Ungifted

by Kelly Oram

  I was excited, though. Russ was right. If we could talk to Ethan’s dad, he could tell me everything, and it wouldn’t have to involve the council in any way, shape, or form. “Do you really think you could?”

  Russ shrugged. “Why not? If I’m really as powerful a warlock as they say I am? All I have to do is figure out how to do it.”

  “How are you going to do that?” I asked. “I can’t imagine you’d get anything helpful from a Google search.”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of the library,” Russ said, dashing my hopes.

  “The library?”

  Russ laughed at my skepticism. “Not the one you’re thinking of.”

  “What other kind of library is there?”

  Russ smirked. “The kind where fantasy books are kept in the non-fiction section.”

  “A supernatural library?” I asked, finally understanding. “You have your own library?” This was absolutely fascinating to me. “Can humans use it?”

  “No!” Ethan said, speaking up again. “You can’t use the library.”

  “Okay,” I said, trying not to blush. “Sorry.”

  Ethan rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean you, Grace. I meant Russ.”

  “I’m not talking about the consulate library. I’m not stupid enough to stroll in there. But they have a branch here in D.C., don’t they?”

  Ethan shook his head. “They do, but the resistance basically runs it, and I’m sure they’re keeping very close tabs on you while you’re in town.”

  Russ sighed. “And here I used to think I’d like being famous.”

  I smiled at that. He’d be perfect for the movies. He had the body, the smile, and the personality. He’d be the kind of celebrity to stand next to his own movie poster, pretending not to know his face was on it. “If it were the right kind of fame, I’m sure you’d love it.”

  Russ tried not to smile. “Actually, it’s kind of cool being an infamous rebel. It’s just very inconvenient at the moment.”

  “Maybe we could ask Clara if she knows anything,” Ethan suggested. “I know her mom is—”

  “Right.” Russ snorted, not letting Ethan finish his thought. “If you asked, not only would she cast a spell on you to get all of your plans from you and take them straight to Mommy Dearest, you’d need a dose of penicillin afterwards for your efforts. Clara is definitely not an option.”

  Ethan sighed. “Well, I can’t go to my clan. I doubt there’s a witch or warlock in town who isn’t involved with the resistance, and asking my mom is out of the question. There’s no one else.”

  Ethan and I noticed Russ’s grim face at the same time. “What it is?” I asked.

  “There is one other person. I was just hoping I’d never have to speak to him again.”

  Ethan got it before I did. “Your dad?” he asked, making me gasp. “Can you trust him?”

  “Not if my life depended on it,” Russ admitted. “But he wouldn’t have any clue why I wanted to know, and he’d never breathe a word to the council or the resistance.”

  “Would he tell you if you asked?”

  Russ looked surprised by my question. He thought about it for a minute and then decided yes. “He would. He’d be too curious not to. Plus, I know my dad. He’d tell me anything I wanted to know if he thought he had a chance of regaining my trust.”

  Russ and Ethan both thought about it for a long time. Eventually a look passed between them, and Russ pulled his phone out of his pocket.

  I don’t know if I’d ever been more curious in my life than I was waiting for Russ’s dad to answer his call. I held my breath and felt my heart stall when Russ finally spoke. “Yeah, it’s me.” His voice was colder than I’d ever heard it, and it wasn’t just for show. Russ was having a hard time with this call. His face was pale and his free hand was balled into a tight fist. “Tell me how to summon an angel.”

  His dad laughed so loudly I heard him through the receiver.

  “Right,” Russ said. “I knew it was stupid to think I could still count on you.”

  Russ hung up and let out a long, heavy sigh. I wanted to take his hand, but before I could work up the courage his phone rang. He stiffened, looked at the caller ID, and then dropped the phone on the couch between us.

  “Russ…”

  “Not worth it,” he said.

  I looked down at the phone. It was about to go to voicemail. He saw my face and sighed. “Fine.”

  I took that to mean it was okay to answer. I hit the speakerphone button and waited.

