It barely fit it into my mind how someone could be so fast; he had moved in less than a second, or had he teleported? I couldn’t be sure—not anymore. Too much had happened in the past thirty-six hours. Too much supernatural, too much for me to keep up, too much for anyone to understand.
“How can you be so calm? You almost died, don’t you understand?”
I shook my head. I was very good at forgetting bad happenings, and being with Adam all night had helped me bury my bad memories—even if they were very fresh.
“Want some more?” Adam asked. I shook my head and he carried away the tray. I waited until he left, then jumped out of bed and hurried into my clothes. I was grateful that I didn’t have to go to school today. I pulled the power cord for my cellphone out of my bag and plugged my phone in to charge it. As I looked at the display, several text messages blinked at me.
I browsed through my inbox and read them one after the other. One was from Lydia, she wanted to remind me of the book I should bring her on Monday. One was from Amber, who said that I had to call her immediately the moment I read this, she wanted to know everything about my date with Gregory. I couldn’t wait…
Then there where several messages from Gregory, saying that he was sorry, he wanted to talk to me and to make it up to me. I had successfully shoved aside all thoughts about the date with Gregory, but it was an undeniable fact that I would have to talk to him some time. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I wouldn’t prefer the demons’ torture to a conversation with him.
I snorted at myself in disgust and opened the next message. It was from Sophie. Three missed calls and three messages, all of them reading a similar content: Where are you? Why don’t you call back? Are you alright? Call as soon as you read this!
I dialed her number and waited for a few seconds before she answered.
“Claire, where have you been? Are you all right?”
“Hey Sophie,” I took a deep breath before I told her a lie. “I am all right. Just busy—and I was out yesterday and lots of stuff to do for school—how are you anyway?”
“I’m fine, I was worried about you. Ian told me he wanted to visit you yesterday, but you weren’t at home…” Her voice really sounded a little worried.
“I was out in the afternoon as well—studying with my friends, you know how bad I am at history.” I heard her chuckle at the other end of the line and felt that she didn’t suspect anything. “How is it going at the hospital?”
“Quite well, my colleagues are pretty nice. I miss home, though.—Ian is going to come up for the weekend.” Her voice sounded enthusiastic. “We are going to do some sightseeing—looking forward to that.”
“Sounds great.” I couldn’t bring myself to mirror her enthusiasm. “I hope you two have fun.” I was glad Sophie had somebody who took care of her.
“I have to get going,” Sophie chirped into the phone and I heard some voices in the background, and laughter. “Colleagues are waiting for me. Goodbye, little sister.” And she was gone.
I hurried to the bathroom and brushed my teeth quickly. The room was still empty when I returned so I decided to go looking for Adam. I walked down the stairs deep in thought. There was so much I had to think about—I had to get used to being a target, to the fact that my life was more dangerous now. I knew Adam would help me—wouldn’t he?
Something hard hit my arm.
“Ouch!” I protested at the pain in my elbow and looked up. I had walked into Ben who was now standing in front of me, his face a loathing mask.
“You still here?” His words sounded less like a question than an accusation.
“As you can see—” Ben’s stare was intimidating and cold, and I cringed away from it instinctively. I wasn’t sure if I imagined his expression soften a little at my reaction.
“Where is Adam, anyway?” I asked coldly.
“Kitchen.”
“Thanks.”
Ben eyed me for a moment and then stepped aside to let me pass. I rushed past him quickly and across the hall towards the wooden doors of the living room, only to realize I had no idea where the kitchen was. I stood there for a moment not knowing whether to start searching or to call out loud for Adam. While I was pondering, footsteps echoed behind me. I turned around.
“Can I help you, Miss?” Geoffrey smiled at me vaguely. I jumped. He had appeared out of nowhere and now was standing right there smiling at me and offering me help.
“I’m looking for Adam. Ben said he is in the kitchen.”
I had completed forgotten about the Gallagers’ butler. The kind elderly man gestured me to follow him and led the way towards the room behind the door across the living room. Before he opened it, he turned to face me for a moment.
“It’s good to have you back here, Miss Gabriel. Master Adam missed you, you know.” I sucked in a breath at his words. “And don’t be upset with Master Benedict. He is trying to do the right thing.” With these words he opened the door for me. I couldn’t even answer because Adam was smiling at me as he walked up the corridor that lay behind the open door.
He was fully dressed in black jeans and a gray sweatshirt. When had he done this? I couldn’t remember him getting dressed before he left with the tray—he must have been up in his room during my conversation with his brother.
“Hey honey,” he kissed me briefly and took my hand to pull me through the corridor and upstairs, back to his room. It was a new route. I hadn’t been here yet. We ran into Ben on our way up. He didn’t stop, but threw me a hostile look as he rushed past me down the stairs.
“What’s his problem?” I asked the moment Adam closed the door behind him and sat down on his bed.
“Don’t bother—honestly, just ignore him.” Adam rolled his eyes.
“But I do.” Ben was really giving me a hard time. My life was already full of things I had to cope with, the last thing I needed was my boyfriend’s little brother shooting me hostile looks every time we met.
