by Kelly Oram
What the heck?
Laughing, Ethan slapped me on the back. “Welcome to the freak club, my friend. You do have zombie cooties, though. Your arm is dripping ooze, and it smells like butt.”
I’d forgotten all about my small problem of slowly turning into a zombie. The rotting bite that started out the size of a set of teeth just above my wrist had spread the entire length of my forearm. It was numb, and unfortunately Ethan was right about the smell. Nasty.
“Shut up, dude. These cooties are your fault.”
Ethan sighed. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Not a chance. Fix it, you douche.”
Ethan eyed my arm and gagged. “Sorry, dude. Demonic poison. Only an angel can heal that, and I’m not a full angel. My healing power only goes so far.”
We both turned to Michael. I held out my arm and looked at him with my best puppy-dog face. “Pretty please?” When he raised an eyebrow, I batted my lashes. “I’ll owe you one.”
As hard as he tried to resist, Michael broke out into laughter. “Fortunately for me, this is one of those prime teaching moments.”
“What do you mean?”
Michael smirked at his son. “As a warrior, you have full angelic powers, Ethan. You can heal him. There was a reason I didn’t intervene before Russ was bitten. Had things gotten further out of control, I would have—”
“We had things under control,” Ethan and I argued simultaneously.
Michael chuckled and held his hands up in surrender. “You recovered well enough…except for the fact that Russ is now slowly becoming one of the undead.”
I looked down at my arm again and did a double take. “Not slow enough.” It was all I could do not to puke. The gray-green color was above my elbow now. Toward the worst of the bite, puss and blood oozed everywhere. Chunks of my flesh were actually falling off. “If you guys are going to fix this, could you please do it before my whole arm falls off?”
“As I was saying,” Michael continued, “I didn’t intervene because Ethan needs to practice using his healing touch.”
“Dude!” Ethan gagged again and shook his head. “You’re my boy, Russ, but I am not touching that.”
Michael bore his serious gaze into his son’s eyes and quietly said, “He’ll die, Ethan.”
“But Dad, that looks pretty serious, and I’ve never really healed anything before besides, like, scrapes and bruises. I don’t know how—”
“It’s the same as all of an angel’s gifts, son. It’s instinctive. You’ll know what to do.”
“That’s it?” I scoffed. “It’s instinct?” Michael was such a stereotypical mentor sometimes. The guy rocked, but half the crap he spewed made no sense whatsoever. “We’re talking about my life here. I happen to like it.”
Ethan agreed with me on this one. “Yeah, that’s pretty vague, Dad. I really think this is all you.”
Michael looked at us both and rolled his eyes. For a second, I had to laugh because he looked just like my friend Grace. She’s always doing that, and it drives me crazy. Plus, there’s just something weird about a heavenly being rolling his eyes at you.
“Forget what the nephilim are capable of, Ethan. You are not one of them. You are so much more. Search within your heart. Connect with the angel in you. You can do this.”
Then Michael disappeared. No poof. Just gone. He had a habit of doing that. I looked at Ethan, whose face was now as green as my arm. “I don’t think he’s coming back.”
Ethan looked down at my zombie bite and swallowed back bile. “I don’t think so, either.” He held out one finger and turned his face away, teeth clenched, eyes shut tight. “I can’t look. Just stick your arm on my finger and tell me when it’s better.” He pulled his hand back and covered his nose. “Ugh, that is so sick.”
“Tell me about it. The longer you wait the worse it’s going to get, you wuss.”
Ethan eyed my arm again and cringed. “Right. You ready?”
I nodded and held out my arm. Ethan took a few quick breaths and then clamped his hand down over my bite. I don’t know what was worse: the squishy noise it made or the dead pieces of flesh that fell off from the pressure. “Oh, man,” I groaned.
“Do not puke on me,” Ethan warned.
It was too late. I hurled all over our feet.
“You freaking weak-stomached pansy! You owe me a new pair of shoes!”
“Ethan, dude, focus.”
“Right.” Ethan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I can do this.”
“Instinct,” I joked. “Reach deep down inside of you, grasshopper, and you’ll find what you’re looking for.”