  “I’m sorry,” said a calm, deep voice. “I didn’t mean to laugh. You just surprised me. That was the last thing I expected to hear.”

  Mr. Devereaux’s voice was alluring, almost soothing even. He sounded regal and handsome, and not at all sinister the way I’d expected. It made me desperate to know more about him.

  “What’d you think I was going to say?” Russ asked bitterly. “Miss you? Wish you were here? How’s the weather?”

  “I don’t know what I expected from you. A lot more profanity, maybe.”

  Russ didn’t miss a beat. “You’re a bastard.”

  “That’s my boy,” Mr. Devereaux teased.

  “Not laughing.”

  Russ’s dad finally quit playing. “I’m sorry, Russ.”

  In those three words I heard something that almost made me gasp. Mr. Devereaux meant a lot more with that apology than just being sorry for playing around. It was sincere and full of love and regret. Russ’s father sounded like he was in agony.

  “Russ?” Mr. Devereaux’s voice shook, and though I couldn’t imagine what he looked like, I pictured his face full of as much emotion as Russ always showed. “I don’t know what else to say. I messed up. I should have told you about your mother. I should have told you about Dani. If I’d known—”

  “Save it!” Russ snapped. “I don’t want your apologies. I just need to know how to summon an angel.”

  “Come home, Russ. Come home and I’ll teach you. I’ll train you in all kinds of magic.”

  “You should have already been doing that!” Russ exploded so violently that he actually jumped up off the couch and began pacing the room. “You held me back on purpose! Did you think I wouldn’t realize that?”

  “I had to, Russ,” Mr. Devereaux said quietly. “Otherwise you and Dani would have—”

  “Just tell me what I want to know or I’m hanging up!”

  There was silence for a second or two, and then Mr. Devereaux relented. “Okay,” he said, as if talking to someone he feared was about to break. It made me wonder how close Russ actually was to unraveling. He seemed to be hanging in there to me, but his father had to know him better.

  Mr. Devereaux took on a scholarly voice as he said, “Summoning an angel is surprisingly easy. Basically, you say a prayer.”

  “You’re kidding!” Ethan blurted.

  There was a pause over the phone and then, “Is there someone else with you?”

  Russ ignored the question. “You pray for one?”

  “Russ, where are you? Who are you with?”

  “You pray?” Russ demanded angrily. “That’s it?”

  “Yes.” Mr. Devereaux sounded defeated. “You simply have to pray. It’s the angels’ calling to watch over the people of Earth. If someone needs their help and asks for it, it’s their duty to respond. They don’t always make themselves known, but they always answer. All you have to do is call out to them, and if your desire is righteous, they’ll be there.”

  “Any angel? What if I need a specific one?”

  Mr. Devereaux hesitated. “Which one do you need? Russ, what kind of trouble are you in that you’d resort to calling on angels?”

  “No questions!” Russ barked. “Only answers.”

  Another sigh. “I’m sorry you don’t trust me anymore, but whatever it is, I can help you.”

  “So help me. Tell me what I need to know. You owe me.”

  For a second I didn’t think Russ’s dad was going to give in, but Russ wa
s right. It sounded as if he couldn’t make himself hold back. He would give Russ whatever he wanted.

  “Calling a specific angel is a lot harder,” he explained. “You have to have a personal connection to them—an object of theirs, a memory of previously meeting them, or a very specific reason for needing them personally.”

  Russ, Ethan, and I all shared a dry look. We pretty much had that one covered.

  “So that’s it, then?” Russ asked. “I just call out to them and ask them to come?”

  “Sincerity usually helps,” Mr. Devereaux deadpanned. “But yes. That’s all there is to it. Even humans can do it. Of course, nothing can force an angel to appear. They’re stronger than any earthly magic. There’s no guarantee they’ll make their physical presence known, and I wouldn’t get your hopes up. That’s not something they like to do. There’s a lot of superstition about the effects they have on mortal beings.”

  Ethan scoffed quietly and glared at the phone. I felt bad, too. What happened to his mother was definitely not superstition.

