A moment of insecurity hit me and I decided I did need to hear the words. Or at least confirm they were real. “And the part where you said you loved me?”
“That might have been the most real thing of all.”
Now that I’d confirmed the most important part, I was ready for a nap. Unfortunately, that would need to wait. “So what’s with the wings and the blasty powers?”
Henry took a breath, his fingers tightening around mine as if afraid I might pull away. Exhaling, he looked me in the eye. “I'm an angel, Nick.” He paused for a heartbeat, then added. “And so are you.”
Henry
Nick sat with his back against the headboard. He’d listened quietly for almost thirty minutes as I explained angels were really aliens from a different planet, how we came to Earth to escape the Drevlin, and how humans came to believe we were angels. When I moved on to him and more current events, he had a lot of questions I couldn’t answer. Uriel didn’t tell me much, but I shared everything with Nick.
After fifteen minutes of him asking questions, and me responding with ‘I don’t know’ more often than with a satisfying answer, Nick folded his hands in his lap and stared at the wall. His body had discharged most of the excess energy he’d absorbed, but it was still warmer than I remembered.
I'd expected confusion, anger, and rejection. Instead, a peculiar calm had settled over him. He also kept his distance from me. I wanted to reach over and take his hand, feel his aura, let him discover how to sense mine, but he didn’t seem receptive.
“It explains a lot,” he said softly. “I can’t believe Trevor lied to me all these years.”
My heart clenched. The toll of carrying the secret for the short time had felt oppressive. I could only imagine what it cost Trevor. “Don’t be mad at him,” I said. “Your friendship is not alie. It’s one of the purest bonds I’ve ever seen. He cares about you exactly as he presents. To him, you’re brothers. The weight of his lies grew the closer he got to you. If we weren’t all convinced you’d die if you found out too soon, we’d all have told you long ago.”
“I get that in here,” he tapped his chest, “up here, it kind of fucks with my brain. The only thing I know for sure is I wouldn’t have survived without him. I realized he’d given up a lot for me, but I didn’t understand just how much.”
The way he forgave Trevor gave me hope he’d forgive me. “I’ve said it a dozen times already, but I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you when we were in Frederick, but Uriel sounded so scared.”
“I understand.” His voice was steady, certain. “Even with that secret, you always showed me how much I mattered to you. I’m angry and frustrated, but that’s better than being dead. But no more secrets, right?”
This wasn’t settled by a long shot, but it was a start we could build upon. “Right. I’ll always be honest with you from now on.”
“Thank you.” He reached over and grabbed my hand. “Although you can bend things a bit when I look like crap, or my cooking sucks.”
I hoped he never lost his goofy, irreverent personality in the centuries to come. “You’ll always be beautiful, and I plan for us to cook together, but the whole truth requires brutal honesty.”
“Hmph.” He gave me a fake frown. “I can live with that. You can expect the same in return.”
With those few words, Nick let me know he’d given me a gift I didn’t deserve. He’d forgiven me. I'd spent weeks lying to him, and he’d agreed I had good cause, but we weren’t doing that again.
“You need to let it go, Henry.” Nick put our joined hands to his lips. “I’ll never like what happened, but I guess it’s okay if it means I get to be with you.”
I wanted to lean in and seal our understanding with a kiss, but voices in the hallway ended our moment.
“He’s talking to Henry,” Trevor said, his voice strained yet respectful. “They asked for privacy.”
“I'm aware.” The second voice sent a chill down my spine.Hewas here? Now? “But it’s time for all deceptions to end.”
“Agreed, Uncle.” Vicky didn’t hide her dislike of Uriel. “Uncle Raphael said we shouldn’t disturb them until my father and Uncle Gabriel arrive.”
“Setting aside you can’t stop me if I decide to go in, I do not answer to any of my brothers,” Uriel said. “I consider their wishes and then make my own decisions. Right now, I’m following what I’ve seen unfold. Now step aside.”
After years of hiding and months of cryptic messages laden with secondhand warnings, Uriel decided this was the moment to take an active role? The timing couldn't be a coincidence.
I jumped off the bed and nodded for Nick to follow. “He wants to meet you, let him meet you.”
“Meet who?” Nick asked. Despite the question, he got off the bed and joined me at the door.
The others were still talking, but I tuned them out. “Uriel. He’s the one whose visions we’ve been following.”
I opened the door to find Trevor with his fist raised. He flinched and then stepped back. “I guess you heard.”
Before I could answer, Nick gasped. My instincts kicked in and I gathered my power. “What’s wrong?”
