by Brea Essex
“So, how does Andrei walk the earth?” he wanted to know.
“Apparently, the avenging angels haven’t caught him yet. He still has his wings. If they had caught him, his wings would have been ripped off, and he would have been banished from earth.”
“I see. So why did he take you?”
“He said that my father was an angel. Since my mother was human, that makes me something called a Nephilim. He said that I’m the only female Nephilim they know of. There’s some prophecy and I’m supposed to help return the fallen angels to Heaven or something like that.”
“Then why did he kidnap you if he needed your help?”
“You’re asking all the same questions I did.” I laughed. “He said something like he didn’t think I would help him willingly? Or he had to make sure I cooperated? I don’t remember.”
“That’s pretty important.”
“I know, I know!”
“So, how does Logan fit into all of this?”
“Well, at first I thought it was a wrong place, wrong time thing. But then I found out that he’s part angel too. Only, he isn’t part human like me. He’s something else.”
“Like what?” Tristan asked.
“I don’t know. You know the Catholic church across from the middle school?”
He nodded.
“Well, the priest there is the one who said Logan’s something else besides an angel. It’s something to do with the color of his wings. They’re supposed to be white, but his are grey, almost silver. I guess that’s how the priest knew he was… I don’t know what you’d call it… a hybrid of something.”
“White, huh? Hey, you said Andrei had wings too, right? What color are they?”
“Black.”
“So, maybe Logan’s part devil.”
I froze, popcorn halfway to my mouth. Why hadn’t I thought of that? “I guess that would make sense. White and black would logically equal grey. But Logan doesn’t act like a devil.”
“He sure has been today,” Tristan said.
“Yeah, that’s true. But it’s not his fault. I think he’s under some sort of spell.”
“What do you mean?”
“Okay, he and Andrei got in some sort of crazy fight. Logan won, but he got hurt. I tried to heal him, and when he woke up, he was different. Like he was before we started hanging out, but even worse.”
“What do you mean you tried to heal him? Do you have some sort of powers?”
“Yeah, apparently really bad healing abilities. The priest says it’s not my fault that I’m bad at it, though. He says I need to practice.”
“That’s so cool!”
I shot him a look. “It’s cool that I messed Logan up?”
“Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I meant it’s cool that you have abilities.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think they work right. And I’m not even sure if I can do anything else.”
“I bet you can,” he told me.
I shrugged. “Anyway, the priest is convinced that it’s not my fault. The next time I saw Logan, he was hanging out with Sera.”
“Wow,” Tristan said. “Angels, devils, Nephilim… I wonder what other kinds of crazy creatures we have lurking around.”
“Hey!”
“I didn’t mean that you’re a crazy creature. I meant… well, I don’t know what I meant, but not that. So do you think Sera did something to him? Maybe she’s a witch or something.”
“Yeah, I think so. I need to figure out how to break her spell.”
“What about the necklace you always wear now?” He gestured at the stone hanging at my throat. “Does that do anything?”
“How’d you know?”
“Please, you’re talking to Fantasy Guy here. Or… whatever you want to call me that sounds less lame. I know all about magic amulets and whatnot. I figure if supernatural creatures and witches are real, then maybe inanimate objects can be charmed or something.”
“Good point,” I said. “Um, I don’t think it works like that. When Ismene gave it to me, she said it was for protection.”
“It certainly doesn’t work well.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you got kidnapped by a devil…”
“I kind of wasn’t wearing it,” I admitted.
“Seriously? You knew you were in danger, but you left your protection behind?”
“I know, I know. Stupid. But I had just gotten it and I forgot to put it on.”
He rolled his eyes. “So, anything else you want to tell me?”
“Umm… oh yeah, Nuada’s my protector or something.”
“Huh? Your cat?”
“Yeah, she’s like a protector slash messenger or something like that. She’s the one who told Ismene I was in danger.”
“Okay, who the heck is Ismene, and how did Nuada know you were in danger, let alone notify someone or whatever?”
“I don’t understand how it works. All I know is that Nuada disappeared one night, and the next morning this psychic brought her back saying she was here to help me.”
“That’s weird,” Tristan said.
“Hey, she helped. She warned me before I even knew what was going on.”
“It still didn’t help. You still got kidnapped.”
“Well… I don’t know. She tried. Hey, maybe she can help me break the spell on Logan or whatever’s wrong with him.”
“I bet she’s a fake.”
“No! She warned me, remember?”
“Psychics always tell you that you’re in danger, or that you’re about to take a journey or whatever. It’s all generic. I think you’re better off talking to this priest. At least he seems to know something.”
“That’s what Logan said… before things went bad.”
“Well there you go! If you won’t listen to me, then listen to Logan — the old Logan, that is.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“So, anything else I should know?”
I thought about it for a minute. “No. Wait, actually yes. My family doesn’t know about any of this. As far as they’re concerned, Andrei is human. He kidnapped me because he was jealous and he held me at his house. They don’t know how I got free. Don’t say anything to them or around them, okay?”
“I can do that,” he agreed.
