“They are so hard up,” Erin muttered andtossed a stick into the fire.
Hawk glanced over his shoulder at the women.“Annoying is more like it,” he replied.
“You’re simply irresistible,” I teased, butthe stiffness didn’t leave his shoulders and he continued to scowlat the flames.
“Go get some,” Vargas said. “I would.”
Hawk draped his arm over his bent knee.“Already have, or at least one of them, and she needs to move onnow.”
“You’re a pig,” Erin told him.
“Maybe, but I never made any promises.”
“Which one is she and what’s her name?” Erinasked.
“The skinny blonde over my right shoulder.Her name’s Sarah, or clingy pain in my ass, but I guess once youhave the best, you forget about the rest.”
“Ugh!” Erin and I groaned.
“You’re gross.” Erin threw a handful of grassat him before resting her chin on her knee.
Over Hawk’s shoulder, I noticed Sarah glaringat Erin. An uneasy feeling twisted in my gut, but I had no idea whyI would feel that way. I tore my attention away from the girl andback to Hawk. “I have to agree with Erin,” I said to him.
He smiled at us, but his eyes were distantand troubled.
“How are your wounds?” Vargas inquired ofHawk as he rotated the rabbit. The delicious scent of roasted meatmade my mouth water.
“Healed,” Hawk replied.
“Completely?” I asked, unable to keep theshock from my voice.
His eyes lifted to mine before darting away.“Completely. There’s only the scars now and they’re fading.”
“Amazing,” and odd, but I kept that tomyself. Hawk was troubled enough about his rate of healing. Hedidn’t need the fire throwing, energy-harvesting girl using theword odd about him.
Kobal had said Lilitu’s blood had closedHawk’s gashes faster, but it was still an amazing rate of healing.My gaze drifted past Hawk to where Sarah and the other women stood.My hand ran over the grass as I watched them. Had Lilitu’s blooddone something more to him?
“Impressive,” Vargas murmured. He pulled meout of my reverie when he touched my arm.
“Huh?” I asked.
“That’s impressive,” he said and gesturedtoward my hands.
I’d been so lost in thought that I hadn’trealized golden-blue sparks were dancing across the tips of eachone of my fingers. I pulled my hands away from the earth and flexedmy fingers. They may know more about me, but I still felt exposedwhen my powers sparked to life around them.
“What percentage of everything are you?” Erinasked.
“Human mostly, or at least that’s the way Ifeel, but that’s also what I spent most of my life believing I was.I always knew I was different, but I still felt entirelyhuman.”
“And now?”
“Now, I don’t know. Part demon, part angel,and none of it makes any sense to me still.”
“How is it possible you’re any combination ofangel and demon?” Vargas inquired.
I’d been waiting for that question and wasfairly surprised that it hadn’t come sooner. Maybe they’d beentrying to figure it out on their own, or maybe they’d been afraidto ask and curiosity had finally won. They deserved to know, but Istill hated the whole Lucifer as an ancestor thing so much I foundmyself reluctant to tell anyone.
They wouldn’t think less of me for it, Iknew, but acknowledging it made it all the more real. Settlingback, I kept my fingers curled into the ground as I explainedLucifer being cast from Heaven to die on Earth, but somehow findinga way into Hell where he survived.