“Shut up, Mr. Miyagi. Not helping.”
“Sorry.”
“Idiot,” Ethan muttered, eyes still tightly shut. “Healing…healing…I need to…whoa. Check it out. I think it’s working.”
Beneath Ethan’s hand, my arm started to glow. It got really warm, and a tingling sensation spread from the wound up through my whole body. After a minute, we both started to shake. The heat got so intense it exploded in a bright light that washed everything out. When it was gone, both Ethan and I were lying flat on our backs, exhausted, and my arm was completely healed. There wasn’t even a scar.
Ethan raised his head up to meet my eyes and let it drop again. “That was trippy. You good?”
“Yeah.” We both lay there for a few more minutes, resting it off. “Hey, Ethan? Thanks, dude.”
Ethan pulled himself to his feet. “Don’t mention it.” He held out a hand, and when I grabbed it he tugged me up and said, “No. Really. Don’t mention it. To anyone. Ever.”
The mall. Can I just tell you how much I hate the mall? I grew up in a town that didn’t have much more than a gas station and a mini-mart. The galleria Ethan dragged me to had more square footage than the entire town limits of Carmine, PA, and a hundred times the population. I loathe the mall. But, here I was, completely wasted from killing zombies all night, following three giggly girls into a freaking dress store all because Ethan can’t say no to our friend Grace. “You are so whipped,” I grumbled as I pounded back an energy drink and tried to stay upright on my feet.
Ethan snorted. “You didn’t have to come.”
Darn the man for being right. “Whatever. I owed you for healing me. But it won’t happen again.”
Ethan didn’t answer me. His eyes were trained on Grace, Cynthia, and Clara as they held dresses up to each other. Well, he was watching Grace, anyway. She was the only girl he ever looked at. I nudged him with my elbow. “You going to ask her to the spring formal?”
Ethan pretended he didn’t know what I was talking about, but he couldn’t fool me. When it comes to Grace St. Claire, Ethan is more whipped than a can of cream. I love to tease him about it, but really I’m rooting for the poor guy. Gracie is a little too sweet and mild-tempered for my taste, but she’s perfect for Ethan “McBroods-a-lot” Dunn.
Grace is an interesting story. First of all, she’s human but she knows about supernaturals, and she’s cool with them. She’s the only one I know of on the entire East Coast who knows the truth. Then there’s the fact that her father is the President of the United States. She lives in the White House and has a secret service tail everywhere she goes. It’s very weird. And, last but not least, there’s the little fact that she can’t be touched by any supernatural power. Magic doesn’t work on her. Vampires and werewolves can’t turn her. Not even those zombies could have made her skin rot off.
According to Michael, Grace exists in order to maintain a sense of balance in the supernatural world. Basically, if she dies, we’re all toast. That’s where Ethan comes in. He’s this unique angel warrior who was specifically created to be Grace’s protector—like, his dad literally got freaky with his mom in order to make him so that he could keep Grace safe.
“I can’t ask her to the dance,” Ethan said with a giant yawn.
“Sure, you can. You just walk over there and say, ‘Gracie, I’ve been de
sperately pining over you for the last five months. I need you like a fat man needs Twinkies, and I’m going to die from heartbreak if you don’t go to the Spring Fling with me.’ Easy as pie. Or Twinkies, I guess.”
Ethan slid me a glance, disgust written all over his face. “You’re such a jackass.”
I grinned. “And you’re scared of rejection. Grow a pair, and ask your lady love to the dance.”
Ethan has a physical bond that connects him to Grace. He’s offered her his warrior’s oath and sworn eternal fealty to her. That makes things awkward, because now she’s supposed to accept his oath and become bonded to him, too—only she won’t do it. She’s scared of being connected to him like that. Before Ethan realized Grace was his destiny, he didn’t like her. He was a pretty big jerk to her most of the time they’ve known each other. He’s changed, though. Grace has gotten over their past, but Ethan’s too stubborn and too afraid to see it.
