Zander shook his head, and then he reached his hands to cup around mine. I gasped, able to feel the warmth from his skin against my gleaming ones. My eyes connected with his and the bright reflection in the emerald green was mesmerizing.

  “Can you feel that?” he asked, searching my eyes.

  I nodded and my mouth went dry. “Yes, can you?”

  He nodded back, and his soft hands tightened around mine. He used his thumbs to spread my fingers open and stroked the glowing skin along my palm. Whatever he was trying to do, it absolutely did not calm my racing nerves.

  I watched in awe, afraid to move and have him pass right through me again. His long fingers intertwined with mine, and the glow began to fade.

  “How is this possible? Light is coming from my body.” The light faded as I focused on the warmth flowing into me from his touch. “Does it hurt?”

  It hurt the Nephilim for sure, even leaving burn marks, but Zander’s hands stroked mine so easily. He shook his head, staring into my eyes. “No, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

  A small scoffing laugh left his lips and he looked down at the slowly dimming light. “It feels amazing…”

  An instant blush crept up my neck at his blunt words that echoed my thoughts, and I felt too shy to look at him. As the light completely left my hands, so did Zander’s touch. I couldn’t feel him anymore.

  He leaned away from me then. “Well, I think we need to find some answers for all of… this.” He gestured to my now human hands. “But you can’t go near Joey again.” His face was stern as he said his command.

  I knew he wasn’t bossing me around, though. I felt that he really cared, so I gave him a curt nod, agreeing. “I won’t. I promise.”

  His lips lifted slightly at the corners, and the image of him blurred as it did the night before. “Bye, Zander.” I said, and watched him disappear to who-knows-where.

  Chapter 16

  * * *

  I knew I needed to open the door. I knew that I couldn’t avoid my parents forever. I loved them, and I wanted them in my life no matter what, but what was holding me back from opening the door?

  I struggled to sleep for two nights after Zander touched my hands. What good were dreams without Zander in them? I didn’t know what changed, but since the wreck, he wasn’t there when I slept.

  I saw nobody for those two days. It was just me and Bruno locked away together, hiding from all of the unknowns.

  As far as I knew, I was a half Nephilim, and half something. Human? Angel? Vampire? I had no clue of the things that lived in my world. Though, I was a thing that lived in the human’s world now…

  I had an angel protecting me that never saw another side of me other than human. That had to mean I wasn’t a monster, right? I knew that I was a good person, with a hell of a temper, but that was normal for a lot of people. We lived in a world of emotions and half whacked-out people, so how bad could I be?

  I grabbed the brass door handle and turned it, entering the kitchen I ate all of my meals in throughout my life, with my loving parents. The kitchen that I learned to cook in and where my father greeted me each morning after his long shifts as an Albuquerque police officer.

  Mom sat in her usual seat that morning, beneath the large bay window, at the round dining table. She was reading something on her phone; likely a romance novel, considering she was too captivated to even see me come into the room.

  “Hey, Mom,” I said, trying to keep the nervous vibrations out of my voice.

  Her head snapped up and she removed her reading glasses with a big toothy grin. “Erin! Where have you been?” She stood and wiggled her way out from behind the table, to give me a tight hug.

  “I’ve been just downstairs, Mom. You know, the place where I live.” I smiled at her, realizing I never have looked anything like her.

  She had perfectly straight blonde hair, that she dyed almost her natural color since the gray came in, and soft white skin with a speckling of freckles. It was an amazing contrast to my thick, wavy black hair and sun kissed skin that highlighted the gray in my eyes.

  She laughed and pulled a chair out for me to sit. “I know where you live, crazy girl. I just never see you anymore.” Her eyes scanned mine and she tilted her head. “Something is wrong with you, I can tell.”

  I could clearly see that she was worried, as the bright yellow aura around her dimmed, and purple bled into the edges. I took a seat with her and picked at my fingernails nervously.

