Dark One: One for Sorrow... (The Khiara Banning Series Book 1) (36 page)

Picking up the boy, I excuse myself from the bonfire and make my way to the house. By the time I’ve opened the back door, he appears much more alert than a tired child should.

“What’s up?” I ask, placing Sam down on the doormat so that he can take his shoes and winter clothes off.

“I needa show you something,” he says matter of fact. “But you prolly won’t like it a lot because you have to keep it a secret of secrets.”

Chuckling, I reach out and muss his curls. “I’m good at keeping secrets.”

He smiles wide, revealing all of his tiny teeth, save one on the far right that he must have just lost today. “Well then you’re gonna think it’s cool.”

Suddenly he scampers off, too fast for me to catch him, but he quickly returns with the book about the Rephaim that is bound with Samantha’s wings, takes my hand, and leads me to the kitchen island before placing the book down and pushing me towards it.

“Open,” he says, seriously. “You’ll see.”

I smile at him, not sure what he’s playing at, but open the book anyway, only to be able to see words on the page where before there had been none. The first part I recognize, but the rest is new;

“The Rephaim race is the most pure in existence; it is the offspring of two of the Fallen. They must be guarded, as they are hunted for all they can do. Rephaim are the closest to God and should not theoretically exist, yet they do, and have the potential to change the world.”

The words feel as if they are taking all of my attention and forcing it on them a whirlpool at sea, sucking me under.

“Of course they share genetic material with Angels and for all intents and purposes they could be considered angelic in nature; but because their parents are of the Fallen, the Rephaim possess free will. They are like a strong mixture of the angels in Heaven, and the Gods who created them.”

“Sam,” I say. “I can read it. Shouldn’t we tell the others?”

“No,” he says. “Everything isn’t what it looks like, Aunt Ki-Ki. I know lots. I can help you. I just needed to let you see that Mommy’s magic necklace worked in a special way. I am half Mommy, and the book is made out of her wings, so you can see it ‘cause her magic answers to the wings. Or…the other way around. I’m not so good at explaining yet.”

“That’s okay Sam. Thank you for showing me.” I ruffle his curls and cup his cheek, bend down, and kiss it. He goes back and forth between being a regular five year old and a strange and confusing magical being.

He grins again, having heard my thoughts, no doubt. “I’m really tired now.” He kisses my cheek in return.

“Well then let’s put you to bed, little guy.”

Sam’s room is that of a dinosaur lover; there are decals on the walls and a T-Rex stuffed animal sits on his bed next to a beat up old teddy bear with a blue bow around its neck. He jumps on his bed and into the covers, cocooning himself without my help but laughing when I pull the covers back so his head sticks out.

“Rexy is mine and Mr. Bluebell used to be Lisa’s,” he says, nodding his head towards the toys.

“Do you like dinosaurs? I got Rexy when I was a baby, and I used to carry him everywhere, but Lisa says I’m too old to do that no more so I keep him on my bed
all
day
now ‘cause I’m big.” He looks so proud of himself.

I kiss his forehead. “I
love
dinosaurs. Does Rexy like good night kisses too?”

“He loves them!” Sam squeals, thrusting Rex towards me so I can kiss the soft green toy.

“Good night, sweetheart,” I whisper as I turn off the light by his bed, and walk towards the door.

“Gunnight,” whispers Sam, before quickly falling asleep, clutching Rexy tightly to his chest.

Just before I close the door, his dream floats into my mind for just a second, a still-life picture of me lying asleep in a hospital bed, hooked up to way too many machines, with Rexy under the sheets next to me.

The scene fades as fast as it appeared when I close the door, and it hits me that this must be my fate in the near future.

When I return to the campfire, most of the Nymphs have decided they would be more comfortable in fox form, snuggled up by the warmth of the fire, and all of the elves and pixies save for two of each, have retired to their tents (or in the case of some of the others who prefer every day comforts, retired to the motel that is just outside of town).

Cara and Tristan seem to have already left, and Samantha, Liam, Jack and Lisa look like they’re ready to join Sam in dreamland, and as I reach the campfire they bid me a warm good night, with lots of hugs, and a huge kiss on the forehead from Samantha as a thank you for putting Sam to bed.

As they begin walking away though, Liam turns back for just a second and meets my eyes with a serious look, nodding his chin in the direction where Cael and Vicky are standing, talking a good ten feet away from the fire.

He turns back to his wife and daughter, telling them to go ahead of him, that he’ll be right there. Samantha hesitates for only a moment before nodding, and walking to the house.

Liam gestures for me to come forward, and I meet him where he’s standing just by the wood pile behind the house.

