by ERIN BEDFORD
Ayden stopped before an anti-aging cream advertisement. "Isn't it great that we'll never need that kind of crap?"
“Not really.” I shrugged and turned away from it to keep walking.
Speed walking to catch up with me, Ayden asked, "Why not?"
“Too much time.” I'd had enough of this life as it was, I had no desire to extend it even further by living practically forever.
Giving an exasperated sigh, Ayden poked me on the shoulder. “You’re so bloody depressing all the time. Lighten up.”
I smirked at her. “Maybe you just need to grow up.”
She licked her ice cream in an obscene manner. “Nah, plenty of time for that later.”
Shaking my head at her action, I grabbed her arm. “Come on, show me where this dinner is. I’m hungry.”
The diner Ayden wanted us to go to was a cute little mom and pop's place. Fully made to look like a wood cabin, it was decorated from top to bottom in antlers. I tried to repress my grimace as a sweet old man seated us.
My eyes trailed over a blond guy who was far too attractive for this little town. He saw me looking and smiled. I found myself blushing as I smiled back.
I pushed the guy out of my mind, which was hard since he was right in my line of sight as we sat at our table. Once more, I was assaulted by deer everywhere. Even the table was decorated with them.
"What?" Ayden asked, grabbing her menu from the table.
Wrinkling my nose, I leaned forward a bit. "I'm from the Midwest, and even I think this is a lot of antlers."
Ayden laughed. "Don't worry, their food is way better than their decorating skills."
I hoped so.
Pulling my menu from the table, I scanned the contents. It was your basic variety diner. Cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and even a few breakfast items you could order any time of the day.
"I know what I'm getting. How about you?"
Before I could answer Ayden's question, Dharma appeared at our table. I was relieved to see that she was alright, but apparently, she wasn't that happy to see me.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" she practically spat in my face. She hadn't even come over with her friends, choosing to face me alone. Ballsy, but stupid.
"I'm getting lunch, duh?" I held my menu up to show her, causing Ayden to giggle.
Dharma was not so amused. "Why haven't they kicked you out already?"
I sighed. "That's what I keep asking myself, and yet, here I am. It's fabulous, isn't it?"
"No. It's not." Dharma slapped her hand on my menu, forcing it down to the table. "You are an abomination. You're not wanted here, or at our school."
"That's not true," Ayden said, trying to stand up for me. "I want her here, and so do a bunch of others."
Dharma scoffed, not noticing that we had drawn the attention of some of the diners. "Like it matters what you and your little element—"
"Club," I finished for her with a glare. "Elemental club. Right, Ayden?"
Ayden didn't catch what I meant at first, and then she noticed the blond guy from earlier. "Oh, yeah, right. Element club. We are all about studying those elements." She did a fake air punch that I would have done with a little more enthusiasm, but if the guy noticed anything strange, he didn't mention it.
"Everything okay here?" He gave a dimple filled smile that made Dharma gape and stumble over her words.
"Uh, um, yeah. We're good. Right?" She turned back to me and gave me the fakest grin she could muster.
I gave her two thumbs up and matched her smile until she giggled and left. Dharma walked backward as she smiled and giggled, waving a little bit before sitting down at her own table with Bishop and Charity.
"Are you sure you're okay?" the guy asked, tucking his hand into the pockets of his jeans. God sure pulled out all the stops with this one. He had golden blond hair that curled at the edges of his shoulders, the deepest blue eyes I'd ever seen outside of cartoons, and an ass that wore his jeans like they were made for him. To top it all off, those dimples were killer on the panties.
"I'm fine. Just school drama." I waved a hand in the air and smiled, trying to make him see we were fine.
"Oh, alright. If you're sure."
"We're sure," I answered quickly, but Ayden jumped in.
"Do you want to join us? You did save us from having to listen to her harp more. It's the least we could do."
The guy gave me a look before taking the empty seat next to me. I shoved myself so close to the wall that I was almost part of the decor. It was weird, I knew it, and he noticed.
