Chapter 30 #2
A powerful surge of energy disrupted the protections around the house. Nick must’ve felt it too because he flinched and squeezed my hand the moment it happened. The incursion only lasted a second, but it announced Michael’s arrival.
“This is going to get out of hand,” Zeke said. “That wasn’t the least bit subtle.”
“Gabriel will be the voice of reason,” Orion said. “And I’ll be there to help him if needed.”
Seeing Orion with Zeke, it was hard to equate the doting boyfriend with the legendary warrior. I really hoped things didn’t get to that point.
My father entered first, his expression grave but controlled. Michael was like a tornado. Power rolled off him in waves and made the air crackle. The moment he set foot in the room, he fixed his stare on his brother.
“Uriel.” Michael's voice could have frozen an ocean. “I assumed you’d show up.”
“Hello, Michael.” Uriel's shifted his weight as if preparing for battle. “It’s been a while.”
Michael ignored the barb and shifted his gaze to Raphael. “Your betrayal, however, is difficult to reconcile.”
Raphael remained impassive. “I did what was needed.”
“Needed?” The air around Michael stirred. “Uriel has defied me at every turn, and now I learn you helped him. You had no right to—”
“No right to what, Michael?” Uriel cut in, his voice sharp. “You practically walked her to her grave to serve your purposes. I was never going to let you do the same to her son.”
“Despite your accusations, I didn’t make her do anything.” Michael was charged with energy. “Ariel had the same gift as you, just not as strong. I loved her too, but she did what she thought was needed.”
It didn’t take a scorecard to know who ‘her son’ was, and Nick’s body unconsciously reached out for energy.
“You don’t get to absolve yourself that easily, Michael,” Uriel said. “Ariel would’ve never had a child if you hadn’t put the idea in her head it was necessary.”
A sudden rush of energy flowed toward Nick, and I barely had time to divert the majority before it reached him. “Nick, stop! Your body is injured. Doing it again might kill you.”
“What are you talking about?” Nick asked. “Who’s Ariel?”
Michael's gaze fell on Nick as if he just realized there were others in the room beside his brothers. His expression shifted from recognition, to calculation, and then an interest that felt like desire.
“So this is the child you sought to keep from me,” Michael said softly.
I squeezed Nick’s hand tighter, ready to act if needed. My father caught my eye, and his expression was clear: Be careful.
“No, Michael,” Uriel said without anger. “I hid him because if I hadn’t, you’d have killed him.”
“That’s absurd!” There was genuine shock on his face. “I’ve never killed another angel.”
“Stop!” Nick used some of the power he’d collected and pushed it into his scream. It was enough to rattle the house. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
The tension in the room thickened, the air itself seeming to grow heavy with the weight of ancient rivalries and long-buried secrets. Michael's gaze never left his brother, but Uriel turned to Nick, his expression full of a sorrow I’d never seen before.
“I’m so sorry, Nick,” Uriel said, sparing a glance at Michael. “You deserve the truth.”
A hush fell over the room. Other than possibly Raphael, everyone was in the dark about so many things.
“Ariel is my twin sister, and she was your mother.”
Mom and Dad said the bond between Uriel and Ariel was tighter than most HKarlin. When he learned she was pregnant, only Dad and Raphael prevented Uriel from killing Michael.
“Impossible.” Michael said. “There were tests….”
Raphael and Uriel exchanged a glance.
“How is that possible?” Nick asked. “How did I end up with humans if I'm an angel and she was my mother?”
“I switched you with the dead Fenton child,” Uriel said softly.
These half answers, and partial truths were tearing Nick apart. “Would someone please tell us what really happened?” I asked, not caring who I pissed off. “Nick deserves the entire truth.”
“He does.” Tears pooled at the edges of Uriel’s eyes. “I promised Ariel I’d make sure Nick knew why she couldn’t be there to raise him.”
Uriel wiped the drops from his face, and I led Nick to a couch. He was still weak from his dream fight, and these shocks weren’t helping him.