“Khiara,” he says. “Something’s wrong. I don’t know what…but something’s changed. I want you to go home tonight. I’m not saying this as a friend of your boyfriend’s and I am not saying this as a “Liam”. I am asking you right now as
Leliel
, former angel of the Night.” His voice is wrought with tension.

“Okay,” I say, taking his outstretched hand and shaking it. “I’ll go home. Scout’s honour,” and he walks towards his family, apparently satisfied.

When I reach Cael and Vicky I gently nudge Cael’s mind with my own, asking a small question, but he doesn’t answer.

“Guys,” I say, standing in front of the two. “You two look like you’ve been hit by a bus. What’s up?”

Vicky looks to Cael for a second, but he shakes his head and holds up his hand before she can say anything, and she frowns.

“Nothing,” he says. “We’re just really tired.”

Vicky’s face hardens even more than I thought possible, and she stomps her foot on the snow covered forest floor. “Damn it, I won’t lie to her, Camael!”

“Verchiel, she doesn’t need to worry about it right now,” he warns, but she ignores him.

She grabs my arms, probably harder than intended because when I yelp in surprise she instantly loosens her grip but doesn’t let go. “Khiara, we’re fucked up the ass so hard right now, it’s not even funny, and we don’t even know how to explain it. Something’s wrong. We all, the Fallen, the Faen,
all of us
, we all feel it…”

She lets go of my arms and takes my face in her hands and brings it close to her own, and I realize that she’s almost crying, and she’s trembling like a leaf in a heavy wind storm. “Why can’t you
feel
it?” she whispers, her voice cracking slightly.

“I don’t know,” I say, frightened. “I didn’t ask for any of this! I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“It’s okay,” says Cael from behind me, placing his hand on my left shoulder. “It’s okay.”

Vicky lets go of my face and shouts to the sky, “It is
not
okay!”

She stomps over to Cael, pushing me aside gently.  Cael’s looks could probably kill her if she cared about them. “The Battle is coming whether we want it to or not! It’s early!”

“We don’t know that for sure,” he retorts, but I can feel that he’s lying to himself, because through our connection I can feel his pain, his worry, and the sheer amount of panic that is running through his mind.

“Cael,” I say, but he doesn’t respond to the name. It’s as if it’s foreign to him.

“
Camael
, look at me,” I say slowly, and his eyes dart to mine in panic. “I don’t understand what is going on.”

“I need to take you home,” he whispers. “Let’s go to the car.”

He turns to Vicky and says, “You catching a ride with us?” and she simply nods, still shaking.

We say a quick good night to the remaining Fae, who all seem rather anxious themselves, and I send a quick text to Cara, asking her to call me around midnight which is in an hour.

By the time we’re on the road, nobody has said anything and the silence is killing me. “Guys,” I say. “You need to tell me what the hell is going on, exactly. The Battle isn’t supposed to be for a little while, but you said it’s soon…how soon is it?”

Vicky clears her throat from the back, and Cael says in a measured voice, “We think, perhaps, tomorrow. But it could be any time before or after.”

“Liam said I should go home,” I whisper, and Cael does something truly terrifying.

He asks, “Who?”

“Leliel,” says Vicky. “She’s using his human name.”

We’re reverting,
whispers Cael to my mind.
We’re reverting to our angelic selves.

Suddenly it is clear to me why Liam told me to go home. It may be the last time I ever see my parents again. Somehow, something inside of me tells me that they knew when I left the house the other day, that it was the last time they’d see me. They’d hugged me extra close before I left.

They knew.

“I can’t go home,” I whisper, feeling strange. “I want to go home with you.”

“Khiara,” Vicky says reproachfully. “Are you sure?”

“Camael eepeh behlehaheness Ohleh,”
he says to me, taking my hand for just a second and squeezing it. I recognize it.

He’s telling me that he will keep me safe.

But Vicky whispers from the back,
“Ehohpehhan Ah.”             

I don’t quite know the exact translation, but her voice tells me that she’s saying sorry.

“It’s not your fault,” I say to her, turning around to face her, but she bows her head regardless.

“Verchiel eepeh behlehaheness Ohleh,”
she promises, before Cael pulls up in front of his house, and we’re left to sit in the car in silence as my time slowly runs out, and the Battle looms closer than ever.

Thirty-One

My phone rings at exactly midnight.

Cael and Vicky passed out as soon as we got inside, Vicky on the couch and Cael in his bed, refusing to let go of me. So here I am, my phone blasting Cara’s ringtone and vibrating on the night stand, desperately trying to get to it before it wakes Cael up.