Chapter 30
Henry
Nick sat with his back against the headboard.
He’d listened quietly for almost thirty minutes as I explained angels were really aliens from a different planet, how we came to Earth to escape the Drevlin, and how humans came to believe we were angels.
When I moved on to him and more current events, he had a lot of questions I couldn’t answer.
Uriel didn’t tell me much, but I shared everything with Nick.
After fifteen minutes of him asking questions, and me responding with ‘I don’t know’ more often than with a satisfying answer, Nick folded his hands in his lap and stared at the wall. His body had discharged most of the excess energy he’d absorbed, but it was still warmer than I remembered.
I'd expected confusion, anger, and rejection. Instead, a peculiar calm had settled over him. He also kept his distance from me. I wanted to reach over and take his hand, feel his aura, let him discover how to sense mine, but he didn’t seem receptive.
“It explains a lot,” he said softly. “I can’t believe Trevor lied to me all these years.”
My heart clenched. The toll of carrying the secret for the short time had felt oppressive.
I could only imagine what it cost Trevor.
“Don’t be mad at him,” I said. “Your friendship is not a lie. It’s one of the purest bonds I’ve ever seen.
He cares about you exactly as he presents.
To him, you’re brothers. The weight of his lies grew the closer he got to you.
If we weren’t all convinced you’d die if you found out too soon, we’d all have told you long ago. ”
“I get that in here,” he tapped his chest, “up here, it kind of fucks with my brain. The only thing I know for sure is I wouldn’t have survived without him. I realized he’d given up a lot for me, but I didn’t understand just how much.”
The way he forgave Trevor gave me hope he’d forgive me. “I’ve said it a dozen times already, but I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you when we were in Frederick, but Uriel sounded so scared.”
“I understand.” His voice was steady, certain. “Even with that secret, you always showed me how much I mattered to you. I’m angry and frustrated, but that’s better than being dead. But no more secrets, right?”
This wasn’t settled by a long shot, but it was a start we could build upon. “Right. I’ll always be honest with you from now on.”
“Thank you.” He reached over and grabbed my hand. “Although you can bend things a bit when I look like crap, or my cooking sucks.”
I hoped he never lost his goofy, irreverent personality in the centuries to come. “You’ll always be beautiful, and I plan for us to cook together, but the whole truth requires brutal honesty.”
“Hmph.” He gave me a fake frown. “I can live with that. You can expect the same in return.”
With those few words, Nick let me know he’d given me a gift I didn’t deserve. He’d forgiven me. I'd spent weeks lying to him, and he’d agreed I had good cause, but we weren’t doing that again.
“You need to let it go, Henry.” Nick put our joined hands to his lips. “I’ll never like what happened, but I guess it’s okay if it means I get to be with you.”
I wanted to lean in and seal our understanding with a kiss, but voices in the hallway ended our moment.
“He’s talking to Henry,” Trevor said, his voice strained yet respectful. “They asked for privacy.”
“I'm aware.” The second voice sent a chill down my spine. He was here? Now? “But it’s time for all deceptions to end.”
“Agreed, Uncle.” Vicky didn’t hide her dislike of Uriel. “Uncle Raphael said we shouldn’t disturb them until my father and Uncle Gabriel arrive.”
“Setting aside you can’t stop me if I decide to go in, I do not answer to any of my brothers,” Uriel said. “I consider their wishes and then make my own decisions. Right now, I’m following what I’ve seen unfold. Now step aside.”
After years of hiding and months of cryptic messages laden with secondhand warnings, Uriel decided this was the moment to take an active role? The timing couldn't be a coincidence.
I jumped off the bed and nodded for Nick to follow. “He wants to meet you, let him meet you.”
“Meet who?” Nick asked. Despite the question, he got off the bed and joined me at the door.
The others were still talking, but I tuned them out. “Uriel. He’s the one whose visions we’ve been following.”
I opened the door to find Trevor with his fist raised. He flinched and then stepped back. “I guess you heard.”
Before I could answer, Nick gasped. My instincts kicked in and I gathered my power. “What’s wrong?”
“Alex?” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”
Uriel’s image shifted between his usual early thirties, handsome, brown-haired male, and a distinguished older male with mostly silver hair. Uriel was Alex? How did none of us see through his deception?
“Hello, Nick,” Uriel said, a smile curling his lips. “Sorry for the abrupt revelation.”
“I don’t understand.” Nick looked between us, confusion etched across his face. “What's happening?”
