Kayden followed me inside the house and handed me a ripped sheet of paper towels to dry off with. I collapsed onto the nearest chair in the kitchen and took them. My face pressed in them I made sure to hide the small prickle of tears that melded in with the water from my face. This was all real. I couldn't pretend it was accident or coincidence anymore.
I looked over to Kayden as he leaned against the marble countertops, his fingers absentmindedly playing with one of the drawer handles. He seemed just as lost as I felt right now.
"Your kind hasn't existed for almost three hundred years." His head tilted to face the ceiling. "Funny, I had been thinking this whole time you were some kind of warlock or under the protection of one." He shook his head. "Oh how wrong I was."
"What does that mean? What am I, Kayden?"
He didn't turn to look down at me. "You have many names, but the most common is Nephilim."
"I don't know what that means," I brought the paper towel off my face. My hands rested in my lap and twisted the damp towel over and over. "I don't know what any of this means."
"It means you're a hybrid. Half-human, half-angel." He leaned off of the counter and pulled out a chair from the table. Slumping into it backwards he continued. "You're the stuff of legend. The thing demons would tell their children to scare them straight. Warlock spells I can handle, warlocks I can handle. Vampires, faeries, werewolves, other demons I all know and can handle. But this, I don't even know what to do."
We sat there in silence as I tried to wrap the words around my head. Half-human, half-angel, he had said. My heart warmed just at the thought of it, a curious sensation of heat spreading through every extension of my body.
"We have to play this carefully," Kayden said out of the blue. I looked up to find him staring at me intently. "If anyone were to find out-"
"Who could I possibly tell?" I asked sarcastically. "Like my brother would even believe me if I did. Or Abigail for that matter. Actually, she would, you know, after she'd dial the nearest psych ward."
He frowned. "I'm serious, Essallie. This can't go past the two of us until I figure out where to go from here." His eyes glazed over for a second to a thoughtful faraway stare. "There has to be a reason for this. Nephilim don't just pop up out of the blue."
"This isn't your problem, Kayden, stop treating it like it is. Everything will work out." I snapped at him. He wasn't the one who had to suddenly deal with the problem of setting things on fire. He didn't have to deal with wings sprouting from his back, at least I didn't think so. I stood up from my chair the same time he did. "Have you really been alive for over three hundred years?"
Pushing his chair in, he nodded absentmindedly. "Longer than your pretty little mind can wrap around. You're right, everything will work out. I'll see if I can find anything in some of the books I have at home." His lips twisted. "I won't count on it, though, unless you think stories of an ancient mythical being would exist in the fine print of a Playboy?"
I made a face just as my eyes spotted the clock hanging above the door frame. "You should go. Last thing I need is my brother catching a boy in the house in the middle of the night."
"Personally, I wouldn't really call myself a boy," he drawled with a mischievous smile on his face. "I'm sure he didn't mention anything about finding a demon in your room now, did he?"
"As a matter of fact, I think he did," I replied and smacked his arm. The effect was like striking flint; fire marked where I touched him and spiraled into the air, dying before it hit the ground. Kayden's arm vanished off in a trail of tasteless smoke. It reappeared in an instant, unscathed as if I'd never touched him.
"How do you-" I started when I saw headlights beam through the house. Jayson. My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. "He's home, get out of here." When I didn't hear the door open I turned around to burn him out if I had to, only I was alone. "Thanks for the goodbye."
The air to my left swirled into a makeshift silhouette of a head and shoulders. "You said to leave. Or would you like me to meet your fleshy blood sibling?"
I heard the front door open, feet lumbering inside. "No! Go!" My voice cracked and threatened to burst as I tried to keep it low.
"Essallie?" Jayson's voice carried down the hallway as I watched the light turn on. He stepped into the kitchen and flicked on the light as I stood there. "What are you doing down here in the dark?"
I held out the paper towel I still had in my hands. For the most part it had been reduced to a twisted and shredded mess. "It was a little cooler down here with the lights off."
