Ever since Adam left the garden, Gabriel has known why humans sometimes act irrationally, and he helps them without hesitation whenever God gives him an assignment. All seven Archangels of the Presence do as much, sometimes even without orders—whether it's redirecting a lovesick princess, encouraging a terrified hero, or dealing with an amulet-wielding old man who's compelling an unlikely service from the angel least likely to give it. But after a brutal attack during one assignment, Gabriel starts getting touchy and harder to deal with. The other angels love him, but it's been going on for centuries, and he won't take redirection. Then God gives Gabriel an assignment that could result in the destruction of Jerusalem, and Gabriel makes the wrong decision. God forces Gabriel out of Heaven. He's got one year now to make things right between him and God, except he can't possibly do enough. He's isolated from the other angels and being propositioned by demons. Even worse, as Gabriel wanders the Earth trying to change others' lives for the better, it's becoming more and more obvious that the one thing he needs to change is the only one he never wanted to risk.

An Arrow in Flight features each of the seven Archangels of the Presence in their own short stories, from Abraham to the fall of Nineveh, all leading up to a long-story crisis that requires each working in unison to help Gabriel when he doesn't seem to want their help at all.