Chapter 29
Chapter twenty-nine
Samael
I shouldn’t be surprised that the idea of running sparked Greer’s arousal. Given how open she’s been with Kai and Remi and the fact that The Heir of the Sea is her choice of reading, I know Greer is the kind of woman who enjoys and even thrives when kink is involved. I can relate to that.
When someone’s been alive for as long as I have, you see a lot, experience a lot.
Enjoying kink, experimenting in all different varieties of it—not to mention how creative I can get with the abilities I have—was a natural progression, especially with sexual partners as voracious and equally matched with me as Remi and Kai are.
Greer doesn’t balk at sex that veers away from what society deems “normal,” and that excites me—I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t.
I was excruciatingly turned on by her before she even got here, and after seeing her with my fellow guardians, the way she took Remi’s massive cock like she was born to do it while swallowing Kai’s equally impressive length, I’ve been hard enough to cut glass.
I have restraint and decorum, but it’s annoying my dick that I do. My hindbrain wants to forget every reasonable thought and argument I have for keeping Greer at arm’s length and show her exactly what it would be like to be chased down and taken or fucked by the tentacles she loves so much.
“So,” Greer says, crossing one shapely leg over the other. “You three are what they call Nephilim?”
At her question, my mind is pulled back into reality and out of the gutter. My throat becomes thick, and I wonder if this is all a mistake. Maybe I should lull Greer into a nap and be the one to run instead.
I do find it amusing that you told her not to run yet you’ve been the one running, Kai says through our link.
Go away, Malachi, I’m doing what you wanted, I scold him.
What we all wanted?
I hold in a sigh. It’s taking everything in me not to look annoyed, the downsides of having telepathic communication. Especially when the person you’re talking to face-to-face doesn’t know you have that ability.
Let me have my time with Greer, I say.
I feel Kai’s presence leave my mind in submission. I normally close the link when I need privacy, but I want Kai and Remi to linger in case something happens like it did yesterday. I don’t think it will, but it’s a precaution.
Surprisingly, I still feel in control, especially with Greer here in my shop and no one else around.
If I’m honest, I feel the most at ease since the night before she arrived.
My energy has been all over the place, but after watching her with my partners, seeing her open up to them and her aura shift, a big part of me feels satisfied and happy.
But there’s the other part of me, the more animalistic, human side that wants something else from her.
I push that all away and focus on my promise. I told Remi and Kai that I would do my best to get to know Greer, to put aside my fears and live in the moment. I think it’s fair for her to understand who and what we are before anything more happens. Even if she’ll forget it all when she’s gone.
“Sam?”
I clear my throat. “Sorry, I was thinking of the best way to answer.”
She wets her lips. “A yes or no would work in this scenario.”
My eyes narrow with lazy amusement. I see her time swallowing Kai’s cock did nothing to tame her quick-witted mouth.
Not that I would expect it to—it’s part of who she is, and I like it.
Probably too much, considering she’s here to learn from her mistakes, from the harm she’s caused to others with her words and actions.
But she is changing—not only her aura but her overall being as well.
She’s more relaxed and open than when she walked into the bar.
She’s feeling empathy and emotions she’s shut off for far too long.
I don’t know her well, but I’m proud of her, proud she’s leaning into what we’re showing her.
Given how gray her aura was when she arrived, I thought we’d have more of a challenge.
But I think Elysian Pines did what it always does: seeks and brings people to us who want to change, even if they don’t realize it.
She’s also gotten closer to us than most, Remi whispers in the link.
I know Kai has something clever and dirty to say, so I warn them to leave me be.
“Yes,” I answer Greer. “Kai was telling you the truth, and so was Remi. We’re half angel, half human.”
I expect her to balk or laugh. She did at first when Kai told her, started calling him Angel Boy as a joke. But she’s not laughing now.
“Are there more of you?” she asks.
I nod. “Everyone who lives in Elysian Pines is either Nephilim or full angel, but the latter is rare. Currently, only Nephilim live here.”
“And who is your town’s mayor, God?”
She’s smiling, but I’m not. “Like I said, God’s not here.”
“Where is He then?”
“They are wherever God is.”
She nods. “You’re not friends?”
