by C. Gockel
Bullshit, Aaden. You don’t want to tell her about what they did to you because then you’d have to tell her what you had to do to make them stop. You’d have to admit what you gave up so you could be free again. And once she knows, she’ll never look at you the same way again...
“You deserve all the pieces, Pry, you really do,” I reply lamely.
She doesn’t reply. That’s her way of saying it’s not enough. She needs information and she’s tired of the excuses. I’d feel the same way if I were her.
“I didn’t kill the humans,” I confess for the first time.
“Of course you didn’t. But what happened that night?” she asks, now facing me.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone. Promise.”
“I would never betray your confidence, you know that..”
“Yeah, I do,” I reply, looking into her warm eyes.
“So...what happened?”
“It was a little over a year ago and I had just gotten in this stupid argument with my dad. He was worried because I was skipping school and shit. But I didn’t care about any of it. I had just learned how my mom died. I always thought it was on a mission but I didn’t know it had to do with the Paras. Anyway, I was angry at...everyone. So I tried my best to be a pain in the ass and I was good at it.
“I would go to bars, drink, and try to find a way to stop missing her. I mean I never even met my mom so how is it I missed her so much? I found a little relief in drinking Coy, so I did. That’s what I was doing that night, sitting at this bar drinking Coy. I had finally had enough and left out the back exit. That’s when I heard something in the alley.
“I went to see what was happing, thinking it was just some drunken humans getting into a fight over something stupid. I was wrong, they weren’t arguing over a thing, they were arguing over a person. Some girl lay on the ground, passed out. I couldn’t make out her face; it was too dark.
“One guy was on top of her with his pants down and the others were arguing over who’d get to be on top of her next. I ran over and threw the guy off of her. They all came at me. I broke a few arms and threw some punches; nothing permanent.
“Then I went to tend to the girl. I used the light from my cell to inspect her face and make sure those bastards hadn’t hit her. That’s when I realized I knew her. I shook her over and over again. I was confused because she was an angel yet she had no wings. “After a few moments she started to wake up. She was so out of it, it took her a while to realize it was me.
“It turns out she was taking this new drug that hit the market called Wednesday. It’s more powerful than other drugs. So powerful in fact, it takes away your powers and your wings as a temporary side effect. She asked me what happened and I told her.
“Did they do anything to me.” she asked.
“I didn’t need to answer the question. She looked down at the stain on her skirt and knew the answer. The crazy thing is, had she not taken the drug, her body would have defended itself. Entering inside her could have killed the human since her soul is powerful. But the drug weakened her system and made it just as fragile as a human’s body. Once she understood what took place, she lost it. She killed the humans so fast; there was no stopping her.
“Then we saw the Paras flying overhead. We knew that no matter how wrong the humans had been, she’d be the one they’d punish. So I told her to go and I would take care of it. She wanted to stay and face the Paras, but I said ‘no.’ She had already been through so much; I didn’t think it was fair she get in trouble on top of that. Besides, if the Paras knew, soon everyone would too. And she’d already been violated enough. So, she reluctantly flew away and then Paras came...”
“Aaden...” Pryor says as she studies my face.
“Don’t give me that look,” I reply.
“What look?” she asks.
“The one that says you’re proud of me.”
“Why not? I am.”
“I had to take the blame. The truth is if I had passed on the few glasses of Coy, I would have been in the alley sooner and I could have stopped it. Better yet, if I wasn’t so wrapped in my own crap, I could have seen what was going on with her and helped her. She was my friend. I should have seen it.”
“You can’t always tell. Who is this girl? Some angel you see in passing, I bet. How were you supposed to know?” Pryor asks.
“She’s not someone I see in passing.”
“How well do you know this girl?” Pryor inquires.
“Well...”
“Aaden—”
“Please don’t ask me who she is. It’s not fair to her that others find out,” I beg.
“I’m not going to judge her.”
“I know, but I promised her, Pry.”
“Okay, fine, but you have to tell the Paras what really happened. Even if you don’t say who it is you were protecting.”
“They won’t believe me.”
“Aaden, you can’t keep taking the blame for something you didn’t do.”
“It’s done and over with, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay. Everyone in the Angel world thinks that you’re a killer,” she reminds me.
“I don’t care what they think.”
“This is crazy! You have to tell them the truth.”
“No, I don’t. The fact is if I weren’t half demon, they wouldn’t have jumped to the conclusions they did. Being part demon is not a crime, and I’m tired of having to defend myself. It’s bullshit.”
“Fine, you won’t defend yourself, then I will,” she says as she heads for the door.
I take off after her and block her exit.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“I’m gonna tell the Paras they are wrong about you.”
“You can’t do that,” I tell her.
“Why the hell not?”
“They won’t believe you. And if by chance they do, then they will go after the girl and I won’t let that happen.”
“Protecting this girl’s name shouldn’t mean sacrificing yours,” she pleads.
“I told you, I don’t give a damn about what they think of me,” I snap.
