by CS Yelle
“Okay, if you want to know,” I whispered. “I hate having to lie to my best friends. I can’t stand avoiding the truth or only telling them half-truths. I’ve never lied to them before and it is killing me.”
“Britt, you know you don’t have any choice,” he said.
“That’s right, I don’t have a choice. But you did. You chose to bring me back, like this.” I motioned to my body with my hands, “Forced me to keep the truth from the only people I’ve ever trusted.”
“Ah.” Allister nodded. “So that is what this is all about.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s typical to feel guilt for being what you are when your friends are not a part of it.”
“You make no sense.” I rolled my eyes.
“Britt, I’m truly sorry for being selfish and changing you without your consent; forcing you to be something you did not choose for yourself. Knowledge of our kind places your friends in grave danger.”
“They wouldn’t tell anyone,” I whispered as two girls walked by, hopeful expression on their faces, seeing us fighting.
“It goes beyond us, and even my parents. We have a duty to all Eternals to keep our secret. The fewer people who know about us, the less likely the angels will bother with us.”
“The Eternals would kill my friends if they knew?” I gasped.
“I can’t say for certain, but are you willing to take that chance?”
I looked at him with horror, then lowered my eyes, shaking my head. No, I wouldn’t put my three amigos in harm’s way like that, ever.
The scent of lilac wafted to my nose and a shudder surged through my body causing me to stagger into the deck railing. My head spun, my vision turning blurry.
Allister wrapped his arms around me, supporting me as I teetered, trying to regain my balance.
“What is it?” he asked concern in his voice.
“I don’t know, I feel dizzy,” I gasped.
I looked across the back yard, not a lilac bush in sight. The glows I learned to ignore leapt into my vision. Why did the glows come back now? The thought didn’t form completely until I saw him. He stood, talking to some girls and a guy by the back fence, listening to them, yet staring right at me. His dark brown hair and dark eyes shone brightly as his perfect skin failed to glow in the slightest to my vision.
I gathered my strength, lifting off the rail as Allister supported me with his hands on my waist. I never took my eyes from his and he held my gaze, studying me, tilting his head, looking at me curiously. It took all the strength and concentration I could gather to push the dizzying effects of being close to him to the furthest reaches of my mind.
I recognized him instantly, the nurse’s assistant. The connection felt like a cable, linking us together. His eyes twinkled in amusement and a smile touched his lips, and I knew his name.
“Kendal,” I whispered. “He’s here.”
“What?” Allister hissed. “Are you sure?” “He’s by the back fence, staring at me.”
Allister looked across the yard and his hands flexed on my waist as his body went rigid.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“We’re sunk,” Allister sighed.
“How do you mean?”
“He knows what you are. He knows you’re not a natural Eternal. He will betray us.”
“Why would he do that when he’s the one killing angels? Wouldn’t he be punished for his crime?”
“It’s his word against ours on that, but you, on the other hand, can be identified by any Eternal.”
I turned to stare at him. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I whispered.
“As long as Angelina and I kept your secret, it didn’t matter. Now that another Eternal has seen you, my crime is going to be seen as greater than his, and more easily proven.”
“What do we do?”
“We stop him,” he answered.
Without waiting for him, I raced for the stairs, leaping down to the yard and running for the back fence.
Everyone turned and watched in shock as I ran through the people mingling in the yard.
Allister suddenly appeared behind a large pine tree and sped ahead of me.
Kendal stood motionless until Allister reached for him. Then he turned, jumped over the fence, and ran down the alley with Allister in close pursuit.
I ran to the fence, stopping against it with my hands in front of me as the fence rattled with my impact, trying to see down the alley as first Kendal, then Allister, shimmered out of sight.
A hush hung over the yard as the guests stared at the fence where Kendal and Allister disappeared. All eyes turned to me as I stood, balancing myself against the fence, my equilibrium returning once Kendal was gone. I looked at their harsh, questioning stares and then raced from the yard.
I ran to the front of the house, sliding to a stop in the middle of the street, uncertain where to go. A feeling filled me and I raced down the street, somehow knowing that it was the right direction. I couldn’t tell for sure if I zeroed in on Allister or Kendal or both, but I felt them ahead of me.
As if on cue, Kendal bolted out in front of me onto the street and then ground to a stop as he faced me. He smiled as our eyes met, recognition filling his deep brown orbs.
Allister burst from the trees lining a yard and stopped, hesitating when he saw me and Kendal facing off.
Kendal smirked, gave me a wink, and then shimmered.
Allister sprinted to where Kendal stood, shimmering instantly out of sight when he reached the spot.
I stared at the empty space where two immortals holding my fate stood seconds ago. When they didn’t reappear after a few moments, I walked, defeated, back to Cassie’s house.
As I came up the front sidewalk six hands collected me, ushering me into the house.
I sat down on a chair in the kitchen as the girls looked at me, their faces filled with worry.
“What the hell was that?” Trish asked crouching down to look at me.
“Uh, I don’t know.” I shook my head.
“Bullshit,” Cassie said sharply, out of character.
“You know more than you’re telling us,” Elisa said. “Spill it.”
