Emanare (Destined, #1) (14 page)

CHAPTER 16

Cale Ember had appeared to her as a stranger on the dark streets of Baltimore and again the next morning on campus. Sam had been drawn to him. Something about his touch made her want to please him. Now she knew why. His touch made his victims want to be his in every sense of the word—seduction—a woman would do anything for him. But now it was different. Sam had turned his ability around on him, gotten him to tell her everything about who she was. She wasn’t just a human. She was powerful, and soon she would be immortal.

Sam stepped out of the woods onto the asphalt pathway leading back to the dorms and ran her fingers along her skin. It was soft and pearly—an illuminating, iridescent gem. She resembled a bright white star. She felt absolutely wonderful.

Even the uncomfortable bumps on her shoulder blades didn’t bother her. She felt her back. Both bumps were larger. Sam made a mental note to wear baggy shirts until her transformation was complete. Wow—it was so much to process. Was she really changing? Had her conversation with Cale really happened? It seemed impossible. But what else would explain the changes she was going through? What else would explain how she felt and looked? If anyone saw her, what would she tell them?

Her eyes slid over to something moving. Someone approached. She recognized him immediately.

“Are you okay?” Chase asked worriedly. His eyes widened. He stared at her skin. “Wow—you look, beautiful.”

“You don’t think I look strange?” She half-smiled. She could hardly convince herself what was happening, so how was she going to explain this to Chase?

“You’re breathtaking.” He mirrored her smile. Chase materialized next to her, running his fingers over her radiant face. “I have never seen you look more beautiful than you do right now, and I’ve always thought you were gorgeous.”

Sam’s pearly cheeks blushed. “Thank you.” She pushed her sleeves all the way up so she could watch her skin glow.

“I was worried about you. I overheard your conversation with that guy on the phone this afternoon. Am I too late? Did you meet him already?” Chase’s forehead lined with worry.

“He’s gone. The guy I was talking to is gone.” Sam turned to face the trees. She didn’t want to tell Chase about Cale. He would be so angry with her. It didn’t matter that Cale had seduced her, taken away her free will. Chase would never forgive her for betraying him.

“Who was that?” Something broke Chase’s focus. She heard the dip in his voice.

She turned back and noticed him staring at her back. Sam wondered whether he could see the bumps.

She rotated back around to face Chase. There was no way around this. She had to tell him. Chase was persistent. He wouldn’t give up until she told him. “His name is Cale, the guy from outside the bar. Remember, the guy you growled at when you were a pit bull.” She laughed, hoping he would stop questioning her. It didn’t work.

“What did he want from you?” he said, not amused. He looked more frightened than angry.

“He wanted to kill her,” Evrik said, appearing from behind a large oak tree. He saw Sam glistening under the stars and stopped short. “Wow, you’re even more magnificent than I could’ve imagined. It’s almost painful how beautiful you are—
emanare
.”

“What did you say?” Sam looked over her shoulder so she stared directly into Evrik’s beautiful green eyes.

“You look beautiful.” He advanced.

She shook her head. “No—the last word.”

“
Emanare
. It’s Latin. It means ‘to flow from.’ Angels are said to be divine beings, or emanations.” Evrik lessened the space between them. He moved his hand over her arm, skimming the rays of light emitting from her baby-soft skin.

“So you knew about me? I mean, before now.”

“I just learned about your destiny.” Evrik gazed at her in awe. “We did some research and connected the dots. At first I thought it couldn’t be you, you’re nineteen, but then Malachi looked up your birth records. You aren’t nineteen, you’re only eighteen.”

Sam shook her head. “That can’t be. I have a copy of my birth certificate.”

“I don’t know why you were led to believe you were nineteen, but it’s true. Malachi showed me the proof.”

“So then the change happens at eighteen? Cale conveniently left that part out.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” Evrik touched her cheek lovingly. “Two weeks ago, when you reached your eighteenth birthday this was all set in motion…and now—”

“I’m changing.” Sam’s eyes skipped over to Chase. “You haven’t asked me why I’m glowing, or even what Evrik and I are talking about. Why aren’t you more shocked?”

“I suspected,” Chase said.

“For how long? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know for sure, well, until now. You’re lighting up the forest.”

“Cale could have killed me tonight.” Sam stared at Chase angrily.

Evrik’s face hardened. “Chase, what is she talking about? You knew she was meeting him and you didn’t protect her?”

“I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. She has started to change. She is glowing, and look at her back.” Evrik spun Sam around and gently lifted up the back of her shirt.

“Unbelievable,” he mumbled.

“Is something wrong?” Sam whipped her head around.

“You’re not just any angeling.” Evrik drew in a deep breath. “You’re special. Your wings—you have more than two.”

“What?” Sam said, completely wide-eyed.

Chase strode over to her. After a quiet moment of gazing at her back he said, “Yup, he’s right. There are two bumps on your shoulder blades—two tiny bumps about six inches below, and two more below them. They form two perfect rows of three.”

