Chapter 4 Dex #2
“And what? You’re going to show me?” Dex’s stomach roiled. He didn’t need this today. Worrying about Ollie having bad news and then being blindsided by the stupid shred of hope that magic could undo the worst thing to ever happen to him was too much.
“I can make myself invisible,” Dante said as if it were perfectly normal. “Should we start with that?”
“Sure. Why the fuck not?” Dex blinked his unshed tears away.
There was no way it would work. He didn’t know why he’d gotten so emotional over this dumb…whatever it was.
Of course this wasn’t real.
Dex had been prepared to like Ollie’s boyfriend, but now he wasn’t sure. If Dante had dragged Ollie into some delusional nonsense, Dex would have words with him.
Dante had another sip of hot chocolate, then cleared his throat. He was there, sitting on the couch on Ollie’s other side, and a second later, he was gone.
Dex’s stomach dropped.
Dante reappeared. “Ta-da.” He released his mug, but instead of it falling and spilling hot chocolate everywhere, it floated in front of him.
It had to be special effects. If this were a video, Dex would have rolled his eyes. But how did you pull off this sort of thing in person?
“So you’re a carnival magician?” Dex crossed his arms, heat flooding his cheeks. “You think I’m gullible? What’s wrong with you guys? I’m not in the mood.”
Ollie grabbed his hand. “We’re not tricking you.”
Harper stood from the armchair and grabbed a candle from the coffee table. “I have a talent for alchemy and potion brewing. Want to see me turn this wax into wood?” He held out the candle.
Dex touched it, the wax tacky beneath his fingers. Harper had always been quiet and nothing but sweet-natured. As far as Dex was aware, he wasn’t the type to mess around.
“Fine. Let’s see.”
Harper cupped the candle in both hands and murmured words under his breath. There was a flash of light. Dex blinked, and the candle had transformed from wax to what looked like a thin branch, the wick sticking out of the top.
Dex reached for it, and Harper passed it over. Tugging on the wick, Dex couldn’t get it to budge. “How do I know you didn’t swap out the candle for this?”
“Where did the candle go?” Harper held out his arms. He wore a tight tank top and shorts. He couldn’t exactly hide anything up his sleeve.
Dex inspected the ground around them and found nothing, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a trick. He faced Ollie. “How did they get you to believe? Show me what you saw.”
It couldn’t have been these parlor tricks, not with how confident Ollie sounded. Dex didn’t know the details, but everything he’d seen could be faked. The candle had to be somewhere.
Ollie’s expression darkened.
Dante put a hand on his shoulder. “I can show you one of the things Ollie saw, but we’ll have to go outside.”
Ollie whipped around. “What do you mean?”
“You saw my wings when you first learned about magic. I’ll show Dex what I really look like.”
Ollie nodded, seeming relieved.
“Let’s go to the roof and I’ll fly around.” Dante stood, and Harper followed him down the hall.
Dex wished he were back in bed. Why couldn’t they play video games and eat too much coffee cake like he’d expected?
Ollie pulled Dex to his feet. “I’m sorry. This seemed like a good idea, but you look like I ruined your morning.”
“No. Don’t apologize. I want to know what’s happening.” Dex was grateful Ollie had shared whatever this was. That way, he could protect Ollie if Dante and Harper were taking advantage of him somehow.
He let Ollie lead him to the roof, where Dante was standing with his shirt off. Harper sipped his coffee as if this were any other Sunday.
“I’ve cast an illusion over myself so no one but you three can see me,” Dante explained.
Dex would have rolled his eyes, but what they’d said about flying hit him in a new light. His blood ran cold. “Wait! You aren’t jumping off the roof, are you?”
“No.” Dante smiled reassuringly, but Dex didn’t feel any less terrified.
Ice pooled in his gut. Fuck, he had to make sure no one got hurt. Why had he agreed to come out here?
Dante turned away, showing Dex a full back tattoo of folded wings. Surely, he didn’t believe he could fly because of a tattoo? Dex opened his mouth to double-check that Dante wasn’t going near the edge of the roof when the tattoos changed, rippling through Dante’s brown skin and disappearing.
Wings burst from Dante’s back and spread wide, gray feathers sparkling in the sun, his wingspan stretching at least ten feet across.
Dante turned to face them and horns sprouted from his hair. Dex gripped Ollie tight. Dante’s wings flapped, and he lifted off the ground, hovering a few feet above the roof.
It couldn’t be a trick. There was no way to make tattoos disappear like that, or for wings that big to sprout out of nowhere.
Suddenly, it was like Dex was on a tilt-a-whirl ride at the fair. “Are—are you an angel?” His voice shook. He tore his eyes from Dante, focusing on Ollie.
He knew what this meant, right? Holy shit. An angel. That meant…
Ollie smiled softly, a hint of sadness unmistakable.
Dante landed and folded his wings against his back. “I’m not an angel.”
“But you’re not human.” Dex pointed at his wings.
“No, I’m not.”
Dex rounded on Harper. “Do you have wings?”
“No.” Harper laughed. “I’m a witch. A person who can do magic. I can’t do everything Dante can.”
Dex would think about that later. “What are you, Dante?”
“A fallen Eternal being. What you’d consider an angel doesn’t exist.”
What did that mean?
Something seemed to be slipping from Dex’s grasp, and he scrambled to capture it. “What does exist? Does Heaven?”
“Not in the way you think. There is an afterlife. An Eternal Realm. This”—Dante spread his arms wide—“is the Human Realm.”
Dex’s hands shook. His chest tightened, and something bubbled inside him. He needed to lie down. “So—so people go to an afterlife when they die?” That was the important thing. Who cared about semantics and if Heaven didn’t exist in the way he thought?
“Yes.” Dante stepped closer and clasped Dex’s shoulder, the word echoing around them. “All humans enter the Eternal Realm when they die, and eventually reincarnate.”
Dex couldn’t breathe.
“That’s why I wanted to tell you,” Ollie whispered. “Yeah, I want you to know Dante and Harper, and I don’t like keeping secrets from you, but with you selling the condo, it seemed like a good time to share all this with you. Maybe it’ll help.”
Dex’s vision blurred, his throat too thick to speak.
“I hope I’m not making everything harder for you.”
Dex cleared his throat. “You aren’t. I’ve been thinking about them a lot. And—and now you’re saying my parents are in an Eternal Realm. I’ll see them again?”
Dante squeezed his shoulder. “Human souls aren’t the same in the Eternal Realm as they are on Earth, but I’d say your parents will likely wait for you before entering the sacred process of moving on.”
Dex burst into tears, huge choking sobs coming out of nowhere, his entire body shaking. Ollie hugged him tight, holding him as his knees went weak. Dex clung to him, his fingers digging into Ollie’s back. Dante’s grip on his shoulder didn’t falter. They held him firm. Held him through it.
This had to be the greatest gift anyone had given him. Hope ripped Dex into pieces, the pain so overwhelming it was impossible to do anything but feel.
He hadn’t been religious like his mom. He’d gone to church when he was young, but when his parents had died, he hadn’t been able to make himself believe they still existed somewhere.
“Thank you,” he sobbed into Ollie’s ear. “Thank you.”