by C. L. Coffey
“That you use corpses?” I shuddered.
Gabriel nodded. “The Fallen don’t. They discovered that we cannot recognize them when they possess a living body.”
“How would you recognize them otherwise?” I asked, curious.
“A big clue is their aura,” Gabriel explained.
“Their aura?” I repeated, turning my nose up. “Isn’t that a bit new age for angels?”
“There’s nothing new about auras,” Gabriel said, shaking his head.
“So what color is mine?” I asked, curious. “And why can’t I see it?”
“Only archangels can see auras clearly. Unfortunately, although it would benefit you, you will not have that ability. But even then, you would not be able to see your own.”
“So, I do have one then?” I asked as I gave Gabriel an incredulous stare.
Gabriel glanced over at me, a slight glazed look in his eyes. “Actually yes,” he said, his eyes blinking back into focus. “The humanity in nephilim is what makes them hard to see. Their auras are there from their human side. But most nephilim’s auras are dark, twisted like their souls.”
“Let me guess, mine is black,” I muttered, wishing I liked my coffee black, because now I could say I liked my coffee like my soul and mean it.
With a tilt of his head, Gabriel pointed over at a tree. The leaves had long since gone, and the bare, gnarled branches were holding onto snow. “When I first saw you, it was more like that.”
Brown and twisty… “And now?” I asked, holding my fingers out in front of me, trying to imagine a murky brown shadow around them.
“It’s mainly a bright, royal blue.”
“And that’s how you knew I was a potential?” I asked.
Gabriel nodded.
I lowered my hands, just in time to spot a frozen puddle, and quickly dodged it. “So, I take it if a fallen angel is possessing a human, then they take on the aura of the person they’re possessing?”
Gabriel turned his head to face me, looking both impressed and surprised. “You are actually quite a quick learner.”
I looked over and made a face. “No need to sound so surprised.”
“No, that was evident from your transcripts,” he said, sarcasm lacing his tone.
We finished off our run in silence, then I returned to my room to shower and change. Although it was still early, there was evidence that Leigh-Ann had been in and dressed, but she had already left. I gathered the required textbooks for the day’s classes and made my way down to breakfast.
I had a plate piled high with bacon, a couple slices of toast, and a large, steaming mug of milky coffee when I spotted Lottie waving me over to the table she and Harrison were at. Well, I did have to make friends with Harrison...
“Where are Simone and Cody?” I sat down, noting the empty seats.
“Where do you think?” Lottie wiggled an eyebrow.
“Really?” I arched an eyebrow. “I thought the chastity police ruled this college.”
Lottie’s eyes didn’t blink for several seconds. “That’s just there to scare you. If you really want to do it, you can,” she added, giving Harrison a pointed look. She then turned her attention to my breakfast as I piled the bacon between the toast. “Aren’t you worried about all that fat?”
I glanced down at the food. Actually, of all the things I was worried about at the moment, the fat content of my breakfast hadn’t even registered. I shrugged and took a mouthful.
“Gross.”
Taking a large bite of my sandwich, I chewed it while staring at Lottie. Maybe in Lottieland an interest in my eating habits was a way of her showing concern. But we hadn’t known each other long enough for that yet … more like she was insulting me like I suspected.
Which, if she was, I was curious as to why. Was she still sizing me up, or was she beginning to feel threatened? And if it was the last one, why?
“I’m hungry,” I told her between sips of coffee.
All of a sudden, Lottie burst out laughing. It took me a second to realize that silence had also fallen over the room, so I turned to see what the center of attention was. My heart fell a little when I realized it was Leigh-Ann and the massive black eye she was sporting, just above the partially dressed nose.
“That is hilarious,” Lottie said, her voice booming.
My gaze flicked from Lottie to Leigh-Ann, hoping Lottie’s voice hadn’t carried.
Leigh-Ann’s back was rigid as she kept her head up and focused on the path in front of her. She continued walking through the cafeteria to get something to eat. I tried giving her an apologetic smile as she walked past us carrying only a glass of orange juice, but she refused to look at me. Instead, she sat at an empty table. Moments later she was joined by Ty. She looked up at him, her eyes growing wide, but allowed him to sit.
“I’d say you have to be worried about her making a move on your boyfriend,” Lottie told me.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I snorted.
She ignored me, continuing. “Give it five minutes, he’ll be running in the opposite direction. I mean, look at her.”
I couldn’t help but look at Harrison. He said nothing, just continued to hold Lottie’s hand as he ate his breakfast. If I had known that the person I was supposed to protect was Harrison, before Gabriel had told me, I wasn’t so sure I would have said yes. He had seemed nice, but for him to not stick up for his own sister like that—even if she had hit on his girlfriend—well, that was a little out of order. He had better cure the world of cancer one day, because right now, he was an ass.
And his girlfriend was just as bad.
“Oh crap,” Lottie looked through her bag. “I left my biology homework in my room. I’ll see you in class,” she told both Harrison and me before she leaned over and kissed him. She hurried away, leaving me alone with my charge.
“We haven’t slept with each other,” Harrison told me, causing me to look over and blink in surprise.
