“Xavier, there’s something you have to understand,” Ivy began.
“Oh, for goodness sake,” Gabriel interjected. “Just tell them. It’s time they knew anyway.”
“Time we knew what?” I asked warily. I didn’t like the sound of this. “What have you been hiding?”
Ivy pressed her slender fingers against her temples. “Maybe you should sit down. This isn’t going to be easy on any of us.”
“Okay.” Xavier gave an uneasy laugh. “You’re really starting to freak me out. What’s going on?”
“Just sit?” Ivy implored. “Please?”
I tugged Xavier down onto the couch beside me and knotted the patchwork quilt beneath my fingers. Gabriel was staring solemnly out the window, waiting for Ivy to begin. I noticed she couldn’t keep her hands still and it took a lot to rattle her that way.
“I suppose I should start at the beginning,” she said absently.
“Is this gonna be a long story?” Xavier said. “Because I’d rather cut to the chase.”
“Just listen,” my sister said heavily. “It won’t make sense otherwise.” She cast a loaded look at Gabriel, who nodded encouragingly. “The last time I was on earth was almost twenty years ago. I was headed to Charlotte but I miscalculated and landed in Birmingham. I didn’t plan to speak to anyone, but I met a couple whose car had broken down and they asked to borrow my cell phone. We got to talking and they told me they were there visiting a fertility clinic. But it wasn’t working. They couldn’t conceive.”
“That’s very interesting,” I said. “But I don’t see how it relates to us.”
Gabriel held up his hand. “Let her finish. You have to hear the full story.”
“I shouldn’t have gotten involved.” My sister shook her head. “But the woman told me they’d been praying for a miracle. I couldn’t walk away when I had the power to help them.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I gave them a child,” Ivy murmured. “When the woman left me that day, she was pregnant although she didn’t know it. I restored her body to full health so she would be able to conceive in the future.”
“You acted without consent?” I said. “Did Heaven try to punish you?”
“I brought punishment upon myself.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing happened for a long time.” Ivy sighed. “But I eventually found out the couple had given birth to a son and have since had five more healthy children.”
I saw Xavier shift uncomfortably beside me. “What happened to the kid?”
“My involvement went no further than his conception,” Ivy said. “I left him alone to live a normal life. I never expected to see him again.”
“I don’t believe it,” I whispered. “How come you never told us?”
“I was ashamed of myself,” Ivy said. “And after I berated you for getting too involved in human life, how could I reveal what I had done? I was a hypocrite.”
“Oh, Ivy,” I said. “You could have trusted me of all people. I would have understood.”
“Bethany, I’m not finished,” my sister cut in. “There’s more. Heaven told me I would see the boy again, that one way or another he would come back and merge with the world of angels.”
“You mean we’re going to meet him?”
Gabriel turned to look me straight in the eye. “Bethany, you already have.”
My mind struggled to grasp the information being thrown at me. “I don’t understand.…” I said.
“I do,” Xavier spoke in a hoarse voice. “Whatever you’re trying to say just spit it out.”
My sister lifted her gaze slowly. “The couple I met all those years ago—their names were Peter and Bernadette Woods. The child is you. I’m so sorry, Xavier.”
There was a long silence. It felt as though the earth itself were at a standstill. Xavier didn’t move. He sat very quietly, staring at his hands. We all waited for him to speak. Gabriel sat down and put a tentative hand on his shoulder. Xavier shook him off and jumped up.
“Xavier, please try and stay calm,” said my sister.
“Calm?” Xavier let out a short laugh. “You just told me that I’m some kind of Immaculate Conception miracle child and I’m supposed to stay calm?”
“You are still human,” said Ivy urgently. “You are flesh and blood, just not quite the same as everybody else.”
“How long have you known about this?” Xavier asked suddenly.
“Since I first met you.” Ivy couldn’t quite meet his gaze. “We weren’t sure initially but it soon became clear. That’s part of the reason we tried so hard to keep you and Bethany apart. Any ordinary human would not have been able to handle the reality of our world—we would have wiped their memory and moved on. But you … you were different.”
“You’ve known all this time?” Xavier looked genuinely devastated. “And you waited till now to tell me?”
“You had other things on your mind,” Ivy said pleadingly. “Your journey has not been easy; I didn’t want to add to your burden.”
“My brothers and sisters?” Xavier asked in a tight voice. “Are they…?”
“They were all naturally conceived. I only took part in your creation.”
“So…” Xavier sounded a little bit sick. “Are you … does that make you … like … are you my mother?”
The alarm that surged through me was uncontainable.
“Oh God,” I moaned. “Please no.”
“I am not your mother,” Ivy said firmly. “I do not have DNA that can be transferred. You are Bernadette’s child. But I gave you our essence, our spirit. The blood of angels runs in your veins, but so does the blood of your human parents.”
“So what the hell am I then? Angel or human?”
“I suppose you are both,” Ivy replied.
“Great. This is so messed up.”
“I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
“There isn’t really a good time to find out you’re some kind of freaky half-breed,” Xavier said scathingly.