He set down two large bags of ice onto the table and came over to me. His hand pressed against my forehead for a minute. "I think your fever broke. That's good. Any longer and I would have had to drive you to Portland."
Too bad a hospital would have done jack-crap for me. Unless they had a manual on mythical hybrids and weird people. "I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. Tired, but good." I stretched out toward the ceiling and yawned.
"Then get back to bed. Don't push it just in case," Jayson said and turned me toward the hallway for the stairs. "I'm just glad you didn't have those hallucinations like you did when we were kids."
I'd made it halfway down the hallway when I stopped and looked over my shoulder. "What hallucinations?"
Jayson leaned against the doorframe and shrugged, running his hands through his hair. "You were just a kid but you used to swear you saw angels." He let out a soft chuckle as he reminisced. "You even went as far to tell us you saw Dad."
My throat felt drier than a desert. Tears stung my eyes as I made sure to keep every ounce of emotion out of my voice. If only Jayson knew just how close to the truth he was.
"Some imagination."
N I N E
Saturday morning was greeted with snow, and tons of it. The news had talked about only a foot or two at the most but we ended up with a staggering six feet of pure white fluff. One look in the backyard told me I wouldn't be seeing anything green and leafy for a long, long time.
I had stepped downstairs when I heard more than one voice in the kitchen. Jayson was laughing at something over the sound of sizzling and scraping of pans.
I poked my head tentatively into the kitchen and nearly screamed in surprise. Kayden was sitting at the table dressed in a heavy snow jacket, snow pants and boots, chomping down on a plate of scrambled eggs coated in ketchup and pepper. Jayson had his own plate set at the table next to a large pitcher of steaming coffee, two strips of meat cooking in the pan he was standing alongside.
Kayden spotted me first. "Hey, look who's feeling better. Jayson told me you were still asleep upstairs."
Jayson grinned at me over his shoulder. "It's alive! You hungry?" He held the pan out to me, the strips of meat smelling downright revolting. I wrinkled my nose and shook my head as I willed myself not to vomit.
Sitting down, Kayden shoveled another forkful of eggs into his mouth. "What's the matter?"
I glared darkly at the back of Jayson's head. "Jayson knows I don't like fish. It smells worse than dirty gym socks and spoiled food and-"
"Entrails and coffins and stomach acid?" He offered.
Jayson let out a loud burst of laughter. "He's been making jokes like that all morning! Between shoveling the driveway and door out of that crap. Why didn't you tell me about your little friend, Essie?"
I made sure Jayson was focused on cooking his putrid breakfast before I spoke to Kayden in a hushed tone. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Care for some eggs?" He asked aloud, holding a forkful out to me. "How'd you sleep?"
"Like an angel."
"Oh the irony," he fought to keep his face straight between chews.
I reached out to smack his hand but stopped. My fingers hovered dangerously close to his, small sparks clicking at my fingertips. He raised an eyebrow at me, watching to see what I would do. Would I really start something with Jayson only a few feet away from us? I pulled the plate of eggs across the table instead, taking the fork Jayson had laid
out for himself and took a bite.
"You still didn't answer my question, demon," I whispered. "Why are you here?"
"Always with the questions," he mocked me with crossed eyes and puffed out cheeks. "What have I been saying from the beginning? I'm here to help you."
"Maybe I don't want your help. Ever think of that?" I took another bite from his plate.
"I think you need me more than you realize right now."
"I think you're full of bullshit."
"Was that a quivering lip I saw? Shiver of the shoulders?"
I set my fork down and fought to control the itching sensation in my palms. If I didn't keep my temper in check the table would pay for it. "You're lucky my brother's in here or you'd be reduced to ashes right now."
"Now is that any way to treat a guest?"
"Someone say brother?" Jayson said out of the blue, bringing the pan over to the table. He looked at Kayden's empty plate in front of me in horror. "Essie I hope you didn't eat any of that."
His tone made me nervous. I stared at the plate and back at Kayden. "Why?"
"Kayden had salmon chopped in those eggs." He looked at Kayden while he scooped his own strips of the pink meat onto his plate. "You didn't tell her?"
