Second Nature (3 page)

I WAS SURLY and didn’t want to inflict it on
my siblings, so I slipped on some sandals and grabbed the keys to
my brand new car. The coolest part about our new life was that I
was 18 and licensed to drive. Xander had been a good teacher, and
it hadn’t taken long for me to learn to drive. Since all my
paperwork was fake, I never actually had to take the driver’s test.
I think the paper trail said I scored a ninety-two percent on the
written.

I smiled at the silvery blue Nissan Leaf
gleaming in the driveway. It was electric, and I appreciated that
there were no harmful emissions. I could have bought whatever car I
wanted, but I think Xander was happy I chose one with a limited
range. It wasn’t that cars bothered me, but a raised awareness of
the natural world makes you appreciate environmentalists.

I slid into the driver’s seat knowing
running away from a problem wasn’t the answer. I was angry and hurt
and probably shouldn’t have been behind the wheel of a car. But
damn if I wasn’t sick of being responsible. I threw the car into
drive and took off with no clear idea where I was going. I didn’t
have any hangouts besides work or home. I had no friends. And I’d
just kicked the only guy in the world who had ever meant anything
to me out of my life. Where do you go from there?

Deciding the answer wasn’t driving around
Greensboro, I headed to my favorite place indoors, a bookstore. I
had a Kindle and loved it, but there was nothing like walking into
a store and having that smell hit you. I loved to walk along the
aisles trailing a finger along the spines imagining all of the
fascinating places the books could take me. The cashier smiled as I
walked in. He had seen me in here many times before and had to know
I would spend a long time walking the aisles before choosing. I was
losing myself in my selections when someone came up behind me.

“Oh, Liz Schulte? Have you read her books
before?”

Surprised to see the cashier approaching me,
I turned towards him. His hand was in his pocket, jingling
something. A glaring light surrounded him, like someone silhouetted
by the sun, and it left me gaping. Never before had I seen anything
like it. I didn’t need the unique recognition we Otherworlders
possessed to know he was an angel. Since I’d never seen a real
angel before, I looked him over good. How had I never noticed him
in all my previous trips?

He had unruly dark hair and was unshaven,
giving him a roguish air. His eyes were a unique grey-green I could
drown in. Standing next to him, I felt short, which didn’t happen
often since I was tall for a girl. His body was all hard muscle
popping out beneath his baggy green polo and khakis. He was
breathtaking, and I didn’t feel a twinge.

It was so unfair! I was permanently tied to
a man heart and soul who didn’t want me. I frowned, and the clerk’s
eyes widened, and he started to back away. “No, it’s not you. I’m
sorry.” Before I knew what was happening, my troubles spewed out of
me and landed at his feet in a rancid puddle of self-pity. “I’m
just so overwhelmed with my life. My parents died recently, and I’m
still grieving their loss. I think I just dumped the man I thought
I would spend the rest of my life with, and I’m alone in a place I
still can’t think of as home. Oh my god, you probably don’t care,
and I should be going.” Flushing, I put the book in my hand down
and turned towards the door, my head down in embarrassment.

I had no idea why I suddenly felt the need
to spill my guts to a stranger. I’d never been what you might call
a sharer. Usually, I kept everything to myself until I kind of
exploded. I certainly didn’t spout off about my troubles to random
guys, no matter how fine a specimen they might be.

His voice stopped me as I neared the end of
the aisle. “Wait!”

I looked over my shoulder at him warily. He
jogged down the aisle toward me, his expression so open and kind I
couldn’t help but turn and give him a second chance.

“It’s not your fault—I’m just not very good
at turning off the mojo. I’m still somewhat new to this whole angel
thing. But something tells me a Gaia as young as you can appreciate
that.”

I smiled and nodded, but held my tongue,
afraid of what else might spill out.

“I’m Dylan,” he said, holding out his
hand.

I eyed it a moment, then scoffed at myself.
“Amelia.” I shook the offered hand. “But you can call me Lia.”

“If I promise to keep the angel vibes to a
minimum, will you stay and talk? I don’t get off until seven, and
frankly, it’s dead in here. I’ve seen you here so often, yet I’ve
never seen you look this sad before. You look like you could use a
friend.”

My eyes were hot and wet as my vision swam
with tears. He had no idea how much I needed someone, but could I
trust him? The Otherworld was not the peaceful, happy place of
fairy tales. It is brimming with racial tension and conflicts going
back centuries. For the most part, we could be broken down into
seven classes: nature spirits like me, demons like my siblings,
angels like Dylan, as well as the undead, the fringe elements that
operate within human society, beasts such as werewolves and other
animal-based creatures, and human-based entities such as witches.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t as clear-cut as that. Witches embraced
Gaia, called us Earth Sister, but they resented demons. So where in
the hierarchy did angels fall?

He studied me, waiting for my response.
Something about him was so sad and pathetic, like a lost puppy who
only wanted me to take him home. Ah, what did I have to lose? I
nodded, and a grin split his face. He led me over to one of the
reading couches, and I perched on the edge as he sprawled in a
chair facing me.

“I promise I don’t bite,” he said with an
easy smile. I so wanted to trust him, but all that had led up to
this moment taught me it wasn’t safe to trust anyone other than my
siblings. “So if North Carolina isn’t home, where is?” he
asked.

“Nowhere.” I thought of the town I had grown
up in for a moment, but everything that bound me to the town was
gone. I missed the life I could never have back. Sadness threatened
to overwhelm me before I realized it was time to let the self-pity
go. The weight lifted off my shoulders was immense. My eyes
narrowed suspiciously at Dylan. “How did you do that?”

He held his hands up in the placating
gesture of innocence. “Hey, all I did was ask a simple question. I
just have a talent for asking the right ones.”

