Feathermore (15 page)

“
Wow, that is so cool,” I said. “So I can manifest . . . well,
clothes
?” I asked.

“
Anything. Clothes, money, cars, electronics—anything you want,” Claire said.

I nodded, but my mind kept coming up with questions.

“
You never really explained to me what a seraphim is,” I said, speeding up my pace to keep up with them.

“
Seraph—singular,” she said, but didn’t continue right away. Then she said, “Seraphim are the highest-ranking angels in the heavenly realms. They’re described as ‘the burning ones.’ Not as in literally burning up, but since in the Hebrew Bible it’s a synonym for serpents, they claim the burning is the sensation from the poison.” She stopped walking and looked around, as if trying to decide which way we should go.

“
Does it mean I poison people? How Christian is that?”

“
Oh, Jade . . .” Claire shook her head and laughed.

“
Well, does it mean that burning sensation in my back?” I asked her, pretty sure that I was once again making a fool of myself.

“
That’s your wings. When you get really emotional, if you don’t know how to control them, they’ll spur out. Trust me, you do not want that to happen—not in public, anyway—which is why we’re here.” She locked her arm with mine and led me to a clearing. Tall evergreen trees surrounded us, keeping us hidden from prying eyes, if any were around.

Dark clouds blotted out the full moon from time to time, casting the centuries-old cemetery into blackness.
Claire nudged me in the ribs and pointed at Nate, who had his eyes closed. He made two fists and raised them to shoulder height, and as he opened them two bolts of light flew out and hovered about fifteen feet from us, lighting the clearing.

I stared in awe at the balls of light and suddenly remembered the light I had created when I pushed Amy. Before I could speak, Claire pulled me into the center of the clearing.

“
We’re going to have an impromptu basic training session to get you started,” she said as she positioned herself in front of me. “For one, you will need to allow your wings to come out. You will need to learn about them, their feel, and how to control them. It is imperative that you learn. However, you really shouldn’t try these kinds of things without us around—it will call other entities to where you are.”

“
So how come I can do it with you guys?” I asked, feeling like a student on her first day of supernatural school.

“
That’s what we do—it’s our job. Besides, you don’t know how to defend yourself yet. For now, let’s see if we can provoke those little wings to make an appearance.”

I stood there for a moment but couldn’t feel a thing.

“
It usually starts burning when I’m mad or sad,” I finally said. “Or when Avan is around.”

“
Figures,” Nate added. “But since we don’t have him . . .” He shoved me forward.

What the hell?
I turned around to face him, and that’s when Claire pushed me, almost making me lose my balance and fall on my butt. Right then it started, the faintest tingling on my back.

“
Think of something that really pisses you off,” Nate said. “Think of what Amy said to you earlier.”

How did he know? Had they been there? Spying on me? It didn’t matter right now. As they kept pushing my buttons and I started thinking about Amy and how rude she was, it made my back burn worse than ever before. The burning turned into outright pain. I could feel my skin ripping, parting for the wings to come out.

I let out an unearthly scream and fell to my knees. That was when I heard the flutter of wings above me—not mine, certainly. I looked up and saw all kinds of birds and other flying animals above me. There were hundreds of ravens, but it didn’t stop there. Everything from bats to owls, to pigeons had shown up—even an eagle.

“
Wow, Jade, you seem to have called in a small air force with that piercing little scream,” I could hear Claire say from behind me. “This is good—might come in handy someday.”

I was instantly reminded of the night my parents were murdered. How I had unleashed something from inside me, and the ravens had been there immediately, attacking in my defense. I looked up at them and smiled through the pain.

I was brought back to reality when a new wave of pain crashed over me. I wouldn’t be able to do this—it was just too agonizing. I dug my hands into the cold dirt, trying to hold on to something, and just as I thought I couldn’t take any more, it was over.

14 SERAPHIM

I don’t know what I had expected of my wings, but what I saw was indescribable. I saw their full length: about eight feet long. The feathers where an immaculate white, and they were soft to the touch, almost like silk.

For a brief moment, I wished they weren’t attached to me, so I could actually get the full view, but even now what I
could
see was marvelous. I stroked the feathers. They were the softest thing I had ever felt. I wanted them all around me, and just like that, the wings came forward and covered me as if giving me a hug. I looked over at Claire, who was standing in front of me.

“
Whatever you think, they do,” she said.

I was in love with them. I lifted one up, then the other. The movements were involuntary and utterly natural. I wished my parents could have seen this. Or would they have freaked out? Knowing them, I could tell them I was the devil incarnate and they would have loved me just as much. This brought tears to my eyes, realizing I would never experience this with them, that from now on I was on my own and that . . . It was hard to swallow, comprehending that because of me, because of what I was, they were dead.

Suddenly, I wanted it all gone. I didn’t want the wings; I didn’t want to be an angel. I wanted my parents back. But what I wanted most of all was to find and destroy the one who had savagely taken everything away from me.

I flapped my wings slowly, feeling the anger grow in my core.

“
Now you need to learn to control when they emerge and when they recede. You have to really get the hang of it. You never want to be in a position where you’re in danger and need to fly away and your wings won’t show. Just the same, you can’t be hanging out in public and have them all of a sudden come out, either. I’m sure if Avan hadn’t pulled you away tonight, things would have gotten entirely out of hand,” she said, sitting down on a gnarled oak root.

“
Were you guys there?” I said. “Why didn’t you help me with her?”

“
You didn’t need our help; otherwise, we would have interrupted,” Nate reassured me. I nodded, knowing they would help me through anything.