  “Pray,” Russ said again with a hard laugh. “Well, that’s pretty anticlimactic compared to the whole human sacrifice thing you needed to raise Addonexus.”

  Mr. Devereaux heaved another sigh, this one the most weary of them all. “So you’ve talked to Dani, then?”

  Russ’s face flushed bright red at the mention of Dani’s name. “No,” he growled. “The council came after me, and they were only too happy to give me all the gory details. Then they kindly pointed out how much you screwed me over in my training and offered to teach me properly. They asked me to join the freaking guardians.”

  “Russ!” Mr. Devereaux sounded slightly panicked. “Don’t do it. I know it sounds like a gracious offer, but you can’t trust them.”

  “Don’t worry, Dad. Thanks to you, I don’t trust anybody.”

  “You should trust me.”

  This made Russ burst into obnoxious laughter. “I trust you the least of anyone.”

  “At least let me explain.”

  “Thanks for the info, Dad. Have a nice life.”

  For the second time that night, Russ hung up on his dad. This time, Mr. Devereaux didn’t call back.

  We waited until the next day to summon the Angel Michael, figuring after Russ and his dad one call to an estranged father a day was all the excitement we could handle.

  Ethan and Russ both chose to camp out on my bedroom floor all night. I had no say in the matter. When I argued, they both told me I’d just have to get used to it because until Andrew was taken care of and we figured out who tried to kill me, they weren’t letting me out of their sight.

  You’d think a girl would find that flattering, but all it did was make none of us sleep very well. We were all tired, and Russ and Ethan were both really cranky with me when I wouldn’t just let them call an angel in my living room the next morning.

  I got a lot of grumbling on the drive out to Great Falls Park, and even a few interesting curses under their breaths when I forced them to leave the heat of the car and sit with me on the observation deck overlooking the snowy Potomac River.

  “Tell me again why I’m out here freezing my—” Russ stopped when I glared at him.

  “We needed the privacy,” I said stubbornly.

  “The car has plenty of privacy,” Ethan grumbled.

  I was appalled. “I’m not going to ask an angel to make an appearance in the backseat of a car! I don’t care if it is a Lexus.”

  “We’d let him have shotgun,” Ethan said, smirking conspiratorially at Russ, who snickered with him.

  I groaned loudly, letting them both see my frustration. “You guys are idiots. If you want to go back to the car, then fine. I’ll call him myself. I don’t need you with me to ask him my questions anyway.”

  It’s not easy to stalk off on crutches, but I sure tried to. I went over to the railing, muttering to myself, and soon both of them flanked me on either side, trying their best to look apologetic. They weren’t doing a very good job of it.

  “What’s it matter where we meet him?” Russ asked, attempting to sober up.

  They were going to laugh at me, but I didn’t care. “I just thought that if I was going to meet an angel it should be someplace peaceful and beautiful. This is my favorite place in all of D.C.”

  I was surprised when Russ managed to stop smiling and take me seriously. He looked out at the river and then spoke so softly I almost couldn’t hear him over the sound of the waterfalls. “Dani loves the water, too.”

  I was startled by his mention of Dani. He generally didn’t bring her up unless it was absolutely necessary. “Do we have a lot in common?” I asked.

  Russ shook his head in response, but his gaze never left the river. “Not at all. You’re completely different in every way. I keep waiting for you to remind me of her, but you never do. It’s kind of a relief, actually.”

  “That’s good, I guess.”

  Except not really. It was good that I didn’t constantly remind him of the girl that broke his heart, but all I heard from that conversation was that I was exactly the opposite of everything he wanted in a girl.

  I could feel Ethan burning a gaze in my back and blushed at the way he was frowning. He must have been getting a taste of my sudden depression. I only hoped I was right that he couldn’t understand the reason for it. That would be embarrassing.

  Don’t ask. I grumbled mentally.

  Ethan’s frown got even bigger, but he spared me and asked a different question instead. “Why do you care so much about this, anyway? I thought you said angels were lame.”