“Excuse me?” I asked, confused as to why I needed to know that.
“She’s my girlfriend, and I love her, but I’m just not ready,” Harrison admitted.
“Okay,” I said, drawing out the word, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore. “And what about all this with your sister?”
He glanced over in her direction and shrugged. “You don’t need to be worried. He’s not her type.”
“I really couldn’t care less about what her type is.” I snorted. “I’m just surprised and a little disappointed that you do.” I abandoned my breakfast and made my way to my first double lesson of the day: Biology.
I knew as soon as I saw that the only free bench next to Ty that it wasn’t going to be a good day.
I was right.
“I’ve figured you out,” Ty told me as we waited for the professor to arrive.
I sighed wearily. “Oh, do tell.”
“You’re one of the popular girls.”
I’d been called a lot of things in my life, but popular was not one of them. In fact, I had to look over my shoulder to make sure he wasn’t talking to someone else.
“And not only are you one of the popular girls,” he gave me a pointed look, “you’re one of the bitchy popular girls.”
I stared at him, too dumbfounded to comment.
“I thought you said hurting Leigh-Ann was an accident, but then you sit with Lottie and laugh at her.”
I still hadn’t found the words when the professor eventually entered the room, presenting us with a pop quiz. Under normal circumstances I might have been able to answer half of them correctly, but with the way I was struggling to get my brain to function, I didn’t hold any hopes at scoring highly.
By third period, things had gotten worse. I knew enough Spanish to string together a few sentences, thanks to a heavily Hispanic populated school I once attended. So when the professor asked me something, I responded with the only phrase that came to mind—a mildly offensive, ‘Yo Momma’ joke.
I wasn’t surprised when my lunch period was an
extended Spanish lesson spent apologizing profusely and claiming I had been misled when taught that phrase. I think the professor eventually bought it because he let me go with enough time to grab a sandwich in the now deserted lunch hall.
By the end of the day, I still hadn’t managed to catch up with Leigh-Ann and apologize, and I had realized just how far behind I was in all my lessons. I walked into Gabriel’s office and dumped out my bag, pulling out my biology textbook and dropping it on his desk.
He looked up in surprise.
“Did you mean what you said to Pinnosa?” I asked.
“Dean Pinnosa,” he corrected me. “I meant everything I said, although you’re going to have to be more specific.”
“That you will tutor me?”
He looked from the book to me again. “As I said, I meant everything I told Dean Pinnosa, including tutoring you.”
I sank into the chair and sighed. “Good, because I think I need it. I’m fairly certain I flunked a pop quiz this morning.”
“I have already spoken with Professor Green. You did.” He got up and made his way over to a flip chart. “Let’s start with the basics: parts of a plant.” He drew a cross-section of a flower.
I pulled the lid off my pen and started taking notes.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
By the time March hit three weeks later, I hadn’t any time to think about anything except studying. I managed to pull my English grade up to an A, and the rest of the classes were floating around the C area.
It was still too early to tell if I’d need to continue studying over the summer, But I was feeling more optimistic as Gabriel was reporting back that Pinnosa was happy with my progress. I wasn’t sure ‘happy’ was an emotion she could actually experience, but it was a start.
I had managed to go a whole week without detention, although my free time was still spent in my room, studying. I had also spent the week by myself. Despite my efforts to make friends with my roommate, she avoided me like the plague.
In fact, the girl was so good, that the only way I could tell she had been in our room was because the bathroom had been used. I suspected she came in when I was with Gabriel, though I had yet to prove it. I still had no idea where she was spending her nights, while I was staying up until the early hours studying my butt off.
Since I was clearly stuck on my studies and not trying to make any moves on her boyfriend, Lottie had finally loosened up a little, and even asked me to join her on the events committee.
I declined. There was no way Gabriel was ever going to let me go to that. I was still spending gym class stuck in his office because he didn’t trust me to play nice with others.
Friday had finally arrived, and I found myself glad the last class of the day had rolled around, even if it was gym. I left Spanish, falling into step with Lottie who was holding hands with Harrison.
We walked outside, and once again, I feigned being cold as we bundled our coats around us. The weather was a fraction warmer than it had been for a while, especially when the sun was shining like it was now. We’d managed to go the past few weeks with very little in the way of snowfall despite it getting later in the year, but it still wasn’t warm enough to melt what had already settled.
“Kennedy, who are you asking to the Spring Dance?” Lottie asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
I blinked, looking over at her. “I’m not asking anyone.”
“It’s the twenty-first century, you can ask guys out, you know.” She cocked her head. “You know, you’ve still got several weeks to drop a few pounds too.”
I blinked again. “Excuse me?” I asked, sure I had misheard.
I was thinner than she was, admittedly thanks to what I was assuming to be a healthy nephilim metabolism, but if she was trying to say I needed to lose weight—which I didn’t—she needed to look in a mirror first.
Lottie leaned in towards me. “I wasn’t talking to you,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper.
“What?” I was still confused. Then I realized who we were walking behind.
Leigh-Ann was trying her best to ignore us, but her ears reddened and her back straightened as she picked up her pace.