"I don't bite, I promise." He offered me a lopsided grin.
Ayden leaned on her fist and fluttered her lashes at him. "Isn't this the part where you say only if you want me to?"
He chuckled.
Damn it.
Even that was attractive.
"I'm Ayden." She held out her hand with a flirty smile. "That's Elle. And what's your name, handsome? I don't think I've seen you around here before."
Taking her hand, Ayden practically melted into the floor as he shook it and said, "Cass. It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Ayden breathed out, and I had to suppress the urge to roll my eyes.
"Are you ready to order?" The sweet old man stood at our table, a note pad in hand.
Cass and Ayden told him theirs while I took a quick look at the menu and told him the first thing I saw.
"Liver and onions huh?" Cass quirked a brow. "I would not have taken you for that kind of gal."
"Well, you don't know me well enough to know what kind of gal I am or otherwise, do you?" I shot back at him, which only made him smile wider.
Holy fucking hell, was I flirting with him? This guy I just met? What the hell was wrong with me? Did this whole angel attraction thing work both ways? Except, I wasn't drawn to any of the other guys in town.
“Are you from that private school? Up the hill?”
Ayden nodded fiercely. "Yep, it's really great. We love it there." She kicked my leg under the table. "Don't we?"
I cleared my throat. "Yeah, sure. It's great." I plastered on a forced smile.
Cass didn't seem convinced. "So, are you a bunch of rich kids, or what?"
"Or what?" I answered cheekily.
Ayden choked on her water, and I handed her a napkin.
Not bothered by my answer, Cass continued, “I tried to apply there once, but they told me I didn’t have the kind of parentage they were looking for.” He glanced at us, as if we were supposed to fill in the blanks for him.
I shrugged. “Just a bunch of old men thinking their lineage is the best is all.”
Ayden fluttered her lashes at him, “I’d let you in. In a heartbeat.”
“Aren’t you a cute little thing?” Cass gave her a panty melting smile that had Ayden almost combusting on the spot.
“Hmph," I snorted, and crossed my arms, throwing my feet up on the chair opposite of mine. "It's a bit too much like an occult to me.”
“My professor back at the university would have loved to hear why you think so.” Cass paused as a server came by and handed out our food.
“Oh!" Ayden's voice raised a pitch. "What university?”
"Purdue in Indiana," Cass explained, picking up his cheeseburger. “I'm a history major there.”
“What are you doing here?” Ayden prodded further.
“Visiting my grams,” he said between bites, “but my nutty professor back at university actually believes in all the stuff they make us study. Aliens, witchcraft, and angels.” He snorted and took a bite of his burger. After he chewed and swallowed, he added, “Like any of that stuff they spout can’t be explained by science?”
I played with my food, not planning on actually eating any of it. "Science, right." I exchanged a look with Ayden. We really shouldn't be talking about this with a stranger.
He wiped his mouth and chuckled. "My grams swears that the teachers there don’t age.” Cass grinned from ear to ear. "Can you believe that load of crap?"
/> I didn't answer him, but Ayden laughed nervously. "Yeah, crazy."
A sudden outburst of laughter from Dharma's table had me turning in my seat. Dharma glanced in our direction and then whispered something to the table, causing them all to break out in laughter once more.
A hand shook me. My gaze went cloudy, and it was like I was outside of my body looking in as Dharma got up from her seat with a chocolate shake in her hands. She walked by our table and purposely dumped it all over Cass's lap.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she chittered as she tried to help clean him up.
"Hey." The hand on my shoulder shook me slightly “Are you okay? There's something wrong with your eyes.”
I shook my head, and my vision cleared long enough to see Dharma heading this way, chocolate shake in hand. When she got to our table, I threw myself over Cass and shouted, “Look out!”
Freezing cold liquid goop slid down my hair and into the back of my shirt. I squealed at the temperature and jumped back into my seat. Dharma and her friends laughed as Cass and Ayden tried to help me clean off.
