Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
Mercy
Valory tensed beside me as Endor disappeared from our sight, and I knew he had sheathed his wings completely.
My head was a mess, and I felt like I’d been steamrolled over by a cartoon truck, flattened like a damn pancake on the pavement.
Every bone in my body ached , spent from the exertion earlier during my Super Saiyan moment, and then taking a trip down memory lane with my angel and demon friends.
I stiffened for a moment as I turned to look at Valory.
Is that what we were?
Friends?
No, friends didn’t seem like the right word, entirely. But acquaintance felt too awkward, and family wasn’t the right term at all, but yet...
It was the most comforting choice.
I couldn’t deny that being in Valory’s presence, even then, I felt safe. Loved.
Valory had gone out of her way since day one to make sure I was safe, and so had Endor.
My thoughts wandered to my memory.
To Miles.
Somewhere deep inside, I knew he kept me safe, too. Though, I had no idea how or why, or...
Damn it, why couldn’t I remember?
His image flashed in my mind, those familiar dark eyes that made my insides twist a little when I remembered them.
The word friend seemed to fit there, but...
Last I checked, you didn’t kiss your friends.
The truth hit me like a brick. Heat flushed my cheeks as I tested out the word in my brain I didn’t dare say out loud.
Boyfriend.
Was Miles... was he my boyfriend?
I thought I’d remember if I had a boyfriend! Surely, that was something I’d remember, because up until then, I knew I had never had a boyfriend or kissed a guy!
But apparently, I did. Before my soul was separated from my body.
I groaned as I settled my head in my hands, a wicked headache forming.
Why did I feel like nothing was making sense?
Like the answer was searching for was dependent upon a question I didn’t know how to ask?
My body was hot like a flame, and Valory broke away from her stupor.
“Are you okay?” I asked, stealing a glance up at her.
“You are asking me ?” she said, her lips pulling up into a half-grin.
“You just seem... different,” I tested. “You and Endor seem... different.”
Valory pursed her lips as she settled her back against the bench, crossing her legs.
It was the first time I got a good look at her change of clothes, and I couldn’t deny the get up was kind of gothic and edgy and... I dug it.
A flash of memory sparked in my brain; of black jeans and converses and laughter.
Miles.
My... something.
Boyfriend wasn’t quite right, I knew that in my heart, but...
Maybe I wanted him to be my boyfriend.
I certainly wanted to kiss him, that much I knew.
Valory watched off in the distance, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her long hair fell in waves around her, and her jaw was set as she watched the horizon like a hawk.
For him.
Endor.
And suddenly, I caught up.
“Wait... did something happen between you two when I was gone?”
Valory tensed as she turned to me with surprise.
“What?”
“You and Endor. Ever since I got back, you two?—”
“Nothing happened,” she said solidly.
Too sternly, might I add.
Something definitely happened!
A wide grin spread across my face.
An angel and a demon. Who would have thought!
“Tell me,” I said with a giggle as I squeezed her side, imploring her with my gaze. “Oh, please tell me, Valory, I need, like, all the details.”
“There are no details!” she whispered, as if she was afraid someone might hear us, even though her bright white wings were largely on display.
No one could see us.
Well, actually, I knew no one could see her, but me...
I might have been a lost soul, but that man in the alley saw me. Sarah, Randy... they touched me.
Which meant... my body was still alive. Somewhere.
Which made me feel strangely self-conscious as I wondered what the world saw of me, surrounded by entities hidden to the naked eye. I needed to find my body. I needed these damn memories to make sense!
But before I could contemplate how insane I must have looked, I felt the shift in the air as he entered our space. We both turned to see him, all black jeans and rolled up sleeves showing off his thick forearms and tattoos, and his big black wings.
Carrying two Zoup! Bags in his arms.
The scent of soup was thick and my mouth was practically watering. That little bit of stew Sarah fed me definitely wasn’t enough, given I mostly picked at the vegetables.
I felt a sense of sadness bloom in my chest that I didn’t get to say goodbye to her.
But there was also a part of me that felt genuinely comforted knowing I gave Randy the peace he needed. The peace they both needed. I was not certain what would become of them, or if they’d ever have the family they sought, but I prayed that they would.
They weren’t terrible kidnappers, really, when I thought about it.
Maybe things weren’t always as black and white as we thought they were.
“Here,” Endor said, shaking the bag at me. “I hope you like grilled cheese and tomato soup.”
My gaze roved over him and his stern face. “Thank you,” I said.
His expression remained stoic and unchanged.
“I love a good grilled cheese,” I said with a grin, noticing the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
I scooted down the bench, giving him ample room to sit between Valory and I. He took it without hesitation as he dug in his bag, and I didn’t miss the way Valory’s shoulders relaxed or the subtle glances she stole as he focused on his bag of food.
Oh yeah. Something definitely happened, and I was totally going to find out what before I found my body and...
And what, exactly?
What would happen when I slid back into my body?
Would I just wake up wherever I was and Val and Endor would be no more?
Likely.
After all, unless you’re touched apparently, like that man in the alley, there was no way to see angels or demons if you were just some run of the mill human. Not unless you were striking up a deal at a crossroads or having a near death experience, or... if you were dead. At least, that’s what I’d gathered.
Which meant when I found my body, I probably wouldn’t see either of them—the angel or the demon I’d come to know and really, really like—again.
My heart sank at that truth.
But if I didn’t find my body in time and choose a side, I would become a ghost.
I don’t want to haunt people! I don’t even have a cool ghost outfit!
I looked down at my clothes, feeling strangely on the spot. My olive-green shirt and jean jacket, jeans, and chucks were looking a little worse for wear, and I cursed when I opened my soup, when a blob all but burst out onto my shirt from my lid removal.
“I hope you’re not a vegetarian,” he bit as he handed Valory a bowl.
I didn’t miss the way her eyebrows shot up, or the way her fingers grazed his as she took the bowl from him.
A strange sort of memory filled my psyche.
My fingers sliding over Miles’s on top of his thigh.
The sunlight pouring through the car windows, lighting him up in its golden, amber rays.
But before I could grasp it, once more, it disappeared like the fading sun.
“I am not,” Valory responded as he handed her a fork. They stared at one another for a moment, and I think, dead or not, they had to be the best telenovela I’d ever seen.
Miles’s grandmother watched telenovelas...
Surely, that’s a thing a friend would know, right?
“Thank you,” she said as he grumbled out a response.
“Now, we’re even.”
Though his words were harsh, his tone was anything but.
“I suppose we are,” Valory said, and for a moment, we were too enamored with our food to do anything but savor the sustenance as time slipped away.