Tethered Wings (Hidden Wings Series) (12 page)

“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere,” he promised.

“Good. Because I need you. You’re the only one who seems to hold me together, and you
are
my Guardian.”

“I am,” he breathed, leaning over and lightly kissing my nose. “So what now?”

I leaned back and yawned, still exhausted. I’d only slept for an hour, and I knew I’d have a crazy day with Jeremy and Lia in the morning.

“You must be exhausted,” he noted.

“Very,” I answered, my eyes were now watering.

“Would you like me to walk you back to your room?”

“No,” I answered. His eyes narrowed. “Could I stay here with you for a while?”

“If that’s what you want. Of course,” he said.

“I just need to have you close right now.”

He leaned forward and cradled my face in his fingers. “Is this close enough?” He pressed his warm lips to mine.

“Mmmhmm,” I hummed into his mouth.

He smiled and then pulled back. “We can’t get too carried away. This could get out of hand way too fast,” he said with a smirk on his face.

“It could,” I agreed. I scooted back to the middle of the bed and sat crisscrossed. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” he answered, lying down next to me. 

“I know you were a Guardian, you came from Midway, and that they assigned you to be my Guardian. But aside from that, I don’t know much of anything about your past. I want to know more. I want to know about your parents, and about your childhood.”

He smiled and shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry.”

“No. It’s not that,” he said, turning to me. “It’s just that no one has ever asked me that before.”

“No one?”

“No.”

“Well, I’d really like to know about the first boy to steal my heart,” I smiled. His face brightened as his eyes fastened on mine. My insides felt like they’d melted into a puddle of warm mush. He found my hands, and I laced my fingers through his, joining us together.

He turned, lying prostrate on his back; his eyes, searching for his past.

I waited patiently, anticipating his story. I was finally going to learn about this magical, angel boy who was dropped into my life.

“Well,” he started. “I was born one hundred and seventy-nine years ago.” He turned and glanced at me.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t a boy. “One hundred and seventy-nine?” I swallowed. “I think you should know…at that age, on earth, you’d be known as a cradle robber,” I giggled.

“If I were that age in mortal years, I’d be buried six feet under,” he noted.

“Good point. So, in immortal years, you’re how old?” I asked.

“Let’s just say nineteen. I think two years your senior would work,” he nodded.

“Well you do look about nineteen.”

“Then we’ll stick to nineteen, and now that I’m mortal, we can go from there.”

“Do you have a birth day?”

“In the Otherworld we don’t keep track of the day, but every mortal year we are presented with a gold coin. Once one has collected five hundred coins, they get their wings; unless they earn them, and earning them is almost impossible to do. I have one hundred and seventy-nine of them.”

“You only had 321 years left,” I smiled. “So where did you live?”

“I grew up in a place called Meadow of Songs. My mother and father still reside there. The summers in Alaska remind me of home. It’s the most beautiful place, but there are no seasons. The grass, the trees, they are greenest green you could ever imagine. The sky is the purest blue. There is nothing imperfect in the realms. You could pick any fruit from a tree, and it would always be ripe and sweet. There is no shortage, and there is no evil.”

“So you lived in Heaven?”

“Yes, mortals call it Heaven. We call it Grandia, or the Great Beyond.”

His eyes suddenly swirled with memories.

“Tell me about your parents.”

The corner of his lips curled upward and his eyes became distant. “My mother, well, she is radiant. Beautiful. Her eyes are deep amber, with flecks of gold. When she smiles, it radiates like a halo around her. Her voice is magical and sweeter than honey. She’s a Worshiper.”

“A Worshiper?” I questioned.

He nodded. “Worshipers fill Grandia with beautiful music. When a Worshiper opens their mouth, beautiful melodies spring forth and float through the air like an enchanted medicine, touching and filling everyone around them with tranquility and happiness. I was charmed as a child, having her transcendental lullaby’s lay me to sleep each night.”

“It must have been magical.”

“It was. She would love you,” he said, turning to me.

“What’s her name?”

“Arella.”

“Arella,” I breathed. “That’s such a beautiful name. And, what about your father?”

“My father is everything I ever want to become. If Angels could, they would envy him. Where ever he is, there is laughter. Whenever you meet him, you feel as if you’ve known him forever. He is filled with truth and guidance, but he is also very gentle. His presence and touch bring healing. His constant missions kept him from home, but my mother and I never doubted his love.”

“What’s his name?”

“Raphael.”

“Why does his name sound so familiar? I’ve heard it before, from one of the few times we attended church.”

“You probably have. He is an Archangel.”

“An Archangel?”

“Archangels are the highest ranking Angels, chosen by the creator himself. Michael was the very first.”

“Michael? The one who’s dagger I have?” I gasped.

“Yes. He’s the leader of all the Archangels.”

“Wow, this world never ceases to amaze me. Your parents seem like the most amazing immortal beings. Now I know why you are so perfect. You were given the best of them.”

“I’m far from perfect,” he said.

“Not to me,” I answered. “I hope I’ll get to meet them one day.”

“Maybe you will,” he said. “And if you do, give them my love.”

“Why? You’ll have to introduce me.”

“Not as a mortal,” he said sadly.

“You mean you can’t ever see them again?”

“Not in this form.”

“Oh my God. Kade…” I exhaled. My stomach twisted.

“Don’t be sorry, Emma. Things will work out in the end. You’ll see. And my parents, they know why I chose this path.”