Uriel grabbed a chair and put it so he could face Nick.
“As some have alluded, I have visions. I can’t see the future, but I see probabilities of what can happen.
Your mother, Ariel, sometimes experienced what I saw through our bond.
She did not, as Michael suggested, have the ability to see probabilities on her own.
“One of the most recurring visions I had was of her death in childbirth. Every time, without exception, she died giving birth to her first child. I spent thousands of years making sure that future never came true. Some, like my brother, called me self-centered because Ariel’s child would be the fourth archangel.
No angel born of anyone else could become that heir. ”
The others had taken seats and listened in silence. Nick held tight to my hand, his emotions roiling with all the new information. If he hadn’t had a power burst, I doubt he’d believe what he’d heard.
“The only vision I had more frequently than Ariel’s death was of the Drevlin coming to Earth.
I’m not sure how much Henry told you, but they are a race that lives for conquest. When they came to our home world, we foolishly thought we could withstand them.
Our race survived because the previous four brothers sacrificed themselves so some of us could flee to Earth.
We’ve spent the last four thousand years preparing for them to expand and reach Earth.
“In every probability in which we prevailed, there were four archangels, and four heirs. We didn’t always win, but we lost whenever any of those eight weren’t present. The fourth heir was vital to our survival.”
Uriel got up and poured himself a tumbler of whiskey.
Taking a sip, he returned to his chair. “Michael is right, I was selfish. I would rather we all die than lose Ariel. She had other ideas. As she saw it, she died no matter which path she chose, so she opted for the one that gave our race a chance to survive. She made that choice after Michael spoke to her.”
“You have never believed me, but I did not talk her into that decision.” Michael toned down his anger. “She came to me to tell me what she planned to do.”
“I know.” Uriel refused to look at his brother. “She shared every word of your conversation. I blame you because you didn’t try to stop her.”
“That’s not fair,” Dad said. “All of us are prepared to give our lives if it will defeat the Drevlin. Ariel made the same choice.”
“Fair has nothing to do with this, Gabriel.” Uriel took another sip.
“Michael was practically gleeful when she told him.” He held up his hand in Michael’s direction.
“I saw the entire conversation through my sister’s eyes.
Your exact words were, ‘I’m pleased to hear you’ve made the only rational decision. ’ And you smiled as you spoke them.”
Michael sank back in his seat, his silence an admission of guilt.
“I planned to die with her, but she told me she needed me to take care of her boy.” Tears rolled down his cheeks. “She was right, but she also knew what it would cost me.”
Beside me, Nick was a maelstrom of emotions, but the one that stood out most was his empathy for Uriel. I couldn’t be that generous, but I was proud of Nick for his big heart.
“How did…?” Vicky asked what we all wanted to know. “We looked everywhere.”
“Ariel checked into a hospital owned by our kind as a Jane Doe,” Raphael said. “Uriel went with her and called me to help. Her son was born with his powers fully formed.”
A collective gasp echoed in the room and Raphael nodded.
“Yes, it was unprecedented. No infant could possibly control such power. It would have killed him, and likely many others around him. Having seen this probability, Ariel was prepared. She used her life force to suppress his powers until he was old enough to handle them.”
Nick's breath caught. I wanted to pull him closer, but he didn’t need me that way. “How did Nick end up with the Fentons?” I asked.
“Although we knew what was going to happen, we weren’t as prepared as we thought.” Uriel's expression tightened. “Before you were free of the womb, you instinctively sought energy. In the adjacent delivery room, the Fentons had just had a baby boy.”
“No!” Nick whispered in horror.
“You were not to blame, Nick,” Uriel said. “The fault was mine. Despite everything, my focus was on trying to save Ariel. I should’ve been more attentive. You absorbed the life energy from the Fenton baby. You were seconds old and couldn’t understand, much less control what happened.”
