Chapter 5 #3
He leans in, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, and his hand lingers there. I can’t stop myself from looking up into his brilliant eyes, even as it makes my blood heat and my breathing turn shallow.
“Tell me the truth,” he urges.
“Fine. Yes. I feel special.” I place my palm over the hand at the side of my head, cupping it. “Thank you, Malak.”
“Dusk,” he croons, his eyes dipping to my lips.
“What?”
“My name.”
“Oh. Dusk.” My voice comes out more heady than I intend. “You were serious about that?”
His eyes flick back up to mine, seeming to glow even hotter, more entrancing, with so little distance between us. “Absolutely.”
I’m frozen for a moment, slightly panicking, as I try to get a proper read on this situation.
With that look he’s giving me, I can’t tell if he’s simply being sincere or if he wants to lean down and kiss me.
I don’t know what I’d do if he did. Would he taste like Heaven?
Would I go to Hell for defiling a holy messenger?
Oh, God. I need out of this position.
“Right, uh…” Trying to act casual, I take a step backward—
“There’s something else I need to tell you.”
I wince at the sudden, solemn seriousness in his voice. Considering he’s already told me the world is ending, I don’t know what could possibly be worse. Slowly, I turn around, trying my best to hide my dread from my features. “Yes?”
“The great evil, the one we need the help of these locusts to fight, is not only from Earth.”
Oh, is that all? I figured as much. “You mean the devil?”
“Not necessarily.” He seems especially careful with how he articulates this, as if he’s seeking the least scary explanation possible.
“For every religion you ask, they call it something different. The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles… Details get lost to human history, turning stories into half-true legends. In reality, there’s a whole group of people to blame.
We prefer to call them, collectively, the Adversary. ”
“People,” I say with finger quotations, taunting him into something more specific.
“Fallen angels, if you will.”
“Knew it.”
“Kae. This is serious.” He leans forward, his eyes suddenly pleading with me.
Again. It’s incredible how drastically his expressions can change in an instant.
A moment ago, he was delicate. Now, he’s looking at me as if I’m the answer he desperately seeks.
Like I’m all of humanity’s absolution. “Every day you spend here on the surface, you’re risking your life.
The Adversary wants to abolish the Almighty’s benevolent rule, elevating their rogue sect above everyone and everything.
They’ll stop at nothing to get their way.
And you… Well, with your latent abilities, your mere existence is a threat to them.
They wouldn’t hesitate to kill you while you’re still an easy target.
It’s a miracle I found you before they did. ”
A miracle indeed.
Or just plain suspicious.
How do I know he isn’t with this Adversary? I haven’t met another angel to corroborate his story, but if I don’t go with him, I may never get the chance to. It’s a lot to gamble. “And you alone are going to keep me safe from this group of evil angels while I try to open this supernatural lock?”
He shakes his head. “The Abyss is a fortress. It isn’t the most pleasant city to stay in, but you’ll be safe and well-protected there. You just have to choose to come with me and seek out your gift.”
I have to choose? I don’t know about that. I don’t see anything stopping him from throwing me over his shoulder and just dragging me down there.
Something isn’t adding up here.
If I’m going to do this, to really commit the rest of my life to this massive cosmic battle, then I need to find out what Dusk isn’t saying.
He dances around my questions like a professional ballerina, entertaining me with the bare minimum of information.
If I want answers, I have to take this next step. It’s the only way forward.
“Okay,” I drag the words out of my throat, voicing them with as much shaky confidence as I can muster. “I guess you’ve convinced me. I’ll go.”
“Good.” Malak lets out a breath of relief, nodding to himself. “That’s good—”
“My only condition is I don’t want my family and friends to be worried about me while I’m gone. I don’t want to simply disappear. I need a cover story. And I have a good idea for what it can be.”
“Deal.” He stands up, wringing his hands. “I’ll make it airtight by tomorrow morning.”
“But you don’t even know what my idea is.”
“I imagine it has something to do with the Peace Corps acceptance letter that’s lying on your desk?” He looks at me expectantly.
Completely caught off guard, I struggle to find words. I hadn’t expected him to glean any valuable information while he was snooping around my room. It seems I underestimated him. “How could you possibly know that’s what I was thinking?”
“Because it’s what I would be thinking, if I were you.” He runs his hands along his shirt, straightening out the wrinkles, before slipping his fancy jacket back on. “It’s a good plan. I’ll get the details taken care of while you’re packing and saying your goodbyes.”
My chest tightens. “How long do I have?”
“Will two days be enough?”
“Two days?” I screech, then cover my mouth. “Shit.”
“Don’t worry. I sound shielded your room the first time you started shouting.”
“You what?”
Dusk shrugs off my question, choosing to make a show out of looking around my room.
“You have a lot of things here that you don’t actually need to bring with you.
It’ll be easy for us to get you new clothes and amenities once we’re there.
Stick to the things you don’t want to live without, and it shouldn’t take you too long. ”
I’m baffled by his nonchalance. “This is just… bonkers.”
“Bonkers?” His head tilts to the side as he eyes me.
“Crazy, improbable, mind-blowing—”
“Yes, yes. It’s so very hard to believe. I know.” The angel sighs in a way that declares I’m a silly, feeble-minded subspecies. “You’ll get used to it. We leave Friday morning at first light. I’ll text you the details before then.”
“You have a cellphone?”
He snorts. “Yes, I maintain most human pretenses.”
I hear my phone buzz from its place on my desk, and Dusk nods his head in its direction. Curious, I back up to check the notification—a text.
Unknown
Now you can always reach me.
He didn’t even get out a phone to text me. “How did you do that?”
“Parlor trick.” As if to prove his point, he waves his fingers in the air, allowing a few sparks to jump between them.
I stare at him in silence, long after his hand has returned to its normal, non-magical state at his side. “…Okay.”
“I’m going to go now.”
“That’s probably for the best.”
“Try not to forget I’m real this time.”
“No promises.”
“Kae.” His features flatten, suddenly serious.
I scowl back at him. “Fine. I’ll try.”
“Good.”
“Goodbye, Dusk.”
“See you soon, Dawn.” He smiles at me one last time before retreating out of my room, his movements absolutely silent.
Frozen in place, I wait to hear the old wooden stairs creak with his footsteps, but it’s eerily silent. As much as I’d like to ignore it, I can’t. I lose my fight against the urge to open the door, to ensure he’s really gone.
He is.
A sigh escapes from my lungs—only to catch in my throat when I turn around, catching sight of the feather that has suddenly appeared on my bed.
My phone buzzes again in my hand.
Unknown
Don’t miss me too much while I’m away.