“I’ll even take one for the team and go with Cynthia. We can double.” Cynthia is Grace’s semi-psycho werewolf best friend. She’s hot and pretty awesome, but she can be exhausting, too.
Ethan glanced across the store at Grace again, considering, but then shook his head and flipped through the dress rack in front of him. He singled out a long gown and held it up. His eyes flicked from the light green material to Grace and back several times. I took the dress from him and put it back on the rack. “Just ask her.”
“But she won’t say yes. She doesn’t date. Ever.”
I followed his gaze to the girl in question and frowned, sidetracked from our conversation for a minute. He was right about that last part. “Hey, do you think that’s weird?” I’d always wondered why she wouldn’t date. “She seems to want to, and she’s cute. Guys flirt with her all the time. Well, supernatural guys, anyway.” She doesn’t fit in as well with her human peers—which no one here cries about, I promise you. Most humans are kind of lame.
Ethan lifted a shoulder and let it drop. “It makes sense, I guess. It’s only been five months since Andrew.”
“True, but it’s not like he was really her boyfriend.”
“No. But you don’t just get over something like that.”
Andrew had been a psychotic vampire with an obsession for Grace. He’s the reason Grace discovered the supernatural world. He stalked her, blackmailed her into being his girlfriend, kidnapped her, and then nearly killed her. She defended herself a lot better than anyone expected, and it was Andrew who died in the fight. Still, she hasn’t exactly been the same since.
Ethan—always the warrior—moved to another rack of dresses, mirroring the girls’ movements as they wandered the store, keeping an easy distance and direct line of sight to them. “Plus, there’s the whole Preston thing.”
I winced. That one still got to me. I was sure Grace was more than messed up over what happened to him.
Cynthia’s older brother Preston had been the future alpha of the Washington, D.C., werewolf pack. He was with Grace the night Andrew kidnapped her. When Ethan and I found his body, there wasn’t much left. We’ve tried to ask Grace what happened, but she refuses to discuss it. Whatever went down was bad. She still has nightmares.
“She talks about him with Cynthia sometimes,” Ethan said. “She’s never admitted liking him, not even to Cyn, but I think she did. She misses him, and I know she hasn’t gotten over his death. I imagine that’s a big dating roadblock. Then, of course, there’s you.”
“Me?” My eyes flashed back to Ethan instantly.
Ethan bit his lip and started flipping through more dresses. “Nothing. Never mind.”
He obviously hadn’t meant to let that slip, but I wasn’t about to let it drop. “No way. You started it. Explain.”
Ethan and I fell into a staring match that I was determined to win. I knew Grace used to have a crush on me when we first met, but that was months ago. We’ve only ever been friends, and that was because of me. I’m in love with someone else. I always have been. Always will be. Ethan broke first. He looked at Grace and waved a dismissive hand. “She just likes you.”
“Liar.” I didn’t bother to hide my disgust. “I know you. You’re holding out on me. Tell me what’s up.”
Ethan slapped a hand over his face and rubbed his eyes. “It’s not really fair of me to explain it to you. It’s not like she’s told me anything. I just feel her emotions. It’s pretty crappy of me to spill her secrets when she hasn’t even technically trusted me with them.”
“Okay, all I heard you say is that there’s a lot more to this than just ‘she likes me.’ Come on; tell me. You know I’d never say anything.”
“It’s nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Bull. If it was nothing, you’d tell me. Wouldn’t it be better if I understood what’s going on with her? Maybe I could help with the problem.”
“All right, fine.” With a huff of annoyance, Ethan dragged me outside the store and plopped us down on a bench positioned directly in front of the entrance. He glared at me, but I only arched a brow and waited. “If you ever tell Grace we talked about her like this, I will go full-on warrior angel on you, brother. Got it?”
I crossed my heart and hoped to die.
With another glance at Grace, Ethan raked his hand through his disgustingly perfect golden locks. “She doesn’t just like you, okay? She likes you a lot.”
What? No way. “She doesn’t act like she does.”
Ethan snorted in disgust. “Sure, she does. You just don’t see it because your brain only has one setting: Dani.”
