Surreal Ecstasy (26 page)

I recalled thinking days ago about
how I wished I could exist without my life being center stage, a statement that
was more accurate than I'd originally believed.

I sighed. "What a day. I'm so
tired." I sat in the corner of the L-shaped couch and rested my head
against the backing.

The twins followed suit, Ree
sitting next to me and Dess pulling her ottoman back to its original place. My
mind was still on the powers I'd just witnessed. "Did you guys always know
about Ree's—what did you call it? Ice power?"

"Ice Touch. Yeah, we always
knew. Trust me, it was a very handy power to have in L.A. Helped us survive the
hundred-degree temperatures." Dess whipped out the remote and began
channel-surfing.

"Well, why didn't you tell me
about that, Ree?" I was hurt that there was so much about him I didn't
know.

Ree realized how I was feeling and
immediately addressed my concerns. "I didn't intend to keep it from you,
Baby. You've got to understand—there are a lot of details about me you aren't
aware of. Some of them are hidden for your own safety, and other things you don't
know about just because I haven't thought of telling you yet. Please don't take
it personally," he pleaded, his eyes imploring. "I don't think about
these things when I'm with you. I've searched for you my whole life, and now
that I've found you, I just want to
be
with you and enjoy our time
together. You understand that, don't you?"

Why did he have to be so incredibly
adorable and perfect? It would have been so much easier to be mad at him if he
weren't. Damn him.

I managed a smile. "Yes, I
understand." I wasn't exactly thrilled about any information being
purposely kept from me, but I'd tackle this issue again later.

"Another thing about angels is
that they don't feel temperature," Dess went on. "That's why Rios
never uses a jacket."

I furrowed my brow. "Wait a
minute. So when you sent us to go buy a jacket-"

"You needed to get out of the
house, and I needed some time alone."

I laughed and remembered our conversation
about Ree in the hospital, the way she looked at me after I asked if he were
available. She probably made her plan to set us up right then and there. "So
your Ice Touch prevents you from feeling temperature?" I asked Ree,
avoiding the subject of Dess' ruse.

He shrugged. "I do feel
temperature, but it doesn't bother me. I think all the Worthy are like that.
Probably the Melted, too, now that I think about it. They have a similar power;
theirs are just the polar opposite of ours. Earth's weather doesn't affect us,
but our enemy's power does. A lot."

I thought for a minute about all
the times Adim and I went out in the rain and in the cold. He'd never worn a
jacket, only succumbing when I forced it on him. I also thought back to all the
times when we'd watch a sci-fi or horror movie, and as we walked back to the
parking lot afterwards, he'd usually comment on how unrealistic it was. "Demons
don't have horns," he'd say. "At least not all of them."

I smacked myself on the head. Now
that I knew the truth about Adim, it was so, so obvious. "There's so much
about this stuff I don't know. And you," I said, turning to Dess. "You
said you needed my help to figure out who you were."

"That was the truth. I did.
Sure, we knew about the Worthy because of Rios, but we didn't know very much
about the Slates. At least,
I
didn't know," she added, looking at
Ree pointedly. "He didn't have a lot of information about them because
they're not part of the good-and-evil system, or the superhero-and-villain
system—whatever we're supposed to call it. And Morgue, you
did
help me,"
she added. "With your help, I was able to focus and bring out my former
self. I never could have done this without you." She gestured toward the
spot Adim had been laying.

"What? When did I help you?"

"You don't remember? I had a
dream last night—or was it this morning?—that you were in my mind, and you had
built an amazing mind-room for me. It organized all my thoughts so I could get
to my buried memories much easier."

I laughed to myself. "I
thought I was
practicing
making mind-rooms for people," I mused. "I
didn't know I'd actually traveled to your mind and helped build a room for your
memories."

"Oh, you did. And it's
incredible. Thanks, Morgue."

Ree put his arm around me, a silent
congratulations passing in the air between us. I looked back at him and gave
him a weak, self-conscious smile.

