Milayna's Angel (30 page)

After dinner, we gathered our things to leave
when Grams wheeled her chair to me. I smiled down at her. She
looked at me with worried eyes, dulled by a long life.

“Don’t you be going and doing anything rash,
child,” she whispered.

I opened my mouth to ask her what she thought
I’d do when she called to Ben and asked him if he wanted some
cookies to take home.

That night, Muriel’s family and mine sat
around their dining table in my aunt’s cheery, yellow kitchen. We
talked about school and what the firefighters thought caused the
fire, our dads talked about work, and Benjamin told us all about
the newest video game my mom said she’d buy him when we got settled
in an apartment while our house was being rebuilt.

“He’s gonna kill us all,” I said out of the
blue. It just popped out of my mouth. It surprised me as much as it
did everyone else.

Everyone looked at me. My dad’s mouth was
open, a fork full of pie halfway to it. My mom shook her head and
her gaze landed on Benjamin.

“Him, too, Mom. All of us.”

“Why do you say that?” my uncle asked me. He
set his fork down and wiped his hands on a napkin before he tossed
it on top of his plate.

“Jake told me. He said he wants us all…” I
stopped and looked at Benjamin happily playing with an action
figure my parents bought him when we shopped for clothes earlier
that day. “Dead.”

“Why?” Muriel asked.

“He wants to hurt me, and he knows it’s one
way he can do it. Probably the best way. Jake said he might not
even kill me because knowing I could have prevented your deaths
would be worse than dying.”

I was strangely detached from the
conversation, like it was happening to someone else. Maybe I was
used to it. I mean, I’d just dealt with Azazel a little more than
three months earlier. Or maybe I was in shock. After all, my house
had just burned down. I was visited nightly by Jake standing in the
shadows, and the little red hobgoblins showed up every once in a
while. There was plenty to be shocked over.

But I think I was just accepting it. It was
my life. It wasn’t a life I would have chosen. I wished I’d never
heard about demi-angels, let alone been one. But we didn’t always
get to choose the paths our lives took. What we could do was decide
how to deal. And I was going to deal with it the only way I knew
how.

I was going to kill Abaddon. Or die
trying.

23

Living at Muriel’s house was like living in a
madhouse. Monday morning there were four adults, two teenaged
girls, and a seven-year-old boy trying to get ready for work and
school… with only two bathrooms. I wasn’t much of a girly-girl, but
even I needed the occasional mirror.

By the time we made it to school, Muriel and
I had missed first period. We walked into second period AP calculus
together. I stopped at the teacher’s desk to give him a note from
the office that excused me from homework due to an unforeseen
family emergency.

“Is everything okay, Ms. Jackson?”

I looked at my teacher and smiled. “Yes,
thank you.”

“If I can do anything…”

“Sure.” I kept my voice neutral. I remembered
what Chay told me when Azazel was hunting me.

“
We don’t know who works for Azazel. Do
you understand that? It could be anyone in this school— from the
principal to the janitor,”
he’d warned.

He’d been talking about demi-demons. In the
demi-angel world, it wasn’t simple like in movies or on television.
The good guys didn’t wear white and the bad guys black. Angels
didn’t all have wings, and the demons didn’t all have horns. Most
of the time, they looked human. Demi-angels didn’t know who their
enemies were until they decided to show themselves, and that was
why I was going to be especially careful what I said to people
about the fire. I didn’t have a reason to suspect my teacher of
working for Azazel or Abaddon, but I wasn’t going to let my guard
down around him or anyone else. As far as I was concerned, the fire
was caused by a damaged electrical outlet like the fire
investigator wrote in his official report. Nothing more.

I turned and walked toward the table where I
sat with Muriel. As I walked by Chay, his gaze caught mine. I gave
him a small smile.

“You look good today,” he said. “But I’m
going to miss seeing you in your faded, worn-out jeans and favorite
U of M sweatshirt.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Too bad it wasn’t your writing hand that got
burned, huh? Then you’d have a few days off.” He smiled at me, his
eyes twinkling.

