Black

by Angelina J. Steffort

  Everything was dark again. The smell of burnt grass filled the air between us.

  “What was that?” I wondered aloud.

  Adam bounced upright an image of youth and perfection.

  “I ate.” He hid his face in the shadows. “I am sorry if I scared you. This was the only way to make sure I won’t get tempted on the way home.”

  I wasn’t exactly scared—more curious how he had fed on grass and soil, but I didn’t dare ask him.

  “The others are waiting.” Adam walked towards me, his eyes glowing to life, and his wings exploding from his shoulders. He held his arms open as an invitation.

  Without hesitation, I skipped into his embrace and put one arm around his neck.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  He gave me a faint smile, then lifted me against his chest, and took off without another word.

  My body was sore from the constant up and down when Adam set me down at the front door.

  “Come in,” Jenna ushered us in with nervous looks to the sides. “Are you sure nobody followed you?”

  “I am,” Adam said and slid past her into the living room.

  He had circled the town and flown in from an angle that made the shortest distance to the Gallagers’ house with the lowest risk of curious eyes spotting us in the night sky. Of course, my weak human eyes wouldn’t be able to tell—

  The door closed behind us and Jenna seized my arm on the way in.

  “Did he hurt you?” she asked without further warning.

  I shook my head, knowing, that all the others in the house would hear my spoken words.

  Jenna blinked her eyes in acknowledgment and walked me into the living room.

  I was relieved to see that Chris and Jaden were as unscathed as Jenna. They were both pacing, awaiting our return for different reasons. Jaden stopped mid-step and teleported to my side before I could even raise my hand to wave at him. Chris pulled Adam into a hug.

  “I’ll get you a fresh shirt.” Jenna said to her stepson and disappeared.

  “Where’s Ben?” I asked Jaden quietly.

  “He’s resting.” Jaden’s eyes were focused on Adam.

  “What happened?” he asked the exact same thing I had been about to ask.

  “What do you mean?” I followed his gaze and found Adam watching me with a dazed expression.

  “That,” Jaden referred to Adam’s staring.

  My cheeks felt hot, the way they usually did when they were blushed with embarrassment.

  “Is it that bad?” Jaden commented on my emotion.

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  “So, what happened after Adam got me out of there?” I asked, curious to hear the whole story and eager to change the subject. “Is Volpert gone for good?”

  “We can’t tell for sure,” Jaden jumped onto the new topic, saving my little dilemma for later. “All four of us hit him, definitely. All four hits combined should have been critical, but before I had a chance to verify if he was dead, Maureen showed up.

  “She must have hidden invisibly in the trees. She aimed at you when Adam didn’t strike immediately. Volpert must have brought her as a backup,” he mused.

  “I thought the same thing,” Adam agreed. “After all the times I’ve been too weak to kill Claire—I am sorry Claire, but that was my assignment when I was with the demons—” he gave me an apologetic look, “—he must have lost trust in me.”

  I bit my lip. Commenting on Adam’s attempts to murder me wouldn’t help any of us. After all, that had been before he had remembered who he was going after. Now, that he remembered me, revenge, and Volpert’s orders didn’t have any hold on him. The only thing that did, was his own demon-nature—the hunger for energy, for souls. For my soul, specifically.

  “If it hadn’t been for Ben...,” Jaden creased his forehead, and I recognized the tormented face he’d had when he had thought he’d lost me before. “He threw himself between you and Maureen. Her attack hit him.”

  Once again I was drowning in guilt. All of them had risked their lives to help me protect Sophie. How could I ever repay any of them?

  “He will be alright?” He had to.

  “Yes,” Chris responded and the look on his face didn’t betray him.

  “A few days of rest,” Jaden added. “It’s a wound inflicted by a demon—it can’t be sealed as easily as normal wounds.”

  He gave me a serious look. “Ben was extremely lucky.”

  “I’d like to see him,” I blurted. “—to say thank you, I mean.”

