It was the next day and Dahlia decided to skip school. Instead of her usual nightmares, they were surprisingly peaceful, featuring lots of quality time with Greyson.
She rolled unto her back at the thought and stared up at the ceiling where she laid comfortably on her bed, hair sprawled all over her pillow. She wondered how Greyson would take the surprise of visiting him and slowly smiled. The two times that he had kissed her were earth shattering in Dahlia’s book, and she secretly wished for a third.
She blushed, thinking back to his confession of falling for her. All of this was so surreal to her but she didn’t want to let go. She wanted to see his face again. To just be with him and forget all the craziness going on.
If only for a little while.
Plus she wanted to avoid the ride to school with Sam. She honestly didn’t know what to say to him after last night. She would be putting herself in an awkward situation and frankly couldn’t act as if nothing was out of ordinary with him.
A sudden thought came to mind as she turned her head and eyed her laptop on her computer table. Scrambling out of bed, she made her way to the desk and sat down as she opened her laptop, turning it on. Waiting for the home screen to appear, she realized she hadn’t written in her journal for quite some time and was saddened by the thought.
She definitely had some stuff to write.
Clicking on the Internet icon, she waited for the page to load, face scrunched up in concentration. The Internet was automatically set to her search engine, so Dahlia did not waste any time as she typed in the words “fallen angels” in the text box. Hundreds of thousands of hits filled the screen as she clicked from one link to the next, all filled with stories of angels falling from God’s good graces, things that could be read from the Bible or any theology book.
Wanting to find more information, Dahlia changed her search and typed in “witches as fallen angels,” as she remembered Greyson did mention humans had referred to them as that in the past, however unbecoming. She wondered if she’d find anything using that term instead, and gave it a shot as she hit the Enter button, however slim the chance would be. Fewer results showed up and nothing looked out of the ordinary, just a lot of separate information on witches and fallen angels.
That is, until one link caught Dahlia’s eyes.
She quickly clicked on it where it brought her to a page titled: Witches—Masquerading as God’s Fallen Angels. It was a short article written by an on-line magazine writer named Remy C.
Stripped of their wings, fallen angels were said to walk the streets alongside the humans that they hated the most. From an outward appearance, it was difficult to distinguish between mere mortals and the beings that hated them with a fury so strong, it ran deep within their veins.
These fallen angels bared the marks where their wings were painfully ripped away from their skin. As ex-heavenly beings, they possessed powers and abilities that no human could ever dream. These powers emitted from their eyes, which gleamed with fright. As well as the scars that ravished their backs—where God himself plucked their wings. These two characteristics alone were the only things that humans could distinguish between themselves and the fallen angels.
With fallen angels long extinguished for centuries, their descendants, through mixing with humans, thought to also bear the marks of their ancestors and possess the powers that they had. From reading people’s minds, vanishing without a trace, and conjuring up the elements, just to list a few.
A link created between fallen angels and animals made them bounded to one another in body and mind. These animals, named Familiars, exist as a gesture of good faith from God Himself. To display the love He still had for his fallen angels, despite their ultimate betrayal.
Familiars were never far away from their master…
Dahlia involuntarily shivered from the words on the page. There was more, but she slowly closed her laptop shut feeling she could probably get even more information directly from the source. The fact that this information was readily available on the Internet was almost laughable. Who was Remy C. for that matter? He seemed to know a lot of information about the lapsus, almost too much, probably knowing a few of them.
Unless he was one himself.
He also mentioned Familiars, the same word that Ava had used to describe her wolf. Dahlia glanced back at the closed laptop, tempted to look up information on vampires, but decided against it. She feared what she would find. Although slowly assimilating into the lapsus role, thanks to Greyson, she still didn’t feel comfortable associating herself as a blood drinker.
Dahlia quickly dressed, then brushed her teeth and washed her face. She jogged lightly down the stairs, not wanting to wake Sam up as she grabbed two cereal bars from the kitchen. She scribbled a quick note telling Sam she wouldn’t need a ride to school and quickly shut the front door.
Then she ran.
She ran as fast as she could down the street, across the park and finally through the forest, ignoring the bristling of the trees as she passed them. She didn’t stop until she reached the wooden door that was suddenly becoming all too familiar. Turning the knob on the door, she opened it slowly as she stared at the room, finally catching her breath.
She finally took the time to really look inside the cabin, all other times being totally caught up in Greyson. The place was bare, only a couch and a table with a laptop on it, a few chairs. She figured she’d find Greyson here, but the place was empty.
“Greyson,” she whispered his name quietly as if wanting some kind of response but heard nothing in return.
Greyson.
As soon as she thought his name, he materialized right in front of her. Her heart rate sped up a bit at the sight of him and she had to fight a smile that was itching to form on her face.
“What are you doing here?” He asked this with an interested look across his features. He was wearing a white tank top that displayed well-defined arms and dark jeans. She watched as he ran a hand across his lightly stumbled face, the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow.
