Donovan rolls his eyes, but I notice the scowl is less severe. He reaches around Felix with another large hand, being careful not to brush through his friend, and engulfs mine. Yes, I’m small, but these guys make me feel pocket sized. Donovan, I’m pretty sure, is at least a full foot taller than me, and the others are only a few inches or so shorter than he is.
He frowns while he holds my hand, not in anger, but in what looks like confusion. He exchanges a look with Kaleb and shakes his head. Kaleb returns it with a resigned looking nod.
What the hell?
When Donovan pulls away, he says, “I don’t know what she is, but she’s not nephilim.”
“What?!” I exclaim, crossing my arms, and curling into myself.
My heart starts to pound wildly in my ears. Could they know what I am? Why I have these powers? My father beat and tortured me because of what I am. Because he was trying to get something out of me. Do I want these people I just met to know what my father knew?At least I’d finally know, too.
“Seriously, Donovan,” Kaleb groans, crossing his arms and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Could you deliver that in any way that was more shocking?”
“What?” He shrugs with zero repentance. “You were going on about how we’ll have to guide her, and what the hell you were going to tell your parents? And what if she was a dark nephilim like me? How do you tell a person their life is pretty much over?”
Kaleb’s eyes soften as he looks at Donovan. “I didn’t say all that.”
“I may’ve inferred a bit,” he counters, the scowl returning in full force. “Well, good news. She isn’t nephilim, so no demon hunting for her.”
“Donovan!” The others all shout.
I blink stupidly, my mind going numb. Ghosts. Nephilim. “Demons?” I repeat in a detached way, emphasizing the short-circuit in my brain.
Kaleb moves his hand into a fist against his mouth. Nolan covers his eyes with one hand. Donovan tries to double down on his scowl by folding his arms over his chest. And Felix opens and closes his hands a few times, his eyes wide and searching.
Well, now I know what he meant by weird. There’s that unreal feeling again, like this is all a dream and I’ll wake back up in hell.
I’m free from my psycho father. Living with a family member who seems to genuinely want and care about me. My first real friend in my new life is a cute, teenage boy who haunts my house. And he has three hot friends who are apparently nephilim and hunt demons.Crap.
While we’re all staring at each other another ridiculously tall boy walks over.Do they put something in the water? Maybe it’s all this fresh air?
He looks down at me curiously. He’s slightly taller than Donovan, because of course he is, but he’s leaner, more rangy looking, with a wild energy that feels like it’s always tightly coiled around him. He has rich copper skin and curly, dark brown hair that falls into untamed waves around his face. His eyes…
My gut clenches when I look into his eyes. They’re a warm amber turned brittle by the dark shadows that leap within. Shadows I know intimately. Tired, resigned eyes. I hope I’m wrong, but I fear I’m looking at a kindred spirit forged by pain.
He’s dressed in regular clothes: jeans, hiking boots, flannel shirt, and hooded jacket. Nothing flashy, but they’re clean and without sign of heavy wear. He’s fit and strong, no outward signs for the shadows. Just like me.
His straight brows crowd together, and he tilts his head slightly, as if the new angle will tell him more.Does he see my shadows?
“Hi,” I stammer, when I realize we’ve been staring at each other while the others watched. “I’m Callie.”
He passes around a questioning glance to all his friends, before gazing back down at me. He gives me a nod in greeting. “Connor.”
With a squint and furrowed brow aimed at the others, he’s able to clearly communicate aWhat the hell is going on?look. Man of few words. Got it.
Felix looks up at Connor, who’s roughly half a foot taller than him, and with a shrug, states simply, “She can see me.”
“And Donovan spilled the beans to our dear Callie, someone who didn’t know ghosts existed until last night,” Nolan adds with a wry play of his lips, “that she isn’t nephilim, which means no demon hunting for her.”
Donovan turns the full might of his glower on the blonde, but Nolan seems more amused than afraid.
Kaleb sighs. “And now we don’t know what she is.”
Connor looks surprised, shifting his gaze from Felix to Donovan, then turns thoughtful as he focuses back down on me. He leans down toward me, his scent, a sharp tang of pine and cool night air, fills my nose. It takes me a moment to process his nearness, startled by the breach into my personal space. Heat radiates from his body, and his breath is warm in my hair as he… sniffs it?Did he just sniff me?
He pulls back and sneezes.
Seriously?
