“What is it?”
Gabe speaks, “Technically, you should’ve already grown your wings.”
“On my birthday?” I reference the night my angelic symptoms began.
“No,” Gabe shocks me by saying, “during childhood.”
I stop rolling the cart and murmur, “Oh.” I’m confused by the information. “So… does that mean I’m not a full angel?”
I don’t allow myself to hope it’s true, remembering the last time I believed the angels made a mistake about my identity. I went from being a Nephilim to a full-fledged angel in the blink of an eye.
As expected, Gabe reveals I’m wrong. “No, we’re confident we’re right about that. But, for some unknown reason, you aren’t manifesting angelic features like we’d expect from a full-blood.”
I hum my acknowledgment, then let the subject drop. This isn’t the best place to have the conversation, anyway.
I look at the cereal shelves. The brand I need is on the top shelf. I rise on my toes and lift my arm to reach it, but it’s too high.
A masculine arm brushes past me. I suck in a breath as the skin contacts mine. Mr. Cohen gets the cereal and holds it out to me.
I take it, avoiding eye contact. “Thank you, Mr. Cohen.”
“You’re welcome,” his voice is gruff, and the strangeness of the sound makes me glance up.
My throat goes dry. Mr. Cohen is staring at me. Hard.
There’s a host of emotions behind his blue eyes, and I feel myself losing focus as I stare into their depths.
Then, without warning, I hear him say, “Call me Joseph.”
Flustered, I don’t immediately understand what he’s said. “Sorry?”
“Joseph,” he repeats. “That’s my name. Now that I’m not your teacher, I’d like you to use it.” The gruffy-note to his voice is gone, and he sounds normal. But I know the request is significant.
I lick my lips. “Okay… Joseph.” I nod, even though the name sounds off on my tongue. I imagine it will take getting used to.
Heat flares in my ex-teacher’s gaze. I barely notice before the look disappears, and he asks, “What’s next on the list?”
With that, the moment is broken. The three of us continue walking, but I don’t easily forget what just happened.
I can’t explain why, but it felt noteworthy. Like an invisible line had just been breached, and there is no going back.
And, strangely enough, I’m not sure I’d want to go back even if I could.
Nineteen
I work Friday afternoon. The Lees’ restaurant is closed in between lunch and dinner, and I’m part of the early evening shift, prepping for our four o’clock open time. Unfortunately, Annie isn’t there. It’s just me, the cook, and one other waitress named Laura.
Laura and I are responsible for the dining area. We sweep the room and wipe down the wooden furniture. Then, we lay purple and red table cloths over the tables, covering them with thick squares of glass. Laura asks me to retrieve the cloth napkins and silverware basket as she polishes the clear surface. I follow as she moves from table to table, folding the napkins into neat rectangles, and placing one spoon, one fork and a set of chopsticks on them.
As I work, I reminisce about my morning with Gabe and Mr. Cohen... I mean, Joseph.
Our time together had been easy. Dare I say it, I almost had fun.
My ex-teacher has a playful side, and I’m beginning to see glimpses of his true personality. And Gabe, he was as personable as ever. The only time I ever saw him act anything less than pleasant was when Adrian or Zeke were involved. Otherwise, he was as carefree and easygoing as any person I’d ever met.
While the angels and I had unloaded groceries in my kitchen, I ventured to ask, “What’s the deal with you guys and Adrian and Zeke? Other than the fact they’re Dark Fallen?”
The brothers share a look. Then, Mr. Cohen said, “That’s pretty much it.”
“Really?” I placed my hands on my hips, not believing that was the extent of the angels’ dislike of one another.
“Really.” Mr. Cohen didn’t change his answer, but I noticed he didn’t meet my eye as he spoke.
I move the silverware basket to a new table, absentmindedly preparing the place settings. After learning about the two types of Fallen, I understand there is natural-born animosity between the angels. But when I think of the snide comments and meaningful glares exchanged between them—usually when one of them makes a reference to me, or touches me, or something—I know there is something else going on. I figured my best bet of learning the truth would be the Light Fallen. After all, they were the angels devoted to regaining God’s grace. I thought they wouldn’t lie to me. Clearly, I was wrong.