Laughter in the form of a small smile appears on my lips. “Never met the being.”
“What about your angel parent?”
“I’m assuming yes, they know God, but I’ve never met my father, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“And your human mother?”
“Has she met God?”
“No, I mean, is she here?”
“She’s long gone.”
Greer’s quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Warmth hums in my chest. I don’t know if the Greer that arrived here would have said that to me so readily. It would have been too vulnerable for her to show the empathetic side of herself she’s buried for years.
“No need to feel sorry for me. I don’t remember her well, but from what I do, she was afraid of what I am.”
“You may be broody, but you don’t seem like someone to be afraid of.”
A chuckle leaks from my chest, my aura pulsing out.
Greer may not be able to see it, but her body responds to it—she leans forward in her chair, her even breaths turning shorter.
It’s an interesting response, especially for a human.
Most would lean away, not toward. It makes her comment about not being afraid ring true.
Greer isn’t like most, Kai sneaks in.
No, she isn’t. And I’m starting to realize it more and more. But I have to wonder: Will she feel the same once I’ve shown her the future? If she knows more of what I am?
“You don’t know me enough to make the deduction,” I say.
She sets the book down on the table in front of her, her elbows leaning on her knees.
“Then let me get to know you. Tell me more about you, Kai, and Remi. How did you meet and end up in this place? And what is this place exactly? I think I’m right in assuming there’s a reason I’d never heard of it before I arrived? ”
“You would be correct.” I don’t hesitate in answering her, because at the end of the day, she won’t remember it once she’s gone. Even if she did, Elysian Pines has to let her find it. It’s never let the same human cross its borders twice in all the years we’ve been here.
This is what I’ve tried to warn Remi and Kai about, but I’m doing my best to get to know Greer.
And I’d be lying to myself if I said I don’t want to, even if it’s just for a short time.
A part of me feels like I must. Maybe it’s the human part of me, the one that will always crave connection and trust more than my angelic side does.
Greer stares, waiting for me to continue. She asked me multiple questions that thankfully have simple answers. Or at least, mostly simple.
“We’ve been alive for a long time—”
“How long?”
“Centuries.”
“Are we talking, like, five hundred?”
“Do you think I look five hundred?”
“Is someone sensitive about their age?” she teases.
I can hear Kai wanting to answer that I am, but I’m not. At least, not really. It’s only when I’m questioning the downsides of long life that I feel the weight of death evading me. I see the end for the humans that we help, but Nephilim are different.
“No, are you?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I’m in a society that values women’s youth and beauty. I won’t lie and say that I haven’t had sensitivities over it. Thankfully, I’ve learned to embrace myself for who I am, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten a bit of Botox.” She points to the middle of her forehead.
“It’s your body; you should do whatever you’d like with it.”
“No spiel about how I’m perfect the way God made me?”
“Every being, human or not, isn’t perfect, not even those of us with angelic grace. I’d argue that makes us less than perfect.”
“How so?”
“That book, among other texts, enjoys calling us ‘bastards of heaven.’ We were never meant to exist—angels were not supposed to breed with humans. Many angels consider us abominations, and humans tend to be afraid of what we are and our power. We don’t live in heaven nor do heaven’s bidding, and living strictly among humans is hard for us. ”
“Because people are afraid of you?”
“That, and because we live longer, age slower. We stick out if we settle in one place for too long. We’re different, and different is hard for beings to embrace. Neither humans nor angels truly understand us or what we are.”
“Interesting. I would have thought if a place like heaven existed, it would be accepting.”
“It can be hard for many to understand and accept what they don’t know.
Often, Nephilim are born out of a night of passion.
Kai claims his mother swore she met her angel lover in a dream.
Remi’s mother wouldn’t speak of her night with his father, and my mother wished for me to leave her care because she was afraid of what I was.
“This place, the magic of it”—I look around at the library and gesture with my hands to the beyond—“called to each of us when we needed it, much like it did for you. Remiel arrived first, then Malachi, and lastly, me. We’ve lived here together for over three-hundred years and are guardians of this town and those who visit here. ”
Her eyes bug out of her head. “What?”
“Which part are you what-ing about?”