I smiled and realized I could be friends
with this guy. But I had to test him, and I didn’t feel like being
subtle about it. “So before we go too far, I want you to know my
siblings are both part demon, and if anyone harms them, I will
unleash the fury of the Earth on them.” I met his eyes with all the
malice I could muster.

“Ho, wait a sec, how’d we go from let’s chat
to me being threatened?”

“I don’t trust easily.”

His eyes widened and one corner of his mouth
quirked up. “I see that. But I promise you, I don’t mean you
or
your family any harm, Lia.”

I don’t know if it was his words or the way
he said them, but I trusted him. Maybe I was just tired of not
trusting anyone. So I told him my story, in order this time. I
started with finding out I was Gaia and my sudden change. I
explained how I figured out my best friend was involved in the
murders of Otherworlders and her parents’ hatred. I cried over the
battle that cost us our father’s life and eventually our mother’s
as well. I glossed over the fight in the botanical gardens and
focused heavily on how I leaned on Nate in the days afterward only
to have him disappear. I told him everything that led up to today
and me telling Nate to get out. Afterwards I slumped back on the
couch, exhausted and spent. Through it all Dylan listened intently,
nodding in all the right places and clucking his tongue in
sympathy.

“That’s a lot to go through.” His smile was
tinged in sadness. I nodded without meeting his eyes, raising my
brows for emphasis. “I can’t compete with that. You win!”

I laughed. It felt so good I did it again.
“So how does an angel come to work at a bookstore?” Traces of a
smile still lingered on my face.

“Angels gotta eat too.”

“So were you alive and died, or are angels
born?”

“Angels aren’t exactly what people think we
are. We don’t work for a deity, and we’re not all powerful.
Nevertheless, we are forces of light, obviously. I’m still getting
a feel for it. I only found out what I am within the last five
years. It’s born into us but gets released in a moment of great
sacrifice. Since all angels have an altruistic nature, it happens
sooner or later.”

I nodded, tonguing my back teeth in thought.
“So what was your sacrifice?”

He sighed and looked away. “I was in a
convenience store that was held up. There was a woman in there, her
belly out to here,” he said, holding his hands to emphasize a very
pregnant belly. “She just wanted to get some green tea. The guy
aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. I threw myself between
them, but... I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t able to save her baby;
the poor thing never had a chance. But when I crawled to her and
placed my hands on her stomach to stop the bleeding... this heat
came out of my hands and went into her. I healed her. It’s taken me
almost five years to figure the rest out.”

“Didn’t your parents help you at all?”

“I wasn’t raised by mine. I’ve since found
out it’s pretty common for angels to leave their children to be
raised by humans, it helps us feel more connected with them. I grew
up in foster care.”

A lump formed in my throat as I wondered
what my life would have been like without my family. I didn’t even
want to think about it! “Was it bad?” I remembered the horror
stories I’d seen on TV and read about in books.

“No, I was lucky. But I knew a lot of kids
who weren’t. They had a haunted look, kind of like you.”

I smiled sadly but didn’t want to dwell on
it. “So can you fly?”

“Can you call down a hurricane?”

“No, male Gaia got all the cool powers. I
can grow stuff and make plants dance.” I shrugged, offering a
pathetic smile.

He laughed and our eyes met. I had a feeling
our friendship had only just begun. “Give me your phone.” I smiled
at him and held out my hand. He looked at me suspiciously a moment,
but he handed it over. I dialed the number for my cell and waited
until the sound of birdsong announced an incoming call before
hitting the end button. With a smile, I handed him his phone. “Now
you have my number, and I fully expect to hear from you, Dylan.”
Gathering my things, I stood and headed for the door but stopped to
glance back over my shoulder. “Don’t let me down. I don’t have room
in my life for any more disappointment.”

I DROPPED MY keys in the bowl by the door
and tossed my purse on the bench. I leaned against the door for a
long moment with a goofy grin on my face. I had spent longer than I
intended chatting with Dylan. I wondered if it was possible for me
to move on, if the stupid life bond would let me.

The house was empty, but I found my siblings
outside, Sariah in a sun chair, Xander in the pool. Yet another
unfair advantage to being a demon was they didn’t get cancer, so
Sariah spent a lot of time soaking up the rays. Not that she needed
it to make herself darker, but she liked the heat. I sat on a rock
separating the pool from the garden and watched my brother swim,
the muscles of his back and arms flexing with each stroke. Too
soon, he climbed out of the pool and I had to tell him what
happened.

I had always respected by brother’s
strength, but sometimes it scared me too. All demons could turn off
their emotions, except Djinn. Their anger, or blood lust, could be
overpowering. Sometimes it was hard to bring them back after they’d
lost control. I’d never seen him angry with me before, but I never
kicked his best friend out of our house before either. I must have
been eyeing him warily because he cocked his head at me a moment
before grimacing. “Spill it, girly. I can already tell you know I’m
not going to like it. What is it?”

I hemmed and hawed, but there was no going
back. I fidgeted and looked down at my hands. “Nate was here.” The
words came out of my mouth in an incoherent mumble.

“Come again?” He leaned towards me, cupping
his hand to his ear.

Steeling my spine, I met his eyes. The sun
was too bright to tell if the irises were glowing with the blue
flames of anger. “Nate was here.”

That got Sariah’s attention. She pushed her
stylish sunglasses up on top of her head and sat up to face me.
Xander plunked down in a deck chair, his face hard. He wasn’t
exactly thrilled about me bonding with his best friend, but he’d
known it would happen for years before it did. I wasn’t not sure
how he felt about what the drama between us now because it had
always been the one thing I couldn’t talk about with him.