"That's a good look for you, freak," Dharma chortled and jeered.
The bell of the diner chimed, and an authoritative voice called out, “That’s enough. Everybody back to the school.” Dex stood in the doorway.
Great. Just what I needed.
Cass tried to wipe my face off with a napkin, but I took it from his hand and nudged him to let me out. “Thanks, I got it.”
“Are you alright?” He tried to follow me out of the diner, but I stopped before the door.
“Yeah. I'm fine. Just want to get changed."
Ayden followed the others out of the diner after paying for our meal and getting a to-go box. She hovered outside the door, waiting for me to finish wiping off.
“Are you sure you're okay?" Cass continued, staring hard at me, like those back at school used to when they realized I was different. "’Cause before, I swear your eyes, they were...”
I felt Dex's presence behind me before he spoke. “She said she was fine. Let’s go.”
Giving Cass a weak smile, I waved. “It was nice meeting you.”
DEX LEAD ME away from the diner. All the other students were being ushered back toward the bus. Dharma had apparently gotten to them, because they were all giving me dirty looks.
Wonderful. Now everyone hated me.
"She's only going to the academy because her dad runs it," one student hissed to another one, not even bothering to keep their voice low.
"I heard her mom was a Nephilim."
"No? And her dad is Batariel?" The first voice gasped in horror and disgust. "No wonder she's such a freak."
My fingers curled tightly into fists, and I hurried my steps.
Dex stayed close to my side as we left the town and arrived at the bus that would take us back to the academy. I shifted to join everyone else that was piling into the bus, but Dex grabbed my elbow.
"This way."
A flash of a vision pushed at me, leaving me breathless, but Dex did not look as if he’d been affected by this vision at all.
"Not trespassing in my mind anymore?" I followed him to a silver sports car. I wasn't about to question why I didn't have to ride with the others. Nothing in the world would make me want to do that.
Dex gave me a look. "It's safer that way." He slid into his car and waited for me to get into the passenger seat before turning his car on.
He shifted gears and pulled away from curb.
Not able to handle the tension in the car, I picked a relatively neutral topic. "I thought you didn't come to town. Too many people remembering your face?"
Dex snorted. "A simple suggestion slipped into their minds ends those theories easily."
I hummed.
"Hold on." Dex shifted gears, and the car zoomed forward, ending any conversation we could have had with his speed.
I grinned and laughed as we zigged and zagged down the road, speeding past cars and trees in a blur. If a police officer had caught our speed, he wouldn't have stood a chance at catching us. In fact, a part of me worried that Dex might crash at any moment. The braver half of me didn't care and just wanted to go faster and faster.
A sideways glance at Dex showed he too enjoyed the speed. His lips were curled up in a carefree smile, his face relaxed, and his fingers tight on the steering wheel.
We beat the bus by a landslide, pulling into the driveway of the academy. I hardly wanted to get out of the car as Dex brought the car to a stop. Except, staying there in the car with Dex was torture. All I could think about was the vision I'd just had and what I'd seen this morning. The combination of a naked Dex and the feel of his hot body pressing down onto mine was almost too much for me to bare.
Unable to handle it anymore, I opened the door and stepped out. The academy stood quiet before us as we walked up the stairs of the front building. I touched the back of my hair and grimaced when it came back sticky and brown. I gave Dex an apologetic smile. "Sorry about your car."
Dex skimmed over my ruined attire. "Don't worry about it. It's just a car. You should probably go get cleaned up." Neither one of us needed to add "before the bus gets back." I didn't want to face down any of them right now, and the ice cream was starting to itch.
I started toward my room, but Dex called my name.
"When you're done, we need to talk." His gaze was sad, as if he didn't really want to talk to me but had to.
I inclined my head, swallowing hard. "Okay. I'll be quick."
