Ungifted (47 page)

“She’s not for you to claim!” he roared. “Grace knows the truth of the supernatural world. That makes her subjugate to council law and should also entitle her to our rights, which are that no species is allowed to claim a mate against their will.”

All of the nephilim balked as well as Andrew and Mr. Layton.

“Are you out of your mind?” Ethan’s uncle asked. “Give a
human
supernatural rights?”

Okay, that stung just a little.

“If you expect her to abide by our laws, then you should be forced to offer her the same protection you would any supernatural.”

“Why should we give her protection?” one of the other nephilim asked. “She’s refusing to help us. She said she didn’t want to be involved in our cause. That makes her a threat. I say we let the vampires have her. Let them figure out why she’s different.”

This comment drove Ethan over the edge. In a burst of light, he exploded into his true form, stretching his massive wings in the small space and brandishing a pair of daggers he’d been hiding somewhere on his person that I didn’t want to know about.

“I will kill anyone who touches her!” he shouted.

Everyone was surprised by Ethan’s reaction—or his overreaction, as they clearly thought.

“And why should you care?” Mr. Layton sneered with a knowing smile. “You have no more claim to her than any of us.”

“The hell I don’t!”

“Ethan,” I whispered. He was upset enough he was about to give away the secret he was so desperate to keep.

“Everyone knows you’re in love with the little human girl,” Mr. Layton went on. “Both of my sons have said as much and my daughter has been prattling on about it for nearly a year. But Grace doesn’t even like you, does she?”

Both Caleb and Preston shifted uneasily. When they looked at me, I gave my head the tiniest shake and hoped they registered the panic in my eyes.

Ethan’s clan members all gasped. “Just like his mother,” one of them grumbled.

“Disgusting,” the other agreed.

“I’m not in love with Grace!” Ethan snapped. “I’m her
warrior
!”

“Ethan!” I shouted.

He interrupted me immediately. “No, Grace. They need to know.”

“But—”

“I can’t keep it a secret for my own pride anymore. That doesn’t help you.” He turned back to everyone in the room, singling out his uncle with his gaze. “I am a nephilim warrior, and I am physically bound to Grace as her protector.”

He pulled me out of Russ’s arms and set me back on the window seat. Then he stood in front of me and swept his eyes over the crowd. “By the Creator, I will do what I must to keep Grace safe—even if it means killing every single person in this room,” he said in a low voice. “You will not touch her.”

As he spoke, his glory started to shine brighter and brighter until it was almost painful to look at him. He sounded so dangerous that I believed his threat. I believed he could do it. Judging by the silence in the room, everyone believed him.

The atmosphere in the room instantly changed to one of wonder and excitement and disbelief. Only Andrew was still angry.

Ethan took in all the shocked faces, studying mine the longest of anyone, then sighed as he lowered himself to one knee in front of me. I sucked in a breath, and I wasn’t the only one. Russ, who’d come to sit next to me, was equally stunned. “You sure, dude?” he asked.

Ethan ignored him, sheathed his knives, and pulled one of my hands into his. “Grace,” he said softly, “I’m ready.” His determination made me tremble. He was really going to do it.

“By the angel blood that runs in my veins and the connection that binds me to you, I pledge you my oath as a warrior and give myself over fully to you. I swear you my eternal fealty and vow to protect you always, with my life if needs be.” He swallowed hard and in a quieter voice added, “From now on, I’m yours in any way that you need me.”

“Holy shit,” Russ breathed.

“Will you accept me, Grace?”

“I—I—” My brain failed me in that moment. I couldn’t say yes or no. I couldn’t even make my mouth move properly. My head was screaming a million different things at me, and all those amped up emotions the angel Michael said I had were going haywire. “I—”

“A warrior,” someone whispered. I didn’t see who. I was still so freaked I couldn’t think straight.

“Impossible.”

Ethan finally tore his eyes from me and rose again to face our audience. “Not impossible, Uncle,” he said. “My father was not human. My mother never said he was. You only ever assumed that.”