He shrugged but I caught the smirk he fought to keep off his face. "She said she didn't need my help." He looked at me. "Sorry, Essie."
My stomach felt uncomfortable. I tried to keep the image of dead fish out of my head as I stood up from the table. "You know what? I'm going to go get dressed and help with the shoveling outside."
Jayson shook his head and swallowed whatever he had eaten off his plate. "We already took care of it this morning. Kayden said one of your friends could use a little help in town though. Abigail, I think?"
"Okay, sounds good. I'll be ready in five," I nodded and headed upstairs. Down the hallway I heard Jayson say, "That means you might as well sit tight for another half hour." Boys. I bit my tongue and started up the steps, making a mental note to let everyone know Jayson still sings in the shower higher than Michael Jackson when the time was right.
Stumbling down the steps in the boots and snowsuit I'd brought before moving to Maine I met Kayden at the bottom of the steps a couple of minutes later. The original plan had been that I would hide inside for all the freakish weather. I hadn't actually planned on using any of it.
We walked outside, Jayson helping me most of the way so I didn't slip and roll downhill. Kayden's jet black Hummer sat at the bottom of our driveway, virtually brand new. I bet he hadn't even put on a hundred miles on it yet. Once inside the car Jayson waved us off as we turned off the road and made our way into town.
"So, five minutes, eh?" Kayden snickered as he kept his eyes on the road. I punched him on the shoulder, fire exploding from the contact. He only sighed and let his arm vanish into nothing before reforming back to its original form.
"If you couldn't do that smoke-thing I don't think there'd be anything left of you by now," I said thoughtfully, staring out the window as he drove slower than a snail down the main road. Almost everyone was outside helping one another shovel out doorways and windows. Small barrels of fire lined down the road every few feet. A sudden thought dawned upon me and I turned to Kayden. "We're not really going to Abigail's, are we?"
He pursed his lips and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel ever so slightly. "You're really not going to like me after this."
"Are you kidnapping me?" I asked hesitantly. If he said yes I had a feeling jumping from the car and running home would leave me with minor injuries.
Thankfully he laughed. "Do you think I would have spent all that time getting to know your brother if I was planning on kidnapping you? Please." He made a turn and headed down the road before making a sharp right into the development Leo lived in. "Don't worry, we won't be alone if that's what you're afraid of."
He brought the car to a stop inside a driveway, came over to my door and did his best to help me out without touching each other. With both feet on solid ground I looked up to the mansion in front of us. The brick-and-mortar build reminded me of a colonial set decor, from the white shutters to the marble steps and porch leading to the large dark wood double doors carved with minimal detailing. It looked oddly whimsical, as if someone didn't want to leave the past behind.
Kayden and I walked up the steps, thankful someone had already shoveled off the mass of snow and laid salt down to prevent any ice. He knocked on the door a few times using the brass knocker and hung back to wait.
One of the doors swung open. Ursula stood in the entrance in all of her ethereal beauty dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, knee-length socks running up her toothpick thin legs. Her already narrow eyes thinned to slits as she pursued her lips. She gave Kayden and I the most profoundly withering look I'd ever seen anyone do.
"Oh hell no," she finally said and moved to close the door.
Kayden shoved his foot between the door and the frame. One arm rested on the polished wood as he leaned inside the frame to the house. "Be a doll and let us in, won't you?"
Her eyes locked on me over Kayden's shoulder. "And why in the hell should I do that?"
"Must we go over all these formalities, Ursula?"
She looked from me to Kayden, jaw locked. The tension was almost too much to bear until she finally caved. "Fine."
Kayden ushered me inside, pressing a finger to his lips when our eyes met. I nodded, but I still had no clue as to why of all the places he chose to take me to it was Ursula's house. The girl practically wanted me six feet under just for the benefit of dancing on my grave.
The door shut she spun around still sporting the withering look on her face. "My father's going to hear about this."
"Same excuse different day?" Kayden drawled, rolling his eyes as he walked onto their carpet with his dirty shoes. "That man's your father the way you're the Queen of England."