“So, I have six wings. What type of deformed angel am I?” She reached back, attempting to feel the four other bumps.

“You’re a Seraph,” Evrik said. “The highest class of angel. Seraphs are said to have such an immense light that anyone who looks at them will ignite.” He ran his fingers over her bumps, tickling the velvety tuffs of her premature feathers.

Sam yanked her sweater down and spun back around. “But you didn’t burst into flames when you saw me.”

“You haven’t taken full form. You’re only a seraph-angeling, not a full-fledged angel.” Evrik scanned her from head to toe. She guessed he was checking to make sure she was okay. “What happened tonight?”

“Cale called me.” Sam shuddered. “He wanted me to meet him here in the woods after dinner. In the same spot where we met last night.”

Chase stepped in front of Evrik, confronting Sam. “Last night. You met this guy last night?”

“He’s approached me a few times,” she said nervously. Chase was going to blow a gasket.

“What?” Chase’s mouth dropped open and his eyes narrowed into slits.

“I’d just woken up from my nightmare of almost being killed by the Kavari leader,” she tried to explain. “I went outside to get some air, and Cale showed up. He led me into the woods. I didn’t want to go with him, but I didn’t have a choice. You’ve got to believe me.”

“God, Sam—why did you go with him?” Chase rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers, visibly furious. “Two guys aren’t enough for you,” he shouted.

“Cool it, Chase.” Evrik placed his hand on Chase’s shoulder. “It’s not what you think.”

Chase knocked Evrik’s hand away and stepped up to him. “Well, then, maybe you should fill me in, since you seem to know so much.”

Evrik did his best to explain. “Remember when I told you there was a
sanguis
demon in town?”

Chase nodded. “Yes, a person doesn’t forget that kind of thing,” he said sarcastically. “You said he was dangerous. You feared for Sam.”

“I never told you what he could do.”

Chase waited.

“He seduces women,” Evrik finally said.

Chase’s eyes bulged. He shot Sam an angry glare. “He seduced you? How?”

Evrik spoke before Sam could answer. “When he touches his prey, his blood seeps into his victim’s bloodstream, putting her under a type of hypnosis. The woman experiences feelings of lust and wants to please him.”

 Chase’s eyes jumped to Sam and back to Evrik. “So you’re saying that this
sanguis
demon, Cale, seduced Sam?”

 “He lured her out of the bar Friday night. What we couldn’t figure out is why he wanted Sam. She’s human. Most
sanguis
demons only prey on demonic females. They don’t have any interest in humans. Not to mention, he’d be taking a huge chance entering our world, especially knowing he could be seen by a Lightwarrior. He was here for a specific reason.”

“And Sam’s not just any human. She’s an angeling, and a high-class angeling at that,” Chase said.

“Exactly.”

“So he’s the one who removed her memory?” Chase asked.

“No, he doesn’t have the ability to remove memories. We don’t know who took Sam’s memory,” Evrik said.

“Sam—did he hurt you?” Chase gave Sam the once-over with his eyes.

“No. He tried. He had a knife and a grip on my arm, but then I suddenly felt very powerful. I wasn’t scared of him.” She took a breath. “Somehow I knew he couldn’t hurt me. Then from somewhere deep within, I started to glow. I seemed to have turned his ability around on him. He wanted to please me, not the other way around. I asked him what I was. He told me, and then he left.”

Chase sank into a concentrated stance. “Back up to the part about him seducing you.”

“Chase, it was out of my control,” Sam argued, stomping off in the direction of the dorms.

Chase quickly stepped in front of her. His posture stiffened. There was no way around him. “What happened last night? You said he lured you out here into the woods, but for what?”

She covered her mouth, fighting tears.

Chase removed her hand. “What happened, Samantha?”

“He was trying to get close to me,” she yelled at him. “Apparently, there’s a small window of time from when I begin my transformation to when it’s complete that I am vulnerable to be killed. Like I said—he was trying to get close to me. I assume it was to make me feel comfortable with him so that he could kill me when the time came. I guess that time was tonight. I don’t know for sure. But I’m fine.” Sam extended her arms, showing Chase she didn’t have a single mark on her. She lowered her voice. “There. Are you happy now?”

“Did you sleep with him?” Chase asked bluntly, his large body still blocking her passage.

Sam rotated her arm back and forth, noticing her skin no longer resembled an iridescent pearl. All of the color had drained from her body. Her light had blown out, leaving her sheet-white. At the moment, she looked more like a ghost than an angel. She swallowed her uneasiness and tried again to pull strength from within. It was useless.

“Answer me!” Chase demanded.

“Yes,” Sam whispered. Her eyes darted everywhere but to Evrik and Chase, who were both staring at her.

“How dare you?” Chase grumbled. “You were so angry with me when you thought I’d slept with Vicky, when all along you’d had sex with Cale.” Chase’s face became florid and his blue eyes widened with anger.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t have any control over my actions. If I was myself and not under his control, I never would’ve done it,” Sam cried.