  “I’ll let you know when he’s awake.” Chris smiled at me and then at Adam. “I am glad you both are safe.”

  “Adam saved me.” I glanced at him and found him eyeing me with glowing green eyes.

  The dawning day tinted everything in a pale light. The horrors of the night seemed less severe when they were lit up by the first rays of the rising sun.

  “You should rest,” Jaden reminded me how exhausted I was. The past twenty-four hours had been a roller coaster of fear and hope.

  “Your bed is still made,” Jenna said to me when she reappeared and put a shirt into Adam’s hands. “Yours, too, Adam.”

  All eyes turned on Adam. Was he going to stay? We had never talked about what would happen to him if our plan worked.

  Adam’s gaze wandered back and forth between Jenna and Chris, from one to the other, finding the same hope on their faces.

  “That is, if you want to stay—” Jenna added.

  Before he spoke, Adam gave me a long, questioning look, like he was asking my permission. I hesitated for a short second. He was a risk to all of us, but we loved him anyway. He was their family. And he was my fate.

  “Stay,” I quietly said. It was so low that I wasn’t sure I had even spoken, but Adam broke into a smile that made it clear he had understood.

  “I don’t have anywhere else to be,” Adam confirmed.

  Jenna and Chris hugged him at the same time. It was a lovely image of a happy family. The only blemish, the insecurity if we could trust that he had changed enough to not harm any of us.

  For a moment, I could see it all. The prophecy—Adam as the redeemed demon who was capable of love and good. It felt plausible—and that was good enough for now. Only time would tell if we were erring in bringing him back into our lives.

  “Good night,” I said, ignoring the break of day and gave them some privacy.

  “Sleep tight,” Adam called after me, when I had already turned around to leave. His words enveloped me like a soft cover that carried me into the land of dreams the moment I laid down in bed.

  The sun was tickling my face when I opened my eyes.

  Jaden was sitting motionlessly on the foot end of the bed, watching me wake with a tender smile.

  “What time is it?” I asked into the bright light.

  “It’s mid-afternoon.” He slid up to sit beside me. “The others are downstairs.”

  “Did I miss anything?” I sat up, ready to jump out of bed.

  “Not really,” he grinned at my sleepy movements. “It was a long day yesterday. You needed to rest.”

  I pondered his statement for a moment and figured it was okay if I stayed in bed for a few more minutes.

  The day had been long, indeed. Many things to think about.

  Would Adam stay for good? If he did, we would need to find a way for him to not draw attention—everyone thought he was dead.

  Geoffrey would be returning soon. The Gallagers would need an explanation—or a new butler.

  He wouldn’t be able to simply pick up his life from before. There were too many factors that made it an impossibility.

  Even if he was the subject of the prophecy and even if the prophecy was real—

  “Do you think the prophecy is real?” I voiced my thought to Jaden.

  His forehead creased and he rested his back against the pillows.

  “Would you stay away from Adam if I told you it’s not?” he a
sked in return.

  “Probably not.”

  “Then what difference does it make?” He looked up at the ceiling, then closed his eyes as if he needed to rest them.

  He was right. It didn’t. Staying away from Adam was not an option anymore. I had seen him do good, even after he had turned bad. There was love in him—his love for his family, and even if it was just a memory—his love for me.

  A knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

  “Come in,” Jaden called.

  Chris’ head appeared in the door, showing a happy face.

  “Oh good, you’re awake,” he noted. “Ben just woke up and is ready to see you.”

  I almost fell out of bed—standing up without getting out of the covers first—and jumped into my clothes the second Chris disappeared.

  Jaden turned to face the wall like a gentlemen.

  Before I rushed out the door, I stopped and gave Jaden a hug.

  “Thank you for everything. You deserve to return home—more than anyone. The fact that you are still here, dealing with me after all the mess I have made, proves it.”