Dahlia cleared her throat and chastised herself for ogling him as she ignored his question. Now was not the time to get lost in all that was Greyson. She abruptly asked her own question. “That flash thing you do. Can all fallen angels, the lapsus, do that?” She found it quite difficult to have such a foreign word in her vocabulary but she was trying to use it more readily.
Greyson smiled wryly at her question as he responded, “You’re really going to keep calling it ‘flash?’ I’m not a comic book character, you know.”
“Just answer my question,” she said stubbornly, looking at him with narrowed eyes.
“Flash,” Greyson mumbled under his breath, raising an eyebrow. “I guess I can get used to it. To answer your question, no, not all of the lapsus possess this power. I don’t think you do, or it would have happened already, even spontaneously. It’s just something that Maddox and I happen to share.”
“Oh,” Dahlia felt disappointed by not being able to flash whenever she chose to. Although the sensation of it had made her feel sick to her stomach, it was definitely better than running around everywhere.
“Now answer my question. What are you doing here?” He eyed her warily.
“Can’t I just visit you when I feel like it?” She smiled up at him, hoping he would give it a rest.
“Dahlia, be serious. You should be in school with people around you. You can’t be running out here by yourself every time you feel like it. What did I tell you about staying safe until we know who’s really after you?”
She ignored his lecture as she decided to turn things on him. She narrowed her eyes as she looked him up and down, slowly walking around his body in a circle. After a few turns she stopped directly in front of him and demanded, “Show me.”
Greyson looked intently at her, a small frown forming on his face. D
ahlia had to stop herself from grabbing the sides of his mouth and forcing it into a smile so instead she settled on smiling herself.
He finally opened his mouth to speak, his gaze focused on her mouth. “Show you what?” His voice was low and hoarse.
Dahlia moved closer to him, her grin refusing to leave her face. “What you showed me that night in the pool was only a teaser. I want to see you—the real you.”
Confusion came over his face. “What are you talking about?”
“I…searched you.” Dahlia laughed and then started again. “I mean, I searched fallen angels on-line and clicked on a link. It mentioned that all fallen angels bear the mark of the lapsus, just like you said.”
Dahlia paused as she looked up into Greyson’s eyes and locked gazes with him.
“I didn’t see all of it that night. I want to see it all.”
Realization dawned on Greyson, and for the first time since Dahlia has met him, she thought she saw true embarrassment on his face.
He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Do you, now?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” he asked simply.
Dahlia got a serious look on her face as she answered. “Because all this time I thought I was alone or that I was going crazy. I had no idea where these scars came from. I had no idea why I felt the way I felt. And to know that there are people just like me, that you’re just like me,” Dahlia paused as her throat suddenly felt thick with emotion. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
“I just need to see it fully with my own two eyes and know that this is, in fact, real.”
Silent, Greyson just stood there looking at her in understanding. Then he slowly nodded as he turned away from Dahlia, his back facing her. She tried not to laugh as she overheard him mumbling about how the Internet seemed to have information on just about anything nowadays.
Greyson hooked the bottom of his shirt with his fingers and slowly pulled it over his head as he stood quietly before her, back fully exposed. Dahlia shocked, stared at his perfectly smooth skin that was marred with two jagged scars that ran down diagonally from the outer edges of his shoulder blades and all the way down to end at his lower back.
She couldn’t stop her hands from moving closer to his skin and touching a raised scar, whispered, “You were really born like this?”
“Yes.” Greyson said nothing more and she felt him quiver under her touch, facing away from her.
Dahlia was still in awe as she continued to marvel at the mark that was so similar to her own, her fingers lightly grazing over the rough surface as she ran her hand down his back. “I was born like this.” She said it as more of a statement, but he still answered.
“Yes.”
Dahlia couldn’t hold the tears in any longer as they flowed down both cheeks. Greyson seemed to sense her pain for he immediately turned around and crushed her against his chest. The feeling of his arms wrapped around her caused Dahlia to break down as she began to sob uncontrollably at the emotions that were erupting from within her.
She bore the exact same marks on her back and fully seeing it on someone else’s made her clearly come to the understanding that this was her truth. It made her feel more complete. Dahlia had always felt this certain emptiness in her life and finally belonging with someone, with Greyson, gave her peace of mind.
Dahlia blinked away her remaining tears as she buried her head against his shoulder. She became conscious of how close in proximity she was to him—and the fact that she was clinging onto his naked chest. She withdrew suddenly, feeling self-conscious. She casually ran a finger through her hair as she walked over and took a seat on his couch, looking up at him nervously.
And at his bare chest.
Greyson stood looking down at her then unhurriedly, and without taking his gaze away from her, slipped his tank top back on, a slight smirk on his face. Dahlia’s thoughts quickly went back to the few brief kisses that they shared together as she touched her mouth with her fingertips, remembering the sensation of his lips against hers.