“Yeah.” I laughed. “Although, I wish neither
were burned.”

His smile faded. He nodded his head once,
looking down at the tabletop. “I’ll bet.”

“Well, I better sit down.” I walked past him
and sat next to Muriel.

“What was that?”

“Who knows?” I rolled my eyes at Muriel. “I
don’t think he knows what he wants.”

“Yeah, well, you should stay away from him,”
Muriel whispered.

“Why?”

“Because you don’t know who you can trust.
You know that.”

“I can trust Chay,” I said. Muriel sighed.
“What? I can. I know him better than you do. He’s fine.” Of course,
I knew he probably wasn’t. He did admit to wanting to kill me.

“Still, you should be careful.”

I wonder why she just doesn’t tell me? I
heard Chay tell her about his visions. Why doesn’t she just tell
me?

“I will.” At her look of skepticism, I said,
“What? I will! Geez, you act like he’s a murderer or
something.”

Now’s your time to tell me. Spill, Muriel.
You’re supposed to be my best friend… so tell me what you know.

“Just be careful.”

Secrets, so many secrets. I wonder if I
can trust
you
.

***

That night, I dreamed of Benjamin. Jake
carried Ben’s small body like a football, holding him around the
middle while his head and feet dangled. He ran toward an open pit
in the middle of our front yard. I heard my mother scream. I lunged
at Jake, but instead of connecting, I missed, landing hard on the
ground. I watched helplessly as Jake carried Ben to the hole where
gray arms were waiting for him. They reached out and grabbed him,
pulling him down into the pit. I heard Ben’s screams. He called my
name. I scrambled to the hole and reached out to him just as the
arms disappeared, taking my brother with them.

I woke up with a jerk. My body shook and
sweat covered me. I ran my hand through my hair, pushing it back
from my face. My hand quivered so violently that it pulled my hair
when I ran my fingers through the curls.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and
put my elbows on my knees. Cradling my head in my hands, I blew out
a heavy breath. Ben. He was a pain in the butt, but weren’t all
little brothers? Still, I loved him and that placed a target on his
back. Abaddon was playing dirty—going after the weakest. Benjamin
was at the top of his hit list.

“What’s the matter?” Muriel asked, her voice
gravely from sleep.

“Just a bad dream.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No. Go back to sleep.” I climbed out of bed
and slipped quietly into the hall. I stood in front of the picture
window overlooking the front yard. He was there. I knew he would
be. I was hoping he was gone for good, but there he stood in the
shadows, staring at the house.

Still looking out the window, I saw movement
on the porch. I took two large steps back.

Who’s out there?

He walked by the window, the streetlight
highlighting his face just enough that I could make out his
features. I opened the door and stuck my head outside.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Watching,” Chay answered.

“Why are you on the porch? You’ll
freeze.”

He grinned. “I don’t have a key.”

I laughed. “Come in before your toes freeze
and fall off.” I opened the door wider so he could pass through. He
walked to the door and brushed by me into the house. His body
rubbed against me, his eyes locking with mine. I sucked in a
breath. My insides sizzled from his touch.

“So,” I cleared my throat. “Who’s our mystery
guest?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s Rod tonight.”

“Hmm.” I fiddled with the hem of my T-shirt.
The silence stretched between us.

“Well…” Chay’s eyebrows knitted above his
eyes.

“Yeah.” I had no idea what to say.

The silence in the room crackled. I stood
next to the door, my hand on the knob. He stood just far enough
away that we weren’t touching, but close enough that I could smell
him and feel his body heat. It was seriously doing things to my
body, making places tingle, my heart skip beats, my breathing
quicken.

The room was dark but for the faint dusting
of light the streetlights gave—just enough for me to make out his
features. The silence in the house gave the illusion we were alone,
the darkness the illusion we were invisible to everyone but each
other.

“He’s gone,” Chay whispered. “I guess I
should go.”

“Okay.” I dropped my hand from the doorknob
just as Chay reached for it. Our hands brushed.