“
Okay, so you’re telling me I have to go through that pain again?” I asked, cringing at the thought of it. I walked around the clearing, thinking to myself that I wanted the wings to hide, that I needed them to go back inside me. I felt triumphant when they obeyed.

“
No, the first couple of times will hurt a bit, but I promise you . . .” She let her wings come out. Hers had a golden tint, as if thin filaments of gold surrounded each feather. They were magnificent. I wanted to touch them, but at the thought of anyone stroking my own wings, I felt an overpowering feeling to protect them from everyone else. I supposed she would feel the same way.

From the corner of my eye, I saw another set of wings spur out with the same golden tint. “It will become like breathing,” she said.

Here they were, my two best friends, with their wings flapping. It was a mystery to me how I was taking all this so peacefully.

I thought about how I would now be able to kick Amy’s butt if she dared piss me off again. The thought of her was a sure way to get my wings out. This time, the effort was less than before—and, happily, so was the pain. It looked as though Claire had been right: I would hopefully get to the point where I didn’t feel them at all.

I tried not to think about how they were coming in and out of my body. Was my skin ripping each time? With their massive size, how—and where, exactly—were they hiding?

The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to know. As long as it didn’t hurt anymore, it was fine with me. And so I did just that: made them come in and out for close to an hour, until I didn’t have to think about Amy or anyone else to make it happen. It became, as Claire had said, like breathing.

“
Okay, I think we did enough work for the first time,” Nate said. “I have to say, Jade, you learn fast.” He shot me a big smile, and we started back toward the cemetery gate. I checked the time on my cell phone—it was 1:18 in the morning. I wasn’t thrilled that we had to be up in less than six hours.

Once we reached the car, Nate got behind the wheel. I was glad I wouldn’t have to drive anymore. I was exhausted. I sank back into the seat and tried to relax, but it was impossible; no matter how tired I was, my mind kept coming up with more and more questions.

“
It’s pretty cool that you have an affinity for birds,” Claire said. “That scream you did seems to be your call for them. They hear that, and they’ll come and help you out.” I could hear the note of admiration in her voice.

I could do that? That did seem pretty cool.

“
In my dream, you turned into a lion,” I said to Claire. “What’s up with that?”

Claire laughed—that seemed to be happening a lot. “Obviously, you need to start reading,” she said. We, both Nate and I, have what they call four faces. We can be any of them, but it isn’t just the face that changes. We are human, ox, lion, and eagle. We can morph into any of those to protect
you
.”

“
That
is wicked!” I said. “What else can I do?”

“
You are a portal, which basically means you can transport yourself anywhere. Right now, you could manifest yourself at home in your bed, and you would disappear from here.”

She must have caught my grin, because she added, “I wouldn’t get too happy about it. It’s because of what you are that everyone and their enchanted dog is after you.”

15 LOST

Claire’s bubbly voice came in from the other side of my bedroom door. “Let’s get vertical, sunshine!”

With Lilith out there looking for me, Nate had figured it would be wise to stick together. I couldn’t lie—it was nice having them with me. The house didn’t seem nearly so scary when I wasn’t alone.

I could never understand how Claire could be so upbeat when we had gotten less than four hours of sleep. School would be a long chore in hell today. I would have to deal not only with Amy’s usual crap, but with Avan, whom I wanted nothing else to do with. He had known from the start what she was to me, yet he went ahead and hung out with her when I needed him the most. Getting out of bed, I dragged myself into the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush.

By the time I made it downstairs, breakfast was on the table, and my mood had begun to improve. I decided to drive Dad’s old pickup to school and catch some time by myself. A little bit of silence could help with all the thoughts running like wild horses through my head; Claire’s constant babbling would not.

When I got to school, Avan was waiting by his car. I passed him and parked in the closest slot to the gates I could find. It was too early to have to deal with this. Sliding off the seat, I pulled my backpack after me, and my leather jacket—it was chilly out.

I walked past Savannah, who was looking at the little mirror she had stuck with chewing gum on the inside of her locker door, putting red lipstick on. I bumped her elbow, causing for her to draw a thick red stripe across her face.

“
Looks great,” I told her as I walked by.

“
You are such a bitch!” she moaned as she slammed the locker door and hurried off to the restroom to repair the damage.

“
Jade, that was not nice.” Claire, my self-appointed conscience, was walking behind me now.

“
She deserves it,” I huffed.

I got to my locker, where I decided to use my newfound powers to my advantage. The lock opened on its own.

“
Can you please be careful with that?” Claire whispered, looking around to make sure no one had seen. “You can’t just go around doing stuff like that.”

I made it to class early. No one else was there except for two boys who were deep in conversation about some graphic novel that they thought was too cool for words. I decided to use this little windfall of free time alone to practice some of the manifesting Claire had shown me last night. I started by wishing for a pencil—simple enough and nothing that would be too noticeable. It took me a few tries to get it to manifest all the way. At first it appeared as a see-through image that I couldn’t grab. But then I cranked up the power and made it come all the way. I picked it up, pulled my notebook out, and started doodling with the manifested pencil. It worked, and I was a little surprised at how unsurprised I was.

Students started to trickle in and take their seats. Some were sitting a little too close for me to continue with my experiments. One in particular was too close for comfort.

I was leaning over the side of my seat, digging into my backpack, when I felt the air stir as it always did when he came near, and I turned toward the door. I caught sight of him as he walked in. A slight smile crossed his lips when his eyes met mine. I didn’t return it. I wasn’t so easily bought. It would take much more than an “aw, shucks” smile for me to forgive him.