"I beg your pardon?" She stepped closer, eyes burning with a look of pure hatred. "Don't you dare insult my father-"
"No way in hell that mortal is your father, Ursula," Kayden spat right back but his tone remained eerily calm. "Give up the game. Why else would I be here?"
Her expression turned from hatred to despair in one heartbeat. "You said never again, Kayden. You swore! Last time you ousted me I nearly died."
"I told you that was an accident. I hadn't meant to point you as a witch in the Salem trials, it was supposed to be Annie. Water under the bridge."
"Don't you mean water over my head? They tried drowning me you idiot. I had to fake my own death for three days!"
"At least you're pale enough to actually fake it. Imagine if you had color in your cheeks like you did in Rome."
"That was blood, not blush. Timothy's blood, to be exact. That stuff lasted forever bottled."
I watched their exchange with confusion. Ursula wasn't human, obviously, if she had been alive during the Salem Witch Trials and still looked like she was sixteen. "Wait a minute, what the hell are you?" Kayden and Ursula stopped talking and looked at me. Apparently I had been forgotten in their reminiscing.
"What is she doing here?" Ursula asked in a low tone.
Kayden shook his head as he removed his snow suit. "She's fine, trust me. Essie has a few secrets of her own, that's why we're here."
I didn't feel comfortable with this. My palms began to itch as I shook my head. "I don't understand, is she a demon too?"
He busted out laughing and came over to pat my shoulder but stopped and pulled his hand back slowly. "She only wishes she was a demon. At least she wouldn't have to eat anyone then. Ursula's one of the prettier succubi I've had the pleasure of meeting in my ever-lasting existence."
My eyes widened and I stared at Ursula. It made so much more sense now why she went through boyfriends like she owned shoes. But one thing didn't make sense. "Hold up, you said eat. I don't remember there being any murder investigations or missing students in our school."
She gave a dainty little shrug with a small smile. "I don'
t have to be dating them to feed on them, honey. Flesh is flesh." She examined her nails with minimal interest. "I'm trying to reform myself and not kill the humans I fall in love with. It makes for a much better relationship down the road."
"Still wish you could say that with your boy-toy back in the '20s, don't you?" Kayden laughed darkly. He took Ursula's outstretched arm and spun her into himself before leaning her back in a sweeping move you'd see on a ballroom dance floor.
Her face briefly flashed to a look of anger. Pulling back from him and brushing her arms she muttered something under her breath about mistakes and hunger. "Why now Kayden?"
"Long story, trust me," he said. "We need to use your library."
"Down the hall and to the right," Ursula said without pause.
Kayden shook his head. "No, I mean the other library."
She sized him up for a minute, her face twisted between laughter and surprise. "You can't access that. It's been barred to others for the last few hundred years."
"Right along the time Alexandria was lost to the fire, I know. We need to see it. There's a chance one of those tombs will hold what we need."
"What exactly is it you need, Kayden?"
"Can't tell you that."
His harshness took her back. Ursula's eyebrows slowly rose and something flickered in her eyes. Her pupils grew until all color vanished from her eyes, and when she smiled I noticed her teeth had turned from perfect squares to thin spikes as white as snow.
She sauntered forward, her hips swaying in a hypnotic trance I found hard to look away from. "But you can, Kayden." She cooed with the rhythm of a sweet lullaby. "You can tell me anything. Don't you want to share your little secret with me?"
I stood there in a trance as she danced closer to his body, each step thinning the gap between them. She stopped in front of him and slowly arched her chest into his, curving into him like a python wrapping around its prey. I watched as she slid her hands one at a time under his shirt, exposing his bare skin.
A bright blue burst of flames temporarily blinded all three of us. My hand reached out somewhere just as Ursula let out a blood-curling scream. As the light faded I found Kayden was pressed on top of Ursula, shielding her. The skin on her arm had burns in the pattern of ribbons racing over her arm, the ribbon effect matching on Kayden's arm as well. I looked down to my hands to see the remnants of fire still resting on my fingertips, as if it were waiting for a second round.
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