“They must hate me for it.” I couldn’t imagine them ever loving me, knowing what he gave up for me. 

“Never. My parents could never hate, especially you,” he said, rising to his elbow. “I know they are proud of the decision I made.”

“Which decision?” I whispered.

“You,” he answered.

I tried to hold back the tears, but I couldn’t.

“I think that’s enough for tonight. You should get some sleep. You have guests to entertain and they’ll be awake in a few hours.”

I nodded and curled up next to him. He tucked me under the warmth of his blanket, and held me in his arms.

I knew one thing was certain. I could give my whole heart to Kade, and trust him with my life. His love and devotion had already been proven unwavering. The only downfall would be watching his mortal body age, or get sick and diseased, and eventually die.

One way or another, I would lose him. It would be much sooner than I’d ever want to, and the thought of that possibility, made my heart ache all over again. I didn’t think I could bear losing someone who had my heart.

He held me tightly. My body melted and molded into his side, his warmth soothed me. In his arms, I felt whole and complete. It was hard to explain, yet, so simple for my heart to understand.

“Don’t give up on me, Emma,” he whispered, so quietly I almost didn’t hear. 

“Never,” I answered.

The soft thrumming of his pulse and steadiness of his breath, slowly lulled me to sleep.  

The next morning I woke to sounds of laughter in the hall. I shot up and gasped.

Kade.

I turned, but he wasn’t there. As I glanced around, I quickly realized I was back in my own room, tucked in my own bed.

How the heck did I get here? Was I with him, or was it all just a dream?

I raised my arm to my nose and inhaled. A smile automatically formed on my lips as I caught his lingering scent.

It had been real.

I quickly jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. I knew Lia and Jeremy would be up soon, especially with the racket going on outside. Knowing them, they were probably part of it. I quickly groomed myself and changed into some jeans and a long sleeved lavender t-shirt. I also grabbed a matching lavender hoodie, and as soon as I threw it over my head, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I called.

The door opened and Lia and Jeremy stood there.

“What are you doing out there? Get your behinds in here,” I said running up and throwing my arms around them. “So what’s the plan? Did you guys want to do something today?”

“Duh. We didn’t only come here to make sure your sorry butt was alive. We came for adventure,” Jeremy said.

“Adventure? You and adventure don’t really go together,” I said, with a raised brow. Jeremy was not the adventurous type. His adventure lied in slaying enemies from behind a controller or the pages of his books.

“Yes, that is true, but I’m living large in Alaska,” he winked.

“Whatever, Jeremy,” Lia huffed. “The only thing living large is your brain.”

“I’ll admit. My head is a bit larger than the normal human being, but that’s only because there’s too much awesome in it. My brain just needs a large container,” he said. Lia and I looked at each other started laughing.

“Jeremy, you are awesome,” I admitted.

He nodded with a smirk.

“Okay. So, Caleb was telling us about this lake not too far from here. He said it’s private and about a mile away. It has a swinging rope, a few boats, and a volleyball net,” Jeremy said.

“Yes! Doesn’t that sound like fun, Emma?” Lia chimed.

NO!
Damn it, Caleb.
He was supposed to be helping me keep them within the barrier. How the hell was I supposed to keep them safe a mile outside? We would have to gather everyone together on this one.

“Emma? If you don’t want to go, just tell us,” Jeremy said.

I didn’t realize I’d frozen, running every horrible scenario imaginable through my mind.

“No, it’s not that. I mean, it sounds great. Let me talk to Alaine and see if she can get us a ride.”

“Hey Emma. Do you think that same guy who drove us in, can drive us again?” Lia asked.

“Dominic?” I asked.

“Yes!” She squealed.

“I’m sure he’d love to come,” I answered. “You two go get ready, and I’ll go see if I can make the transportation arrangements. I’ll meet you in the dining room for breakfast.” I started heading out the door.

“Wait, where’s the dining room?” Lia asked, just as Courtney walked by.

I grabbed Courtney. “She’ll show you. Right, Court?”

“Of course. Just yell when you’re ready. I’ll leave my door open,” she said.

“See you soon,” I said.

“See ya.” They both headed out toward their rooms, while I rushed down the stairs. Dominic and Malachi had just walked in from the kitchen.

“Hey, Emma,” Dominic yelled.

“Hey, Dom. I was just going to come and look for you,” I smiled widely.

“You were?” he asked.

“Yes. I need your Guardian services today. Caleb made the suggestion to go to some lake a mile away, and my friends really want to go.”

“Dumb ass,” Malachi huffed. “I was going to take a nap today.”

“Sorry,” I apologized.

“A nap? Well, I guess you
would
need one. You are getting old,” Dominic snickered, slapping Malachi on the shoulder. He then gave me a secret wink.  

“Screw you,” Malachi retorted. 

“Hell, I’m in. I’ve gotta school everyone on how to properly quadruple flip off the rope.”

“Quadruple flip?” I gasped, throwing my hand on my chest, over exaggerating.

“Hell yeah. And you better make sure Kade’s not watching when it happens. He gets a little jealous.”

“Of you?” Malachi laughed.

“Dude, when these mortal chicks see what’s under these garments...it will be a swoon fest,” he bragged.

“Don’t you mean swine fest?” Malachi glared at him.

“Come on, Mal. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Not everyone was blessed with a complete package. At least you were given some cool fighting skills.”