The three of us sat quietly for a
while, our minds full with the complexity of today's events. When no one could
think of anything new to say, we turned our attention toward the TV.

Ree and I had been watching TV when
the whole fiasco with Ethan breaking in had occurred. So much time had passed
that there was a different program on TV, and I'd never seen it before and so I
sat and watched it scornfully. Finally, during a commercial break, Ree turned
to me and looked at me, searching my eyes. We sat there for a moment, regarding
each other with unspoken longing. Finally, he smiled back and kissed my
forehead.

He sat back and looked at his
sister. "Dess, would you do me a favor?"

"What up, Chuck?" she
said automatically, eyes still focused on the TV.

"Do you remember what I told
you a while ago about fading?"

She made us wait while she stared
off into space for a while, frowning. Then she sighed. "I have been known to
memorize a few things in my day. Let's see.
Fading is the procedure by which
a Worthy angel falls. This is always attributed to said subject becoming
afflicted with one of the seven original sins."

"That's interesting," I
interjected. "So…Fading is pretty much like falling, in the 'fallen angel'
sense, right? But it applies to Worthy angels?"

Ree nodded easily.

I looked at Dess, who wore a
curious expression as she stared at her twin. I looked back at Ree. "
You
must have already known this, because it had to have been you who told her
the definition in the first place," I accused. "So… why did you ask
her to recite it?"

Silence. Ree simply stared at me,
frozen in a rare loss for words.

I looked at Dess again for help.
She looked like she was beginning to understand something, which annoyed me. I
hated being left out of the loop, and it happened so often with me.

"Morgue?" Dess gently put
an arm around my shoulders and peered at where Adim and Ethan had been
standing. "I think my brother has the sin of wrath. He's a fading Worthy."

Chapter 17

"I'm not fading," Ree
protested in a tone that clearly suggested he found the notion completely and
utterly ridiculous.

"Rios, don't try it, dude. I
know you. That was your way of telling Morgue that it's happening to you."
Dess turned her body, still sitting on her ottoman but facing the TV, putting
on some lame sitcom, possibly the very same one I'd tried to watch at the
hospital. I had no idea how she could stand watching that crap.

"I was not telling Morgan that
it was happening to me. I just thought it would be a nice term to know, in case
we came across any other LGA's."

"Oh, yeah, you know, all those
LGA's we come across. Why, if I had a dollar for every LGA I met, I'd be a…
millionaire." She stopped and looked at Ree pointedly.

"All right, all right,"
Ree conceded. "This whole 'fading' thing was just a thought I had. I was
just a
little
concerned for a short time, but I'm okay now. I'm being
completely truthful here. I just want to have a good way to gauge it, in case
by some fantastic turn of events, it
does
happen."

I tried to piece together
everything I'd learned about Ree's angel status. "We all know you're not
my
Living Guardian Angel anymore because of the fact that we've met."
After both of the twins nodded, I continued. "But you still have angel
powers. I've seen it. Lord knows I've felt it." I shuddered, recalling his
icy hand wrapped around my ankle. "Meeting me didn't take your powers
away, but it removed our spiritual bond, right?"

He seemed to struggle with that
question. "I'm not linked to you the same way I was before. I can't watch
your life. I can't talk to you in your dreams."

"So, this is a separate issue,
except for the fact that you may not be an angel anymore," I concluded.

He sighed. "Let's not waste
time speculating about it, okay? I apologize for bringing it up. I suggest we
simply purge it from our memory as if it never happened. If the both of you are
so concerned about it, let's just go about this another way. There is a test
for a fading Worthy angel."

"There's a way to tell if you're
fading or not?"

"Enlighten us, ye keeper of
secrets." Dess was turning to face us by now, propping her feet up on the
couch, crossing her arms and glaring at her brother, obviously unhappy that so
many things were hidden from her.

