Intuition: The Premonition Series (54 page)

“Oh. I’m eighteen and I come from a suburb of Detroit, Michigan…the planet Earth,” I reply to the council. Every one of the council members scowls at me. I ball my fists to keep from cowering. They have to respect me and if I show them weakness now, they will squash me and I will never save my angels.

Cillian is again speaking to me in Angel and I stand on the platform in growing frustration because I really hate when supernatural beings think I’m lying. I glance to Preben to translate, but before he can say anything, Cillian speaks again in English. “You say you are eighteen? Eighteen what?” he asks in anger.

“Eighteen years,” I reply, and by the expression on his face, I see he is having a hard time with this answer as well.
They think I’m a big, fat liar,
I surmise as they discuss me in Angel.

Another panel member is addressing me in Angel, but by the look on his face, he seems like he might be telling me off. The language is so beautiful, however, that I really can’t be upset about whatever he is saying. When he finishes, I look at Preben who has a grim expression on his face. “What did he say?” I ask.

“He said that if you persist in lying to them, they will be forced to sheer off your wings.” I pale instantly, feeling like he kicked me in the stomach.

Maybe I was wrong to think that the only thing that the divine angels will do to me is kill me,
I think with a grimace.

“What is his name again, Preben?” I ask as calmly as possible.

“Gunnar,” Preben replies.

“Gunnar, you are welcome to any part of me that you desire, as long as you hear me out first,” I say through gritted teeth. “Until several months ago, I thought that I was just an ordinary human. I grew up in a small town and nothing much ever happened. I went away to school and I started having nightmares… premonitions, and then all of these frightening things started happening to me. My hearing became acute and my eyesight became enhanced, and suddenly, I could run like the wind. Then, the most amazing thing of all happened: I sprouted these red wings out of my back. I don’t know where I came from, other than I had a human mother, who died at my birth, and a wonderful human uncle that raised me.” I pause to see if he will say anything, but he is silent so I go on.

“I met a couple of divine angels who didn’t want to help me. In fact, they wanted to kill me at first. I couldn’t tell them who my father is, because I have never met him. I don’t know if I’m some sort of fallen offspring, or if I could be something else. So, they watched me… to see if I’m evil. They said they have never seen anyone like me. Maybe I’m an archetype—something new. I don’t know what I am. You will have to judge for yourselves what I am. But, the divine angels really only helped to protect me from fallen angels. The Fallen find me dangerous and some of them really want my soul.” At this, the room above us erupts again in the beautiful symphonies of sound as what I said is being discussed among the multitude.

I wait for everyone to quiet down. “I don’t know what a Nephilim is exactly. Pagan called me one and she said that she’s going to rip out my evil heart, so I ran from her, because I didn’t want to die.” I explain. I’m trying to focus, but the room is growing hot and I feel it spinning a little. “But, now I know there are worse things than dying. So, I came here. The angels that you think are traitors were just watching me to see if I’m evil. They would have protected the world from me, if I hadn’t escaped them.”

A discussion ensues between them and I wish I had some water because my throat feels cracked and dry. When they are finished discussing whatever they were discussing, they all focus on the doors behind us. An instant later, Pagan springs onto the platform next to me, scowling right into my face, while she scans me from head to toe. She is just as I remember her, with her pixie-like short brown hair, and brown wings. She is several inches taller than me and as buff as her male counterparts. The outfit she is wearing is similar to mine, but hers is more of a steel mesh, which is probably stronger and tougher than gold.

My eyes narrow at her as I lean nearer to her face, scowling back at her and daring her with my eyes to take a swipe at me.
I’ll Bruce Lee her right off this platform,
I think, focusing on the best killing scenario from the ones that are pulsing in my mind. Preben must see my intent because his hands go around my upper arms to hold me back, just in case I decide to attack Pagan.