I looked from Elisa to Cassie and then back at Trish as she put her hands on my knees and stared hard into my eyes.
“Britt, we know something is up and your boyfriend just ran across Cassie’s backyard like a gazelle, leaping a fence and chasing a guy I’ve never seen before. What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you,” I whispered.
“You can’t or you won’t?” Elisa accused.
“I want to, I really do, but if I tell, something bad might happen to you and I couldn’t live with myself if it did.” I looked to them all in turn. They weren’t buying it.
“Come on Britt,” Cassie shouted, throwing her hands up. “You show up at my house with Mr. Dreamy and he races off after some random guy and you can’t tell us what’s going on?” She spun away in disgust.
Allister said it was dangerous if they knew too much, and now with Kendal knowing about me, that knowledge could be even more dangerous.
The screen door slammed behind them as we looked up to see Allister standing in the kitchen, his expression so fierce, I gasped. He glared at the girls for an instant and then his features softened.
“Sorry to cause a scene,” Allister said. The girls stared at him in disbelief.
“Are you alright?” he asked me, causing my friends heads to spin my way.
“Yeah, you?”
“Couldn’t catch up to Kendal.” Allister sighed and then looked at Trish who stood nearest to him. “He used to date my sister. I told him the next time I saw him…” “A protective brother excuse, at least you’re original.” Trish scowled.
“We’re not buying it,” Elisa said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Are you and Britt going to come clean, or are you going to insist on lying to us?” Cassie crossed her arms. Allister looked at me, his
eyes pleading me to call them off, but I held no power over them when they got like this.
“I’m sorry,” Allister said, his words sounding sincere. “If I felt confident about the results of telling you the truth, I wouldn’t have any problem doing so. It’s too tenuous right now to take that chance.”
“You make it sound so perilous.” Trish made a face. “It is,” Allister assured her.
“Quit being so dramatic,” Cassie chimed in. “It isn’t like life or death.”
“Is it?” Elisa asked, reading the expression on my face.
“It could be, let’s leave it at that,” Allister said, taking me by the hand and helping me to my feet. He swung his arm around my waist and ushered me towards the door.
The three girls sprung ahead of us, blocking our exit. Allister and I looked questioningly at them. “We won’t let you hurt our girl,” Elisa said, glaring up at Allister.
“I will do everything in my power to see that no harm befalls her,” he said.
“We don’t know you, and I for one don’t trust you.” Trish stuck a finger in Allister’s muscular chest. “I understand your concern for Britt and let me assure you again, she is the most important thing in the world to me. I would never let any harm come to her.” “But a guy we don’t know, that you felt compelled to chase, was only feet from her in my backyard. How is that protecting her?” Cassie pressed.
Allister raised his hands defensively before him as the girls hit him with their angry stares.
“You don’t know the whole story, and we don’t have time to go through it now.” He backed away, pulling me with him around the corner, out of site.
He leaned down, whispering in my ear, “Hold on.” I tingled all over and we stood next to his car. Shouts erupted from inside the house and the screen door burst open as the girls raced onto the deck. Cassie saw us first as we climbed into the Camaro. She jumped from the bottom deck stairs, running and screaming across the yard with Elisa and Trish close behind.
“Stop,” she cried, as the car squealed away from the curb and roared down the street.
I turned, watching the three amigos stagger into the middle of the road as they disappeared from my view.
Chapter 12 We raced across town, my thoughts so twisted up I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. We screeched to a stop in front of Allister’s house before I finally spoke. “What are we going to do about them?”
“Your friends are too smart for their own good. Let’s hope they keep their mouths shut. We may be able to go back and make them agree to keep quiet. Otherwise, it won’t be good.”
I stared at Allister, fear for my friends making my heart pound and my blood race through my veins. How could I get them into something like this?
“We have to speak to my parents. I can’t put it off any longer.”
He got out, ran around the car and opened my door, extending his hand to help me out. We hurried up the sidewalk to his porch where I stopped. He took a couple more steps before realizing I wasn’t right behind him.
“What is it?”
“This is the first time I’m meeting your parents, I’m kind of nervous. If they don’t like me, it will be a long forever.”
“How can they not like you?” he smiled.
“Uh, because you created me. Because you did something forbidden to create me. I could see how that might make them not like me.” I looked at him, worried.
“Britt, they will understand this is my doing. They will know you are innocent in this just by seeing and sensing you,” he reassured me, putting an arm around my shoulders.
“You keep saying that, but what is so different about me that you sense?” I shrugged his arm off. “It’s hard to describe. It’s a kind of… purity, it’s sweet to my senses. Your smell, your touch, the way you look, all set you apart from any Eternal I have ever met. Angelina can feel it too. It is almost like there is something about you that tugs at our inner emotions, our greatest desires.”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, but Angelina and I tried to keep you away from our parents for that very reason. Unfortunately, now that Kendal saw you, we need to tell them and I need to face the consequences.”
He pulled me into a reassuring hug, leaning down to touch his lips to mine. My heart raced and the fear disappeared for a second. When he held me I felt so safe, so at peace. He pulled back from our kiss, sucking the air from my lungs as his lips released mine. I gasped, breaking our kiss leaving me jerked from unadulterated bliss.