“After Ariel died, we swapped you with the deceased Fenton boy. Raphael facilitated the process. The Fenton boy was listed as a still born John Doe, born to a woman who died in childbirth with no identification or name.”
“I changed the hospital records, took numerous blood samples from the baby, and let Uriel take his sister home for a proper burial,” Raphael said. “With your powers suppressed, no one questioned that the child the Fentons took home was their own."
“Why all the secrecy?” Michael asked. “You can’t possibly think I’d have harmed the child.”
“I needed to hide him until he was older because if you or I, or any angel family raised him, it would trigger his powers before he was ready.” Uriel said.
“The power would change him, and he’d blame you for Ariel’s death.
Despite my best efforts to stop him in every possibility I saw, you and he would end up fighting.
In some, he’d attack you, and in the ensuing fight, Nick would die.
In other possibilities, he’d kill me first because I couldn’t hurt him.
He’d snap and go on a rampage only you could stop.
This was the only scenario where he lived. ”
“I’m confused,” Trevor said. When everyone stared at him, he looked embarrassed.
“It’s OK, Trevor,” Uriel said. “After all I’ve asked of you, you’ve earned the right to ask questions.”
Trevor still looked uncomfortable, but he nodded. “You told my grandfather you found the fourth heir, but you didn’t tell anyone he was Ariel’s son. I don’t understand.”
“It wasn’t time,” Uriel said. “Without Henry, Nick would’ve died today. Neither Henry, nor Nick were ready for each other until now.”
Nick shifted beside me, but didn’t let go of my hand. “So you let me grow up thinking I was human.” Nick’s voice was hollow. “You left me with that… family.”
“Despite Ariel’s sacrifice, your powers were still a powder keg,” Uriel's face reflected genuine regret. “There was no way to take you from them that didn’t lead to releasing your powers too soon. So I left you there and tried to help as much as I could. I guided your grandparents to support you, made sure Trevor was in your life, and became Alex so I could be there for you directly. One thing, however, I didn’t see.
I had no idea you and Henry were HKarlin. ”
“We’re what?” Nick asked. His skepticism had been leaking through our bond, and I knew he suspected what we had wasn’t real.
“HKarlin. It means soul-bonded," Uriel explained. “I never saw any sign of that. I suspect it was Ariel’s doing. She wanted you to be happy and loved.”
“That sure didn’t happen with the Fentons,” Nick said.
“No,” Brenda said. “But we live thousands of years. Those few are nothing compared to what you and Henry will have together.”
The weight of that responsibility settled over me, both terrifying and affirming what I'd felt since I first met Nick. It wasn’t the responsibility itself, or even spending my life with Nick. I was scared I’d fail to make him happy.
“This is…a lot,” Nick said. “I need time to process things.”
“There is no time,” Michael said, his voice firm but not unkind. “The Drevlin are here, and will send more scouts. We need to begin your training immediately.”
Nick stood before I could protest on his behalf. “No one’s making decisions for me. I need time to think.” He looked down and our gazes met. “And talk to Henry.”
Everything had moved so fast, but it had been worse for Nick. He needed me to help guide and ground him. I just needed him.
Dad put a hand on Michael's shoulder. “Let’s give the boys some space.”
One by one, they filed out. Uriel was the last to leave, his eyes lingering on Nick for a moment. I thought he’d say something, but he smiled before closing the door behind him.
“So,” I said, not sure where to begin.
Nick shocked me by pulling me into a kiss. It wasn’t the longest we’d shared, but it wasn’t quick either. When we pulled back, I had on a goofy smile.
“I’ve wanted that since I woke up,” he said without apology. “We weren’t going to be able to talk if I was focused on trying to kiss you.”
It was the lamest and cutest excuse anyone ever used on me, but it was perfect. “And what if I can’t focus?”
“Then you’ll need to kiss me whenever you’re distracted.”
I laughed because if that was the rule, we might not talk much. Leaning closer, I cupped his cheek. “One more to make sure I’m ready.”