Feathermore

“Hope you made it home all right.

  G’nite.”

  I threw the phone onto my bed and started to undress on my way to the bathroom, letting my clothes fall on the floor as I went. It didn’t matter that I was clean thanks to manifestation; I still felt the need for a shower. It somehow felt as if the dirt were only being hidden by a veil of some sort.

  I let the hot water pour over me, washing the weight of the day off. I just wanted to crawl into bed and wished I could crawl into his arms. As I turned off the water I heard the chiming of my phone, alerting me that I had received a text message. I wrapped the towel around me and ran to the bed, leaving wet footprints on the hardwood floor.

  “Already home. Don’t leave me.

  I love you.”

  I let the towel fall on the floor and slipped naked into bed.

  I knew I was dreaming the moment I saw him. I had been running away from the dark figure with fiery hair when I saw him by the riverbank. He was wearing only jeans, and his bare back gleamed softly in the moonlight as he stared toward the mountains. I approached him slowly, looking around for the one who had chased me here. When I reached him, I wrapped my arms around him, my hands caressing his chest. His warm skin under my hands felt heavenly.

  “I have been waiting for you,” he said, his voice muffled. I went around to stand before him, taking in the beauty of his bare skin, the toned muscles that he always kept hidden under clothes.

  It was a dream, so I went along with the charade. “I’m sorry I have kept you waiting,” I said, lifting my face to him, standing on my tiptoes, trying to reach his face, but he simply rejected me by moving away from me. Startled, I reached for him again. “What’s wrong?” I said.

  He kept walking away from me, making me follow along. “This is what’s wrong. Us. How would you keep this from me?”

  Unsure what he was speaking of, I called his name, but he wouldn’t stop. Instead, he sped up, making me break into a trot behind him. I caught him by the arm and used my supernatural strength to make him face me.

  “I thought you loved me, Jade,” he said.

  “I do! What are you talking about?” What kind of dream was this? Why wasn’t he all over me?

  “I’m talking about what you are, Jade.”

  I froze. Surely he wasn’t talking about my being an angel. Then again, this was a dream. It was probably my subconscious expressing what I was truly feeling and what I was afraid would happen. I turned my face to the trees and squinted, trying to see a little better. I could have sworn I saw something or someone move. I kept my gaze there until I was sure we were all alone, but once I turned to face him he was gone.

  I walked along the river, unsure what to make of this dream. If he was going to react that way, I really didn’t want to tell him, but how could I hide it? Eventually, he would realize I wasn’t aging as he was. And how was I going to explain the constant rejection when he wanted more out of this relationship? Sucking blood.

  It was as if the air around me brought the words to my head. Nate had said I had to share my divinity with Avan just once and he would be immortal like us, but it would mean that both of us must give up heaven. At the moment, I wasn’t even sure what that really meant. Was I still one of them?

  If I had been torn before the dream, now it had only made matters worse. I was totally scared of confronting Avan with my little secret.

  19. FIREBALL