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“But—”
“I’ve got your shirt, your picture. I saw it was you, and I—” His hazel eyes rose again, and my chest clenched at the expression in them, so that other questions suddenly seemed meaningless. He swallowed; in slow motion, he reached out and touched my hair, as if it were something fragile and precious. “Willow, I’ve been looking for you for so long. I can’t tell you how I felt when I saw your picture for the first time – what it meant to me. I—”
The sound of running footsteps came from the path behind us. “Willow!” called Alex’s voice, and suddenly I was hotly aware that I was standing there holding a stranger’s hand, staring into his eyes. I pulled away from Seb as Alex came jogging up, but I knew that he’d seen.
Alex stopped in front of us, dark hair ruffled from the run as he looked at me in bewilderment. His glance at Seb was tinged with suspicion. “Willow, what’s going on? Who is this guy? I saw you running off with him, and I thought. . . are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said, touching his arm. The pure human energy rushed through me; it took me a second to adjust, and then it was only Alex again, warm and familiar. “I’m fine,” I repeated. I started to try and explain, then remembered in a rush. “Alex, the Council’s arrived! They were part of that flock that was just overhead!”
His jaw dropped. “The Council? Are you sure? They’re not supposed to be here for another five weeks!”
“Yeah, it was definitely them – twelve shining angels, just like in my dream. They flew into the top of that tower. ” I pointed, shading my eyes from the sun.
“The Torre Mayor,” muttered Alex, staring upwards. “What the hell are they doing there, instead of the Nikko?”
“The plans have changed, I guess. ” Feeble, useless words. “Or maybe they’re going to the hotel later?”
Alex let out a strained breath, still gazing up at the gleaming pinnacle. “God, let’s hope so. We don’t know anything about that place – no floor plans, nothing. My team’s not even fully trained yet. ” He shoved his hands through his hair; I could feel how shaken he was.
There was a pause, and then he looked down at me, and back at Seb again. Confusion crossed his features. Slowly, he said, “Okay, so. . . who is this guy, anyway? Why were you—” He stopped.
Holding hands with him. My cheeks flushed. Seb stood leaning against the statue’s base, listening. I could sense how disappointed he was that we’d been interrupted, and in a daze, it hit me just how easily I could read him already. I’d never felt such a strong instant connection to anyone in my life before.
“Alex, this is Seb. He—” I broke off. “Seb, is it okay if I tell him?”
“Tell me what?” Alex’s dark eyebrows had drawn together. “Willow, what’s going on?”
I glanced at Seb; he gave a resigned shrug. “He’s half-angel,” I said.
Alex couldn’t have seemed more stunned if I’d smashed him over the head with a mallet. “He’s what?” He looked sharply back at Seb; there was a rapid shift as his consciousness rose through his chakra points. “His aura’s green, not silver. But his energy feels. . . ” His eyes widened. “Christ, you really are one. What’s the deal with your aura?”
As clearly as if I was thinking it myself, I knew how much Seb disliked Alex knowing this; the fact that he could change his aura was something he’d always kept secret. You wouldn’t have guessed it from his body language, though. He looked like the definition of “casual” as he stood there against the statue.
“You can see auras,” he said. “Most humans can’t. ”
Most humans. The words gave me a start – Seb didn’t see himself as human. And I still did, somehow, even though I so clearly wasn’t.
“I’ve been trained,” said Alex shortly. “Answer the question. ”
Seb flicked a glance over him; you didn’t have to be psychic to see that he didn’t like being ordered around. “It isn’t smart, with angels around,” he said at last. “So I changed it. ”
“Wait – you can change your aura?” repeated Alex, his eyes narrowing. “Like, at will?”
Seb’s forehead creased; Alex said something in rapid Spanish, and he nodded. “Yes, at will. ” A wry smile. “Your Spanish is very good, amigo. ”
Alex gave him a look at the word amigo, and I knew he was still thinking of Seb holding my hand. “Yeah, thanks,” he said. “So are there lots of half-angels, or—”
“No,” said Seb and I together. “No,” I went on, clearing my throat. “Seb – he’s never seen another one. He’s spent most of his life looking. ”
I could see Seb realizing the depth of what I’d gotten from his hand. Did he get anything from mine? I wondered suddenly. Did Seb know me just as well as I knew him now? At the feel of his steady gaze on me, my face warmed; I couldn’t meet his eyes. God, what was wrong with me? Why was I getting all flustered just because some half-angel boy held my hand?
Alex had fallen silent. I could almost see him turning all this over in his head. “Another half-angel,” he murmured. “Jesus. ” Watching Seb carefully, he rested against the railing of the bridge with his arms folded over his chest. The sleeves of his blue sweatshirt were pushed up, showing his toned forearms.
“How did you find her?” he asked finally.
“Someone stole your things in Chihuahua,” said Seb, speaking to me rather than Alex. “Some clothes, and a picture. I bought them at the marketplace, and when I touched them I could see. . . everything. ”
I have your shirt, your picture. It all became clear. Seb had seen my dream from my shirt – I’d been worrying about what it might mean for hours the last time I’d worn it.
“And after that?” asked Alex after a pause. “How did you know where we’d gone?”
Seb glanced at me. My heart sank as I remembered: I hadn’t told Alex about the strange boy in my dream; it had just seemed too surreal. But even though how I’d felt in the dream had been ridiculous, what would Alex think when he heard about it now – when the strange boy had been holding my hand, touching my hair?
To my relief, all Seb said was, “She was thinking that you needed to come to el DF – I touched her shirt, and I felt it. So I came too. ”
“El DF is a big place,” pointed out Alex dryly.
“Yes, I get feelings sometimes. I got a feeling today that I should come to Chapultepec. ” Seb smiled; there wasn’t much humour in it. “Any more questions?”
Still leaning against the railing, Alex gave a soft snort. “Oh, sorry, am I being too nosy?” The traffic droned past below as he crossed his ankles, keeping his gaze on Seb. “I get like that when I find some guy hanging onto my girlfriend. Weird, huh?”
Seb arched an eyebrow.
“Alex, it wasn’t like that, honestly!” I burst out. From somewhere outside of myself, I was shaking my head in amazement that these two gorgeous boys seemed to be having some kind of stand-off over me. From inside of myself, it felt awful. “It was just. . . this moment of realizing that we’re both half-angels, that’s all. ”