It happened in a split second. We were
standing in the quiet room not knowing what to say to each other,
and then our hands brushed, Chay grabbed my hand and threaded his
fingers through mine. He took a step forward, pushing me backward
against the door. His free hand moved to the back of my neck,
pulling my face to his. His lips took mine in a rough, demanding
kiss.

Chay let go of my hand and slid his arm
around my waist, moving under my T-shirt, skimming the bare skin at
the base of my back. I sucked in a breath.

His mouth moved from mine, kissing along the
length of my jaw, down the side of my neck, and across the skin
above the collar of my V-neck T-shirt. I threaded my fingers
through his silky hair before letting my hands flutter down.
Lifting the hem of his sweatshirt, I glided my nails over the skin
beneath. He groaned low in his throat.

His hands moved slowly down my body. Gripping
my thighs, he lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
Pressing into me harder, he held me between him and the wall. His
hands squeezed my thighs, while his tongue and mouth trailed kisses
over my neck and chest. The muscles in his back flexed beneath my
hands.

“Chay…” I moaned.

I pushed his sweatshirt up as far as I was
able. I needed to touch him, the real him. Not what was covering
him—I needed to touch his skin, feel his warmth. I ran my hands up
his chest, running my nails down his naked sides. He ground out a
curse between clenched teeth and kissed me hard. I moved my hands
down and gripped the edges of my T-shirt, lifting it slowly,
letting our bare skin touch.

He groaned. “Are you trying to kill me,
Milayna?”

The sound of our heavy breathing and low
moans were the only sounds in the stillness of the room. Until we
heard the small creak of a floor board upstairs. Chay dropped his
hands, put me down softly, and took a large step backward, his
rapid breathing causing his chest to rise and fall quickly.

“I need to go,” he murmured. Looking down at
his feet, he reached for the doorknob.

“Chay…”

He turned his head to me. I reached out and
touched his lips with my fingers, tracing their shape, memorizing
the feel of them—still wet from our kisses.

“Don’t go.”

“I need to leave before someone comes
downstairs.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I
meant.”

He looked at me, confusion in his eyes. “Then
what?”

“Don’t leave me. Don’t close off. This break
up isn’t what either of us wants—”

“I’m sorry. This was a mistake.” He opened
the door and walked out, closing it behind him with a small
click.

I watched him jog back to his house until he
disappeared into the inky blackness. I fingered the gold band I
wore on a chain around my neck. I’d worn it since the day he gave
it back to me.

***

“It’s been a long time, Milayna,” I heard
someone say behind me.

I looked over my shoulder and rolled my eyes.
“Hello, Edward. I’d say it was good to see you again, but we’d both
know I was lying.”

He laughed. An ugly sound. It amazed me how
someone so good looking on the outside could be so repulsive on the
inside. The ugliness seemed to seep through his pores. But that was
a demi-demon for you. Ugly. In their case, the saying ‘
beauty is
only skin deep
’ was so, so true.

Paying the cashier for my yogurt and water, I
turned toward my usual table in the cafeteria when he called after
me. “I heard you had some bad luck at your house. Nasty
business.”

I didn’t answer.

“Keep looking over your shoulder, Milayna.
There’s more to come.”

“Whatever.” I walked away.

“See ya tonight.” Fear slithered up my
spine.

I dropped my tray on the lunchroom table.
Muriel jumped and looked up at me. “What’s the matter?”

“Edward. Sounds like we’ll be having a
reunion with some of the demi-demons tonight.”

“Oh. That’s sounds like fun,” Jen said and
took a long drink of her Coke.

My hand went to the damaged side of my face.
I poked at the bruises and grimaced. “Yeah, just how I want to
spend my evening. Getting my butt handed to me again.”

“Maybe Jake won’t be there…” Muriel let her
words trail off. We both knew if there was a fight, he’d be right
in the middle of it. Jake seemed to live for them.

“You don’t need to fight tonight,” Chay told
me.

“I’m not going to let you guys fight
alone.”

I watched as he eased himself into a chair
across from me. It was the first time since he broke it off that
he’d sat with the group. I hoped it was a good sign.