I wasn't sure what Dex wanted to talk about, but it couldn't be anything good. Was it about this morning? Nothing happened. Hell, we hadn't even kissed. Not in real life anyway. We'd done a whole hell of a lot more than kiss in my visions.
Still, I hurried to my room and gathered a new set of clothes along with my toiletries. I washed myself faster than I had in my life, even with washing my hair three times. When I was done, I quickly dried off and got dressed.
Dex was waiting for me in the hallway when I exited the bathroom. I was still drying my hair with a towel, but didn't miss the way his eyes skimmed over my newly changed clothes. By the heat in his gaze, I knew he was thinking about this morning. Unfortunately, as quickly as the look came, it was gone.
"Give me a second." I ducked into my room and put my things away, tossing my ruined clothes into the hamper. Hopefully they were salvageable. I really liked those jeans.
Cleaned and ready, I left my room and walked over to Dex. Not sure what the tone of this conversation would be, I cautiously stepped up to him. "What did you want to talk about?"
Dex began to speak, but stopped and glanced down the hallway where the sound of students returning filled the hallway. "Not here." He pivoted on his heel, expecting me to just follow after him.
Normally, I'd have been annoyed, but I wanted to know what he had to say and that required me to follow him. Regardless if I liked it or not.
Dex led me down the hallway and down past the gymnasium to a set of double doors. I knew the doors led to the library, but I had yet to need to use it just yet. Reading wasn't particularly high on the priority list right now.
Pushing the doors open, Dex gestured for me to go inside.
Becoming even more curious to know what this was all about, I only briefly oh'd and awe'd over the massive library. Any school who values education over having a new snack machine was okay in my books.
Walking over to a table, Dex placed his hand on the stack of books sitting on top. "I'm sure you heard me yesterday in Azazel's office."
I shrugged sheepishly. "Just yelling. Nothing really distinctive."
Dex ducked his head and raked a hand through his hair. "Well, that's lucky. I wasn't exactly being respectful."
I shrugged and wandered over to the table. "I'm sure whatever you were yelling at Azazel about was well deserved. I've yelled a time or two at her myself."
Chuckling, Dex tapped his finger on the book beneath his hand. "That I can believe." He huffed and dragged a hand over his
face. He was struggling to tell me whatever it was he needed to tell me.
"Just tell me." I sat down at the table and glanced at the spines of the books. Prophecy of Zaphkiel. The End of Days. Of Fire and Ice. And several others that were in Latin. It seemed our conversation wasn't to see about making my visions come true.
"There are things you haven't been told," Dex began, pacing before me rather than sitting at the table with me. "Things that should have been explained to you as soon as you got here. But they’re so damn stubborn." He growled and jerked his hands in the air. "Everything has to be done in order and by the book. They don't realize that they're messing with people's lives. They're fallen angels, for Lucifer's sake! Breaking the rules is kind of their MO."
I frowned as I watched Dex rant and rave. I didn't know if I liked him this way. Though, I did agree that all these rules for a group of angels who rebelled against God was pretty silly.
"Dex." I half stood and reached for him. "What is it?"
Stepping out of my reach, Dex stalked over to the table. "You weren't an accident, Elle." He threw open one of the books and showed me the passage on the so-called savior or destroyer Ayden had told me about on day one.
"What about it?" I asked confused.
"Elle, your dad didn't fall in love with your mom. He picked her specifically based on a vision Sarah had." My mouth dropped open as he continued to shatter my existence into a million pieces. "He knew he could get her pregnant, and that's why he picked her. He was ordered by Lucifer to make you. A Nephilim who was more angel than human. One who had less limits on their powers. One who could turn the tide of this ongoing battle between Heaven and Hell—Nabi. Or more commonly known as the Watcher."
Nabi!
That word. I know it. It was so familiar and yet foreign. The same name the shadows called to me in my dreams. But, why? Why would the shadows call me the Watcher?
A vague remembrance of the painting Ayden had shown me flashed in my head. The picture of the figure standing between two sides of a battle. She’d called it the Watcher as well.