Ethan’s uncle staggered toward him, barely able to take his eyes off of him long enough to blink. “A warrior,” he whispered. His face crumpled in on itself as it filled with despair. “Forgive me, Ethan. I never knew. I didn’t know the truth.”

Mr. Dunn reached out to Ethan, but Ethan stepped back out of his reach. “It shouldn’t have mattered,” he hissed. “She was your sister.”

“And I’ve mourned for her your whole life,” Mr. Dunn said. “You can’t know how happy you’ve made me, Ethan. She should have told me. She never would have been cast out. Of course she will be welcomed back to the clan. You both will.”

I couldn’t blame Ethan for the way every muscle in his body tensed. I knew what it was like to be accepted just because I was special. It’s not a good feeling.

I stood up to put a supportive hand on Ethan’s shoulder, but Ethan pulled my fingers into his and clung to them desperately. There was no hesitation, no awkwardness on his part, and my touch calmed him immediately. It was so strange that I started to pull away, but he tugged me closer.

“If my mom wants to come back to your clan that’s her choice, but I won’t have any part of it.”

Mr. Dunn was shocked. “If what you say is true, you’re the first warrior the world has seen since the Oracle’s time. How can you simply turn your back on your clan?”

“
My
clan?” Ethan’s free hand drifted to the angel’s pendant around his neck. “I’m not turning my back on
my
clan,” Ethan said. “My mother was cast out of
your
clan when she was pregnant. I wasn’t born under the covenant of any clan. You reluctantly agreed to train me because I was powerful, but I’ve never received the mark of your people. I always wanted to be accepted into the clan, but you never wanted me to be one of you. As it turns out, I’m not one of you, and for once I’m grateful for that.”

Mr. Dunn finally got over his shock and managed to get angry. “I see becoming a warrior has gone to your head, boy.”

“No.” Ethan turned to me and smiled. “It’s humbled me.” He held me in a gaze I couldn’t look away from and addressed his uncle without taking his eyes off of me. “My mother was chosen because she embraced her human lineage more than any other of her kind. Humans are not weak. We can learn a lot from them. I
have
learned a lot. Grace is human, but she is a better person than either you or me.”

Ethan’s compliment was so shocking that I actually gasped. I tried to pull my hand out of his, but he refused to let me go. “Grace, I completely misjudged you. I wanted to hate you because I was ashamed to be bonded to a human, but everything you said to me last night was true. I knew your feelings, but I willfully chose not to understand them. I needed to see the worst in you. I was the one full of self-pity.

“You’ve made me see how wrong I was so many times in the last twenty-four hours I’ve lost count. I’m sorry. I know that’s not nearly enough, and I know I don’t deserve it, but I’m begging your forgiveness and asking you to accept my oath.”

“I—” I had to sit down. I felt light-headed and unable to string together even a single thought. Ethan helped me sit and, thankfully, released my hand. It made it a little easier to breathe with a couple feet of space between us.

I finally remembered myself and looked around in horror. Everyone in the room, Andrew included, watched the two of us like we were a live soap opera.

“Please, Grace,” Ethan whispered.

“I accept your apology, Ethan, but…I’m sorry. I can’t…I’m not ready for…anything else. You’re really freaking me out right now.”

Ethan nodded. “I know. Sorry. How about friends? Can we try for that, at least?”

“Um.” I gulped. Somehow even the idea of being Ethan’s friend seemed too overwhelming. “Would you settle for trying to respect one another? I think I can probably handle that much right now.”

Ethan gave me a sad smile. “You already have my respect, Grace. If I can find a way to earn yours, it will be a good start.”

I felt a hand grab mine again and jumped. It was Russ this time. “You okay?” he asked.

I didn’t know about okay, but I would survive so I nodded. “I want to go home, though.”

Russ smiled and then looked up to Ethan. “I think she’s answered enough questions for one night, don’t you?”