We turned together and he opened the door. Upon entering the foyer, a large man stood staring. He twisted the hair of his neatly trimmed beard, which matched the long dark hair on his head. His dark brown eyes held not judgment, merely mild curiosity.
“Your parents are waiting for you in the study.” The man nodded, opening the door for us to enter. I looked questioningly at Allister.
“I called Angelina after losing Kendal and told her to tell them we needed to speak to them.
“Thank you, Taylor,” Allister said, pulling me after him as we slipped by him into the room.
I remembered the library from the morning the girls and I confronted Allister. That day felt so distant now. Shelves lined the walls, filled with books and a large wooden desk sat in front of the big bay window facing the street. Allister’s car was visible on the street. They saw us coming.
The door closed behind us and we stood facing a tall, slender man with vibrant blue eyes like Allister’s and thick, short, golden brown hair. He looked at me and an uneasy feeling of being exposed flowed through me. I looked away from his knowing stare only to meet the eyes of Allister’s mother. I knew it had to be her. She looked like Angelina’s twin. Her golden hair hung to her waist and her eyes swirled with a mix of turquoises. I felt like an ugly duckling compared to the four Eternals. Angelina sat in a chair off to one side, looking away from us, though I knew she observed us just the same. “What have you done, Allister?” his father started. “I couldn’t help myself. She called to me, urged me to touch her, bring her back. Can’t you feel it? Can’t you feel her pureness? Surely what I’ve done can’t be so wrong when this is the result.” Allister held his father’s gaze with an urgency in his eyes. Pleading for him to see what he saw in me. I’d never seen him like this. “What she is is beside the point.”
“The hell it is,” Allister shot back.
“You know what you have done and you knew it to be wrong,” his father insisted, unyielding.
“He is right,” their mother spoke up. “Allister is right,” she clarified when the two men looked to her. “He has created something that is a wonder and shouldn’t be denied. I don’t care how this girl came into existence in her current form, but she is truly an amazing creature.” I blushed, looking down at the floor as their eyes turned to me. I glanced at Angelina as she stared.
“Come here, my dear.” The woman extended a gentle hand.
I looked at her and then moved closer. When I came within reach, she touched my cheek so delicately, it felt like nothing more than the kiss of a breeze. “You are a wonder.” She smiled. “I am Allister’s mother, Jennavia.”
“Britt Anderson,” I whispered, awed.
“That brooding man over there is my husband, Victor.” She lowered her head to look into my eyes as they turned back to the floor.
“Don’t worry about him, he knows I’m right.” She grinned. Jennavia placed her soft hands upon my cheeks and stared into my eyes, the turquoise seemed to ebb and flow in her own. She gazed for a long moment, and then let out a gasp, looking up at Victor with a start. “What is it, what do you see?” Victor asked. “Angelina, you say Allister touched her after she died?” Jennavia asked, not looking away from me. “She was dead,” Angelina insisted.
“This is strange,” Jennavia whispered. “Allister, Angelina says you tracked the Eternal who took her guardian. Did you actually see him take her guardian?” “Not physically, but Angelina sensed it and I could feel another Eternal
’s touch on her.”
“May the spirits have mercy on us. Do you realize what this girl is?” Jennavia asked no one in particular. Her eyes opened wide as she faced me. “She still has some of her guardian within her, only you fused it to her soul by touching her,” Jennavia explained.
“So I’m not an Eternal?” I asked.
“Oh you are an Eternal, Allister saw to that, but you also have the essence of an angel still inside of you,” she spoke with wonder.
“You can’t be serious,” Victor broke his silence. “I most certainly am,” Jennavia said defensively spinning on him.
“What am I?” I asked turning to Allister, my hands on my hips, desperately trying to understand. “You are the first Eternal with a guardian angel,” Allister said, worry heavy in his voice.
“Great, not only am I a freak, I’m the freak of the freaks now?” I threw my hands up in disgust.
“No, my dear.” Jennavia brought my attention back to her. “It means there is no one else on this earth like you.”
“I could have told you that,” Allister said softly. “It means she can be sensed by the angels, and by the Eternals. She will bring the wrath of both down upon us for doing such a thing,” Victor said.
“It means, we’re screwed,” Angelina said as we spun to see her horrified look.
“We need to leave, get her away from here before anyone comes for her,” Allister said, panic heavy in his words.
“At least neither side has discovered her existence,” Jennavia sighed.
Allister stiffened and Victor noticed. “No one has seen her, have they?” “Kendal, the Eternal who took, partially took, her angel,” Allister said.
“When,” Victor asked.
“Just before we arrived. He appeared at Britt’s friend’s house and I pursued him, but he shimmered before I could reach him.”
“This is bad.” Victor lifted a hand to his chin, “Very bad.”
“Why is it bad?” I whispered to Allister. “Kendal will alert the council. All he knows is you are a created Eternal. He doesn’t have mother’s ability to see that you also have an angel. He will identify you and they will demand we come before them for judgment.”