Nick understood, he just didn’t want to accept what he’d learned. “Evidently, Uncle Uriel has pretended to be Alex all these years to watch over you.”
“Did you know?” Nick asked.
The accusation stung, but it was deserved. I could promise to tell him everything, but that didn’t change all the lies I’d told in the past. “No. I haven’t seen Uncle Uriel in decades, and I never met Alex. I had no idea until now.”
Vicky, Trevor, and Brenda hovered in the doorway, watching the exchange with a mixture of awe and apprehension. Behind them, Zeke and Orion had arrived, looking as confused as everyone else.
“Alex.” The pain in Nick’s voice mirrored the emotions rolling off him. “How…? Why?”
Uriel sighed, his shoulders dropping slightly. For a moment, he actually looked sorry. Then it faded. “I’m here because no one else can give you the answers you seek.”
I felt Nick's shock like a physical blow through our bond. This wasn't just any revelation—this was betrayal layered upon betrayal. Alex had been his mentor, his surrogate father, the one constant support he'd had since moving to D.C.
“Everything was all an act.” Nick’s body language changed. “You’ve been lying to me since… since I was born. Even today, when I was coming to you for help. And you made others lie to me. Why should I trust anything you tell me?”
Any decent person would be ashamed of what happened to Nick, but Uriel showed no sign he regretted his actions. “I did what was necessary to keep you safe, Nick.”
“Necessary?” Nick's voice cracked. “Everything about my life is a lie! My powers, what I am, and now you—” He broke off, shaking his head in disbelief.
I reached for Nick's hand. He pulled away, and the rejection stung. Through our connection, I felt betrayal, anger, confusion, and beneath it all, a deep, aching hurt. A moment later, he slipped his fingers around mine. The contact eased some of his pain.
“I hope in time you can trust me, but I didn’t come here expecting you’d embrace me as a friend.” Uriel's expression softened, but he was still unrepentant. “I plan to tell everyone the entire story tonight. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”
Given my interactions with Uncle Uriel, and his concern for Nick, I’d unconsciously taken his “side” in his dispute with Michael.
Uriel turned out to be just as big a dick as his brother.
They were both cold and calculating. The only difference was Uriel had helped me keep Nick alive.
“We should listen to what he says,” I said to Nick.
“We’ve been trusting his visions and following his plans for years.
This is our chance to find out why he made those decisions. ”
Nick was angry, and I feared he’d let that antagonism influence whether or not to listen to Uriel. If he decided he didn’t want to hear what my uncle had to say, I’d stay and ask all the questions Nick put to me that I couldn’t answer.
“Fine,” Nick said, but he refused to look at anyone.
Raphael and Wallace arrived on the second floor. Unlike everyone else, Raphael didn’t appear surprised by Uriel's presence. “Sorry I didn’t come up when you arrived,” Raphael said. “Wallace and I were securing the D’val and making sure its handlers couldn’t track it.”
“Ralph?” Nick whispered as if trying to equate the two. I was glad I remembered to include that fact in our discussion.
“Hello, Nick.” Unlike his brother, Raphael sounded remorseful. “I’m truly sorry for all the deceptions. We did as much as we could to support you, but our first concern was keeping you alive.”
“People keep saying that,” Nick said. “Why would anyone want to kill me? I’m no one special.”
“That was the point,” Uriel said. “No one wanted to kill Nicholas Fenton.”
“But I’m Nicholas Fenton.” He looked around the room, and ended with me. “Aren’t I?”
“No.” Uriel said.
That one word broke Nick. He’d endured loneliness and rejection from his family, but he still clung to them because it was all he had. Now he didn’t even have them.
“Michael and Gabriel will be here soon,” Raphael said. “Perhaps we should move to the study, and wait for them to have this discussion.”
Uriel must’ve agreed with his brother because he led the way downstairs. The rest of us stood there for a moment until I shrugged. “I guess if we want answers, we need to follow.”
“My apologies, but it will be better if we moved,” Raphael appeared contrite. “When Michael gets here, he is going to be exceedingly angry with Uriel and myself. Best if we don’t have that encounter in the upstairs hallway.”
We followed Raphael, but before we reached the study, I felt Dad’s aura. An instant later, I sensed Michael’s as well. “Show time,” I whispered.
“Dad’s gonna rip them a new one,” Vicky said. “Especially Uriel. I can’t wait to see that happen.”
Vicky might end up very disappointed. According to my father, the last time Michael and Uriel clashed, it didn’t go well for Michael.