He took a deep breath, looking out
the living room window with a pensive expression. "Supposedly, the most
common way to discover if any Worthy soul has lost its light essence is to
bring him or her around one of the damned, one of the God Generation demons.
These creatures can sense each other, you see. They can sense any creature from
Hell, and not just those who have incarnated as humans."

I wondered which creatures from
Hell would be around us but
not
in human form. At this moment, I really,
really didn't want to know. I said nothing and let Ree continue. Dess also
stayed quiet for once and simply let her brother talk.

"If the demon recognizes this
individual as one of their own, then he or she is most certainly faded,"
he went on. "The more faded they are, the stronger the evil essence is
that surrounds him or her."

I remained where I was, respecting
his space. "Ree, why did you ask us about fading, right at that moment?
There had to have been a reason, and I'd really like to know what it is."
Sensing his hesitation, I added, "You tell me how much you love me, and as
much as I love hearing it, it would mean a lot more if you would back it up by
being honest. I know you respect me, and I know you love me. So, tell me what's
going on. Please."

He shifted his eyes back and forth
for a moment, as if considering the circumstances of opening up to me. Finally
he sighed and leaned against the window. "I don't want to worry you, Baby.
My Ice Touch was a little different just now. It should have overpowered Adim
and brought him to his knees, and I certainly shouldn't have had to do
touch-ups to myself afterward. I should have subdued him swiftly, without Dess
having to do it. Not that I'm not grateful, sis," he added hastily.

"Do you think that your fading
has affected your powers?" I asked. That was certainly logical. It's a
good thing Dess was able to unveil at that moment.

"
If
I am, indeed,
fading. We don't know that yet, okay?"

He was obviously a bit touchy on
the subject. "Okay, Ree. Okay." I changed the subject. "I
noticed you've used the word 'demon' and 'damned' a lot in these definitions.
Why not just say
Melted
?"

Ree shook his head pensively. "Most
of the definitions I recite to you have been written by someone Worthy or, at
least, someone from The Light.
Melted
is a term coined by Hell. Although
we do use the term for convenience, it's not an accurate statement on our part.
Our view of them goes far beyond them being 'Melted' or just a part of evil. We
see them as being damned."

A strange feeling began to peek out
from somewhere inside me. After a moment, I realized that I was annoyed by Ree's
words. They were judging people as a group, without getting to know any of them
first? "You see them all as being damned? Isn't that a little unfair?"
I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

He searched my eyes as he answered.
"Baby, that's what they are, and they admit it. We're talking about beings
who purposely and knowingly turned their backs on The Light. Why shouldn't they
be damned?"

It seemed to make sense, but I
couldn't shake the feeling that there was an element missing in Ree's
assumption. I chose to drop the subject for now since neither one of us were
apparently going to change our minds. "Another thing—it says we have to
bring you around one of the Melted before we'd know for sure if you were faded?"

Ree sighed. "I guess we have
to track down Adim. He didn't seem to sense a demonic energy about me when he
was here, but he was pretty distracted by wanting to fight me. Plus, even if he
had sensed an evil essence around me at first, it was probably immediately
dismissed when I gave him the Ice Touch. Or, as a second option, we can go to
the hospital and find that nurse. Those are the only Melted that we're aware of
in this area. If they suddenly think I'm a demon too, then we have our answer.

"But I still have a direct
connection to The Light. I feel it within me, and I'm fine." He stopped
and looked in my eyes for emphasis.

I played with my pontytailed hair
to distract myself, not knowing how to respond to that.

Dess turned her head to face us and
asked, "So, what you're explaining to the both of us, Rios, is that if you
really do fade completely, you'll become a choop with an evil-feeling energy?
Or would you still be considered some type of angel?"

I didn't even know she was still
listening. A commercial came on, promising good times to anyone who called
their 'party line.'  Dess was clearly distracted by a scantily-dressed woman
practically soul-kissing a telephone, begging everybody to call her. 

I was beginning to learn that my
new best friend was a multi-tasker.

I turned to face the gorgeousness
of his perfect, light brown face. "Good question."