I couldn’t quite understand why Leigh-Ann thought the conversation was directed at her, though. She had an ass I would die for, and she may have been a couple of dress sizes bigger than me, but I was also aware that between the two of us, she was the healthy one.
Lottie continued on as though she hadn’t heard me. “I think you should ask Ty. You are definitely the best single option in this college, and you’re his type.”
If there was anything I could say with complete certainty, I was most definitely not Ty’s type. After numerous detentions together, and even more classes being stuck sitting next to him, I think it was clear to everyone—including Lottie—that we really didn’t like each other.
Even if the mutual dislike of each other wasn’t a problem, I still wasn’t sure what Lottie was getting at, especially if she wanted to upset Leigh-Ann. Aside from that one lunchtime period together, Ty and I spent more time together than he and Leigh-Ann did. In fact, thinking back, I never saw Leigh-Ann with anyone.
“Did you take stupid pills this morning?” I shot at Lottie. That earned me a death glare. “I’m sorry, but you know perfectly well I can’t stand Ty any more than he can stand me.”
Lottie suddenly sniffed and gave me a bright smile. “I just thought it would be fun to get ready together. In my room, of course. We don’t want to be watched while we dress.”
In front of me, Leigh-Ann’s pace quickened. I, on the other hand, stopped. “Really?” I demanded, my hands on my hips.
Lottie stopped, making Harrison do the same. She cocked her head. “Excuse me?”
“I take it back,” I told her, momentarily earning me a satisfied smile before I opened my mouth and continued. “It wasn’t stupid pills you took this morning, it was bitch pills. Is any of this necessary?”
“Why are you getting defensive all of a sudden? You’re the one who gave her a black eye.”
“I didn’t do it intentionally,” I said, surprised she was bringing that up. “I get that you two don’t like each other, but where is this bitchiness coming from?” I asked. “Just leave Leigh-Ann alone.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” Lottie got in my face.
I shook my head, hands on my hips. “I don’t think I care.” I turned to carry on.
“That’s right, run after your girlfriend,” she called after me, loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear.
I stopped and turned, stalking back over to her, clenching my fists, ready to hit her. “Are you kidding me?” I growled as I took a step towards her.
“Does the truth hurt?” The question came from Harrison, not Lottie.
My head snapped around to face him, so hard, I almost whipped myself in the face with my ponytail.
“I’m sorry?” The anger in me had the question coming out quietly. I took a step towards him, cocking my head. “What did you say?”
“Kennedy!” Gabriel's voice bellowed from across the courtyard.
I unclenched my fists and whirled on the spot, glaring at him.
“In my office, now. The rest of you, get in the locker rooms and get changed.”
I marched past him, feeling his glare burning into my back, all the way to his office. I entered, slamming the door behind me. I managed to pull my notebook out when he entered, closing the door with more care than what I had.
“You came this close to getting expelled for fighting.” His voice was a lot calmer and quieter than the shouting I expected it to be. He was in his usual stance, legs slightly apart and arms folded, but I could almost see the tension radiating from him. There was a muscle by his mouth twitching, and his eyes were practically glowing with anger.
“Maybe you should have let me,” I told him, doing my best to keep my temper under control. “Because the only thing that boy needs protecting from is me.”
“Why?
” Gabriel demanded.
“Why?” I repeated, thinking it was obvious. “Because he’s a dick. And he’s not just a dick, he’s a mean dick.”
“And you think that’s a good enough reason to hit someone?”
“Yes … no.” I quickly shook my head. “But he definitely deserved it. And he definitely doesn’t deserve protecting.”
Gabriel took a couple of steps towards me, the muscle in his jaw still twitching. “For all you know, he could be the one to cure–”
“Cure cancer. Whatever.” I glared at him. “But does that mean he gets to be a grade-A douche in the process?”
“You should learn to let comments like that go,” he said, staring down at me. “Losing your temper because he called you a name is–”
“You think I’m upset because he called me names?” My eyes widened.
Judging how quickly his stern expression turned to puzzled, he did. “You’re not upset because of that?”
“No,” I told him, wrinkling my nose. “He didn’t even call me a name, and I couldn’t care less what he calls me.”
“Then what has gotten you so worked up that you were ready to hit him?” He took another step forward so there was only a foot between us.
“The fact that since I have gotten here, not once has he stuck up for his own sister. Not once. And then he starts joining in when anyone can see that it’s upsetting Leigh-Ann.”
Gabriel stared at me for a long moment before his expression finally softened. “You have surprised me today.”
“Because my anger issues are a bigger problem than you thought they were?” I asked, still angry. “Are you ready to change your mind about killing me yet?”
Gabriel’s hand moved out towards my face, and I couldn’t help but flinch away from the slap I was sure was coming, and I was sure I deserved. He frowned at my action, looking momentarily upset, but his hand continued towards my face. Gently, he tucked a lock of my hair that had worked free of my ponytail, behind my ear.
I froze as the back of his fingers traced across my cheek. “Yes,” he said softly.
For a second my heart stopped, and every trace of anger evaporated. Had I really pushed him so far that my time was now up?