Ethan agreed and as he handed me my crutches, Andrew let out a snarl. Ethan whirled on him so fast that no one in the room even realized what happened before Andrew was on the ground beneath Ethan’s blade. “I will turn your worthless body to dust for what you’ve done to her!”

“Ethan,” I whispered, gently pulling him off Andrew.

Ethan turned around to look at me. “I can’t let him live, Grace. I know you don’t want me to kill anyone, but you will never be safe with him alive. He will never stop.”

I knew Ethan was right. Andrew would never stop. But I didn’t know how to condone his murder. I started to cry and Russ pulled me into his arms. “Don’t watch,” he whispered, knowing it wouldn’t make me feel any better, but unable to tell me what I wanted to hear.

Andrew and his vampires had backed up to the door. Clara was in front of them, shielding them from anyone who might try to stop them from leaving. “Forgive me, love,” Andrew whispered. “I must go now.”

With that the vampires stepped out into the hall, shielded by Clara. The door slammed shut and several people dove for it, but it had been spelled. Only Simone was strong enough to break the spell and open it, but by the time she did Andrew was gone.

Ethan looked torn between trying to run after him and not wanting to leave me. Eventually I won out and he handed me my crutches. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

“Not so fast, son,” Simone said with a smile. “We still have to figure out what to do with the three of you.”

Ethan took his daggers from their sheaths again, but it was Russ who spoke. “You let us go. Obviously,” he said. “Try and touch me, and you’ll have my dad to deal with. One pissed off Devereaux is bad enough, but two of us? You’re not that good, Simone. And you heard Grace. Mess with her and you have a serious Dani problem. You’ve seen what that’s like. Then there’s Ethan. I highly doubt you want to piss off him or
his
father.”

“Yes?” Simone asked curiously. “And who might that be, exactly?”

Russ just smiled. “Take us prisoner and find out. I dare you.”

“Who said anything about taking you prisoner?” Simone laughed. “I was merely thinking of how best to place you within the resistance and who would be fit to train you. I’ve been told you were invited to join the guardians. We could certainly use an insider in those ranks, but if you’d prefer to stay here Marcus has already generously offered to teach you in the art of magic.”

“I’m not going to join you,” Russ said, holding back a laugh. “I’m only here to help Grace and figure out a way to take down the council.”

“Yes,” Simone said, pity seeping into her voice. “Exactly like your foolish father. He always believed he could stop the council on his own, too.”

“Tell me what you know about my father. I know he asked you to join him, so he must have told you his plans. What proposal did he offer you? I know it wasn’t marriage. What’s he up to? What did he want Dani for? Has he contacted you since the Councilor died? Do you know where he is?”

“So this is why you’ve really come to me.” Simone looked very pleased with the fact that Russ was asking about his dad. She stepped close to Russ again, trying to intimidate him. He stood his ground, glaring at her while she ran her long fingers through his shaggy hair.

“What happened between you and your father, Russ? The two of you were so close. You must be so lost without him and Dani. If it’s answers you’re looking for, I can give you that. There aren’t many people Alexander Devereaux confides in, but he’s never been able to resist me.”

Simone regarded Russ thoughtfully and then said just about the last think I ever expected. “Come to live with me, Russ.”

Russ was so surprised and confused he couldn’t do anything but gape at Simone. She smiled almost motherly at him before pushing his hair out of his eyes and planting a kiss on his forehead. “If Alexander has abandoned you, then stay with me, Russ. Let me arrange for some proper training. Join me and I will tell you more about your father than you ever dreamed. Your mother, too. I introduced them, you know. I knew your mother perhaps better than Alexander did. I loved her, even.”

Simone’s eyes softened dangerously at the shock on Russ’s face. “Did your father ever tell you that he and Kate asked me to be your godmother? We’re practically family, you and I. Come to stay with me and I’ll take care of you as your mother would have. As Alexander should have. I’ll give you all the answers you’ve ever wanted.”