  “Is Dad coming home soon? I want to talk to you both.” I chanced a look at her face, and her eyebrows met together on her forehead. The purple started to overtake the happy yellow around her.

  “He should be here any minute. Should I be concerned?” She already was plenty concerned, but I shook my head. Even that small movement felt like a lie.

  Right on cue, my dad made his usual noisy entrance from the garage door, whistling some tune from his favorite blues band as he kicked off his boots. He lifted his head to see the two of us sitting together with less than happy faces, and stopped in his tracks. “What happened?”

  I held a hand up to stop his near freak-out. “Nothing, Dad. I just want to talk to my parents. I have something on my mind… I guess.”

  He hung his keys and hat on the garage door hook and unbuckled his duty belt, sticking it on top of the fridge as he always did. “Alright. I’m here, baby girl. Let’s talk.” He pulled a chair beside my mom and sat, giving me his full attention.

  I tried to pull in a good amount of air before asking the burning question, but I just choked on the breath and coughed hysterically. “Sorry, I’m a little nervous.”

  “You can tell us anything, you know that,” Mom said with an encouraging nod.

  I did know that. “I know, Mom.” I looked from her to my dad and back a dozen more times. I was almost sure they thought I was going to tell them I was pregnant or getting married. I always had the sense that they didn’t like Joey, even when they didn’t come right out and say so. If only they knew.

  “Am I adopted?” There. Said it.

  They both sat up straighter and shared a powerful look. My dad grabbed his wife’s hand, and I could see the ease that overtook Mom at the contact. I knew that feeling…

  He nodded, barely noticeable. “Yes.” I opened my mouth, but he held a hand up to stop me. “But, Erin, you were ours before you could see more than a foot in front of you.”

  My mom’s eyes filled with tears and I immediately wanted to comfort her. I grabbed her hand in mine. “I want you guys to know that I love you, and this news doesn’t change that. But I have a feeling that where I came from could be significant to who I am now, so please tell me everything you know.”

  They both watched me in silence, so I thought I’d explain myself. “I know I probably sound ridiculous, but I am starting to realize that I’m… different. We talked about this when I was younger, and I told you I could see things and feel things. Do you remember?”

  They both nodded, so I continued. “Well, even though I said it stopped, it never did. Now, though, other things are happening to me.”

  “Like what?” Mom asked, wiping at her eyes.

  “I don’t want to sound psycho.” I hesitated.

  After a long and quiet minute, my dad said, “Is it angels?” His voice was nearly a whisper.

  My eyes flew open and I sat back in my chair. “You know about angels?” It couldn’t be true. They were humans. Average humans.

  He looked at my mom and they both nodded. “Sort of,” Dad continued. “When I found you, your birth mother told me that you were an angel.” My birth mother? “I didn’t think much of it. Calling your child an angel isn’t so out of the ordinary. But when she... died, I couldn’t believe it. Her body… it was just gone.”

  “What do you mean gone? Was she taken?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No, she literally disappeared… faded out of sight right before my eyes, as I held your tiny body.”

  My dad’s face looked older as he spoke, and I had about a million questions to add to his wrinkles. “How did you find me? Why did she die? Where were we? Did you see my birth father?” No pause separated the questions from each other, which left no space for answers.

  Mom held up her hand. “Slow down, sweetheart. We’re not going anywhere.” She gave me a soft, loving smile and I remembered who the people sitting in front of me were. My real parents.

  I nodded. “Okay, sorry. To start, I’ll ask what happened to make my… the woman die?”

  Dad’s brown eyes were lost in a memory, looking through me instead of at me. “I was a new cop back then. I was patrolling an old neighborhood outside of town, as I often did, considering I wasn’t ready for the big city copping yet. I drove around with my windows down, just cruising and checking things out when I heard a faint call for help.”

  He rubbed his forehead. “I jumped out of my squad car and ran towards the sound. It was coming from a nice little one-bedroom house kinda set off from the other homes. I heard the woman call out louder, like she was in pain, so I busted through the door ready for a fight, but it was just her. There wasn’t a threat.”

