by Megan Linski
“Could you get any more perfect?” I ask, taking a tissue. For the life of me, I can’t figure this guy out.
“Believe me, I’m not perfect,” Cairo says. He takes my empty bowl and comes back with a Gatorade. He noticed I finished my tea, too. This boy catches onto everything.
Cairo moves next to me on the couch and puts his arm around me. I try to pull away, but he holds me tight.
“You’re gonna catch this cold,” I warn him.
“Like I said, you aren’t going to get me sick. It’s a biological impossibility,” Cairo states.
“Whatever.” I sigh, and continue watching the animal show. I use my phone to check my reflection. My nose is really red. “Ugh. I look hideous.”
“You look gorgeous, like always,” Cairo says. “Stop.”
The compliment almost takes the crappiness of the cold away. I put my phone down and find that Cairo is staring at me.
“I’d ask what you were doing sneaking around my house, but I think we both know,” Cairo starts. “Did you see anything you weren’t supposed to?”
“I just wanted to see you,” I respond truthfully. “That’s all.”
He looks into my eyes. “Okay. You’ve got me. I’m right here.”
“Then don’t go anywhere,” I say. “Not ever.”
This changes something in him. “I promise, Cassia.” His green eyes shine with an amazing, bright light, almost resembling his halo. “I won’t.”
I slip down his chest, resting my head against it so my ear is pressed up against his steady heartbeat. Sometime during the day, I fall asleep.
I wake up later and still find that I’m lying against Cairo’s chest. He hasn’t moved.
He changed the channel to a lacrosse game. Now that football season is over, I guess his focus has changed.
I sit up and yawn. He asks, “Have a nice nap?”
“Yeah.” I rub my eyes. “I feel worse than ever, though.”
“Isolde will be here soon.” He strokes my hair as I lay my head down on his lap. “Just try to relax.”
I close my eyes. Resting is so easy with him here. Usually I have fitful dreams, but with Cairo, it’s nothing but peace. I like it.
A half an hour later, the doorbell rings. That must be my ride. Cairo gets up to answer it. I sit up, brushing my hair out of my face.
Something on the coffee table that wasn’t there before catches my attention. It’s a leather-bound book, a design of large wings on the front cover. It looks like it was tossed carelessly. Cairo must’ve been reading it while I was passed out.
I dare to thumb through the first few pages. The contents are all handwritten on parchment paper. It’s a very old book, very valuable. Why would Cairo be reading this?
My eyes shift toward the entry way as I make a quick decision. I’m just borrowing it, right? While Cairo is greeting Isolde at the doorway, I quickly slip the book into the inside of my hoodie.
“Oh Cassia, you do look awful.” Isolde gives me a sympathetic look. She doesn’t seem impressed by the mansion’s décor. She must’ve been in here before. “Come home with me, dear. You need to rest. Thank you, Cairo, once again.”
I glance back at him as Isolde escorts me out to the car. Cairo’s green eyes stay on me as the door slowly closes shut.
I want to start reading the book right away, but the cold only gets worse the minute I get home. I sleep through the first day, and am barely coherent for the second.
On Thursday morning I wake up completely well, though I have no intention of going back to class.
“Cairo came by to check up on you,” Isolde informs me when I come downstairs. “He seemed really concerned. He dropped off your homework while he was here. He’s such a sweet boy.”
“Did he really?” I note the new pile of papers sitting on the counter. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“He asked me not to.” Isolde puts her coffee cup down. “You needed the rest.”
I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to see Cairo, even though I’ve pretty much been in a coma for the past two days. I eye the stack of papers and ask, “Can I have one more day off? Just to catch up?”
“It can’t hurt,” Isolde says. “But tomorrow you have to go back, before your teachers start calling. Finals start next week.”
“Deal.” I grab the stack of papers and run upstairs, but I throw them on my desk once I get to my room. I’ll do them later. Right now, I want to read that book.