Greyson continued to eye her as his gaze went to her fingers that were on her mouth. Pressing his lips together, he suddenly looked away as he cleared his throat loudly—yet again—shaking Dahlia away from her daydream.
She gave a start then quickly wiped her face, hoping she didn’t look like a complete idiot. She tried to act as if her breakdown never occurred and the obvious tension between the two of them didn’t exist, focusing her mind on the real reason she was there.
Finally discovering who she was.
Chapter 20
“The lapsus has these scars because of what Merrick, Alexander, and the others did, right? Rebelling against God?”
Greyson scratched his forehead then nodded, letting the awkward moment between them pass. “Yes. These scars are a constant reminder to us. It’s a way to never forget where we came from and the fact that we betrayed Him.”
Dahlia puffed up her cheeks then slowly exhaled, frustrated. “But we didn’t do anything, Greyson. It was our ancestors. Merrick.” My father. “Why do we have to suffer the burden of what they did?”
“God doesn’t distinguish. No matter what, we share the blood of the ones who betrayed Him. We have to suffer the consequences.” Greyson paused and gave one of his rare smiles, his teeth gleaming bright. “But it’s not all bad.”
Dahlia saw the glitter in his eyes as she asked suspiciously, “What do you mean?”
“Take your ability to heal. There are special quirks that the lapsus possess. We can read minds, play with our element, along with a slew of other abilities. It makes life a little more interesting. On the downside, we have to keep a low profile with the humans because of the energy released from us. It’s too obvious.”
Dahlia thought back to the night in the park when Greyson saved her from suffocating to death in the sandbox, as well as when she witnessed her own eyes glow the night before in her bedroom.
She stated the obvious. “Our eyes. They glow.”
Greyson nodded as he moved closer toward her as she sat on the couch. “That’s right, as well as the marks on our back. It’s where our power originates from.”
Dahlia remembered that touching Greyson’s mark had burned. She hadn’t known that they glowed as well—she had just thought it was the eyes. She wanted to see it happen but didn’t know how to ask. “Tell me more. I want to know everything. The article mentioned Familiars?”
Greyson smiled. “They are our companions. All lapsus have one.”
“Do I?” Dahlia felt hopeful.
“Perhaps,” he said with a shrug. “Although if you had, I would assume it should have made an appearance by now.”
Greyson noticed the look of sadness on her face and felt the need to add. “Take it as a blessing. Although our Familiar can be a strong creature for protection, they can also be our biggest weakness. If they die, we die.”
She tried to bite back her disappointment by her lack of a companion, but got over it quickly. He was right—she couldn’t afford to be vulnerable.
“What about your friend?” Dahlia recalled the large guy with his scary-looking presence and multiple piercings. She failed to remember his name. “What’s his Familiar?”
“Maddox’s?” Greyson continued when he saw Dahlia give a nod. “It’s a hawk, so you never know when he could be listening in while hiding up in the trees somewhere.”
The idea of Maddox’s beady little eyes watching her every move, courtesy of his bird Familiar, gave her the creeps. She recalled the night when Greyson had been so secretive about everything and didn’t want to say much. Looking back on it, he was probably just worried that Maddox would overhear.
“Let me see yours.”
“Gordon isn’t much for company. He tends to be shy.” Greyson smiled a
s he thought of his Familiar. “I barely see him as it is.”
Dahlia laughed as she sat up straight on the couch, eyebrows raised. “Gordon?”
“Hey,” Greyson said as he stepped closer still, then lowered his body above her. He tugged one of her long locks causing Dahlia to swat his arm away. “It was the only name he would answer to.”
“Okay,” she said with a smile then grabbed his hands while pulling him nearer so he could sit next to her on the sofa. He didn’t resist as he plopped down beside her. Dahlia settled comfortably next to him, tucking her feet under her legs. “What is Gordon?”
“He’s a lynx.”
“A what?”
“Lynx,” Greyson repeated. “It’s a type of wildcat.”
“Of course,” Dahlia murmured to herself. She thought back to when she first saw him and imagined him as a wild jungle cat.
Greyson continued as if he didn’t hear Dahlia. “When interpreted, lynx means light or luminous. It’s referring to their reflective eyes, if you can imagine. Maybe one day he’ll let you see him,” he voiced.
He broke off and stared across at Dahlia. She couldn’t look away as she looked into his eyes, seeing a reflection of herself in his. His eyes immediately glowed, causing Dahlia to look away as she dipped her head down in embarrassment.
“Why do you always do that?” Greyson spoke above Dahlia’s head, criticism in his voice.
Dahlia played with a piece of lint on her thigh as she responded. “Do what?”
He brought a hand under her chin and tilted her head up so they could look directly at one another. Then he reached beside her face and pushed her hair back behind her ear, lightly caressing her cheek. “Look down? Glance away from me? Hide behind your hair?”
“No, I don’t.” Dahlia said the words even though she knew she was lying to herself.
Dahlia (Blood Crave Series) Page 17