  I tilted my head. “Why was she yelling if she was alone?”

  “Well,” he continued, “she was giving birth, and I imagine the pain was immeasurable. You were already out and lying on the bed in front of her when I made it to the bedroom.” He pointed to me. “But the woman was too weak to even pick you up.”

  My mom spoke next. “He immediately grabbed you and placed you on your mother’s chest, so you’d be warm and so she could hold you. And then he called an ambulance, of course. He even called me.”

  “Why’d he call you?” I didn’t know what the point of calling Mom would’ve been. She wasn’t a doctor.

  Dad chuckled softly. “I was freaking out. I didn’t know what to do with a newborn baby. But your mom was an amazing help. She told me to clean you, and she told me to cut the umbilical cord, which I thought was a joke at the time.”

  I smiled. “So you cut the umbilical cord like a dad usually does, and you didn’t even know I’d be yours yet. That’s kind of funny.”

  My dad smiled at me and reached forward to take my hand in his. “I think I knew, though. I had no reason to believe that we’d end up adopting you, but I loved you even at that moment.”

  I wanted to cry, but my questions weren’t done. “Why’d she die?”

  “Complications with childbirth. She should have been at a hospital. She couldn’t handle it alone, and ended up losing a lot of blood.” He hung his head, and watched his hands. “She asked me to take you. Said you were an angel, and needed to be in a good family. When I asked about other family members, or the father, she only shook her head. And then she passed.”

  He looked into my eyes. “I just held you, waiting for the ambulance to arrive, but her body disappeared before they even came. I had no answer for them, so I told them that I found you there alone.”

  “You didn’t tell them about the woman?” He likely would’ve sounded crazy and never been allowed to adopt me then.

  He shook his head. “No. I said you were alone and the mom must’ve left. They looked, but there were no leads. You stayed in our custody as I requested, and your mom and I adopted you within the month.”

  I exhaled a long breath. “Woah. A disappearing mother. What could that mean?”

  “We don’t know, hon,” Mom said. “We chose to never talk about it, and believed it was a sign that you needed us to raise you, and give you the best life we could.”

  I sat quietly for a few minutes, and my parents joined me. Nobody knew where to go from there. My mom started to shift uncomfortably in her seat and cleared her throat. “Erin. Can you tell us what has been going on with you? About the angels?”

  I chewed on the inside of my lip, unsure if I should share the truth with them. “Okay.” I decided to just get it all out. “So, I can see auras… or at least, that’s what I call them. It’s like a glow around a person that shows their true intentions or feelings…” I paused, and they remained quiet.

  I continued, “and it turns out that I can also see a guardian angel that has been watching me my whole life. His name is Zander, and we’ve spoken a few times.”

  “Is he nice?” It was Mom asking.

  I nodded. “A little moody, but yes. He’s a good angel.” I thought about my next words, not wanting to freak them out. “I also have a friend… you’ve met her. Penelope.”

  They both nodded. “Well, she is also an angel, and a good one too.”

  “Are there bad angels?” Dad asked.

  “Yes. The bad angels are called Nephilim. They’re fallen angels in a sense.” Though I knew almost nothing about them. “Joey is a Nephilim… or so I’m told.”

  Both of their eyes opened wide and in harmony they shouted, “What?”

  I cringed, knowing every fess up was worse than the last. “One more thing… I was told by Penelope that my birth father was… also a Nephilim, and I may be one too.”

  My parents looked to one another and seemed to pass some words with only their minds, before Dad sat up straighter and looked directly into my eyes. “Whether your father was a Nephi…lam thing doesn’t mean you are. I think your mom was a normal human, but somehow the two of them made you. You’re an angel, Erin. In the best way.”

  I hoped he was right. I wanted to be a good person, whether it be an actual angel or a normal person. I knew that I needed to be good, and I knew that it was the reason Mark and Jen Porter were the ones to raise me.