“Want to watch the movie now?”
“Sure, but you might want to pop some more popcorn.”
I looked at the now-empty bowl. “Hey! You ate it all!”
“Um, you helped. You just didn’t notice.”
“Whatever. I’ll go get some more.” I picked up the tray and wandered into the kitchen.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Genevra told me when she saw me opening the fridge. “Is your movie almost over?”
“Actually, no. We haven’t even started it yet.”
She arched one eyebrow. “What were you guys doing in there? Do I have to have a talk with you?”
“Oh wow, Genevra! Nothing like that! We were just talking. You know I’m with Logan.”
She gave me a sad look. “I think it’s time for you to accept that you and Logan are broken up.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Isn’t he dating another girl now? Maybe it’s time to move on.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Good.” She obviously thought I meant I was working on moving on, not that I was working on getting back with Logan. I wasn’t about to correct her. “Would you like to see if Tristan wants to stay for dinner? Then you guys can watch your movie.”
“Sure. Thanks!” I headed back into the family room. “Hey, want to stay for dinner?”
“What are we having?” Tristan asked.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I’m sure it’s great. You know Genevra’s a good cook.”
“Yeah. Okay, let me call my mom.”
When he got off the phone, we headed for the dining room. “You two can eat in the family room if you want,” Genevra called from the kitchen.
“Yeah, and then you can watch your movie.”
I looked at Tristan. “Want to?”
“Sure.”
We went into the kitchen and grabbed plates. “Why don’t you see if Tanis wants to join you?”
I knew there was a catch. “Okay.” That meant we had to end all talk about angels and anything supernatural.
While we were filling our plates from the stove, Tanis appeared in the kitchen. “Hey, do you want to watch Lord of the Rings with us?”
She hesitated. “Maybe. Are you sure you guys don’t mind?”
Tristan and I both shook our heads, indicating that we didn’t. “Genevra said we could eat in the family room. Get some food and meet us in there.”
“Really, Mom? We can eat in front of the TV?” Tanis asked Genevra.
“Yes, that’s fine. You guys watch your movie. Your dad and I can eat in here,” she said.
“Are you sure you and Shane don’t want to watch the movie with us?” I asked.
“It’s fine. You kids watch your movie. Shane and I will eat in here and clean up, and then we’ll go upstairs. Tristan, feel free to stay as long as you want.”
Tanis and I shot each other a look. “But it’s a school night,” she protested.
“I know. It’s fine.” She smiled. “Just don’t get used to it. This isn’t going to become a habit.”
Tanis, Tristan, and I put our plates on trays and grabbed drinks from the refrigerator, then carried everything back in the family room. All of us sat down on the floor around the coffee table. We ate silently for a moment until I finally said, “Well, that was weird.”
“I know, right?” Tanis said, putting down her fork. “What’s with Mom?”
“I think she’s just trying to make Rae feel better,” Tristan said.
“You think so?”
“She hasn’t exactly been herself lately.”
“That’s true,” Tanis agreed.
“Hey, can we quit talking about me like I’m not here?” I cut in.
“Sorry,” they apologized in unison.
“So, what exactly is going on?” Tanis asked hesitantly. “All I know is that Mom rushed out somewhere to pick you up last night. You were really quiet on the way in to school this morning, and then I couldn’t find you after school. Tristan had to tell me that you went home sick.”
“Logan broke up with her,” Tristan informed her.
“Ohhh.”
“He didn’t ‘break up’ with me,” I said. “He just… doesn’t seem to remember that we were together.”
“I don’t understand,” Tanis said.
I took a deep breath and launched into the explanation for the third time that day. Fourth, if you count my trying to explain it to Logan. I left out all the supernatural stuff though. No way Tanis would believe it. She was even more skeptical than Genevra.
When Tristan left after the movie, I helped Tanis clean up, and then I disappeared into my room. I was tired of talking. I had plans with Cady the next day after school, and that was going to take all my energy.
Chapter Thirteen
“Raena! He-llo!” Cady waved her hand in front of my face. We were sitting at an outside table at one of the restaurants in the Village.
My eyes jerked toward hers. “What?”
“Did you even hear me?” she demanded to know.
My face flamed. I hadn’t noticed that she had been talking… again.
Her eyes rolled. “Of course you didn’t hear me. You never do. But you’ve been even spacier lately. I mean, just because you and Logan broke up, that’s no excuse to just check out. You guys were only together for, like, a minute.”
“A couple of months, technically,” I corrected. Even in my despair, her slang still drove me crazy.
She glared at me briefly. She always hated it when I corrected her, even more than when I didn’t hear her. “Whatever, Ms. Grammar Police. Fine, a couple of months. But a couple of months is, like, nothing! He’s with What’s-Her-Face now.”
“Sera,” I muttered.
“Whatever. Let’s just call her ‘She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ or something. LOL!” Yes, Cady says ‘LOL’ in actual conversation. Yet another quality that drives me crazy. “That girl is horrible.”