I’m pondering how I will broach the conversation with the Dark Fallen when the bell above the door chimes. I look up from my work and my eyes widen.
As if I conjured them using only my mind, Zeke and Adrian walk into the restaurant. Immediately, their eyes meet mine. Both of their lips lift into matching smiles. I’m momentarily speechless. They look so… happy. Is it just to see me?
“Sorry,” Laura calls out, her back is to the door, “We don’t open until four.”
“We don’t mind waiting,” Adrian drawls. His stare hasn’t shifted from me, and I’m totally ensnared by it. A pleasant squeeze wraps around my chest; it’s both comfortable and teasingly taunting.
Caught off guard by the feeling, I manage to break the connection. My hand rises and rests over my heart as I look at my coworker.
Laura leans away from the table she is cleaning, preparing to ask the angels to leave, when she finally catches sight of them. I see her mouth pop open into an O shape. The dismissal dies on her lips.
“We’ll just wait over there,” Zeke points to the four chairs lined against the wall. “Until you officially open.”
“No, I mean… don’t worry. Go ahead and sit anywhere. We’ll be right with you,” Laura rambles. She runs her hands over her head, trying to smooth any stray strands.
I lower my chin and resume my work, trying to ignore the pleasant sensation continuing to linger around my heart. I hear Zeke say, “Thank you.”
The silverware nearly slips through my nervous fingers, but I manage to set the table successfully. I move to the next one.
The angels’ footsteps draw near, and I see them pull back the chairs at the table to my left. I avoid looking at them, folding and arranging the napkin while I breathe through my nose. My lips are pressed together in concentration.
Laura disappears into the kitchen. No doubt, she’s telling the cook we have early customers. I can hear the man’s grumble of disapproval all the way from out here.
“Not going to speak with us, Angel?”
I peer over my shoulders and meet Adrian’s teasing grin. “Don’t call me that.”
“What? Angel? It’s just a term of endearment. No one will think I mean it literally.”
I shake my head. “That’s not what I mean… I just don’t want anyone to get any ideas.”
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.
My words ignite an excited spark behind Adrian’s gaze, and I see Zeke stiffen.
My attention flickers between them. I don’t understand their reaction. “What?”
Adrian’s nostrils flare. “What ideas don’t you want people to get?”
Before I can answer, the kitchen door swings open and Laura returns. She places two menus in front of the angels.
I turn around, about to walk away, when I hear Adrian say, “We’d like Veronica to serve us, if you don’t mind.”
“She’s our friend,” Zeke offers as an explanation for his brother’s request.
I curse under my breath. When I turn around, Laura is looking at me with suspicion mixed with envy.
“Sure,” she clips. “No problem.” Laura turns and resumes cleaning the glass table covers. I look between her and the angels. My gaze narrows. I’m annoyed, and I won’t hide it.
I wait until
Laura moves to a table near the back of the dining area before I bite out, “Are you guys determined to make my life awkward, or what?”
Zeke pinches his lips together. Adrian looks smug.
“Are you mad at us?” The platinum blond asks.
“No, just you.” Adrian’s the one who dismissed Laura. “I just started working here, and I’d really like to not get on my coworker’s bad side.”
Rather than apologize like I expect, Adrian smirks. “Please. She’ll get over it. Besides, we’re here to see you. Not her.”
His lack of remorse infuriates me. A part of me acknowledges I may be overreacting, but I can’t help it. Especially, not when he is looking at me with amused cockiness.
I want to knock him down a peg or two.
“Well, I guess what the others said is true,” I say tauntingly, “Dark Fallen really are at the mercy of their own selfish desires.” That wasn’t exactly what Gabe and Mr. Cohen said, but it makes my point.
I leap back, startled, as Adrian slams his hand on the top of the table. The noise echoes through the empty restaurant.
With wide eyes, I stare at Adrian. His nostrils flare. This time, in an angry way.
