“He has my blood, which apparently is also Hunter’s.”
Samael shrugs. “Trent is now mortal and human, you know that. Besides, Trent is
all you and me. Don’t try to bring Hunter into this.”
“So what now?” I ask.
He stands and quietly watches me.
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
He disappears and my eyes open.
I’m in Hunter’s arms. My head is lying on his lap and his eyes are closed, his tears
dripping down my face.
“Hunter—”
He opens his eyes and I can’t even explain his reaction—shocked wouldn’t even cover
it.
I expect him to ask a million questions, but instead, he pulls me up and brings his
lips to mine.
“Ouch,” I say.
He looks confused. “Stephaine healed you. Are you still in pain?”
I look down and notice I stopped bleeding and my skin is slowly healing.
“I’m still hurt, but it wasn’t Stephaine’s healing that kept me here.”
“But how are you here then?” he asks.
I look into his eyes and say, “I’m still here because of my protector. I’m here because
of you.”
Stephaine finishes healing me. She then heals Hunter’s chest. Before we go back
inside, we see a bright light and a portal opens. Out of the portal, I see Irene
and Daniels.
I can’t say that I’m not shocked when Benjamin steps in between them and the rest
of us.
“Leave!” he orders them.
“We’re here to help,” says Daniels.
“Too little, too late,” Benjamin snaps back. “We don’t need you.”
Looking over Irene, I can see pride and I wonder what she is seeing in this mess that
could possibly cause that.
Daniels looks past Benjamin and over at me. “Are you okay?” he asks.
Once I say that I am, he asks if we can talk. Before Benjamin can even open his mouth,
Stephaine is dragging him inside the house.
Hunter helps me stand and we go to a picnic table out front and sit down. It’s strange
seeing both of my biological parents here… together.
“Ezra is gone,” I say.
They nod. “We know.”
We fall into an awkward silence and Irene looks distant, then, she finally says, “Benjamin
has changed. I always knew there was good in him.”
No one says anything, because really, we had to literally go through hell and back
for him to change.
Irene looks back at me and I fight the urge to tell them I forgive them for everything,
including them giving me up.
“You’re probably wondering why we are really here,” says Daniels.
I nod.
“We know about the Forsaken.”
“Oh.” I look away wondering if I’m in trouble for curing them.
“It’s a good thing,” says Daniels. “They restored the balance in ways that you couldn’t
even imagine, but the reason we’re here is because some of them found their way into
the Academy. We know there are more of them, but those are not within our reach at
this moment. We’re here because they have specifically requested you as their leader.
You can even have the old Academy, the one we rebuilt. It’s all yours, if you choose
to accept it.”
I don’t know what to say, not until I feel the warmth of Hunter’s hand on mine and
then, I know what I have to do and I’m not doing this just because I promised him,
but because he stood by my side through this whole thing and he deserves better. He
deserves a life without having to deal with the constant struggles between Heaven
and Hell, even though a normal life will also contain a certain level of good versus
evil.
I intertwine my fingers with his and look to my side. I smile at him before I look
back to Daniels and Irene.
“I’m honored, but I’m afraid I will have to refuse your offer,” I say. I look at
Daniels. “There is something I need to say. I—I learned to appreciate what you tried
to do for me when you gave me up. I understand it now and although I know that my
life will never be the same, I want to have a shot at a normal life. I want to try
the life that you wanted for me. I need to be home. Please tell the Forsaken that
I feel honored at their request, and that I asked them to trust Xavier to be their
leader.”
I leave out the part about my being immortal, which they probably already know, and
also about Trent. I wonder at some point if I’m being selfish wanting to live a normal
life, when I have an eternity, but looking at Hunter, I know we need at least one
lifetime of normal… just the two of us. When I look at him and see the happiness
and relief in his eyes, I know I’ve made the right decision.
I look back at Daniels. “How are the others responding to the Forsaken?” I ask, concerned.
“Not well, which is the reason we’re separating them from the others.”
I nod. “That is what’s wrong with our world. They preach forgiveness, yet, angels
keep falling at the drop of a hat and are not being given the exact thing that they
preach to humans. So much for leading by example.”
Irene and Daniels look at one another and tears run down her face. “It’s a pity you
don’t wish to lead them.”
Daniels nudged her, “But we understand your decision, and your choice in Xavier is
excellent. He’s one of the few who accepted the new race of angels.”
“We have to get back,” says Daniels, “but I can portal you to your home before we
do. Would you like that?”
I stand up and look back at the house. Through the window, I can see Benjamin and
Stephaine. I see her laugh at something that he says and Benjamin moves toward her,
putting his arms around her waist and lifting her up off the floor. I know that without
Ezra, they’ll now be okay.
I look form them to Hunter, and smile, “Are you ready to go home?”
“I’ve been ready,” he says.
Daniels and Irene portal us back to my room. “We’re proud of you,” Daniels says before
they vanish, leaving a faint whisper in the air, saying that they love me and always
will.
