To Fall (The To Fall Trilogy Book 1) (29 page)

44

Abby

Hot wind blew on my face and my body moved to a smooth, slow movement. Xander cradled me, his body warmer than the late summer air. Opening my eyes, I flinched from the sun’s brightness, feeling closer to its heat. “Abby, close your eyes. I don’t want to scare you.” His voice was raw and shaky.

I tried to sit up, but I was locked. “What?”

Xander pulled me closer, gripped onto me, and forced my face into his neck. His chin was wet, but he didn’t sweat.
Tears
. The deep cadence of his voice vibrated against my face. “Please, Abby. I’m asking you to trust me. Don’t look.”

Shutting my eyes, I held onto him. I trusted him, but I was scared. Guys didn’t cry unless it was bad. “Am I okay?”

“Yes, you’ll be fine. I’m taking you home.” His tone was distant, despondent.

“Xander, I don’t understand. What happened to me?”

No answer, but ten fingers sank into me.

The next two minutes felt like eternity. Questions and frustrations built in my mind and I thought of all the ways he would dismiss them. Suddenly, my stomach lurched and my hair pulled up. We were dropping and I held him tighter. Then nothing, the wind stopped, we stopped.

With a deep breath in, he gulped and allowed a little space between us. “Abby, open your eyes,” he whispered.

I blinked to a light, a gentle glow, different from sunlight. It was coming from Xander, from his skin. It was like my dream—a pure light, warming me, loving me down to my soul.

Something large shifted behind him and I looked closer. It was soft and…
moving
. I blinked a few more times. Over his shoulder, they came into focus. Feathers. Long feathers. Wings. Beautiful, luminescent white wings. They spanned over twenty feet, unfurled behind him. Unreal.

He put me down and grass crunched under my sneakers. I realized we were in their backyard and Xander’s siblings surrounded us. They each had the same wings splayed out. The same glow.

Caleb, Calista, and Hannah stood, full of pride and power. Bozo zipped between their bodies, avoiding their wings like an obstacle course. Turning to Xander, his head was cast down.

My hands rested on his bare, tanned chest and watched in awe as his wings folded down gracefully, tucking close to his body. They reached from his ears down to the ground. I circled him, running my hands along the pearly feathers. The shafts felt like thin rods of iron enveloped by soft down, responding to my touch with light flicks and twitches. His wings originated from the thick, iridescent lines on his back.

After circling him, he still wouldn’t meet my gaze. I had hid a part of me, but that was out of shame and fear he couldn’t love me. Could he have the same fears? It was wrong for such a marvelous creature to look so pitiful. I knew his pain. His beauty and torment brought me to sweet tears and I wiped them away.

Cupping his face, I forced his eyes to meet mine. With a shake of my head, I couldn’t begin to form words.

“Abby, I’m not a man. I’m an angel. We’re angels.”

Four angels encircled me. This was surreal. How was this possible? Real angels?

His eyes dropped and those words
I’m not a man
hung in the air. I understood now. Running my hands over his chest to his shoulders and down his arms, I grasped his hands and folded them around me. The entire world but Xander melted away.

“Then I’m in love with an angel.” He had to know. I had to show him that I would love him no matter what he was, no matter what he had to tell me.

With just a brush of my lips to his, Xander gripped me and held me flush to his warm body. His kiss was passion and release, letting his fears go and believing my words, feeling what was in my heart. His tongue swept in, demanding more and my pulse hammered. Heated hands pulled my shirt up to find skin on my lower back and our stomachs touched.

A throat cleared. We pulled apart, both of us blushing.

I covered my mouth. “Sorry. I… Sorry.” I forgot they were there. I’d never kissed him like that in front of anyone. I looked back at Xander. Was that some kind of angel-aphrodisiac or hormones? No. He had finally trusted me with his secret.

Hannah and Calista giggled.

Caleb laughed, too. “It’s quite all right. I know how irresistible Alexander is.”

Xander laughed at his brother’s joke. Everyone laughed but me. I was a little dumbstruck and a lot overwhelmed.

Caleb was trying to force his smile away, but wasn’t successful. “Maybe we should let Alexander and Abby talk for a minute.”

When I glanced back at Xander, his wings were gone. He took my hand and led me into the house. The late morning sun filtered in through the windows brightening the rooms as if this house was tired of the secret, as well. I stared at his wing lines wondering where they went. Were they stuffed in his back?

The bedroom door closed behind me and Xander slipped on a clean T-shirt. I sat on the bed and he knelt before me, hesitant. “What happened to me?” I asked.

“We healed you.”

I sucked in a breath. “So, the cactus happened?”

He nodded.

“I was lying out there on the mountain, and suddenly, I was with you somewhere else.” I didn’t know if I should tell him. “A white bed and rose petals? Was I dreaming? It seemed so real.”

His eyes darted down again. “I’m sorry. Getting you off the cactus was going to be incredibly painful and traumatic. I took you into my thoughts, nothing more. It was simply to protect your mind.”

Whoa, that was a lot to take on. “Where did you take us?”

“Somewhere I imagine us being one day. Our wedding night.” Even though his face was down, I saw him flush.

“It was beautiful.” I knelt next to him, held his hands, and put them up to my lips. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

He blinked. “I haven’t scared you off?”

“Tell me you love me.”

His eyes met mine with an intensity that made me believe every word. “Abby, my heart holds more love for you than the Heavens could possibly comprehend.”

I pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you for both gifts, your trust and your love.”

He released a deep sigh as if an enormous hand freed him and he could finally breathe. Still holding me, Xander lay us down on the bed and combed his fingers through my hair. “I didn’t know there was anything wrong until Bozo barked. Caleb got to you first.” He closed his eyes and put his forehead to mine. “Abby, I was so scared. Whenever something happens to you, I’m terrified my gift won’t be enough and I’ll lose you. It’s my greatest fear.” He hugged me close as if letting me go was physically painful.

His gift? Dream sharing? Wings?

After a moment, his head lifted off the pillow. “My brother is ready for us.”

“How do you know? Do you read minds?”

His laugh was quiet. “Yes, I actually can. But I can hear him pacing the hall.”

Mind reading and super-hearing. Check.

Taking my hand, he led me through the house. My stomach flipped and my mind swirled. I didn’t know what to ask or what they would answer. I did know Xander and I loved each other. And they were angels. Angels with wings and a glow.

They sat on the gray couch in the family room. Xander didn’t let go of my hand as we sat opposite them. They waited for me to start.

“Real angels?”

Caleb nodded.

I said, “I thought Xander was a genetic mutant or something, I would never have guessed this.”

Hannah stifled a laugh.

“You’re from Heaven?” I waited for four nods.

“We are Guardians,” Xander clarified, “the First of the Nine Choirs.”

My brows bunched. “Nine Choirs?”

“Yes. The Second are the Archangels. Then Principalities, Authorities, Virtues, Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim.”

There was no way I would remember all that. “Why are you here?”

Calista explained, “Abby, where there is good, there is evil.”

I felt my eyes widen without telling them to. “Demons and Satan and Hell exist?”

“Yes,” she answered.

Holy crap. “But is there a reason you are specifically here in Phoenix?” Of all the romantic, wonderful places on this Earth, why Arizona? If I were an angel, I would be in Russia or Italy. Forget that. French Polynesia, lounging on the beach.

“Yes, but you are not ready for the answer. When the time is right.” Caleb’s acknowledgment there was more, in time, gave me some comfort.

I examined their features for the thousandth time. “Are you actually brothers and sisters?”

“Not in the way humans are, but we were created by God.” Hannah twirled red strands of hair around her finger. “It’s more like a brotherhood and sisterhood.”

“No dad in Japan selling medical supplies?”

Xander winced. “No, I’m sorry. We don’t like lying to you, but it was necessary.”

God was their Father? Now his comment about his dad loving me made sense. “The last name, Wright?” I asked, confused.

Xander chuckled and shrugged. “We thought the last name ‘Angel’ would be a dead giveaway.”

“Do you guys work? Where does this come from?” I waved at the house.

Caleb rested his elbows on his knees. “We have human allies who keep our secret. They help us acquire what we need. There are funds set up for Guardian angels over the world. Our job is to protect God’s Creations from demons.”

“How many Guardians are there?”

“Millions, most of whom are in Heaven.”

This was a lot to wrap my head around. “Oh, are there more here in town?”

“No, this is our jurisdiction, if you will. But our brother and sister angels are always welcome.” Caleb sat back, relaxing into the sofa.

“You glow?”

Hannah giggled. “That’s our light. Well, God’s Light. We are continuously glowing, but the human eye can only detect it when we reveal our true selves.”

“And you read minds?”

“Yes, we can,” Calista said. “We can also use mind control. Make humans think or do what we want them to.”

My body withdrew, not liking they could manipulate me. Had Xander ever controlled my mind? As if he knew what I was thinking, he looked into my eyes with resolve. “Never. I’ve never read your mind or tampered with your thoughts and I never want to. Today, I only gave you a dream.”

I nodded and relaxed. “And you can heal me, obviously. I don’t have a scratch on me.”

“Yes,” Caleb said. “Along with your mind we can control your body, heal you like today. We are limited to one gift at a time, and we must be touching you in order to use our gifts. Our hands have the most concentrated power.”

The sad realization hit me and I turned to Xander. “You can’t fix my heart, can you?”

Xander’s body tensed and his head shot away without an answer.

Hannah muttered, “I’m sorry, Abby. We can’t.”

Maybe the damage to my heart was too old or too extensive for angels to heal. I caught Xander swiping his eyes. I knew he would fix my heart a million times over if he could. I reabsorbed my reality. My heart had an expiration date. I held Xander’s hand tighter. “You don’t age do you?”

Calista tilted her head. “No, we don’t. How did you know that, Abby?”

I shifted on the couch. “It’s nothing.”

She leaned closer. “Abby?”

Everyone stared at me. Maybe I wouldn’t sound crazy now. “I’ve always dreamed of Xander. My entire life. And he’s always looked the same as he does today.”

“Abby, you dreamed of me?”

I shrugged. “Well, you’re in my nightmare.” Gasps filled the room.

Xander shot to his feet. “I’m in your nightmare! Abby, why didn’t you tell me this?”

Confusion marked Caleb’s features. “It’s unusual for you to dream of your Guardian angel.”

“My Guardian?”

No answer and Caleb flinched like he knew he said too much.

“Are each of you my Guardians?” No answer. “Does it have something to do with my heart?” No answer. I rubbed my temples. “I don’t understand.” My head angled back to Xander. “Who’s the other guy then?”