Scintillate (Scintillate Series Book 1)

by Karen Tjebben

  “Our kind has been around for a long time.” Nick looked at Alex and Zoe. “We were very excited when you showed up.” He touched my hand.

  I recoiled at his touch.

  “I’m sorry,” Nick said. “I know this is overwhelming.”

  I took a deep breath, filled my lungs and slowly exhaled it in an attempt to calm myself. “There’s nothing about that in the Bible.”

  “That’s right,” Alex said. “It wasn’t recorded.”

  “So, what were these other angel/human hybrids called?”

  “The Asteri. It means ‘star’ in Greek,” Nick said. “We believe Asteri was chosen because stars are celestial bodies and angels have celestial bodies.”

  The analogy of stars and angels having celestial bodies was too much. Was he trying to tell me they were angels? Did they actually think I was an angel? Obviously, neither of my parents were angels. I swallowed hard. “That doesn’t explain what I have to do with this,” I said.

  Alex spoke up, “Kate, we’ve been studying mutations in biology. Asteri are mutations. There aren’t very many of us because the Asteri mutation is a rare recessive gene. Both partners must have the gene in order to produce an Asteri.” He took in a breath and slowly released it, as if contemplating his words. “Both of your parents must have the Asteri recessive gene. It was a roll of the dice. It could have been Reese, you, or neither of you.”

  The weight of Alex’s words and stare were overwhelming. Oxygen was sparse. I couldn’t breathe. The room spun and started to grow dark.

  “Put your head down by your knees.” Zoe guided my head between my knees, and my hair brushed along my legs. I could hardly breathe. How could I ever escape from this house? There were three of them and only one of me. Fear and panic rose in my body again.

  “I’m going to throw up!” I sat up, clutched my mouth, and felt my stomach churn.

  Nick ran into the kitchen and returned in seconds with a large plastic bowl. I looked at him, shocked at his speed, and then threw up in the bowl while Zoe held my hair out of the way.

  My stomach continued to heave as I contemplated my options. I could go along with their delusional fantasy and perhaps be released to my home where I could tell my parents about their psychotic break from reality. Or I could try to escape and risk being held hostage for who knows how long against my will. Or reason with them and hope they see the lunacy behind their angel theory.

  When I finished heaving, I lay back on the sofa and wiped my mouth with the cold compress.

  “I’ll empty this.” Nick walked to the powder room. The toilet flushed, and he returned with the empty bowl.

  “I can’t stand seeing her like this,” Alex whispered to Nick. “You’re right. This is my fault. She wasn’t ready.”

  “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine,” Nick encouraged. “It’s always overwhelming. Don’t you remember?”

  “Yes, but she’s still young, so naive.” Alex grabbed Nick’s arm. “The other’s had signs, proofs to help them believe.”

  Nick gripped Alex’s shoulder. “She’s further along than you realize.” He stepped away from Alex and made his way towards me. “Besides, she has us. We’ll take care of her.” Nick smiled as he handed me the empty bowl. “Kate, remember the man who attacked you the night of the football game?”

  “Of course, how could I forget? That was the night you rescued me.”

  “That man was a Nephilim. He wanted to kill you.” Nick’s eyes were ice cold as he stared at me. “That’s why we’re here, to protect you.”

  “He’s part of this?”

  “Right now you are vulnerable, weak, and defenseless,” Zoe said. “This is their best opportunity to kill you.”

  Kill. She said it so casually, like it was a normal part of their reality.

  “Do you remember how he was surprised to see me?” Nick asked. “How he fell to the ground grabbing his head, pleading before he ran away?”

  “Yes, none of that made sense,” I said as I recalled the events in my mind.

  “He thought I was distracted, that I couldn’t help you. But I realized his trick, so I cloaked myself and followed you.”

  “Wait,” I interrupted, “what do you mean by ‘cloak’?”

  “I made myself invisible,” Nick said casually. “But when I saw you were in danger, I revealed myself. I caught him off guard.”

  My heart raced at this revelation. I remembered looking around and being alone. No one was there to help me. Nick appeared out of nowhere.