“Claire, just let it go.—There’s something I want to show you.” He grinned.
“What is it?” It was unfair how easily he could sidetrack me. With one simple sentence, and his gorgeous face, he could lead my attention wherever he wanted.
“I will show you …If you come with me.”
“Where to?”
“Just come with me.” He got to his feet and pulled hoodie out of the dresser. “Put your jacket on.”
I followed him back downstairs and did as he told me. I slipped my arms into the thick jacket quickly before I followed him out the front door.
“Aren’t you afraid to go out after all that happened?” I asked him.
“Why?” He led me to a garage. I recognized the car as the one he had driven last night.
“Because technically they are not searching for me.—What they really want is you. For them I’m only a tool to get to you, worth nothing when they have you—”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of both of us.” He gave me the most angelic smile and waited for me to get into the car. Not knowing what else to do I climbed into the seat. He closed the door behind me and shocked me as he vanished into thin air only to reappear in the driver’s seat without opening his door to get in. It was just like he wanted to enforce his words with his action.
I really had to get used to that teleporting stuff. First Jaden, and now Adam—it was great, but scary. I had only a faint idea of what else they were capable of, having seen Jaden taking down the demon.
Adam started the engine and pulled out of the garage quickly. We drove in silence for a few minutes before I got impatient and asked him where we were going.
“Not far,” Adam reassured me.
We curved out of town and into the frozen countryside. A few minutes later Adam pulled into a small path which lead into a forest of fir trees. Another minute later he stopped the car and cut the engine. This time he opened the door in a human way and walked around the car slowly until he reached my door. He opened it for me and waited for me to get out.
Adam chuckled. “That’s not the middle of nowhere—it’s my parents’ land.”
“Correct me if this sounds crazy, but—you own a forest?” Unbelievable—what didn’t the Gallagers own? Jenna’s family must have been unbelievably rich.
“Yes, I guess we do,” his laugh was lighthearted and full of glee. “Let’s go!” he called and pulled me along by my hand.
We walked for five minutes before he finally stopped and looked at me intensely. We were in the middle of the forest, only a few rays of sunlight fell through the thick deep green branches of the fir trees.
“Close your eyes, Claire,” he instructed. Without thinking, my eye-lids fell shut. I waited for a few seconds for him to tell me to open them again, but he didn’t. Two hands grabbed my shoulders softly and then I lost the feeling of solid ground under my feet, I lost track of time and I felt like I was being pulled through cold water.
After what seemed like more than a minute my feet hit the ground hard and my knees buckled. My eyes shot open reflexively and I half expected to fall down any moment. But I didn’t—Adam held me tightly and cradled me to his chest.
I blinked several times as sunlight touched my eyes. All the mysterious darkness of the forest was gone—no fir trees within a wide range, only snowy white plains as far as my eyes could see. “Where are we?”
“Somewhere near Madison, Wisconsin.” He stated plainly.
“What?” I screamed. “How—” Hrmpf. I was both amazed and shocked, and I really wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Adam astounded me more and more. He was such a kind person, helpful and caring, and he seemed so human when he cradled me in his arms, but then again he was the immortal heavenly creature that gave me the chills because of the things he could do, the things normal humans only dream of—the things which both fascinated and scared me.
“I wanted to be alone with you,” he released me from his embrace.
“We were alone in your room,” I reminded him. “And in the forest.”
Adam chuckled quietly. “But not as alone as we are here. I don’t want any witnesses.” His face was suddenly dark. The expression scared me.
“What do you mean—no witnesses?” What did he want to do? Was he going to hurt me? He was the good guy, wasn’t he? He wasn’t supposed to do me any harm.
“Don’t be afraid,” he pleaded. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Again I felt as transparent as glass. I hated how he could perceive any small change in my emotional state. It was fear now, and he was right.
He stepped back from me until he was standing a few feet away. Out of reach, but with his teleporting-abilities I didn’t trust the distance. Hadn’t he just teleported both of us from Illinois to Wisconsin?
“Be patient, please. I promise I won’t hurt you—you can trust me.” He smiled at me as he slipped out of his jacket and sweater and let them both fall to the ground beside him. Then he closed his beautiful green eyes. I caught a hint of glow before the lids were entirely shut.
A second later a white explosion shot out behind him. I couldn’t watch as quickly as it happened, but I lifted my arms to shield myself. Nothing hit me. My arms slowly sank back to my sides. The view was breathtaking—Adam was standing there with closed eyes, straight and tense, a pair of wings was flowing from behind his shoulders. Sunlight beamed through the white light feathers, illuminating them. They lifted less than an inch every time Adam breathed in and shivered down slowly whenever he exhaled. It was a picture so beautiful it made my heart break.
After a while he opened his eyes and looked at me. They glowed a little—enough to make him look unnatural, but not enough to make him look eerie.
“I learned to control them” The feathery wings flapped once in syncronized motion and became still again.