  He blinked his eyes and smiled faintly. “Whether or not I will be allowed back, is not for us to decide.”

  His arm wrapped around me for a second before he pulled out of the hug.

  “You should go. Ben’s probably waiting.

  My heart pounded when I walked down the hallway to Ben’s room.

  “Come in,” he said before I could even knock on the half-open door.

  The room itself hadn’t changed—the thick curtain was still draped to the sides in the middle of the long space. What was different was the decoration.

  The countless drawings of my face had been replaced with drawings of wings. Some of them light, some of them dark.

  There was only one portrait of me left. It wasn’t any I had seen before. It was new and I was wearing last night’s clothes in it. The background was black as the night.

  “Hi, Ben,” I said as I slowly made my way up to him.

  He was laying in bed, head propped up on a stack of pillows, a sheet of paper in one hand.

  After a moment of hesitation, I eventually sat down on the edge of his bed.

  He looked fine—a little pale maybe. I took a deep breath of relief.

  “You’re a hero,” I said.

  “Maybe,” he grinned darkly. “But aren’t heroes supposed to sacrifice themselves for others?”

  I didn’t quite understand what he was saying.

  “Which is exactly what you did,” I clarified my view on things.

  “It’s nice you think that highly of me,” Ben put down the paper. “I didn’t sacrifice myself for anyone else, though.” He gave me an unreadable look. “I did it for myself.”

  “Ben, you took a hit for me. If that’s not a noble thing to do—”

  “It’s a selfish thing,” he interrupted. “I didn’t do it to save you, I did it to save myself from a life without you.”

  I didn’t know what to say and lowered my gaze, processing his words. He was aware that I loved his brother.

  Of course he felt, that there was this tiny part of me that had feelings for him. He would never let it go until there was nothing for him to perceive.

  Ben shifted under the cover, watching me think. He didn’t seem disturbed by my silence, instead he gave me an understanding nod.

  “I just wanted you to know the reason.” He looked at me with his steely eyes, a hint of hope reflecting in his words.

  “You’re still a hero to me.” I tried a lighthearted smile, but got stuck in a grimace that felt like my lips were forming a crooked line.

  “Maybe—” Ben’s eyes were still holding mine in place. “You know how much I disapproved of you for being an ill-fated attachment to my brother,” his words stung, “but I also hated myself for disliking you. And after Adam’s death, I thought I could never forgive you,” his eyes lit up with the tiniest glow, “but then, when I got to know you better, I found that my feelings for you are so much stronger than my dislike could ever be—”

  When I thought back to the first few encounters we’d had—his cold, hateful glares—who would have believed we would end up here, where we were now... It felt like a different time. A time before living through the loss of Adam—for both of us.

  “—I know Adam has returned,” he continued. “And I know that you love him. Just don’t forget that things have changed.” His eyebrows knitted together and his voice changed into a concerned whisper. “He has changed... Now Adam is the ill-fated attachment—” Ben paused and laid his hand onto mine. “You’re pure. He is danger... I won’t lose you.”

  My skin heated under his touch. This was a dangerous path for all of us. Adam wasn’t dangerous just to me. And I already had my doubts on how things would work out for all of us—Ben’s feelings were adding another layer of complexity that I simply couldn’t allow.

  With a conscientious twist, I slid my hand out from under Ben’s, and ran it through my hair as an excuse.

  I was afraid of hurting Ben. Maybe also a little afraid of myself—that if I let him continue speaking, he would find those right words to change my mind—and I might let him.

  “Are you in pain?” I changed the topic. He looked fine, but who knew.

  “Nah—nothing that I can’t handle,” Ben made a dismissive gesture with his free hand. “I might even come downstairs for dinner.”

  He was acting strong. Or maybe he was stronger than I had given him credit for. He had surprised me with his warm, caring side, he had hidden so well in the beginning.

  “That’s good to hear.” It was. And I was grateful that he had recovered so well. However, an unexpected heaviness was weighing down my relief.

