Chapter 29 #2
She levels her gaze at me. “All of it, but I meant your age.” She raises a brow. “Do you know when your birthdays are?”
“It’s inconsequential. Though with Kai’s ability to see the past and his love for history, he could tell you. But after a time, years don’t matter.”
“I’ll admit,” she says then pauses. “This sounds completely…”
“…impossible?”
She laughs, the sound floaty and soft. “That’s one way to put it, though I’m really wondering if I crashed in that snowstorm and I’m in a coma somewhere.
That would make more sense than a town that appears when people need it and is full of half human, half angels who are not only insanely attractive but are also hundreds of years old and for some reason interested in me? ”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, and you can’t forget I’ve been living moments from my past and present that I never expected anyone to see but me, much less otherworldly beings I’ve been intimate with.” She pauses for a long moment, her cheeks staining a delicate pink.
“Kai and Remi would never judge you, Greer. They’re the best beings I know. When they were guiding you, did you feel like they did?”
She releases a tense breath and thinks for a moment. Eventually, her shoulders ease, and the pink leaves her cheeks. “No, they didn’t.”
“Good.”
She shifts in her chair, eyes connecting with mine, one brow slightly lifted. Her curious and challenging nature is back, emblazoned on her features. “I’m assuming you’re on deck for some fun time with me and my future tonight?”
I pause and lean forward. “You would assume right.”
She nods, accepting it better than I thought she would. “And I’m for sure not in a coma or dead?”
I deepen the intensity of my gaze. “No, you’re not. You’re perfectly alive and well, Greer—of that, I’m sure.”
She laughs a bit louder and rubs a hand over her face. “Right. Could you explain now why this is all happening to me? You said I was drawn here, much like you and the others were, out of need, but I’m not part angel, am I?”
I shake my head. “You’re not.”
She nods, her brow pinched in thought. “So was it God who picked me or something? Or was it because I just happened to need a place to stay during the storm?”
“You really want to know?”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t.”
I hold her gaze for a moment before speaking. “I’ll explain from the beginning, so you have the full picture.”
She nods, and I continue.
“There’s much about Nephilim that is unknown, even to those of us who are one. There aren’t many of us roaming around on earth, and most live here. The magic of the town calls to them like it did to me, Remi, and Kai.
“When Remi arrived, the Nephilim guardians here taught him everything they knew about the town and passed the guardianship to him when he was ready to take over. Eventually, Kai and I joined him in that guardianship.”
“Is there a reason it was the three of you?”
I dip my chin. “We’re the three most powerful Nephilim that we know of on earth and have the skills to see the past, present, and future. The power we’ve been given lends itself to help those Elysian Pines pulls to our borders.”
“So you’re saying it was the town that chose me?”
“You said it yourself: You’ve never heard of this place.
This isn’t a normal town, Greer. The magic that created it is so old, even we don’t understand everything about it.
What we do know is that it will only allow those who need to find us to cross its borders.
It hides itself from the outside world otherwise. ”
“How often do people show up here?”
“It depends. Some humans need to experience their past, present, and future. Sometimes, they only need a warm bed for the night or someone to talk to. It depends on the person and the read we get on them when they arrive. That determines how we move forward.”
“What you’re saying is only people like me need the full experience?”
“Not everyone, no.” My body naturally shifts closer to her. “But I can confidently say I don’t think there’s anyone like you, Greer.”
“Meaning?”
“For one, you’re the only you in the world.
There is no one else like you, no one who has your genetic makeup or lived your life.
You’ve been through struggles and had success only some could dream of.
The life you’ve built for yourself is something I know you’re proud of and that you take pride in, even when you believe others don’t. ”
Her nails drum on the arm of the chair. “I see you know a lot about me.”
“Being Nephilim guardians, having the abilities that we do, we see and feel many things. I’ve experienced your past and present through Kai’s and Remi’s times with you, and I’ll show you your future. Everything I see and know allows me to better help you while you’re here.”
“Funny, I don’t remember needing or asking for help,” she snarks, a flare of anger flashing through her ever-changing aura.
“I understand that us seeing what we’ve seen can be upsetting.
I know this is your life, your memories and your future.
But Elysian Pines would not have brought you here if you did not want it.
Over the centuries I’ve been doing this, I’ve seen enough to know you must have had a stray thought or fleeting moment where you longed to be something or someone else. ”
“I’m fine with who I am.”
“Maybe so, and I’m not saying you are wrong or that you need to change. But I think you know after what you’ve seen so far why Elysian Pines brought you here. You don’t need me to explain more.”
Greer pauses for a moment, thinking over what I said. She doesn’t disagree or fight back, and the slight gold in her aura pulses, telling me I’m right in my thinking. “And secondly?”
“What?”
“You said for one—what’s the second reason I’m not like anyone else?
” As she asks the question, her hand subconsciously presses to her stomach, and I feel a craving tug in mine as well, the one that’s only gotten louder and hungrier the longer I’ve been sitting here.
That feeling, that undying need, is the biggest reason she’s different from all the other humans that have crossed my path.
Greer Mallory stirs something in me and my fellow guardians—strange, unnameable feelings that spark wants we have no right to, wants Kai and Remi have never denied, even as I keep trying to bury mine. Because we shouldn’t want her, not in any way, shape, or form.
“You don’t want to answer?” she asks, a teasing yet vulnerable tone in her voice. “Is it that bad?”
Words spill from my lips before I can stop them, like snow raging down a mountain in an avalanche. “We don’t usually fuck the humans that cross our borders.”
Samael. Both Kai’s and Remi’s voices snap through our link, sharp enough to make my eye twitch.
I don’t look away from Greer. She isn’t shocked by my statement—in fact, she looks almost…
lighter. Her unique irises are brighter as the weight of our conversation evaporates into the air and is replaced by a different kind of energy.
Lust.
“Funny.” She crosses one leg over the other. “Because I don’t remember you fucking me, Samael.”
The sound of my full name on her tongue is like a match to gasoline.
The space between our gaze lights up, and my aura pulses, pushing out of me like it did at the rink.
My heart rate picks up to the point I can feel it beating in my chest, rare for a being like me—but apparently not when I’m around Greer.
Sam. Remi’s voice snaps through my mind, yanking my attention to the tendrils of my aura now curling toward the woman before me. Fear spikes, and I wrench at the reins of my control, trying to pull the dark shadows back. But every part of me—mind, body, and soul—wants Greer. And it wants her now.
“Sam?” Her voice wades through the fog in my mind.
My attention snaps to her at the shock and astonishment in her voice, to her pupils tracking up and over the tentacle-like black waves that are creeping toward her across the floor, almost touching her.
I sit up straight, fear curling up my neck. “Can you see my aura?”
“The shadows?” she asks, still in awe. “Yes.”
I’m up and out of the chair, ready to snap myself away from the bookstore. Why is she seeing my aura? She didn’t see it reaching for her yesterday at the rink. Humans should not be able to see what it looks like unless I want them to, much less someone who was sent to us for help and guidance.
“Sam!” Greer calls.
“I’m sorry, I need to go.” My back is to her as I lift my fingers to snap, but before I’m able to, a warm hand closes over them and stops me.