I was still too perplexed to say anything, so I just moved my head nodding and shaking at the same time. Adam took a step towards me, his arms stretched in my direction. His wings quivered with every movement, the feathers seeming almost luminescent in the bright sun. Then he flapped them twice—they glided up and down slowly, two white enormous wings shaped like those of an eagle. After a few moments Adam leaped into the air and soared up with a few more flaps.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Whatever I had thought impossible—now it was being reversed, forcefully, by the most beautiful creature in the world. People could fly—angels could, at least—and the man I loved could, too, because he was that heavenly wight I only knew from children’s books and fairy tales. All of it had suddenly become real for me.
I watched Adam circle above me. He was too far up to make out the expression on his face, but there was no need for me to see it to know he was ecstatic—it was obvious in every movement.
While he enjoyed his flight I bent down and picked up his sweater and jacket. When I straightened up again it was just in time to see him touch the ground lightly and set his feet back onto the snow right behind me.
“Want to see what it’s like up there?” he asked with a laugh in his tone, and before I could answer he had lifted me from the ground with both arms, and we were soaring up in the air. I felt my face go slightly green as his body resonated with the power of his every move. We were up so high I was sure that if he let me fall I would without a doubt break my neck. I buried my face in his chest and silently hoped for it to be over quickly.
“Don’t worry,” he breathed into my ear. “I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall.” He tightened his arms around my body from under my knees and behind my shoulders. It felt like I was folded up against him, but better than the loose grip he had on me before.
After a short while I got used to the feeling and was finally brave enough to look down again. We were gliding silently through the cool winter air along the cloudless sky and my heart lifted at the view of white. At the far edge I could make out the shapes of a huge forest where the seemingly endless white faded into darker silhouettes.
“That’s incredible,” I called into the wind that rushed by us. Adam laughed out loud and nodded. He circled down slowly and finally landed on his feet noiselessly. He set me down gently but his arm remained on my shoulder, pulling me tight to his chest. He kissed me fervently. I melted into his shape easily and forgot how cold I was. His lips were warm on my mouth and his kisses warmed me from inside.
“I’m sure I’ve never in my whole life experienced anything that was in any way comparable to this.” I confessed between two kisses while he renewed the contents of his lungs. He chuckled at me with questioning eyes.
“The flying or the kisses?”
I pretended to ponder for a moment. “Both, I guess.”
He pulled my face back to his with one hand and continued where we had stopped. It was amazing how easily my world had been put back together when not even twenty-four hours ago it had been completely torn apart and crumbled. I knew for sure that these were stolen moments of joy, nothing that would last, no matter how much I wished it would. Something solid touched my back and my eyes flashed open.
Adam smiled at me with slightly glowing eyes. His wings had curled around me with his arms and wrapped me tightly to him. “Sorry,” he apologized.
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine—” I grimaced. “—just unexpected.”
He laughed at my expression and slowly unwrapped me again. “I thought you might be freezing.”
“Speaking of that—you are the one flying around in the middle of frosty January wearing little more than a t-shirt. Aren’t you freezing to death?”
“That’s one of the good thing about being an angel—you’re neither affected by heat or cold.”
“That’s weird.”
“Yeah, I suppose it is.” He chuckled again. “But very useful.”
I stepped away from him and followed one of the wings to his back, where it was folded neatly against his shoulders and spine. His shirt was torn where the wings had burst from between his shoulders.
I couldn’t resist touching the place where skin and feathers melted into each other. The wing twitched, just like a horses flank would do when you touched it.
“What are you doing,” Adam asked over his shoulder.
I didn’t answer and let my fingertips glide along the contours of the feathery wing. As I reached the highest point of the bow in which it lay against Adam’s shoulder it began to stretch under my touch ever so slightly. Only the spot I was touching flexed with the movement of my fingers. I was awed by the perfection of its design and by the energy which ran through it.
“That’s so—” I was searching for the right words.
“Abnormal?” he offered.
“No—perfect,” I corrected. And I was being honest. “But why are you showing me all this now?”
“You see, as there is no chance to protect you by keeping you in the dark, I can as well just show you everything.” His head sank a little. “It’s the best I can do now—letting you know what you’re dealing with, so you’ll be prepared next time they strike.” His voice was grave.
“You know that today is very important, Claire?”
Not knowing what to answer I mmhhed at him.
“Today I’m going to tell you everything that’s important for us to survive. I’m going to show you all of my powers and explain some of the boundaries. I want you to have the best chance to come out of all this unharmed.” He turned around and faced me, his hands gripping my shoulders and locking me in place. “Do you understand?”
I nodded, halfhearted.
“Do you understand?” His voice was desperate and he shook me like a doll.
“Yes, I do,” I half screamed at him. His grip hurt. “No need to shatter me to pieces.”
“Sorry,” his hands instantly vanished from my shoulders. “I always forget that I’m stronger than I used to be—not easy to gain control over. Teleporting—alright, that’s something you do at will or spreading wings—but speed and strength are definitely harder to handle. I have to be very careful in everyday life not to stand out with one of those abnormalities.”
White (The Wings Trilogy Book 1) Page 26