  “When he fell to the ground, clutching his head, I was mentally squishing his brain. It’s kind of like giving him a massive migraine. I couldn’t kill him, not with you standing there. That would be too difficult to explain, so I just… hurt him.” Nick stared at me, his face serious. “I hoped he would leave you alone, now that he knew you were under my protection.”

  “Are you serious? You can’t possibly expect me to believe you can squish brains with your mind or make yourself invisible.”

  “You want me to prove it?” Nick smiled, full of confidence.

  “Yeah. Do it now,” I scoffed. My heart thumped erratically as I challenged him to do the impossible. When he thought he cloaked himself, should I go along with it to trick him into thinking I was a believer, or use that as an opportunity to reason with him into seeing the truth?

  “Kate,” he said unleashing those brilliant blue eyes on me, “I know you don’t believe me. I know you’re trying to decide how to handle this, so I want you to stay seated when I do this. I’m not sure how you’ll react when I disappear.”

  My heart hammered in my chest. “Okay, let’s see it.” I chewed on a fingernail. “Or maybe I should say, let’s not see you.” I nervously chuckled and blinked.

  I opened my eyes.

  Nick was gone!

  My stomach knotted. My heart raced sporadically. I jumped to my feet and grabbed at the air. I felt nothing.

  “Where is he?” I shouted. “Where did he go?” I panicked and looked around the room, seeing only Alex and Zoe. Were they telling the truth? How is that possible? What does this mean?

  “Kate, it’s okay.” Alex grabbed my arm to support me. “He’s here. You just can’t see him.”

  The room spun again. The air was too thick. I couldn’t breathe.

  “How are you doing this?” I panted and gasped for breath. I gripped Alex’s arms. “Stop it!”

  Alex’s arms surrounded me as the room went dark and the floor disappeared.

  I was floating in the air or maybe it was a cloud.

  It was dark.

  Hushed voices argued.

  “Was that really necessary? You nearly scared her to death.”

  “That’s ridiculous. She can’t be scared to death. And yes, the faster she believes, the quicker she can adjust. We can’t let her go home unless she understands. What if she tells her parents?”

  “We don’t want to involve them in this,” a soft voice said.

  “No, you’re right about that, but we can’t hold her hostage either?”

  “Of course not. They’d come looking for her.”

  “I can’t stand this.” Alex’s voice carried from across the room. “Watching her go through this is so painful. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Drops of water fell on me and trickled down my face. Is it raining on this cloud? I strained to lift my heavy hand and wipe away the droplets.

  “Hey, she’s back,” Zoe said. “Kate, open your eyes.” Warm fingers stroked my cheek.

  Zoe smiled at me, her peaceful face welcoming me as I lay on the sofa.

  “Tell me I’m dreaming,” I pleaded.

  “I can’t. This is all real.” Zoe picked up a clean compress and wiped my cheeks. “I know this is overwhelming, but you’re actually doing great.”

  I rolled onto my side. Nick and Alex were in different corners of the room. Alex stood by the fireplace, and Nick was by the recliner. “So you decided to show your face again,” I said.

  “Yes.” Nick wal
ked towards me. “I’m sorry I scared you. I needed you to grasp the reality of your situation. I did that to help you understand what’s going on.”

  Alex took a step closer, his mouth a tight line across his face. “Kate, let’s talk about that man who attacked you after the football game. You saw him again at the fire. He tried to kill you despite the fact that hundreds of others would die. He failed because he lost track of you,” Alex’s eyes glanced down at my necklace and then back at me, “because of your necklace.”

  “What does my necklace have to do with it?” My fingers brushed along the chain and landed on the butterfly.

  “When I told you the necklace was enchanted and would protect whoever was wearing it, I meant it.” Nick’s blue eyes stared into mine and held my attention.

  “How does that work?” I couldn’t imagine how a necklace would protect me from an angel/human hybrid.

  Nick continued, “Right now you’re in your fledgling stage. This is the most dangerous time for you. Remember when I would complement you about glowing, radiating, or scintillating?”