“Well I do. They can’t do this to you. I’m going to make things right, so get out of my way,” she demands.
I move aside; she places her hand on the doorknob and opens it.
“Pry, you said you were missing pieces. So I gave you a piece of me. Please don’t betray that. I have no one else to give myself to.”
She sighs heavily, slowly closes the door and turns to face me.
“Thank you,” I say.
She nods slightly and leans back against the door. I can see in her eyes just how concerned she is about me. It matters to her that I’ve been wrongly accused. She believed I was innocent even before I told her the whole story. Her misplaced faith in me makes me love her even more than I did before.
Love?
Yeah, I love this girl. And even though a few moments after doing what I’m about to do, I’ll be in agony, I’m going to do it anyway. She’s worth it.
“I lied before, when I said I didn’t know what I wanted. I know exactly what I want. I just don’t know if it’s what you—fuck it,” I say as I lean forward to kiss her.
She pulls away. I step back, fearing I have misjudged the entire situation.
Shit!
“I’m sorry, I thought...” I begin.
Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!
“I really thought that you wanted to...”
Argh!
I turn away from her and mentally bang my head against the wall for being so damn stupid.
“I do want to kiss you. I’m just not sure how,” she says hesitantly.
I turn to her and watch as silver angel blood gathers on her cheeks. She’s blushing.
“Pryor, am I your first kiss?” I ask carefully.
She bites her lower lip, looks off to the side and shrugs.
“Oh,” is all I can think to say.
“This is so embarrassing. I better go,
” she says as she lowers her head and goes for the door.
“No, wait.”
She stops and turns back towards me, but her head is still down. I lean in and whisper softly in her ear.
“When you’re kissing the right person, there’s no way to do it wrong.”
She looks at me. She’s so damn beautiful.
“You don’t have to if you’re not ready,” I assure her.
“I’m ready. What do I do?” she asks.
“Whatever you want.”
She gets up on her toes so that we are close in height. She leans in and places her lips on mine. Making contact with any part of her body excites me to the point of complete delirium. I know in a few moments I will suffer unbelievable pain for kissing her, but I don’t care.
Having our lips pressed against each other sends thousand-watt lightning-like surges of pleasure over my body. I feel the same things I did when I dove off my first mountain: carefree, blissful, and filled with wonder.
Yet for all the emotions that are zipping through me, we really are just pressing our lips together. Never has doing so little made me feel so much. If I died having only pressed my lips against hers, I’d consider it a good death.
But Pryor has never been one to settle. The same furious fire that rages within her when she is in battle shows itself here. She wants more. She parts her lips and seeks to explore my mouth by her tongue. Her touch is so enthralling it ignites my powers. The flames dance wildly in the palm of my hand causing her to have to pull away.
“My powers have never done that before,” I confess, already craving more of her touch.
“Mine too,” she says, signaling for me to look across the room at the windowsill.
All the plants in the room are dead.
“You killed the plants?” I ask.
“Yeah, I guess I had my palm out,” she says with a nervous laugh.
I join her and then take her hand in mine. Strange, but I feel the same surge I felt kissing her even though it’s just hand holding.
“Um...maybe we should stop here,” she says.
“You’re right. For the sake of plants everywhere,” I reply.
She grins brightly and we interlock both of our hands together.
“So...was your first kiss okay?” I ask.
“Better that I ever thought kissing you could be.”
“You’ve thought about us being together like this?”
“Only every minute of every day,” she says, pretending to be casual.
I smile despite myself.
“Listen, I have to go,” she says.
“Oh, yeah. Sure,” I reply as I reluctantly let go of her hand.
She opens the door but then turns back to look at me.
“I know the dance is lame, but it’s for a good cause. Do you want to go with me?” she says.
“Hell yeah.”
As she closes the door behind her, she flashes me a smile. Then I have a thought that makes me damn near lightheaded.
Pryor Cane may love me too...
The agony that came after I kissed Pryor came later than I thought it would. But when it showed up, it made up for its lateness with its sheer strength. The cracks on my chest had moved another six inches. I was suffering so much on the floor of my room, my body shut down and I passed out for several hours.
When I wake up, I’m bruised all over. I take a long scalding hot shower. And even as I inspect the scars on my chest, I know I would take the punishment that comes with kissing Pryor all over again. This was the best day of my life by far.
My good mood is shaken when I step out of the shower and remember I have nothing to wear for this stupid dance. Normally I would never agree to that but really I don’t care where we go. I don’t even care that I could be in the same pain later since we’ll probably kiss again.
I get to kiss her again...
Thank you, Omnis.
I text East and he sends me the address of a shop he goes to. I warn him it better not have suits and crap. He promises I’ll find something I like. I head outside and make my way towards the store.
Once inside the store, I’m sorry to say they did have a bunch of ties and junk. But they also have a few things that aren’t stupid. As I sort through the shirts on the rack, a woman in her late sixties with a kind expression and a black fedora, comes by me and proceeds to look as well.