  There and then I knew that it didn’t matter how I would decide—whether I would change my mind or not—I would always hurt one of them. And hurting them was hurting myself. Any joy I would find was bound to be tainted.

  I got to my feet. “Rest, if you can,” I ordered with a forced smile which Ben returned with a set face that made me suspect that he wasn’t any more comfortable than I was.

  When I turned to leave, Ben rolled to his side and I caught a glance of the piece of paper in his hand.

  It was a drawing of me—next to him, his wings framing us and his hand resting on my cheek.

  He is an artist, I told myself and averted my gaze. Ben didn’t show any sign he had noticed I had seen his artwork.

  With a pounding heart and mixed emotions, I crossed the room and hurried out the door.

  Jaden was waiting for me at the top of the stairs.

  “You look like you could use some fresh air,” he said with a crease in his forehead.

  Fresh air was exactly what I needed—and to think.

  He grabbed my elbow and guided me downstairs, across the hallway and to the beautiful door with the ornate glass inlays.

  The peaceful aura of the back garden was the perfect place to hide for a while and think.

  Jaden led me to the wooden bench and we sat down, side by side. For a moment, my mind was drifting back to Ben’s picture. A wave of sympathy followed a moment of wonder before I ended up in admiration for his talent.

  Jaden cleared his throat beside me and brought me back to the present.

  “You still owe me an answer from last night,” he ignored my current state of mind and state of emotion—for he without a doubt knew how I was feeling.

  “What do you mean?” I replied absently. My head was still in cognitive overload.

  Jaden bent forward and inclined his head so he faced me.

  “What happened after Adam got you out of the graveyard?”

  With all the remaining energy I could find, I directed my attention to him.

  “He carried me to a field. I can’t tell where—”

  “Did he hurt you?” he interrupted, his expression not as serene as I was used to.

  “He didn’t,” I negated.

  “What were you embar
rassed about earlier?” he demanded, still not entirely convinced everything was alright.

  The heat returned to my cheeks, and I could picture myself with a tomato replacing my head.

  Jaden’s eyes widened. “It can’t be that bad...,” he encouraged me.

  “He kissed me,” I admitted, my eyes on my hands. Why was I so embarrassed about it? Probably because of the nature of the kiss and what it had led to—

  “He kissed you—that’s all?” Jaden interrogated me for details. “You know that I need to know. I don’t trust him—not yet.”

  My mind wandered back to the wasteland Adam had created with his hands while—it was hard to think of it as that—eating.

  “You are uncomfortable,” Jaden noted.

  I was. There was no way around it. Jaden had a right to know. He had given up everything for me. It was only fair that I gave him the truth about how difficult his task might become in the future.

  “There was a moment where he was hungry for my soul—” I started.

  Jaden jumped to his feet in reflex, ready to shield me from any approaching danger.

  “Sit down, Jaden.” I pulled him back to the bench gently. “He got it under control all by himself—he didn’t hurt me. Not even a little bit.”

  The way I phrased it made it sound more harmless than it had actually been. Jaden couldn’t be fooled.

  “He compensated, right?” he asked and eyed me accusingly.

  I fidgeted. Alerting Jaden was the last thing I wanted to do. Luckily, I didn’t need to answer.

  “I did,” Adam said from behind us.

  Jaden froze next to me. “Who did you kill instead?”

  Adam stepped forward and smiled.

  “No one,” he said and walked towards the wild bush in the center of the garden and laid his hand on top of the little red blossoms. “I found a way—let me show you.”

  Before Jaden could react, the branches of the bush turned gray, while streaks of bright light were running towards them from the ground below, and collecting in Adam’s palms. Within the blink of an eye, he had absorbed the glowing layer under his fingers and smiled.

  Jaden eyed him in disbelief. “You can live off plants?”

  “I guess I can,” Adam answered, hope lighting up his eyes. “This way it’s safe for me to be around all of you.”