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Still watching Seb, Alex started to say something else, then stopped. He blew out a breath and shook his head. Glancing at me, he held an arm out; we hugged tightly. I could sense Seb’s dismay as he watched, and I actually felt guilty for a second. It was insane: I’d only known him for about half an hour. Angrily, I tried to shove this weird hyper-awareness of Seb’s feelings out of my mind.
Alex’s arms were warm around me. “I’m sorry,” I said against his neck. “I know it must have looked—”
He kissed me, halting my words. “Hey, come on; you know I trust you,” he whispered.
I had a feeling he wasn’t including Seb in that sentiment. Not that I could really blame him. Then I thought of something; I peered around us. “Wait, where are Sam and Trish?”
“They’re going to meet us back home with Kara and her group,” said Alex. “Sam really wanted to come with me, though – he thought I might be beating up whoever this guy was. ” From his expression as he glanced back at Seb, he didn’t think it was the worst idea he’d ever heard. There was more, though; I could tell he was turning something over in his mind.
“So,” he said finally, keeping his arm around my shoulders. “What now?”
Seb looked a question at him.
“See, I’ve got this really bad feeling that we’re not going to get rid of you,” said Alex. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think you’re planning on heading back up to Chihuahua now that you’ve met another half-angel. ”
Seb’s gaze went to me. . . and all at once I knew that no power on earth would make him leave. Now that he’d finally found me, he’d die before he ever let himself be separated from me again. And to my alarm, what I felt wasn’t far off from that. It made me shaky to admit it, but it was true – something primal that I couldn’t even control. Seb might be the only other half-angel I’d ever encounter. There was no way I wanted him to go back to Chihuahua.
“No, I’m not going anywhere,” said Seb. “Not unless you want me to,” he added to me.
I was so conscious of Alex standing beside me, of what he might be feeling about all this. “No, I don’t want you to go,” I admitted softly.
Alex glanced down at me in surprise. I tried to tell him with my eyes that this had nothing to do with him and me, and everything to do with needing to know another of my kind. To my relief, I saw understanding cross his face. He didn’t look happy, exactly, but I could see that he got it.
“You were holding his hand,” he said after a pause. “What did you get? Can he be trusted?”
Remembering what I’d seen, the question almost made me laugh. Seb had been a thief for years; he’d picked more pockets and stolen more cameras and purses than he could count. But I did trust him, I realized. I’d trust him with. . . anything.
“Yeah, he can be trusted,” I said.
Alex seemed to make up his mind. “Okay, look,” he said to Seb. “If you came back with us, could you teach Willow how to do that aura thing?”
Seb’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know how?” he said to me.
I shook my head, shocked that Alex was even suggesting this – though on second thought, it made perfect sense. My half-angel aura put me in danger every time I went outside; I knew how much he worried about it. “I’m not usually that aware of auras,” I told Seb. “I mean, I can see other people’s if I try, but I’ve never seen my own unless I was in my angel form. Trying to change it never occurred to me – I wouldn’t even know where to start. ”
Seb’s hazel eyes were concerned. “Yes, I’ll teach you. It’s much safer. ”
I nodded, my emotions so mixed I could hardly make sense of them. Part of me was still stunned that Seb was even real, much less that he was coming back to the house with us.
There was no sign now of Alex’s own mixed emotions about Seb, though I knew he must still have them. “Good,” he said, sounding like he was talking to any member of the team. “And you know what we do, right?”
Seb bent down to pick up his bag. “No. What do you do?”
“We’re Angel Killers,” said Alex. “AKs. Those angels you saw” – he nodded at the Torre Mayor – “if we can get rid of them, we can destroy all the angels in the world. That’s our goal. ”
It was as if he’d knocked the breath out of Seb. He straightened up slowly, staring. “You. . . this is a joke,” he said. “You’re going to kill all the angels? Really?”
“No joke,” said Alex. “There’s a group of us; that’s what we’re trying to do. If you come back with us, then you help us fight them; that’s the deal. All right?”
Seb stood gazing up at the tower. From nowhere, I got an image of a young girl with big eyes and a grimy face. Seb would have come with us no matter what it was we did, I knew that – but something about this young girl in his thoughts made his shoulders straighten a little.
“Yes, all right,” he said. “I’ll help you fight. ”
We started heading back through the park, Seb walking on the other side of me from Alex. I could tell how much he still wanted to be talking to me, but he stayed quiet, his steps long and loping. Alex took my hand, weaving his fingers through mine and letting Seb go a few paces ahead of us.
“So what happened?” he asked in an undertone.
I explained as best I could, from Seb first finding me to Alex finding us together. Uncomfortably, I was aware of how much I was having to leave out – such as Seb putting his arm around me and me not even minding at first, because it had felt so natural.
“But Alex, are you really sure you’re okay with this?” I finished. “I mean – Seb doesn’t have to come back to the house with us. ” Though I knew if he didn’t, I’d be counting the seconds until I saw him again. There was so much I was aching to ask him; so much I needed to find out.
Alex glanced at Seb. I caught a hint of resigned dislike; then it faded as he seemed to push his own feelings aside. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he said quietly. “If he can teach you how to change your aura, so you can be safe. . . that’s all that matters, Willow. ”
I hesitated, not totally convinced – but before I could say anything else, Alex looked down at me again. “Hey – what were you going to tell me before Sam and Trish ran off? You seemed so worried: I almost had a heart attack when we got back and you weren’t there. ”
My angel. I swallowed hard. Ahead of us, Seb was standing against a tree, waiting for us to catch up. Seb, please, please have some answers for me, I thought. I really need you to.
“Nothing,” I said to Alex. “Sorry, I was just having a freak-out moment about the hunt. I mean, thinking about actually having to shoot something. ” I forced a smile. “I wasn’t born to be a gun moll after all, I guess. ”
He searched my eyes; I felt both guilt and relief when he believed me. “Yeah, I know how much you hate the thought of it,” he said, squeezing my hand. “Just promise me you’ll try to shoot if an angel’s ever actually coming at you, all right?”
“Promise,” I said. More than that, I was promising myself that if Seb didn’t have answers for me, I’d tell Alex about all of this immediately.
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