I lie on my stomach on the bed and start on page one. Most of it doesn’t make much sense to me; it’s a lot of Biblical mythology, some of it copied from pages of scripture and some not. I’ve been to church, and I’m familiar with the stories, but some of this stuff I’ve never even heard of. Why would Cairo be interested in this? Is he some sort of history buff?
I’m nodding off halfway through the book when a word I don’t know catches my attention. “Cambion,” I whisper. My fingers trace the page, to an illustration of a man with dark bat wings growing out of his back, fire billowing around his form.
“Extremely rare,” I read aloud. “The cambion is the offspring of a human and an incubus, more commonly known as a demon.”
A chill runs up my spine as I continue reading. “Indestructible, with incredible healing powers, the cambion has the ability to create fire, with skin that is always hot to the touch. A horror of horrors, an abomination. Cambion children are to be slaughtered on sight.”
I know before I even have to think about it. His warm skin. Fire, shooting out of his hands. His leg, perfectly intact after getting mauled by that dog. The bike crash failing to kill him.
Thames. He’s half-demon. He’s got to be. But Cairo said that he and Thames are different. They both have the same mom, so I’m assuming that makes some part of them human. But if Thames is part demon, then what makes up Cairo’s other half?
I shuffle through the pages quickly, reading up on various mythological creatures. None of them seem to fit. I find the dog that attacked us, but the pages are so badly stained that I can’t read what it is, so I leave it alone.
Finally, I come to one of the last pages. The illustration portrays a man circled in a halo of light, with great wings like eagles sprouting from his shoulder blades. My breath hitches in my throat as I read the description.
“Nephilim,” I read dryly. “The offspring of a human and an angel. Immune to most illnesses. Able to fly and teleport. Incredibly strong, with the ability to take on alternate forms such as a being wholly made of light. An abomination. A freak against nature. Kill on sight.”
I stare at the portrait of the man with wings, remembering everything that’s happened over the past few months. The attack in the forest. The glowing ball of light I followed in the hallway. Cairo, always showing up instantly whenever I needed him.
The truth is so obvious, I can’t deny it. Before, it was easy to stifle down my feelings, but now that I know what he’s been keeping hidden from me the reality of my emotions becomes too much to suppress.
I’m in love with Cairo.
I’m in love with an angel.
The next day, I don’t go to my locker like I usually do, or look for Cairo. Instead, I go straight to my desk first hour. I’m so far behind on school. Researching the book yesterday took up all the time I was supposed to be using to study. I’m not really interested in finishing my homework, but it’ll give me a bit more time to process what I found out yesterday.
Cairo’s part angel, and Thames, part demon. I still can’t believe it. I stayed up late last night searching online for more information than what the book had, but since I couldn’t separate what was truth from fiction, I eventually gave up around 3 a.m. I tried to sleep, thoughts of heaven and hell on my mind.
Maybe this is all some sick game. Maybe Cairo left that book out purposely, to play some awful joke on me.
Kinda doubt it.
Thames comes in. It’s so early that we’re the only two in here. He nods to me, like it’s any normal day. I bri
stle. I haven’t worked out what I’m going to say to him yet, if anything.
Thames notices me writing on my late work. “Can I copy off of you? I haven’t been in class lately,” he said. “Me and Cairo have been busy.”
“I’m guessing you guys had angel business?” I can’t hold it in anymore; it comes blurting out. I bring the leather book out of my bag to show him. Thames’ tan skin goes completely pale.
“Where did you get that?” he asks hoarsely.
“I know, Thames,” I say. “I haven’t told anyone.”
“We’ve been looking for that. Turns out you had it this whole time!” Thames goes to snatch it out of my hands, but I rip it away.
“That book isn’t meant to be in the hands of a mortal,” Thames says. He grabs my arm and pulls me out of the classroom. I don’t try to fight him, but hug the book closer to my chest.
Thames pulls me around a corner, underneath a staircase. “Give the book to me, Cass.” He holds out his hand. “Right now.”
“You’re part demon, aren’t you?” I draw the book closer. “Aren’t you?”