“Don’t say that,” I told him. “You’re the same person you’ve always been.”
“How do you figure, Beth?” he asked.
“You’ve always known you were extraordinary,” I said. “Fate wouldn’t have brought us together otherwise. You’ve survived so much, you’ve got so much strength, and now you know why.”
“What do the Sevens want with me?” Xavier asked. “What do they think I can do for them?”
“Halflings have powers,” Gabriel said. “Powers we don’t quite understand. I’m guessing they want to find out what they are.”
“So they want to use me?” Xavier asked in a hard voice. “Like some kind of lab rat?”
“Probably.” Gabriel didn’t bat an eyelid.
“Surely I’m not the first…” Xavier rolled his eyes at the word. “Halfling.”
“You’re the first one they’ve found,” Gabriel answered. “There have been others over time, but the angels that created them were not forthcoming about their whereabouts and for the most part, they live out normal human lives. That doesn’t make them easy to track.”
“And now that they’ve found me…” Xavier trailed off.
“Now that they know your identity they will not relent,” Ivy said. “But we will do everything in our power to protect you.”
“They want you and Bethany separated,” Gabriel said. “Especially after what happened today. Your combined powers are too strong, they feel threatened.”
“Are you saying if we weren’t together they’d leave us alone?” I asked in disbelief.
“They would continue to monitor Xavier and watch him from afar,” Gabriel replied. “But he wouldn’t pose such an immediate threat.”
“He’s not a threat now!” I cried. “He hasn’t done anything!”
“The Sevens are competitive creatures,” Ivy said glumly. “They know your alliance overpowers them and they can’t deal with that.”
“What
if we promise to keep to ourselves?”
“That would hardly make a difference,” Gabriel said. “You must understand how they work by now.”
“Okay.” I bit my lip and tried to keep my hands from fidgeting. “What do we do now?”
“They’ll be back,” Ivy said. “And this time we’ll be ready for them.”
* * *
WHEN Ivy and Gabriel left us alone, I waited for Xavier to speak. This was a lot to take in and he must have a hundred things on his mind right now, unanswered questions and accusations of blame.
“So this is…” He lifted his hands and let them fall limply on the couch. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Xavier…” I began, but he cut me off.
“How could I not know? There must have been signs. Did I just miss them?”
“There were signs,” I insisted. “Just nothing you took notice of. I mean think about everything that’s happened since you and I first met. How many people could watch their friends die in front of their eyes, how many people could witness a full-blown exorcism and not be traumatized? How many people could break into Hell to save someone they love? And how many people could be possessed by Lucifer, literally have him inside them, and survive? You’re special, Xavier. The angels chose you.”
He stared into space. “I just feel like I don’t know who I am anymore.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head vigorously. “No, it’s the exact opposite. Now you know who you are. You’re blessed and you’re on a path that will lead to great things. God is looking out for you.”
“It seems like I’m just pissing Him off,” Xavier answered in a dull voice.
“The Sevens,” I corrected. “You’re pissing the Sevens off. But God loves you. He’s marked you as one of His own.”
“Then why is everything so hard?” Xavier looked at me intently, needing my answer to make sense. “Why does it seem like we’re being punished?”
“Because the path of the righteous man was never supposed to be easy,” I whispered. “Those who are chosen by the Lord are given a hard journey. The rewards will come later. And if He is the merciful Father I know, we’ll have eternal peace together. You just have to believe in Him. Believe in His plan and trust Him with your whole heart. I know it’s hard but look at the proof you’ve been given through my siblings and me. Most people have to go on blind faith, but not you. You’ve been given proof.”
“Okay.” Xavier looked at me, a pensive expression in his turquoise eyes. “Okay…” he repeated. I knew it must be a lot to take in and we couldn’t rush him.
“Wait…” A sudden thought occurred to me. “You two were always talking about how I’m different, how I feel things I shouldn’t for a human. Could this be why? Because Xavier isn’t”—I caught myself just in time—“entirely human?”
“It’s the most likely explanation,” Gabriel replied. “The bond you share surpasses the human experience. Otherwise, it’s unlikely your relationship would have survived so many hurdles.”
“Are you saying I wouldn’t love her if I were normal?” Xavier asked sharply.
“No,” Gabriel’s voice was steady. “I’m saying you may not have had the resources to cope with the things you’ve seen and the truths that have been revealed to you.”
“Xavier.” Ivy put her hand on his shoulder. “The blood of angels flows in your veins. It means angels will always be with you. It means you are protected and you are destined to be a protector of men. But the choice is yours. You can take this knowledge and do something with it or you can pretend you never found out.”
“I don’t think that’s an option,” Xavier replied. “I guess I just need time to process.”
I didn’t know why the new information wasn’t rocking my world. I supposed it was because Xavier already rocked my world and the idea that his creation was extraordinary seemed natural to me. In my mind, he had never been an average human; his presence was like fireworks and even just hearing his name made my knees weaken. Of course he was special, how could he not be? I supposed the fact that my sister had a hand in his conception was a little weird but I had to keep reminding myself that Ivy was not my biological sister. We were connected to a greater heavenly family but there was no shared DNA. That was uniquely human.