  Nick took my hand. I let him. His hand felt warm, and in my confusion I was beginning to trust him again. “Yes,” I said.

  “Well, I said those things because they’re literally true. You are emanating a glorious light. A light that drew me to you.” He stroked my face. “Of course, only our eyes can see that frequency of light, but that light is also how the Nephilim found you.”

  “I glow?” Stunned, breathless, and completely mystified defined my present state of being.

  “Uh, kind of.” Nick’s smile brightened his face. “Intense emotions increase your luminosity.

  “This is unbelievable.” I took a deep breath, trying to give oxygen to my overwhelmed brain. “I still don’t understand how the necklace works,” I choked out. My parched throat made speaking difficult.

  “I know. I’ll explain. The necklace cloaks your light. You are still visible of course, but your light is hidden. It makes it difficult for them to find you. When we were dancing that night, I saw the man and removed you from the large group of people. That’s why we played hide-and-seek. I knew I had to get you away from him and everyone else. I thought that if he didn’t see you, he would hunt for you. If he hunted for you, I could ambush him.” Nick smiled. “Then I’d take care of him before he could take care of you.”

  “That’s why you were so upset when you couldn’t find me after the fire. You thought he had me.” I gripped the butterfly so tightly my fingers ached. Nick’s insane story made some sense in light of the current information. “You had trouble finding me because of the necklace.”

  Alex stepped closer and said, “That day in the stairwell, I recognized that man… that Nephilim. His name is Ramel. He’s a scout. Mr. Bishop is looking for him right now. We have a lead. When we find him, we’ll deal with him.”

  My stomach flipped again. I had a feeling I knew what “deal with him” meant.

  “What about Asheville? That dark shadow was really there, wasn’t it?” My mind whirled as I recalled the events on the sled, the heaviness on my chest that prevented me from breathing.

  A small smile formed on Nick’s face. “You’ll have to forgive me for smiling. I’m happy because you’re beginning to understand. I have a glimmer of hope that you’ll make it through this transition pretty quickly.”

  “What happened in Asheville?” Alex jumped in. “What haven’t you told me?”

  “Calm down,” Nick said. He shot a disapproving look at Alex. “You’ll hear the story now.” Nick turned back to me. “You’re right. The dark shadow was real. Only it wasn’t a shadow. I was surprised when you mentioned that you saw it.”

  Alex sat in the recliner near the fireplace and focused on me.

  “Wait… you lied about seeing it?” I asked. “You said you didn’t see a shadow.”

  “I didn’t see a shadow,” Nick confessed. “I saw a cerberus. You saw its shadow. I didn’t have an explanation for you so I balanced on the very thin line between truth and lie. You weren’t ready for the truth.”

  “So you knew exactly what I saw all along?”

  “Yes, but what could I say?” Nick replied. His eyes plead for leniency.

  I understood his conflict because even now I had difficulty processing the situation.

  “You weren’t even supposed to be able to see it yet,” Nick said.

  “Then it was a cerberus that was on top of me. That’s what caused us to slide into the trees?”

  “What!” Alex shouted. “She had a cerberus on her. What kind of guardian are you?” Alex leaned forward in the recliner, his cheeks red with anger.

  “Alex! That doesn’t help,” Zoe chided. “Nick has done a great job, and he had to do most of it alone. We should be grateful.”

  “I couldn’t tell you because I knew you’d react like this.” Nick’s voice boomed through the room as he confronted Alex.

  Alex slowly dragged his hands down his face. “You’re right. It just infuriates me that I wasn’t here. What if something happened? I should’ve been here to protect her.”

  “You had no control over the situation.” Nick looked at Alex. “Now, if I can finish, I’ll explain the cerberi to Kate.”

  “Go ahead,” Alex said. He placed his elbow on the armrest and nestled his head in his hand. His eyes were locked on me.

  “Cerberi are other-worldly,” Nick said. “Let’s put it this way, they live in another dimension or plane within our universe. That means they are only visible or tangible to those from that dimension. Asteri can live in both dimensions. You are in transition, so eventually you’ll be able to see cerberi, demons, and all the other fun things from that dimension.”