  Chapter 17

  * * *

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Archie. I thought I was feeling better, but I think I need just a few more days.” I scratched my head as I lied to my boss.

  I really did need some more time before I could face Penelope again, but Mr. Archie didn’t deserve my flightiness. I could hear him sigh through the phone. “That’s alright. You know we don’t run a PetSmart, right? I can manage.”

  I laughed. He was right. Other than giving the animals their nutrients and some cleaning, there wasn’t a ton of work that went into the shelter. And it wasn’t like we had big groups of customers looking for strays to adopt, as much as I wished it were the case.

  “Thanks, Mr. Archie,” I said, and with a grunt of acknowledgement, he hung up.

  I threw my head back into the couch and pulled Bruno closer to me. “I’m an awful person, buddy,” I said to him.

  “I don’t think that’s the case.” Penelope’s voice made me jump and Bruno barked at the movement. We both looked over to her standing in the doorway with her arms carrying a big white bakery box.

  I hesitated to greet her, but Bruno had no issue whatsoever, as he sprinted across the room and jumped into Penelope’s arms, causing her to perform a balancing act with the box in one hand and petting my big goofy furball with the other.

  “Hey, Bruny boy. Did you want some donuts? I bet your mommy does…” She turned to me with a tight smile and apologetic eyes.

  I threw my head back and scoffed. “Donuts? You know I can’t resist, Pen! You’re evil!”

  She smiled and the white aura around her glowed brighter. “Divine, actually.” She winked, and I rolled my eyes.

  “More like, a pain in the neck.”

  Her mouth dropped open and I couldn’t help but snort out a less than flattering laugh as I reached for the box of donuts. She handed it to me, clicking her tongue at my comment, and I pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, Pen.”

  She waved a hand at me. “Forget it. You have every right to avoid me. I threw a crap load of info at you, and none of it was comforting.”

  I shrugged. “It’s pretty cool that you’re an angel, so that wasn’t bad news… and I always thought I was crazy… you know, considering the things I see and feel, so it’s nice to know that I’m just a creature of hell, instead of a wackadoodle.”

  “You still might be a wackadoodle,” she jibed and it was my turn for the mouth drop.

  I opened Penelope’s peace offering, and the smell of baked dough and melted chocolate filled my nose with a just-cooked warmth, making me practically salivate and forget any anger I held toward her.

  “Thank the heavens for donuts,” I said, stuffing a crater-sized bite into my mouth.

  Bruno whined at my feet, so Penelope took the box from me and left it on my small kitchen counter on her way to find him a dog treat. “Sorry, boy. No baked goods for you.”

  I swallowed the last bite, and turned back to Penelope. She was crouched in front of Bruno, turned away from me, and as I stared at her small back covered in a frilly pink tank top, I had a burning question. “Can I see ‘em?”

  She spun slowly on her toes and stood with her eyebrows raised at me. “See what, exactly? We can’t be talking about my boobs, right?”

  I rolled my eyes for what felt like the thousandth time since we became friends. “Penelope! I’m talking about your…” I pointed over her shoulder, “wings.” I said the word as a whisper, but I don’t know for whose benefit.

  She giggled and turned her head to the side. “Are you sure? Last time, you sorta freaked out.”

  I nodded without a word, and in less than a second after my nod, the cracking sound came from behind my supernatural friend and with the thwack of who knows how much force, the ruby red wings filled my apartment.

  I gasped, even though I knew what was coming. She waved a hand over for me to inspect the feathery appendages and I slowly circled her, in awe. “That is so insane.”

  She shrugged, and the wings moved with her shoulders. “They’re not all that impressive in my community. I’d say, pretty average. Now, Thrones, though. Their wings would blow your mind.”

  I studied the part of her back where her pale skin became red feathers. The transition was smooth, branching out directly from her shoulder blades, perfectly resting in between her spaghetti straps. At least that shirt survived, where the last one ended up in the garbage.