Chapter 28 #2
The next page is a table of contents. “That’s handy,” I say.
Angel is one of the first ones since they’re listed alphabetically.
I scan further down to see if Nephilim is listed, but it’s not.
That aggravates me, but I’m hoping the angel chapter says something.
I’d just google it if I had internet access, but old-school research will have to work.
I turn to the listed page number and begin to read:
Angels are spiritual entities, sometimes appearing in human form, sometimes not, who exist between the mortal world and the spiritual world. These beings are often considered messengers, guardians, guides, or protectors for those on earth.
I look up and grip the book in my hands.
The tattoo on Kai’s back is heavy in the forefront of my mind.
And given what I’ve experienced these last two nights, what this says about angels fits.
Both Remi and Kai have been guiding me through what I thought were nightmares—the nightmares they both tried to tell me were real.
Burning annoyance crawls up my neck, but who could blame me? If they are what they say they are, what person in their right mind would believe them? It’s only something that happens in stories, not real life. Or at least I thought…
I read on, absorbing the information. I’m getting to the end when the word I was looking for stops me in my tracks. Nephilim. The skin on the back of my neck and arms lights up with goosebumps, and my stomach flips with excitement.
Nephilim are beings born of both divine and human DNA. They are often seen as beings caught between two worlds, neither fully mortal nor purely celestial. They’re stronger and wiser than humans and utterly beautiful, living hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Not much is known about Nephilim, and there is no consensus on if they are good or bad.
Certain texts warn they are omens and bring only sin as the bastards of heaven, while others say they are peaceful and bring only good.
Some texts mention that they were once protectors of the earth, but no proof has been found that they’ve ever existed. If they do, they stay hidden.
“Enjoying your book?”
Said book drops to the floor, and my butt flies off my seat. “Oh my God.”
“God’s not here, Greer. Only me.”
Sam’s tall and well-muscled body steps out from the shadows near a bookshelf, stopping to pick up the book I nearly chucked into the fire. He flips it over and studies the cover, his lip twitching before he hands it back to me.
“Interesting choice of literature.” I take it as his eyes fall to the monster romance I also brought over with me. We already discussed my love for tentacles over dinner last night, and I’m not going to be ashamed of it now.
“It’s your store, right?” I ask after I’ve caught my breath. My eyes snag his dark gaze, black irises that remind me of staring into the bottom of a deep well. The only light in them is from the flames of the flickering fire.
“It is.”
The warm baritone of his voice sparks that familiar pull in my gut, the one I haven’t been able to shake since I arrived here.
Last night, in Sam’s room, it shifted into something else entirely: a passionate desire.
Fierce, unyielding, all-consuming. And though that fire has been burning since the moment I walked away from them, now it feels sharper.
Focused. Hungry for something only Sam can provide.
“Are you calling the books you stock in your store an ‘interesting choice,’ then?”
He takes another step forward so the fire lights his entire frame.
He’s wearing a black sweater and black slacks with black loafers, his hair perfectly in place and his jaw clean shaven.
The more I study him, the more I think that Nephilim are real and that his words “God’s not here” make a lot more sense if that is true.
I remember Kai telling me he was a Nephilim and not God and Remi saying much the same, though he asked me to call him Remiel and eventually Daddy.
The ghost of a smile tugs the corner of his lips. “I was simply making an observation. I don’t think anyone has picked up that book. To be honest, I don’t remember stocking it.”
“It was on the table of new books.” I gesture to where I found it and The Heir of the Sea.
The space between his eyebrows furrows. “I didn’t put it there.”
He says it like he’s saying it to himself, but I answer anyway. “Someone did. A worker, maybe?”
He places his hands in his pockets and thinks for a long moment. “Could have been.”
“Or a stray customer.”
He looks up at me. “I don’t get many customers in here.”
“Seems like that’s a theme in this town.”
He sits in the empty chair across from mine. “Want to give me business tips as well?”
I chuckle. “Something tells me you wouldn’t listen.”
“You might be right.”
I look around the space and absorb the dark yet light of it. Despite it being a bit heavier in color—and it could definitely use another window—it feels warm and sacred. The books seem to be keeping the darkness at bay.
“If it’s worth anything, I wouldn’t change it.”
“You wouldn’t?” He props his elbows on his knees.
“No. I’d say if people knew it existed, you’d have a constant stream of customers.”
“My worst nightmare.”
A laugh bubbles out of me. “Then why do you own a bookstore?”
“I like books. I like peace. This provides me both.”
“Are you a trust-fund baby or something?”
“Or something.”
I study his features, the information I read on Nephilim swirling in my mind. They’re stronger and wiser than humans and utterly beautiful, living hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And Samael is utterly beautiful. Just like Remi and Kai.
“How old are you?”
He sits back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because Remi and Kai wouldn’t give me a straight answer. And I’m trying to figure something out.”
His gaze tracks up and down my body slowly. It feels…consuming. While I don’t know much about Sam, if Remi and Kai are, in fact, Nephilim, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out he is, too. I have no doubt that, tonight, he’ll be the one to show me the future.
He does give off Ghost of Christmas Future vibes. It would explain his broodiness and the darkness that seems to ooze from him. It’s not a scary darkness, though. It’s like the bookshop, more inviting. At least to me.
“Which is what?”
I hold up the book. “If what Kai and Remi have said is true, that you’re half angel, half human. And if what this book says about Nephilim is true.”
His stare is intense, so intense my skin buzzes like I’ve been electrocuted. “And if it is?”
That’s a good question. If he says yes, then what?
A normal person would be freaking out, but I’m not, probably because I’ve been starting to believe what Kai and Remi have been saying to me.
Now, I’m more curious, hungrier for information.
I want to know the full truth and if what that book said is true.
I don’t believe these men are evil or omens of any sort. The only sins committed are that of the flesh, and there was nothing bad about that. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to do it again—but this time with all three of them.
“Then I want to know everything, and I want my questions answered.”
Sam taps his talented-looking fingers on his thigh. “Alright, but on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t try to run.”
Arousal zips through my veins, and I almost interject that running would be fun on the condition that he caught me. Primal always sounded fun in the books I read, but I keep that to myself and smile. “It’s a deal.”