“Don’t be so loud! Yes, I’ve got demon blood. Happy you figured it out?” Thames peers around a corner, obviously in a panic.
“You can trust me, Thames.” I hand out the book. He takes it, and I say, “Cairo left it sitting around. I couldn’t help myself. I had to figure out what you were.”
Thames runs a hand through his hair. “You don’t care? You don’t care that Cairo and I, we’re freaks?”
“Why in the hell would I care?” I ask. “You guys are my friends. Just because you can fly around and do weird stuff doesn’t make you any different. In an emotional way, I guess. Not physically, obviously, because you’re way cooler.”
“You’d definitely be the only one I know with that opinion.” He lets out a long whoosh of breath before he looks at me glumly. “You broke your promise, Cass. That really sucks.”
I can’t help but feel really bad. “I know,” I say. “But after everything that’s happened, can you really blame me?”
He shakes his head. “No. I guess not.”
He takes out his phone. His thumbs press the buttons madly. He’s on the phone for what feels like forever; as soon as he sends a message, he gets a response, the phone pinging five or six times.
“Who are you texting?” I ask.
He slips the phone back into his pocket and points at me. “You need to talk to him. Cairo.”
My stomach drops. “What? You told him? Why?”
“Because he has a right to know, Cass!” Thames shouts.
“I wanted to tell him on my own terms,” I say slowly, twirling a strand of hair around my finger.
“Well, too late, he knows.” Thames punches the wall with the side of his fist lightly. Good thing, too, because I’m probably sure he could’ve blown the concrete to bits. “And he’s not happy about it.”
“What’s the difference?” I ask, confused. “Sure, he’s an angel, and you’re a demon. So what?”
“You’re taking this way to casually. And I don’t want to be half demon,” Thames says. “I’m trying to live my life as normally as possible, like a human. Cairo’s different. Only he can explain that to you.”
Thames walks out before he can tell me any more. I hold my breath and go to head after him, but someone blocks the entryway.
It’s Cairo. He’s randomly appeared again. His face is like chiseled stone, mouth a thin line. Without a word, he wraps his arms around me.
“Close your eyes,” he instructs. I obey immediately.
There’s a quick, rushing noise, and a gust of wind brushes my face. When I open my eyes, I realize that I’m no longer at school. The air around me is soft and warm, not cold. Cairo has transported us to a mountain range that overlooks the vast ocean, above a beach with sparkling white sand. If I had to guess we’re somewhere in California, near the Pacific Northwest. We’re all alone up here.
“You just teleported us, didn’t you?” I ask, thinking back to the book.
“Yep.” Cairo picks up a spare branch, cracks it, and throws it off the mountainside, sullen.
“Why?” I dare to take a step forward. “You revealed your powers to me.”
“Secret’s out now.” Cairo brushes off his pants. “No use trying to hide it anymore.”
Cairo doesn’t speak, and nor do I. The only thing I hear is the rushing of the ocean waves crashing upon the shore a mile off.
“You’re an angel.”
“I’m actually not an angel. I’m a…”
“A Nephilim,” I interrupt. “Half angel, half human.”
“Just how much of that book did you read?” he asks, exasperated.
“As much as I could. Though most didn’t make much sense,” I confess.
“It wouldn’t, to a mortal,” he says. “It’d only be useful to a Nephilim or a cambion.”
He stands. “I’m guessing you have questions.”
“Lots,” I say. I hesitate. “But I don’t know if I should ask.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” Cairo shakes his head. “Go ahead. Ask.”
“Okay. Have you always been a Nephilim? Always had… powers?”
“I always have been, but Thames and I didn’t get our powers until we were five,” he explains. “It’s called Awakening. The powers lie dormant in the blood until they’re provoked, then they emerge. The presence of so many demons and Nephilim in one area brought it out of us early.”
“Was that what happened in the woods, the first day I came to town?” I ask. “I know you were there. What was attacking me?”
