he looked away. “There’s also that I didn’t know if you would want anything to do with me, after the way I left you. I’m sorry for that. I’m meant to heal others’ pain, not cause it. I hope you can forgive me.”
Good start, anyway. Jo hadn’t even thought of the fact that she hadn’t told anyone in the camp about Ephraim. Ellen had known, but she’d been killed a couple years back to give Jo the chance to get to safety. That was it. “Maybe. What’s the explanation, then? Why’d you dump me out of nowhere?”
“Zachariah found out. I don’t know how, I didn’t tell anyone and no one said anything about having been the one to turn me in, but he learned that I was seeing you and gave me a choice. I could end the relationship, return to Heaven, and never come back down to Earth, or I could watch while he personally slaughtered you and had Castiel’s garrison raze the camp.”
“If he knew where the camp was and thought Castiel’s garrison could raze it, why’d he ignore it?” Jo had to ask. The camp had been a thorn in Michael’s side, and she’d have thought Michael or his minions would jump at the chance to eliminate it.
Ephraim shrugged. “Orders to leave it alone? He didn’t want to have to explain the losses attacking without orders without a good reason to take it out? He was bluffing and didn’t realize that just killing you was enough to make me go along with what he was making me do? I don’t know. I wanted to come back after Zachariah died, but I was kinda scared of the Nephilim you had around here, and of course, I’m not entitled to your forgiveness. I’m hoping you’ll grant it, but…”
Jo sank into a chair, trying not to let this overwhelm her. Not only did Ephraim have a good reason for ditching her the way he did, he didn’t assume that made up for everything and that he could just waltz back into her life and pick up where they left off. A part of her wanted to say it didn’t matter and of course they could just get right back together the way they left off, but the more logical part of her argued that three years of pain couldn’t just be forgotten.
Forgiveness, at least… that was easy enough. “I forgive you. You were given a bad choice and chose the less painful way for both of us. I’d like to try again, only this time, without the secrecy. Not picking up where we left off, but starting over. How does that sound?”
“Like a good idea. Let’s do this right this time, shall we?” Ephraim held out his hands, and Jo took them.