And so I accepted the fact that Xavier was a Halfling with little question. If anything, I was a little proud.
25
Watch Me Burn
WE all agreed there was no point in trying to calculate when the Sevens might attack next. We were through with schemes and strategies. We knew what we could do now and we were not afraid. Of course, the fight wasn’t over, but I doubted the Sevens had much more up their sleeves that could rattle us.
Xavier was still trying to wrap his head around the concept that angelic blood flowed in his veins and didn’t seem to want to talk about it further with anyone. I didn’t press the issue, knowing he would need time to come to terms with such staggering information. So instead, I decided to worry about Molly.
The next afternoon, I dragged Xavier out of the house to come and look for her. She’d been avoiding us since the spectacle with Gabriel in the kitchen and I was worried about her. Oxford was a small town, there weren’t too many places to hide and we eventually found her, sitting in a corner of Starbucks frowning at her phone, a crumbled scone on a plate beside her. Xavier and I decided to act as if nothing had happened.
“Bad news?” asked Xavier sneaking up behind her.
“No,” she said, quickly putting her phone facedown. Molly had never been a good liar.
“Why the long face then? Your manicurist out of town?”
“Ha ha. Very funny.” Her smile froze on her lips.
I noticed Molly looked different. Her unruly curls had been tamed into a long braid that hung over one shoulder like a flame-colored rope. She’d abandoned her customary Nike shorts and T-shirt for a high-collared floral blouse and faded jeans, which she’d teamed with tennis shoes. The old Molly wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing jeans and tennis shoes.
It was definitely a new look for her and I figured it must have been an attempt to win favor with Wade. Her wide blue eyes lacked their usual luster but seemed to brighten when she saw us. She peered closely as we pulled up chairs to join her and the Molly I knew seemed to surface for a moment. “You two look like crap!”
“Gee, thanks!” said Xavier.
“Sorry, but you seriously need more sleep and less sex.”
Xavier gave her a forced smile. “It’s nothing like that.”
There was a pause, neither party wanting to bring up the scene with Gabriel when we’d last seen her. But Molly seemed happy to pretend it never happened. Was she scared of getting hurt again?
“So what’s up?” she asked. “How are things?”
“They’ve settled down a little,” I answered carefully.
“There’s always another crisis with y’all,” Molly said, exasperated.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “But listen, at the moment it looks like we won’t be able to come back to school.”
“No way! You are not disappearing on me again!”
“Of course not,” I said quickly. “We’ll still be in town, you just won’t be seeing us on campus. We’ve told people there was a family emergency, so if anybody asks, that’s the story. Tell them that’s all you know.”
“Okay.” Molly traced the rim of her cup with her fingertip. “I guess I’ll pray for you.”
Xavier raised his eyebrows. It wasn’t the idea that surprised him; it was just hearing those words coming from Molly. She kept her eyes downcast as she spoke, as if she was simply repeating what she knew Wade wanted her to say.
“Thanks,” Xavier replied lightly, letting the moment pass.
“So will I be able to come see you?” Molly asked.
“Sure,” I said encouragingly. “Anytime you want. Just call ahead.”
Molly nodded, but she seemed a little unsettled, sneaking furtive looks at the entran
ce. I had the feeling it was more than our nomadic lives that was causing her jumpiness.
“But you can’t tell anyone where we are,” Xavier added. “Not even Wade.”
“Don’t worry; I can keep my mouth shut.”
“Good,” said Xavier. “We trust you.”
It was warm in the confined space of the café. When Molly unthinkingly pushed up the sleeves of her sweater I saw bruising that wrapped around one of her wrists, like someone had grabbed her with extreme force. It was already fading, tinged with yellowish green at the edges.
“Molly, what happened to your arm?”
She pulled down her sleeve, suddenly self-conscious. “I’m such a klutz. I fell down some steps wearing high heels.”
“Where were you?”
“At a frat party.”
“With Wade?”
“No! He doesn’t know so please don’t tell him. He wouldn’t approve.”
“He sounds a bit controlling,” Xavier ventured. “If you can’t even be honest with him.”
“No, no, he isn’t,” Molly insisted. “Wade’s good for me. I just need some time to catch up to where he is spiritually.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Well…” Molly frowned. “I’m not exactly sure. But Wade has a plan.”
“Sure he does,” Xavier muttered, and glanced up. “Speak of the devil.”
We all looked up then to see Wade walking through the door in a crisp polo buttoned up to the neck.
“Oh, no.” Molly grabbed my hand under the table. “You won’t tell him anything, will you?”
It was the first time she’d mentioned it. I knew she must be repressing a whole lot of emotions and it wasn’t healthy. But we would deal with that later.
“I would never,” I said, almost offended. “What kind of friend do you take me for?”
“Thanks.” Molly bit her lip and slipped her phone into her bag as Wade approached. She couldn’t wipe the guilty look off her face and Wade, of course, picked up on it. But he greeted us with a gracious smile.