  Confusion reigned in my head as these new concepts fought for control of my mind.

  “I assume that your transition is further along because you could see and feel the cerberus. Otherwise, you would have been oblivious to its presence.”

  “So they can affect our world, but we can’t see or feel them?” I asked as I tried to make sense of nonsense.

  “Yes, they can affect our world by affecting the things in our world. However, soon, you will easily see and feel them.”

  All the bizarre events of the past months came together now that Nick revealed the pieces of the puzzle. Even his infatuation with me made sense now. Reese had been right all along. Nick had hunted me down like prey. Our relationship was a ruse. He couldn’t be trusted. My stomach churned again and tears welled up in my eyes.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Nick placed his hand on my knee. “You’re doing great?”

  “Stop it! Stop it!” I stood up and walked away from him. “You can stop faking it now.”

  “I’m confused,” Nick said, his brow creased with worry. “I thought you believed us. You understand that we’re not like everyone else.”

  I glared at him, angry that he thought I was stupid enough to keep falling for his act. Why did he need it anymore? Was he just using me for the physical pleasure?

  “Are you mad?” Nick’s eyebrows pulled together tightly as he eyed me. “I’m sensing hostility coming from you.”

  “You’re sensing hostility coming from me? That’s rich!” I choked out. “Why are you still doing this? Why are you still pretending to care about me? I know I’m just a job to you. Someone you have to protect. You started a relationship with me so you could control me.” I wiped away tears as they trickled down my cheeks. “Look, I understand the logic — I really do. You’re a super-angel and you have to keep me from being killed, but to keep pretending you care about me — that’s just cruel.”

  For the first time since our discussion began, Nick glared at Alex, and then he brought his gaze back to me. His face was serene, no smirk or smile was present. Instead his eyes looked contrite and wounded. “I’m so sorry you heard our fight. None of that was meant for your ears.” Nick stepped towards me. “I’m ashamed to admit that I said some things to annoy and hurt Alex, but not once have I fak
ed my feelings for you.”

  “I want to believe you, I really do, but how can I? You basically told Alex that you had a job to do and that being with me was the best way to do it.” I wiped away another tear. The saltwater stung a tiny cut on my finger.

  “Kate, you’re forgetting the fact that I also told Alex that I plan on being with you.” He hands gently took ahold of my arms. “You’re leaving out the most important thing I said. I love you.”

  I sighed, attempting to release the pent-up frustration and stress this day had brought. “I need some time to think about all of this.” I wanted to press my face into his chest, feel his strength and draw from it, but I still felt conflicted, confused, and betrayed. Was this what love was really like? To be wounded and then forgive. To move past a transgression and allow love to flourish. People aren’t perfect, and love has to forgive those imperfections, or it will never survive.

  Nick sighed, perhaps releasing his own pent-up frustration. “Of course, I understand. You’ve been through too much today.” Nick released his grip on me and crossed his arms.

  “Can I go home? I won’t tell anyone our secret.” I watched as they exchanged looks. It appeared the hostage scenario loomed in my future.

  “That’s probably not such a good idea.” Zoe walked over to me. “Go look in the mirror. There’s no way you can go home looking like this. Your mom will wonder what happened to you.”

  I looked with dismay at my reflection. My skin was pale, yet splattered with the red splotches I get when I cry. My eyes were puffy and bloodshot. My long blonde hair was matted from sweat and the moisture from the cold compress. And an odor comprised of sweat and vomit emanated from me. Barely able to take my own stench, I admitted, “You’re right. I’m terrifying.”

  Zoe walked up behind me and looked in the mirror. “Trust me, I’ve seen worse.” She smiled and squeezed my shoulders. “You can shower in the guest bathroom and borrow something of mine to wear.”

  “Thanks,” I replied half-heartedly. This morning I was shopping for a beautiful gown. Now I’m coming to terms with my life as an angel/human hybrid. Something told me I was going to see a lot worse too.