“Dad, please! I need to know!”
With a huge intake of breath, you could tell he was fighting it. “Nathanael was surrounded every minute of every day with evil. Pyre upon Pyre were called in to strengthen and appeal to his demonic side...in essence, to weaken him. It’s not uncommon for a Half Night’s human side to fall in love with their prey, and the ritual is performed quite commonly for that very reason.”
With the deluge of emotions spinning around, the one that muscled forward was fear—fear for him. “What were they doing to him last night? Was that part of that Iniqu...whatever...that ritual?”
“Yes,” he said weakly. “That was the final stage of it.” The way his brow furrowed as he analyzed me made me believe he didn’t want to go forward with the rest.
But he did.
“The final ceremony has to be done close to the person they are in love with. Through that, they prove their strength against such love. To further prove their loyalty, the Half Nights have to choose the final ritual that will be performed against them.”
I inhaled sharply. “Why would they do that? That in itself is torture!”
Dad tilted his head to the side slightly. “Saydi, whom are we speaking of? Hmmm?”
Ignoring the heat rushing to my face, I asked, “How did he choose?”
His voice softened, almost inaudible. “Nathanael chose the most...the hardest one to endure. He was determined to prove his loyalty to his father and that he was going to do his bidding.”
Chances were, if Nathanael chose the worse one, it was highly unlikely he would come out of it as the same person he was before—the guy I loved. “Then it worked?” I asked, anxiously.
“I think that’s enough for this morning,” Dad insisted. They both got up. “Come and have some breakfast, we’ll talk later.”
“What do you mean? You can’t leave it like that! Is he okay?” I blubbered.
Dad turned and sighed. “Saydi, what Nathanael went through, no human could survive. And because he does have human in him...yes, he’s hurting and will for some time. But he’s all right.”
After changing out of my clothes from the day before, I trudged out to the living room. There was an abundance of voices that seemed to monopolize the air, though they all came from the kitchen. My brain was focused on Nathanael, worrying about what happened to him and, worse yet, if the ritual worked.
“At least you know he loved you once,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Oh, I think he still loves you.”
The voice threw my heart in a tizzy and for a split second I didn’t know which way to go—run away or run to it. All reservations went out the window the second I laid eyes on him. My legs couldn’t move fast enough and apparently they weren’t required... I leapt from the hall doorway to the front hall, right on top of him.
He caught me and winced, then laughed. “Whoa! Watch yourself, you don’t know what you’re capable of.”
And there he was, in my arms! The sight of him, the smell of him, his voice... How I managed to keep from exploding with excitement was a minor miracle. “Where did they hurt you? What have they done? What is their plan? Let’s run away.” Yikes! Had no idea where the last one came from.
With a chuckle he touched his lips to mine, but his movements were jagged. “First of all, you should unwrap yourself. Your parents are watching,” he said, flushing slightly and nodding once toward the kitchen door.
Yup, they were watching with huge smiles. Then, graciously, they turned back into the kitchen. I unwrapped myself, stepped back and inspected all of him, his clothes, the skin that wasn’t covered. A black spot peeked out from the collar of his shirt and I yanked it down to see.
His breath drew in hard as he veered in the direction of my pulling, scrunching his whole face up in a grimace.
Releasing him, I choked out, “Sorry!”
Carefully, he stood straight and unbuttoned the first four buttons on his shirt. I gently pulled the fabric apart and gasped. Tears instantly rolled down my cheeks. The whole of his chest was charred black like he had been roasted on a fire. Fixing my gaze on him, I touched his cheek. “What did they do to you?”
Gulping hard, he stroked his fingertips down my face, wiping my tears away. “I had no choice but to choose as I did. My father has to believe it worked, that I’m willing to do his bidding.” He smiled and kissed me gently even though it hurt him to move. “It’s not for you to worry about. It’s done.”
Some heat was still radiating from his chest, as if it were still burning him. My automatic reaction was to blow on it, to cool it down. When I did, you could feel the tension from being hurt disappear—his body relaxed as he let the coolness caress his sore. My lungs began to fill again, but before they could, the most incredible thing happened... The charring started to fall away and behind it lay new, pink, soft skin.
The fact that it was healing him threw me into a blowing frenzy, ensuring to get every spot.
“Mom!” I yelled, still huffing and blowing.
A few seconds later, Mom rushed in with others following. “What is it?”
“Look.” As my breath softly kissed his chest again, more of the charred injuries fell away, little by little. “Look, it’s healing.”
They all moved forward to take a look at his chest. Nathanael pulled the fabric together, clearing his throat. I looked up and saw he was pretty red.
They stepped back, giving him the space he made clear he wanted, themselves embarrassed a bit. The dark-haired lady was missing from the group.
Dad beamed at me. “Another skill to master. Did you get that, Pearle? One of her nominals.”
“I sure did, John.” She smiled.
Mom went into mother mode, probably freaking internally to witness her daughter perform a healing miracle. “Now, when you two are done, clean this mess up,” she scolded, wagging her finger at the black flakes on the floor. “Then come and have some breakfast.” She pointed at Nathanael. “You might like the debate they have going on.”
“Okay, Mrs. Gardiner,” Nathanael said.
Without a word, I twirled my finger upside down in the air, motioning for him to turn around. He did.
Darn it!
His shirt was still buttoned up.
I moved to the front of him and started to unbutton the rest of his shirt, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. He smiled and took over, then took it off. His back was worse, and as I blew and blew, his muscles relaxed and released the pain. It took close to ten minutes before his skin was replenished, and when it was, I kissed it.