I was immensely relieved that Cady hadn’t fallen under Sera’s spell as well. Even though I had lost Logan — temporarily, I hoped — I still had Cady and Tristan.
“I’m sorry I’m so spacey today. I just have a lot on my mind.”
“When are you not spacey? Nothing new, but just as annoying.”
“Sorry,” I apologized again.
“Stop saying you’re sorry! I swear nothing ever changes with you. You’re either daydreaming about Logan, or that other guy, or now that you’re not with Logan, you're off in your own little world even more. You don’t ever hear anything that I have to say.”
I rolled my eyes. “The only time you even ask about what’s going on with me is when you think I’m not listening to you. You couldn’t even be bothered to learn Andrei’s name when I was dating him, never mind that he kidnapped me and held me captive for weeks! When I got back, did you even bother to ask me what happened, or if I was okay? Also, don’t even get me started on Logan. The only reason you even bring him up is because you’re in love with him too, and you were mad that he chose me. I bet now that we’re not together, you just can’t wait to try to steal him from Sera. Who’s in her own little world now? All you’ve ever cared about was yourself, Cady.”
I regretted the words the instant they’d left my lips. Genevra had been right about my volatile temper. Now it had gotten the best of me. I watched as Cady’s eyes flooded with tears, and her lower lip began to tremble. “I’m so sorry, Cady. I didn’t mean it.”
“I told you to stop apologizing!” she exploded. She stood up and stormed off.
“Cady!” I called after her, but she didn’t turn. Great. Now I’d lost my boyfriend and one of my friends. At least, I guessed I didn’t have her anymore after all. I only hoped that Tristan wouldn’t follow suit when he found out.
Calling our server over, I paid the check. I rode with Cady from my house, but I didn’t care about having to walk home. It wasn’t worth calling Genevra to pick me up.
When I reached my house, I ran up to my room before anyone could stop me. I shut my door behind me. Nuada looked up at me from her spot on my bed and meowed softly. I sat down next to her. “Nuada, what am I going to do? I’ve totally alienated Cady. She’s never going to forgive me.”
You should be more careful of who you trust.
Startled, I glanced around the room. “Who said that?”
Silence.
“I must be hearing things.”
You’re hearing me.
I whirled. No one was there. I was seriously confused. “Where are you?”
Look again.
It sounded as though the voice was inside my head. Feeling completely crazy, I looked around again. There was no one in the room besides myself and Nuada. I stared at her. “You didn’t somehow learn to talk, did you?”
It’s about time you heard me, the voice said smugly.
“No…” I had to be imagining things. “You can’t talk. You’re a cat. Oh man, I am going crazy!”
A mist surrounded Nuada, which I instantly shrank back from. It reminded me way too much of the fog from my nightmares, the fog Andrei would appear from. I tripped over my desk chair in an attempt to get away from whatever the heck was happening to my cat. The mist cleared, a girl with raven black hair, who looked to be about my age, sat perched on my bed.
“What the—”
She cleared her throat. “Much better. It was getting too difficult to speak like that. This is so much faster.”
“Where’s my cat? What did you do with Nuada?”
Her laughter rang out in my room, reverberating against the walls. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I expected disbelief,
but it’s still funny to hear you overlooking the obvious explanation.”
I stared at her for a moment longer as it dawned on me. “Are — are you Nuada?”
“Of course! How else would you explain it?”
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, Raena, after everything that happened to you the past few months, I hardly expected a shape-shifting cat to stun you so much.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “So… you’re my cat. My cat is you.” I sank to the floor and covered my face with my hands. “Sorry to keep repeating it. I’m just not sure how to process all of this. It’s a little overwhelming.”
She nodded as if she expected that. “It’s a little hard to adjust to, I’m sure.”
“You have no idea. It’s a little crazy, sitting here having a conversation with my cat. Well, my cat that is currently human. So, are you a cat who can turn into a human, or a human who can turn into a cat?”
“I’m originally a human. I’m actually a sorceress. That’s why I can turn into a cat.”
“This is a little creepy,” I admitted. “I mean, it’s weird to think that I’ve had someone living here with me, and I didn’t even know it! Well, I knew it, but I thought you were a cat.” I stood and began to pace, trying to process all this new information. Nuada’s unblinking eyes followed me as I wandered across the floor. “Now I feel bad about the cat food.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“The cat food. I feel bad for feeding you cat food. If I had known you were human, I would have found a way to bring you some regular food.”
“When I’m in that form, my body is able to process the food that form would take in.”
“Huh?” She seemed to speak in circles.
“When I’m a cat, I can eat cat food. If I was in another form, I would eat whatever that animal ate. Only when I’m human can I eat human food. Understand?”
Now I felt stupid. “Yeah, I understand. So why a cat? Why couldn’t you come to me as a human?”
“I needed to protect you without being obvious. That was what he wanted.”
“He? Who are you talking about?”
“Someone who cares for you very much.”
I mused about that for a moment. “You can’t mean Logan. You were on my doorstep before I ever met him. Can’t be Andrei either. He obviously doesn’t care for me, although he claims to.”