Adrian leans forward and growls, “Perhaps you should remember it was us, not the light boys, who saved you from the first yancor attack. We may act on our desires but doing so allowed us to save your life.”
Adrian pushes back his chair and stands. He doesn’t speak, he just walks away. I watch him leave with a mix of regret and confusion. I only wanted him to acknowledge his behavior was inappropriate. I’d accepted the angels would be in my life until the demon threat ended, but that doesn’t mean he can bust into my life and disrupt my sense of normalcy without remorse. It isn’t fair.
The bell chimes and I see Adrian walk to the side of the building, disappearing from sight.
“What did he mean?” I ask quietly, tearing my eyes from Adrian’s exit, back to Zeke. “When he said following his desires saved my life? What was he talking about?”
Zeke keeps a neutral expression. “The night of the concert, when he first saw you, Adrian wanted to know more about you. He sensed there was something different about you. He called me, and I told him I thought you were a Nephilim. Wanting to know more, he followed you and your friends home.”
“I thought he followed me because he knew the yancor demon sensed me at the concert.”
“No,” Zeke jerks his chin. “Adrian was already following you when he realized the yancor picked up on your trail. He called me, again, and informed me of the danger. What happened next, you already know.”
Zeke and Adrian had saved me from the hands of the scaly monster.
If Adrian hadn’t felt the desire to follow me and went along with it, I would be dead.
My legs threaten to give out. I move and collapse onto Adrian’s abandoned chair, staring at the menu in front of me.
“I didn’t know.” I whisper, but Zeke hears.
“Nor could you. Don’t worry, Adrian will come around. He’s just broody sometimes.”
I lift my eyes and can’t stop myself from raising an eyebrow. “Are you really calling someone else broody?” If I’d ever met a person who deserved the adjective, it would be Zeke.
Instead of taking offense, the corner of Zeke’s lip tilts up. “Family trait, I suppose.”
I chuckle, but it’s a weak sound. It’s hard to laugh knowing I’ve hurt Adrian’s feelings. It may have been what I set out to do, but I hadn’t expected to feel so guilty. Or so pained.
“I guess the Light Fallen told you about the differences between our kinds?” Zeke tries to change the subject.
I glance and confirm we are still alone in the dining room. I can hear the cook singing to himself as he preps the kitchen. I assume Laura is back there, wiping down menus or something.
“A little,” I tell Zeke. “They said Light Fallen are trying to get back to Heaven while you guys have accepted your fate.”
Zeke leans back in the chair. “They’re right. Most Dark Fallen do not believe there is redemption for those of us who’ve fallen.”
“Most, but not all?”
“Beliefs and opinions differ depending on the angel you’re speaking to,” he says. “No Fallen is exactly the same as another.”
I chew on my lip, and my guilt grows. “I shouldn’t have assumed anything about any of you,” I confess. “It was wrong of me to accuse Adrian of being selfish.”
“Well, my brother isn’t unselfish.”
I shake my head, ignoring his attempt to distract me with a joke. “I’m being serious. I messed up. I need to apologize.”
“Adrian needs to cool down first,” Zeke tells me. “He’s been on edge lately.”
“Because of the demon nest?” Fresh guilt pains me as I think about how much trouble I’m causing for the angel I’d just insulted.
Zeke runs a hand down his face. “It’s this whole bashert thing. Soulmates always have a way of riling up their angel.”
One word stands out above the rest, and it very nearly robs me of breath.
“Woah. Wait. Slow down.” I hold up a hand as my brain processes and reprocesses what Zeke’s just said. “Did you just say soulmates?”
The color drains from Zeke’s face. The reaction alarms me.
When he doesn’t answer me, I repeat, “Zeke… did you just say soulmates?”
Zeke rises and knocks his chair backwards. The furniture bangs against the ground, but I don’t dare look away from Zeke as I, too, stand from my chair.
I blink, and I feel like my stomach is going to twist into a knot and never unwind again. Zeke looks spooked… and afraid.
He hadn’t meant to say what he did. Now, he regrets it.