  “In books.” I gave him my best eye roll. “Fiction. Fantasy. Nephilim, fallen angels…In books, they usually are lame. We’re talking about a real angel now. One of God’s very own beloved. And not just any angel—St. Michael.”

  Ethan couldn’t hide his surprise. “I didn’t know you were religious.”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” I snapped, then instantly felt bad when his face crumbled into a guilty expression.

  “Grace, I—”

  “I believe in God,” I said quickly. I didn’t want to hear whatever was about to come out of his mouth. “I don’t know about your Creator, but angels are angels, and I’m not about to disrespect the Archangel Michael by asking him to meet me in the backseat of a car. And actually, if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate a little space. Prayers are kind of private, you know.”

  “But it’s his dad,” Russ started to argue, until Ethan grabbed him by the shoulder and carted him off to a bench about twenty feet away.

  Thank you, I thought to Ethan.

  I was surprised to get a response.

  You’re welcome.

  I leaned out over the railing and took a deep breath. As my eyes drifted shut, I heard Ethan’s voice in my head again.

  Grace? I’m sorry.

  Like Mr. Devereaux with his son last night, I didn’t think Ethan’s apology was just about giving me a hard time for dragging them to the river. For some reason that thought terrified me, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.

  I took another deep breath and let the sound of the river relax me a little. “Lord?” I asked quietly. “I know I usually ask you to look out for my dad, but I could really use your help for myself this time. I’m looking for your servant Michael. Please. If there is any way I could speak with him—”

  I could feel his presence before he spoke to me. The sensation was so strong I gasped and couldn’t finish my prayer properly. For a moment, I couldn’t even move. He was here, really here. Standing right behind me. I felt his love penetrating my skin like the warmth of the sun, and when I heard his voice it sent a peace through me that I never knew was possible.

  “Your faith is exceptionally strong, little one. I thank you for that.”

  Slowly, I turned around, but nothing could have prepared me for meeting an angel. He was the most magnificent thing I’d ever seen. More beautiful than should be physically possible. He was tall a
nd strong, dressed in a simple white tunic that only covered him from waist to knee, and over his shoulders rose an enormous set of pristine, white wings. Hanging over his bare chest from a chain around his neck was a pendant exactly like the one Ethan had received from his mom the other night.

  He was so glorious it was difficult to be in his presence, but that’s not what made me gasp. He looked so much like Ethan! The eyes, the lips, the same perfectly golden halo of hair…Ethan had his mother’s nose and chin, but the rest came from the man standing in front of me. And this man didn’t look a day over thirty.

  When I gasped, the angel smiled warmly at me. “You have no need to fear me, Grace St. Claire. You are growing into an amazing creature and are truly in the favor of our beloved Creator. I have been sent to answer the desires of your heart. What is it that I can do for you, child?”

  “I—I—” I couldn’t help it that I was stammering like an idiot. I knew this was the part where I should ask him who and what I was, but for some reason what came out of my mouth instead was, “I’m not afraid of you. It’s just that you look so much like…I mean…um…I hope you don’t mind, but I brought someone with me.”

  Michael noticed me glance over his shoulder and turned to follow my gaze. Then he was the one to gasp. “You’ve brought my son to me,” he whispered reverently.

  “Yes,” I said softly. “And I think he’d really like to meet you.”

  I was amazed at the tentative way Michael approached Ethan. His feelings seemed to leak from his very pores, saturating the atmosphere around him. Overwhelming feelings of shock, awe, humility, fear, and love so strong I nearly cried out when I felt it. I followed the angel and went to stand beside Russ. He took my hand automatically and I could tell he was every bit as overwhelmed as I was.

  Michael came to a stop five feet from us. “Ethan?” he asked in a shaking voice.

  Ethan stared at the man, unable to speak until Russ elbowed him lightly. Then he chocked out a very unsure, “Dad?”

  That one word, whether it was the acknowledgement of their relation, or simply the sound of Ethan’s voice, sent tears spilling from the angel’s eyes. The Archangel Michael, the fiercest of all God’s creatures, the rival of Satan, was crying! The moment was too surreal.