“There,” I comforted him.
Twisting sideways a bit, he brought his arm over my head and pulled me against him. He gazed in my eyes, then drifted down and softly kissed me. “Thank you,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome. How are you?”
“I’m good now, a little weak, but good.” He ran his fingers down my cheek. “The question is, how are you?”
“I’m good, mostly. It’s not every day you find out you’re half a god and the boy you’re in love with is a half a demon.”
He licked his lips with an incredibly beautiful smirk on his face. “The boy you’re in love with?”
“What kind of demon are you? Couldn’t you tell?”
Busting out laughing, he said, “No, I haven’t quite mastered the skill of love detection.”
“Humph! You can’t even read me,” I teased.
Grabbing my arm, he brought me to him...
Oh, I can read you, but knowing for sure is an impossibility. I can tell when you’re upset, or anxious, mad, happy. Those are general everyday emotions, not deeply rooted. However...
He was talking to me, but his lips weren’t moving. One of his eyebrows lifted up when he said “however”.
...When it comes to deep emotion such as love, hate, true desire, nothing can read those, Saydi. Those are for that individual only.
Reaching up, I touched his lips with my fingertips. “How come they’re not moving?”
Nathanael pulled me tighter and kissed me passionately, lingering, before finally releasing me. “Movement enough for you?” he joked.
The guy had me completely kerfluffled. “I need to get me one of those,” I teased back, still reeling from the intensity in his kiss.
He laughed.
Searching his eyes, I asked, “How did you know my parents told me?”
The touch of his hand as he moved a piece of hair away from my face was warm and soft. “Your parents sent someone when it was finished.”
“Who?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t really...coherent. All I know is what I heard and that was clear as day.”
“They told you everything?”
He nodded. “Mm-hm. Come on, I’m hungry!”
I was about to ask him what kind of cereal he liked, but when we walked into the kitchen, apparently there was no need. Mom had a spread of bacon, eggs, hash browns—the whole works—sitting on the counter, while everyone around the table talked very loudly.
“No way! That’s poppycock!” The white-haired lady exasperated, pointing her finger at Zack.
“It is not, Ms. Pearle. That’s exactly what happened,” Zack defended.
It felt like they had all been in my life since the beginning, almost like some weird version of Snow White and the dwarves.
“I still don’t know who they are or why they’re here, yet I’m so comfortable with them,” I commented.
“They’re your Magisters,” Nathanael informed.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I asked, “My what?”
Chuckling, he explained, “Your teachers.”
“That’s us,” Zack declared, pushing away from the table and standing. “I’m your wind Magister.”
Nathanael yanked in a breath and in one large stride, reached for his hand. “Thank you!”
The smile on Zack’s face was huge and, with a nod, he gripped Nathanael’s hand. “You’re most welcome. Anything for our Saydi,” he replied, winking at me.
“I’d have to agree,” Nathanael said. “How did you know where to find me?”
Zack tapped under his eye. “We’re always watching.” Then he smiled crookedly.
Nathanael laughed. “That should freak me out.”
“Don’t let it, master Nathanael,” Zack soothed.
Nathanael shook his head and stepped back, placing his arm around me. “It doesn’t. That’s what’s surprising.”
“Yes, last night also landed on my living room floor, let’s not forget.” Mom gently reminded us we had some sweeping and vacuuming to do.
Nathanael fixed his gaze on Mom. “We won’t, Mrs. Gardiner.”
Mom smiled.
The whole conversation left me confused, yet again, why not? It was becoming my normal state.
“Okay, okay, you’re the hero, Zack.” The white-haired lady stood. “I’m Pearle, your nominal Magister.”
Glancing at Mom, my eyes squinted, unsure what that meant.
Mom giggled. “She’s going to help you discover your weaker donums.”
“Oh!”
The other man was next. “I’m André and am your fire Magister.”
The dark-haired lady hid behind Zack and spoke very quietly. “I’m your emotions Magister.” Then quickly sat down behind Zack.
At that point I thought I might be able to remember who was who.
Mom handed Nathanael a plate and gently pushed him toward the food. “I know you’re hungry, go eat. And as for you, young lady, you eat too. Pearle’s going to try and work with you to see if you have other nominals.”
“Oh! Well of course. How silly of me not to know that.” It came out exactly as I intended, sarcastically.
“Here, have a piece of bacon.” Nathanael piped up, tossing it on my plate.
“Thanks.”
My Magisters left the kitchen to eat on TV trays in the living room. Finally we could sit down as a family, which was fine by me. After seventeen years of just me and Mom, it felt weird having two men at the table.
“Nathanael, when did you discover you could mind talk to Saydi that way?” Dad began.
“I figured you’d pick up on that, sir.” He then dropped his gaze on me. “It was the first time I held your hand.” He touched my cheek. “Do you remember?”
I nodded and smiled at the memory and how calming it was.
“It’s hard to explain,” he continued. “Something about her Spirit Light spoke to me, and when it did, I knew she could hear me.”
Dad scrutinized with narrowed eyes. “Was it then you knew who Saydi was?”
Nathanael shook his head. There was a need to defend himself. “No sir! If I had, I would never tell my father!” Then recouping, he explained, “Mind talk and being able to feel emotions have been happening between Pyre who fall in love with humans for centuries, though it’s very uncommon for one to be able to do both...” He shrugged. “Still, I never thought anything of it.”
“When did you find out?” There seemed to be a hidden implication the way Dad questioned.