Laura pops her head out of the kitchen, checking on the cause of the noise. “Everything okay out here?” She looks between us and our tense stances.
“Fine,” I reply, still not looking away from the angel in front of me.
“Oh. Okay… Let me know if you need anything. Cook is ready to take any orders you might have.”
I nod. “Got it. Thanks.”
Laura must hesitate for a second, because it takes that long for me to hear the swinging door close.
“There is no way you can leave here without explaining this.” I gesture between the two of us, referencing his drastic reaction to my accidental words.
“This is not my news to tell.”
“What news?” I clench my hands into fists, trying to steady their shaking. “Just tell me, Zeke. It can’t be that bad.”
His eyes darken. “You don’t know that.”
“I will if you tell me.”
I hold my breath, hoping logic convinces Zeke to admit what’s going on. I want to know what he meant, and I need to understand why he is acting so frightened. If this is really the cause of the strain between the angels, I want to know about it.
Zeke’s eyes flicker shift between mine. He’s searching for something, but I don’t know what it is. All I can do is stand firm and wait.
The seconds tick by on the clock hanging by the counter. My breathing is accelerated, but I do my best to conceal it from Zeke.
He continues to watch me until, finally, he speaks, “Bashert means soulmate. Or something similar,” he says.
I dip my chin, then wait for more.
Zeke closes his eyes tight. It’s just for a moment. Then, when he opens them, there is strength and resolve behind the hazel irises. “And you’re ours.”
Twenty
“I’m your what?” I continue to stare, unsure if I’m understanding Zeke correctly.
“Our bashert.” He’s distinctly uncomfortable, looking down and back up at me repeatedly. But I don’t care.
“But…” The news begins to sink in, and I recall Gabe saying the same thing to me on the day of the second demon attack. “But Gabe said…” My lips can’t form the words.
Zeke grimaces. “I know what Gabe said, but I’m telling you… you are our bas
hert.” He may hesitate, but there is resolve in his words.
Blood is rushing through my ears. I barely hear myself as I repeat, “You think I’m your and Adrian’s soulmate?” Can a person even have more than one soulmate? Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of having a soulmate in the first place?
Zeke isn’t looking at me anymore. He’s found the ground below very entertaining. “Yes.”
I inhale sharply. This is too crazy. I can’t handle it.
I won’t handle it.
I leave the table. I walk straight to the kitchen where employees store their personal items. Both Laura and the cook stare at me when I enter, but I don’t pay them any mind. I’m focused on getting out of here. Now.
I grab my purse from the metal hook on the wall and walk back into the dining room. Without sparing Zeke a glance, I leave the restaurant.
I’m nearly at my mom’s car before I hear him call out, “Ron! Wait!”
I ignore him. I slide into the car and pull out of my parking spot. I drive home, and my mind is whirling.
I don’t understand.
How can I be the soulmate—bashert—to both Zeke and Adrian? This can’t be possible. It shouldn’t be possible.
My body is on autopilot as I drive home. My mind is distracted with realization after realization. I understand, now, the true depth of animosity between the dark and light brothers. Gabe had stated, rather confidently, that I was his and Mr. Cohen’s bashert. Each of them believes I am their soulmate, and they dislike the claims the others make. I feel sick to my stomach.
Now that I know the word means soulmate, I am mortified by my friendly behavior with Gabe and Mr. Cohen today—with all of the angels—ever. The last thing I want to do is encourage any of them. I’m only eighteen years old. I have no interest in finding a soulmate, let alone being fought over by four angelic ones.
This can’t be my life.
Before I know it, I’m home.
I exit the car, and nearly have a heart attack when I see Zeke standing in front of me. I jump back and clutch my chest.
I’m speechless, then I pull myself together. “Go away, Zeke. I don’t want to talk to you.” There are too many thoughts and feelings fighting for control in me. I won’t be able to have a reasonable conversation right now.
Claimed by the Fallen: A Fallen Angel Reverse Harem Novel (The Fallen Harem Book 1) Page 14