Pagan looks a little surprised and I’m not sure if it’s because she realizes I’m ready to kick her butt, or if it’s because of something else about me. She takes a step back from me and turns toward the council. As Pagan speaks to them in Angel, I watch the faces of the council while they hang on her every word. Then, they all stare at me with amazed expressions. I look at Preben who is trying hard not to smile again as he loosens his grip on me, but he hasn’t released me entirely.

Preben leans near my ear and asks in a low tone, “How does someone as small as you, outrun a fully evolved Power?”

“You would be surprised what you can do with the proper motivation,” I mutter, and see him grin at me.

Ursus directs a question to me—this time in English. “Your story does not make sense to us,” he says with authority, his dove-gray wings twitch in agitation. “If you have evaded all of the Powers, then why did you come here today?” he asks, and I realize that I have to be really careful of what I say here because it’s a very fine line I’m walking. I can’t let them know that I love Reed and that he is the reason I’m here. It might make him look bad.

“I’m here for a couple of reasons. The first reason I’m here is because I wanted you to see that I’m not a Nephilim. I want you to see how confusing I can be for any angel who encounters me,” I explain, watching their faces to see if they understand me. “Most of your first instincts are to kill me, but then, when you look deeper, you see that with the danger, there is something else, something compelling,” I add, using Buns’s words that she spoke to me at the resort. “Can you really blame another angel for not knowing the protocol to follow where I am concerned?” I ask, listening to the murmuring voices from the galleries above.

They digest this information, and then Ursus asks, “What is the other reason that you are here?”

“That is a little harder to explain, Ursus, but let me see if I can make you understand. When I left the blanket of the divine Powers that were protecting me from the Fallen, I failed to realize that one of the Fallen followed me. His name was Alfred and he was a Reaper. He has been after my soul for a while and he found a way in which to obtain it. He told a clan of Gancanagh about me and they decided to make me one of them, which would release my soul so that Alfred could have claimed it.” I pause because you can hear a pin drop in the place, it’s so quiet. Preben’s hands tighten on my upper arms and I look back at him to see the scowl on his face.

Since no one says anything, I continue, “I managed to escape the Gancanagh, but I’m not delusional anymore. I’m sure that they will find me, and I know that if I am bitten again, there is no way I will be able to resist becoming one of them. So I reasoned that if the Gancanagh catch up to me, I’ll become a cold, soulless monster and have no chance of getting into Paradise. I will also be the enemy of the angels who once tried to help me.” I pause for a second, and then I say, “I know that you have been hunting for me and that I couldn’t ask you for your protection, but then I realized that if I came here, you will kill me, and then at least my soul will have a chance at making it into Paradise. You see, either way I’m dead. I just thought that this way, my soul would have a chance at Paradise, instead of Sheol.” The crowd above me breaks out in pandemonium again and this time the council has to wait a long time to get them all to calm down.

When things become relatively stable again, the council discusses what I said, “So, you are asking us to set your friends free and kill you?” Ursus asks in a contemplative way.

I exhale the breath I have been holding, turning my head to smile at Preben. He doesn’t return my smile when I say, “Finally, Preben, someone is listening to me.”

Pagan speaks up then, assailing the council with melodious words that tumble out of her mouth like a cantata.

“What did she say?” I ask Preben.

“She basically just called you a liar,” Preben replies, looking at me with anger.

“Do you have proof that the Gancanagh exist? We have not seen them in some time,” Gunnar spits out, clearly siding with Pagan.

“Proof. Yes… I have proof,” I reply, pulling the golden collar down enough so that the council can see the puncture wounds in my neck that refuse to heal. They must look really bad because the council scowls at me and I blush, embarrassed by what I had let Brennus do to me. “They won’t heal. I normally heal right away, but these marks just keep bleeding…I’m beginning to feel ill again, just like I felt right after I was bitten.”

“How long ago were you bitten?” Rio asks me, his dark gray wings still as the words shoot from him with force.