“It was a demon. That’s my job.” Cairo puts a hand on his chest. “I’m a Nephilim. We hunt, and kill, demons. It was invisible to you because mortals can’t see demons unless they reveal themselves. I was chasing it when it ran into you.”
“You saved my life,” I say.
He shrugs. “Don’t mention it. It’s my job.” He looks at me. “And even if it wasn’t, I still would’ve saved you.”
My throat ceases up. “What about the first day of school?” I ask.
“It’s hard, disguising yourself as a human all the time. It’s easy for Thames, but not for me. The light being is who I really am. I can’t suppress it all the time.” He jiggles his foot. “Sometimes when I get too overwhelmed, I’ll just go to a classroom and return to my natural form. Nobody’s ever caught me at it, until you.”
“And the accident? The dog?” I ask.
“It wasn’t a dog. It was a hellhound,” he says. “A demon’s pet. They hunt mortals, feed on their spirit energy. Just like demons do.”
“I knew that thing was supernatural,” I mutter, crossing my arms. “But you still haven’t answered my question.”
“You got lucky both times. I was flying by when the accident happened, and caught you before you hit,” Cairo explains. “Same thing with the hellhound. I stop by to check on Thames every now and then. Without him knowing, obviously.”
“Why are there demons running rampant Up North?” I ask, confused. “It’s not exactly a great place to manipulate mortals. No one lives there.”
“It’s a good place to hide,” Cairo says. “Demons come go there to recharge before they go out into the world looking for more souls to corrupt. We stay up here to intercept them before they do. That’s what we do at the compound, train Nephilim to kill other demons. And don’t lie, I know you were there,” Cairo adds as I open my mouth. “They spotted you sneaking around. That’s where I usually go when I’m not at school.”
“So there are more of you?”
“Not very many. Those you saw are all that’s left in the world,” Cairo says. “Nephilim are very rare.”
“The book said you were an abomination.”
“Do you think I am?”
I shake my head. “No. I was just repeating what was written.”
“The book was created a very long time ago, by a demon-hunting council of mortal priests,” Cairo says. “The
rules are different now, because all the priests are dead and someone had to take up the mantle, but it doesn’t change the fact that fornification between angels and humans is still strictly forbidden. It’s not something that should happen, Cassia. By all means, I shouldn’t even exist.”
“Don’t say that.” I take a sharp step forward; I almost feel like slapping him. “Don’t ever, ever say that again.”
Cairo takes a deep breath, and sits back down on the log. I sit beside him. He doesn’t move away when I inch closer. “I want to know everything about your world,” I say. “Will you tell me?”
“You’re very interested in all this, for a mortal,” he says, amused.
“Wouldn’t you be?” I insist. I’m brave enough to take his hand, and he doesn’t object. “Is this why you and Thames don’t get along? Because you’re an angel, and he’s a demon?”
Cairo shakes his head. “No. That has nothing to do with it.”
He squeezes my hand. “My mom met my dad after she’d already had Thames. She held him back so both of us could be in the same grade together. We got along fine up until a year or so ago.”
“So what happened?” I lean closer.
“We have different opinions on how we should live. Thames just wants to be normal, and I suppose as a cambion, he might have the potential to be,” Cairo explains. “But I know as a Nephilim, I can’t. I have a responsibility to slay demons. There’s more to it, but that’s one of the main factors why he doesn’t live at home anymore.”
“Is that why you keep yourself away from girls? Why you tried to stay away from me?”
“Yes.” He turns his hand over in mine. “But now I see that’s an utterly useless endeavor.”
“You said Thames was born before you. Does that mean your mom fell in love with a demon and an angel?” I ask.
“That’s what happened. Incredible, isn’t it?” Cairo asks.
“Did it just not work out with Thames’ dad?” I keep my eyes focused on the waves ahead. I don’t want to pry, or make Cairo mad, but I want to know. I want to know everything about these boys, from the moment they were born to now.
“You could say that,” Cairo says. “Mom met my father shortly after, though their romance was short. They’d only known each other for a month or so before she got pregnant with me.”
