“Angel Food. Good one.” He attempted an annoyed expression, but the relief on his face thwarted his efforts.
“Sorry.”
“You’re forgiven,” he said immediately. “So. Now you know.”
“Everything?”
“Pretty much.” A fresh energy seemed to surround him. “There is more, but it’s the logistics of what I’ve told you, and part of that…wel , it’s best that you don’t know about them.”
“Them?”
“You know the stories, Nina. Where there’s light, there’s dark. If I go into detail and you become aware, it attracts them. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
My body suddenly felt cold, causing my shoulders to curve in and shudder. I knew exactly what he was talking about: demons. Of course they would exist if angels did.
Jared’s eyes sympathized with my reaction, and he pul ed my chair closer to him, leaning over to kiss my forehead. “I suppose I didn’t think through the consequences of promising absolute truth. I don’t want you to be afraid, Nina. I would never let anything happen to you.”
I took a deep breath and put on a brave face for him. “I know,” I shook my head, “there is so much that I don’t understand.”
“You have more questions?” he asked, ready for the next barrage of inquiries.
I looked at my watch. It was almost midnight. “I’m not sure I can get them al in tonight.”
“You have somewhere to be?”
“No. I assumed you wanted to sleep sometime. You do sleep, don’t you?”
Jared smiled. “I do. But I don’t require as much…just a few hours to recharge. Claire and I take shifts.” He sighed and touched my arm. “I owe you another apology. I hadn’t slept long—about twenty minutes when Claire cal ed to inform me that you wandered out of town and were stranded on a dark road. She was prepared to let you wait, but I couldn’t just let you sit in the cold. I’m sorry I was so…abrupt.”
“Cranky when tired…check,” I nodded once.
Relief brightened Jared’s face. “This is surreal. I’ve dreamed about how I would tel you for years, and now it’s done.”
“And here I sit, in front of my half-angel Hybrid boyfriend eating cake. I think I win.”
Three lines appeared on Jared’s forehead when his eyebrows shot up. “Oh. It’s boyfriend, now, is it?”
I swal owed hard, feeling the heat radiate from my face. I picked up my wine glass and took a large gulp.
“Are you okay?” Jared asked, concerned.
“I’m fine. I just…I didn’t mean…ugh!” I moaned, covering my eyes with one hand.
“Nina,” he chided, “as if I’m not thril ed beyond words at that idea.” Jared pul ed my hand from my face. “What could you possibly have to be embarrassed about?”
“Just…forget I said anything, okay?” I said sheepishly.
“Absolutely not,” he smiled.
I involuntarily yawned, using the back of my fingers to cover my open mouth.
“I should take you home,” he said.
“I don’t want to go home. I stil have questions,” I argued, wiping the inevitable tears that fol owed.
“We have a long, long time for Q and A, sweetheart,” he said, tucking my hair behind my ear. I smiled, realizing why he always seemed to pul my hair from my face the moment it crossed my mind.
I yawned again, but stubbornly shook my head. “The cut on your face?”
Jared touched it with two of his fingers. “There are pro’s and con’s to being what my father’s world cal s Half-breeds.”
I wrinkled my nose at the word. “Sounds derogatory to me.”
“It is. Most Archs don’t believe we should exist, and the…Others see us as the enemy as wel .”
“Archs?”
“There are several types of angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones…there are nine in al . Archangels serve as protectors for humans. They relay messages, fight demons on occasion, and protect their Taleh against harm, from demon and human alike. But al humans have Archs, and even if their Taleh is threatened by another Arch’s Taleh, Arch’s are forbidden to harm humans. They are strictly protectors, but that protection has limits because of the Laws. Claire, Bex and I are half-human, freeing us from many of those restrictions, just like my father when he chose to live as human.”
“So…Gabe…turned human?”
“No. He relinquished the ability to transfer planes….” My expression must have reflected how foreign the words sounded to me, because he stopped to explain. “To be invisible. Fal ing from grace has a price. Archs are cursed when they choose to stay, and that curse carries on to their offspring; although, it lessens with each generation. As the blood is diluted with the human gene pool, so is the curse.”
“What kind of curse?” I asked. His world was much darker than wings and harps.
“Archs are obligated to protect their humans even after they fal , and because their priorities have been compromised, so to speak, the curse keeps that obligation in check. Fal en and their offspring, like Archs, don’t get sick and we can’t be kil ed. But unlike Archs, we experience a degree of pain and have a limited life span. Once our Taleh die, we almost immediately fal il and expire.”
“So you lost your father when I lost mine,” I whispered.
Jared nodded infinitesimal y and wiped a tear from my eye.
I leaned away from his hand. “Please don’t do that. Don’t comfort me for your father’s death.”
Jared shook his head. “I can’t stand to see you cry. Not when I’m close enough to stop it.”
“I’m so sorry, Jared.” I couldn’t imagine having to experience the constant worry of not only my father’s mortality, but someone else’s as wel , for the sake of my father.
My eyes widened as my thoughts shifted. “I’m you’re Taleh?”
“You are.” He sat up a bit tal er as his sad expression warmed at the thought.
“How do you know?”
“It’s a feeling we get. When you’re in pain, embarrassed, scared, sick, happy…aroused—,” he looked down for a moment, seeming embarrassed —“…we feel it to a lesser extent.”
“You can feel it when I feel those things?”
“It’s hard to explain. I guess I could liken it to a mosquito buzzing in your ear.”
“So, if I…bump my side on my father’s desk?”
“I can sense it,” he confirmed, amused that I had caught on.
“Was that you on the phone with my mother?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. I just wanted to make sure you were al right. You hit pretty hard. I’d be surprised if you didn’t bruise,” he said, lightly touching the exact spot where I had col ided with Jack’s desk.
“I did bruise. I thought you said my parents’ house has cameras. Couldn’t you see that I was okay?”
“Your father’s office is the only room in the house that isn’t wired. When you’re in there I have to rely on my senses. I’d prefer it if you wouldn’t spend so much time there in the future.”
I nodded, preoccupied with an errant thought that had popped into my head. “So…if I’m cramping….”