As soon as I turn around, I trip over a chair in my room and within seconds, Andrew
is coming to check on the noise. He freezes at the door for a moment while looking
at me.
“Kayla?”
Crying, I run toward him and throw my arms around his neck. “I missed you, Dad.”
He cries too, “We missed you too. I have to call your mom. KELLY… KIM…”
He looks over at Hunter, “Thank you.”
“Hon, why are you in Kayla’s—”
Kelly’s uncontrollable crying makes me cry even more. She wraps her arms around me
and we hug for the longest time, until I see Kim and a little girl who I know is Carolyn,
standing at the door.
“Welcome back,” says Kim. “I wanted to help get you. I really did, but no one would
let me.”
I smile at her. “It’s okay. This is where you belong anyway.”
HUNTER
I watch Kayla with her family as she cries and laughs. I know her emotions are a
roller coaster, but it’s expected. I know she’ll move on and we’ll finally be able
to have a normal life, only, we don’t know what normal is. From the first day I became
close to Kayla, I wasn’t even human and she was seeing things that didn’t belong.
As she hears the stories about the years she missed and about her sisters growing
up, she smiles and nods and pretends that she is happy for them, but I know that is
not the case, because I know her. I know she wants them to think she is happy, but
in reality, she dreads the fact that she’ll never get those years back and for the
first time, it dawns on me that what we talked about as normal, it’s not
our
normal. Our normal is danger in a world filled with good and evil. I start to wonder
if it was a mistake to ask for Kayla to let me take her away, but then, I know I also
couldn’t bring myself to take her into that world. All I can hope for is that she
will adapt to life with humans once again.
Eventually, as she hears their stories, she becomes distant and her parents believe
she is tired and suggest that she rests.
“Is it alright if Hunter stays?” she asks.
I suck in a breath, thinking that her dad is going to kick me out of the house at
anytime.
He looks at Kayla, and I can tell he is having a tough time dealing with the fact
that she’s no longer 16, even though she still looks that age. We don’t tell anyone
that she is immortal, not yet.
To make their decision easier, I say that I have to go anyway, knowing that I will
be back that night.
“No, it’s okay. You can stay, Hunter. We couldn’t possibly ever thank you for bringing
her back. Our home is your home,” says Kelly. I look at Andrew and he reluctantly
nods in agreement.
It feels strange going to Kayla’s room with her, with the knowledge that her parents
know that I’m here. I stop at the door to Kayla’s room knowing that there is something
that I need to do.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Nothing. There’s something I need to do. I’ll be back soon, okay?”
She nods.
Downstairs, I see her dad talking to her mom.
“Is everything okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. I was just wondering if I could have a word with you.”
“Of course.”
I follow him into his home office, and not even fighting demons has ever made me this
scared.
He looks at me, “Are you sure everything is okay? You look pale.”
I nod. “Mr—”
“Call me Andrew, please.”
I don’t even know where to start or how to do this. Nervously, I just spit out, “I
want to marry your daughter.”
He sighs. “I knew this would happen one day.” He takes a deep breath and I feel
like I can’t breathe at all. “Although my first instinct is to say no, that you’re
too young and that you should go to school first, I can’t. What you and Kayla have
gone through is just…” he shakes his head. “Have you asked Kayla?” he asks.
“Not officially.”
He grins. “Son, we both know you don’t need my approval. Kayla is a strong willed
girl and she’ll do what she wants to do, but if you really need to hear me say it,
you have my blessing.”
“Thank you.”
I put my hand up to shake his hand and he pulls me into an awkward hug.
“Do you have a ring?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I gave her a promise ring once, but I haven’t exactly had the time
or means to—”
He puts his hand up and walks over toward a painting on the wall. He opens it, revealing
a safe behind it.
I watch quietly, as he opens the safe and brings out a small black box. He walks
toward me and opens the box where there are two silver wedding bands.
“These belonged to my grandparents. This is also the ring that I used to propose
to Kelly. I want you to have it.”
I nod, speechless. He hands the box over.
“Thank you. I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, son. Your actions over the past few years speak
more than words.”
He then walks me outside of his office and I go to Kayla’s room.
I find her sitting on her bed and staring down at her dagger.
She doesn’t notice me there until I’m sitting next to her.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It’s not important. We’re here now and it’s time to move on.”
I would usually let this go, but not this time. I want her to be able to tell me
anything, even if I’m not going to like it.
“You think you’re letting them down, don’t you?” I ask.
She nods. “I just need time to adjust and let go of certain things.”
I look at her, knowing that this is all wrong. Every single time she mentioned that
she no longer knew who she was, I told her I would be there to remind her and I’m
already failing her in my promise and as her protector, merely for taking the easy
way out. I reach for her hand and stare at the promise ring I gave her. We just
stay silent for a few seconds, just staring at the ring then I finally do what I was
supposed to you.
“I made you a lot promises, Kayla, and it’s time for me to make good on every one
of them.”
I look up from the ring into her eyes and I don’t know if she is scared or confused,
but she listens to every word I say without interrupting.