“I think this would be a nice color for you,” she says, holding up a royal blue shirt.
“Oh, I’ll try it. Thanks,” I reply, although I have no intention on buying what she picked out.
“I’m actually not sure what I’m looking for,” I admit.
“I know what you’re looking for: a reminder,” she says.
“A what?”
“When human children have something they need to remember, a red string is placed on the tip of their finger. Silver, think of me as your red string,” she says.
She continues to sort through the racks. Every time she blinks, the item she looks at changes color. It appears she can manipulate objects with her mind. I stare at the Quo woman and demand to know who sent her.
“I’m here because The Center felt they needed to remind you to stay away from the First Noru,” she says.
A wave of terror passes through me. My hands start to shake and standing becomes a task I will not be able to perform for long. Despite that, I keep my voice calm and controlled. I refuse to let the twisted witch know how much her presence affects me.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I tell her.
“I think we both know that’s not true.”
“Pryor and I aren’t together. We’re just on the same team, that’s all,” I insist.
“Well, we’ll see won’t we? The moment the carving on your chest reaches just above where a human heart would be...”
“Yeah, I know: if it gets that far, I go back to The Center,” I spit venomously.
“We feel that going back may have lost its sting, Mr. Case. So, together with the Paras, we have been forced to add an incentive to ensure you behave.”
“What the hell do you mean?” I demand.
“I mean if you allow the marking on your chest to reach the final point, we’ll not only take you to The Center, we’ll take Pryor too.”
III
Book III
Pryor Reese Caine
20
Beyond Reason
“Pryor Reese Cane, get your ass back here and give us details!” Swoop demands.
She hurls a pillow at me as I run out of her bedroom. I laugh as the twins chase me down the hallway of the house.
“You better tell us!” Key demands as she latches on to me.
I try to get away, but Swoop twirls and flips in the air and lands right in front of me, blocking the entrance to my room.
“Okay, okay,” I reply.
“Start at the top,” Key instructs.
I tell them about the best thing that’s ever happened to me: The moment Aaden and I kissed. It happened a few hours ago, yet I can still feel his perfect lips on mine. I tell the twins everything. Well, almost everything. I skip the part about Wednesday and the girl. I don’t want to betray Aaden’s trust.
I’ve gone over the story Aaden told me a million times since I was with him. I wonder who the girl is and why she hasn’t come forward. I know it must be hard for her, but I could never let someone take the blame for me.
“Pryor, don’t you dare zone out on us!” Swoop warns me.
“Was the kiss short and passionate or slow and lingering?” Swoop asks.
“It was slow and lingering,” I admit, unable to stop smiling.
“Were your eyes closed or open?” Key says.
“Closed.”
They cheer and jump up and down like crazy human kids on a sugar high.
“Hey, hey, keep it down. Some of us are busy cheating on our history papers thanks to Wikipedia,” East says as he enters the living room.
“Pryor and Aaden kissed!” Swoop sa
ys.
“What?” someone asks behind us.
We turn and find Bex standing at the entrance.
“Pryor and Aaden have a thing going,” Key says gleefully.
“You think that’s wise?” he asks.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“He’s your second in command,” Bex replies.
“Yeah, Bex, I know who he is,” I counter.
“What’s the problem? You and I date and we’re on the same team,” Key adds.
“Okay, whatever. I gotta go do some stuff,” Bex says as he heads out the door.
“You just got back,” Key calls out.
“I know. I just forgot to run an errand. Be back soon.”
He reaches over and kisses her fervently, then leaves the house.
“So this thing with you and Aaden, how serious is it? And will there be a horde of girls that are heartbroken by the news? If so, I think I could help,” East offers.
“It’s super serious. She got him to agree to come to the dance tonight.” Swoop beams.
“Wow, that is serious,” East replies.
“Wait you guys, let’s not jump to any conclusions. We kissed and it was nice. And now...we’ll see what happens,” I say in my very best “grown-up” voice.
“He’s going to give you his Rah!” Key says.
“What? No, we’re not even there yet. We just started,” I remind them.
They don’t pay any attention to me. Instead they go off into my room to raid my closet and figure out how to dress me so that I can entice my soon-to-be boyfriend. I act like I’m cool and collected, but the thought that Aaden and I are about to be a couple thrills me beyond reason.
Aaden Case and Pryor Cane.
I like it. Who am I kidding; I love it...
The girls are dressed in their designer best. Key wears a body hugging black velvet minidress with heels and blood red lipstick. Swoop wears a brown pleated leather miniskirt with a patterned tank top. She accents the look with silver bracelets and chocolate boots. I have on an olive green spaghetti strap A-line dress that flares out at the bottom. It complements my hair perfectly.
East, Bex, and Randy have been ready for an hour now. They threaten us with bodily harm if we don’t finish getting ready and come downstairs. I texted Aaden and he said he’d meet me at the dance. I was kind of disappointed at first because I wanted to make an entrance with him. But now I’m over it. All that matters is that tonight, we’ll be together.