“I’m not sure. I think it was yesterday… sometime last night.” Goose bumps rise on my arms as I remember what happened to me less than twenty-four hours ago. No matter what, I much prefer this hell to that one. “Brennus bit me twice because I wouldn’t drink his blood. It’s painful for me to be bitten by them because their skin doesn’t seem to affect me, so when they touch me, I don’t react to it,” I explain, wiping my hand over my neck and seeing the large amount of blood on my palm. My blood has been seeping down and I’m surprised that no one noticed it until now. “I know that I will drink his blood the next time he bites me…the hallucinations alone will make it impossible for me to resist.”

“Where is their home?” Yesan asks me, his brown wings spreading out like he will leave to hunt the Gancanagh as soon as I tell him where they can be found.

Things are getting a little fuzzy for me, but I try to stay lucid to answer their questions, “It’s just outside of Houghton, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I can locate it for you on a map. They tunneled in an old copper mine and transformed it into a cozy little nest. I think they imported their human victims by using the waterways in Houghton and Marquette. You will be looking for Brennus de Graham.” I hold back and do not name Finn. I cannot name him…I will not name him.

The whole panel erupts then and everyone begins firing questions at me about the Gancanagh. Some of their questions are in Angel and other questions they ask are in English. Pagan’s voice rises above the rest when she asks me, “Why would the Gancanagh want to change you? You are not even a faerie.”

I focus in on her, seeing the way she rakes me with her eyes, like she would tear my heart out if given the chance. I decide to answer her question. “Pagan, I thought a lot about that very question when I was locked down in my prison cell. ‘Why me’ I asked myself, ‘why would they want me?’” I say, noticing that the room is again quiet.

“I asked Brennus ‘why me’ and he asked me how long I thought I would last out there in the world without his protection. He said he could change me, so that I could be a friend to the Fallen. He said that any divine angel who dared to hunt me would know the true meaning of the word ‘terror.’ He wants me to be his undead lover.” Every angel in the room is listening raptly to what I’m saying. “He believes that he is dispensing mercy to me by changing me, since I am loathed by most angels, he would change me into something else. He taught me something I didn’t want to learn. He taught me that the only mercy I can expect is the ruthless, painful kind. I learned that lesson well, so I think I’m finished answering your questions. I brought a Reaper with me that I would like to have negotiate for my soul, if it’s all right with you. I’m tired and I’m feeling really sick and I just want to go now. So can we just…” But, I can’t finish because I feel butterflies in my stomach increasing as someone steps into my field of vision.

“Reed,” I whisper his name like a prayer.

He looks fierce and wild, like he might tear me apart as his eyes scour me from head to foot, taking in every inch of my attire and honing in on my neck that is still bleeding ceaselessly. His bare chest, scored with cuts and scratches, is also bleeding steadily. My hands shake fiercely as I assess that the slashes are possibly from a knife or some other sharp weapon. Reed takes his eyes off of me to sweep Preben with a ruthless sneer, seeing that my guard is still holding me by my upper arms. A low growl issues from Reed while his eyes lock on Preben. I notice for the first time that Reed is clutching a knife in his hand. In a fraction of a second, Preben pushes me behind him, facing Reed head on by using his towering body to protect me from my angel.

“Wait!” I entreat in desperation. I step back in front of Preben and hold my arms outstretched so that they won’t attack each other. As I turn my back on Reed, I look at Preben frantically. “It’s okay! Reed won’t hurt me,” I assure him before spinning back around and seeing for the first time that Zephyr is with Reed. They are both bruised and cut and Zee is courageously facing down about twenty or so Powers that are cautiously approaching them from the left and from the right. Reed, however, isn’t looking at any of them, he just has me in his sights—his expression is lethal.

I hold up my trembling hand to the Powers who are trying to circle Reed and Zee and plead with my eyes for them to stop for a second. Without looking back, I say, “Preben, please call them off for a second and I’ll fix this.” I don’t wait to see if he gives them an order, but I move forward with cautious steps toward Reed. He looks primal, as if he has no higher reason and is now just operating on instinct alone.