Denying the accusation would have been pointless. Ethan was too smart to buy any such load of crap. Dani is the girl I mentioned before—the love of my life. She also happens to be the girl that ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it until it exploded, leaving me physically incapable of feeling anything romantic for anyone else ever again.
Grace and Dani look identical except for the hair—Grace’s is straight while Dani has wild curls. Their looks used to freak me out a lot, but I’ve grown to see Grace as her own person because she and Dani are day and night. Gracie is this sweet, soft-spoken, self-sacrificing cutie while Dani is…is…the girl who stabbed me in the back and left me for a dillhole. I know the difference.
“Grace knows how hung up you are on Dani, so she knows she doesn’t have a chance with you. I’ve been going crazy for weeks because she’s torturing herself over it, and I don’t know how to help her.”
Ethan sounded frustrated. The connection he has to Grace is weird like that. Protecting her isn’t enough. He can’t stand it when she’s sad, scared, or unhappy in any way. He would seriously spend every hour of every day devoting himself to making her happy. Unless it put her in danger, he’d give her everything she wanted, and he’d be grateful to her for letting him do it. It’s pathetic.
“Torturing herself?” I asked. “Over a crush?”
Ethan shot me a flat look. “It’s not just a crush. She really likes you, and she can’t get over it. She thinks her feelings for you are irrational and out of her control.”
“I’ve heard I have that effect on girls,” I joked.
Ethan wasn’t in the mood. “I’m serious. She feels connected to you somehow.”
I stopped laughing, uncomfortable with the sudden direction of this conversation because it was the same for me with her. I’ve always felt like I know her. Even when I first met her she wasn’t a stranger to me. Being around her, talking to her, and holding her came way too easy. It was too natural. I recognized her on a spiritual level or something. It’s always freaked me out.
“She thinks it’s because of her connection to Dani,” Ethan said. “She wonders if she’s picking up on some of Dani’s feelings for you.”
Grace and Dani are more than just identical strangers. They were sisters once in a past life—or so Michael says. Grace is the Ungifted One, and Dani is the Chosen One. Dani is Grace’s opposite, and the person Grace is supposed to keep balanced. She’s so powerful that if G
race weren’t physically connected to her, she’d go out-of-control crazy and destroy the planet, or something like that.
“Do you think that’s possible?” I asked curiously. I’ve always thought it too coincidental that I’d ditch Dani only to stumble onto Grace. I’ve always wondered how exactly I was connected to them. Deep down, I knew I had to be. Judging from the look on Ethan’s face, he thought the same thing.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to ignore, though. Grace has liked guys before, but she’s never been so immediately and completely drawn to someone like she is to you. Usually she’s the most untrusting person on the planet, but she lets her guard down with you in a way she won’t even do with Cynthia or me. It scares her.”
I nodded, understanding exactly what he meant because I could totally relate. I’ve always trusted Grace. From the moment we met, I’ve never questioned her once.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if what Duncan said was true, and you had some strange connection to them both.”
Ethan was studying me now, searching for something in my reaction to see if I returned her feelings. I did feel that connection to her, and I loved her, but not in the way he was thinking. Not that Grace wouldn’t be an awesome girlfriend, but since Dani, I just wasn’t capable of feeling that way for anyone else. And besides that, any idiot could see that Grace and Ethan belonged together. I wasn’t going to get in the way of that. “So we’ll distract her from me. Take me out of the running and present her with another option—maybe a bad-a warrior angel who’s sworn his eternal fealty to her. Know anyone like that?”
Laughing at my own awesome sense of humor, I turned my attention back to Grace. She was looking at a strappy little red number that would look great on her. Ethan continued to watch me with a big ol’ frown, so I punched his arm. “Dude. You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to steal your woman. I love Gracie, but there’s always only ever been Dani for me. Ever. Since I was three years old. I know that’s a dead horse by now, but what can I say? I’m a messed up jackhole. We’ll figure out a way to get Grace’s attention off me and onto you. Maybe I should find a girlfriend. Or at least go out with someone sometime. If I ask Cynthia to the dance first, Grace will definitely say yes to you. Then you can woo her George McFly style and make her forget all about me.”