I just continue to stare at him until he moves his eyes over to Brain and gives him a nod.
“Beautiful, when I met you, I was instantly drawn to you. I wanted to learn about you, spend time with you. The sound of your voice is like music to my ears.” He smirks. “Which is funny considering I still haven’t heard you sing…but that’s not the point. Everything about you called to me. You are single handedly the most beautiful girl I have ever met. I wanted to spend time with you, and I didn’t care about who I am or what I am, and the moment you laughed and gave me attitude, I knew I didn’t give a damn what you were either.”
He looks conflicted as he searches my face. I’m not sure what he’s hoping to see there, but I don’t think he sees it.
What the hell were they going on about, not human? And what he is or what I am? It doesn’t make any sense, and I tell them as much. I’m not one to mince words.
“No offence, but are you both insane? I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I’m human, Brian, just like you, just like your dad, and just like everyone else on this planet!” I feel exasperated because I really don’t understand why we are having such a meaningless conversation about shit that doesn’t exist.
“Harleigh,” David says, interrupting my thoughts again. “I am not human, and Brian is only half human.” I scoff at him. “I am an angel. Brian is half angel, half human,” he explains.
I decide to leave this crazy conversation behind, but before I make it to the door, there’s a loud whooshing sound behind me, making me turn. I almost pass out when I see what caused the noise.
I can’t think or breathe as Brian makes his way over to stand beside me, keeping his promise of always being here no matter what.
Even when I’ve all but told him he’s certifiable and was leaving, he still came to my side.
He’s not though, and if he is then I need to be locked in the padded cell with him.
Standing before me is David, but there are large white wings coming out of his back. I stumble a little, and Bry catches me before I fall, gently guiding me back to sit down as his father draws his wings back into his body.
Whoa. I think my brain may have broken.
Everything I thought I knew about life has just been thrown under the bus, and I feel lost. I lean into Bry for comfort as he wraps his arms around me and lifts me onto his lap before giving his father a look.
“Did you have to do that, Dad? You freaked her out!” Bry scowls at him while rubbing his one hand up and down my arm, pulling me closer. “We could have tried to convince her some way other than with shock value.”
Bry has become tense beneath me. I try to pull away and look at him, but he holds me still. Shaking my head, I go to speak, but his father starts talking before I can find my voice.
“Son, she was leaving. I had to do something to make her believe because her safety depends on her knowing the truth about us, the school, and most importantly, herself. You can’t keep her safe without knowing how.”
That brings me out of my stupor.
“What do you mean, keep me safe? From what? And what exactly am I?” I look between them before pinning Bry with a glare.
He shakes his head at me. “I don’t know, beautiful. I just know I was called to help you and it became clear very fast that you had no idea about this world. That you were here blind…so I called Dad.” He tilts his head in the direction of David.
“And once Brian convinced me he actually was given his first assignment, and it wasn’t an issue of infatuation, I started talking to the higher ups.”
Wait, so what Brian and I share is just an assignment? “So, everything between us was a lie?” I ask him, trying to pull out of his grasp. “I’m an assignment to you; you don’t actually care for me?”
The pain on his face is unmistakable. I’ve hurt him, but I doubt he feels as much pain as I do right now. My life has just been turned upside down. Do my parents know? What am I? How could he lie to me? Use me like that?
“Beautiful, no. Nothing between us has ever been a lie. What I feel, what we feel, is real. I can actually get into a lot of trouble for being in a relationship with you.”
I look to David and he nods in agreement. “Your connection to my son is most definitely frowned upon. Not you specifically, but because you’re his assignment. His assignment was to keep you safe and to teach you about our world. To help you understand what you are, and to help you choose good over evil.”
He may as well be speaking a foreign language, because I just can’t wrap my head around it.
So what am I then? If I can choose to be evil, that doesn’t sound like something I even want to know.
I shudder at the thought and Bry looks at me.
“I don’t know what you are, but I don’t care. I know you, Harleigh Roe, and you don’t have even an ounce of evil in you. Stop saying shit like that.”
I really need to get a filter and stop saying shit out loud.
My panic slowly starts to melt away as I look at him. He believes in me. He has feelings for me. As long as he is by my side, I can get through this. Right?
A cough pulls us back to reality and we both turn to his father.
Swinging his finger between Bry and I, he asks, “What just happened there?” I wonder what he’s talking about, and he must see the confusion on our faces because he just stares at us. “Never mind. It’s not important. I clearly missed something.” He shakes his head.
“Dad.” Bry lifts me off his lap and back onto the couch beside him, never letting go of my hand. I’m grateful because he’s grounding me right now. The questions in my brain are threatening to draw me away. I can’t get lost in my head right now. “You said you know what she is, so…tell us.”
Good question. I want to know that myself. I can’t believe any of this is happening. Maybe I will wake up tomorrow and this will just be one tripped out nightmare that we can laugh about.
Turning to me, David prepares for the worst by setting his shoulders, and his entire body goes rigid.
“We aren’t one hundred percent certain. We know half of what you are, but you need to brace yourself for what I’m about to tell you because it isn’t just about what you are. This also involves your parents.”
Obviously. If I’m not human, then clearly they know. I would have gotten it from them.
“Harleigh, you are half succubus,” David explains. “You get it from your mother.”
Oh she has a lot of explaining to do if this is real. How could they keep this from me, and why was a stranger telling me?!
“Why wouldn’t my parents tell me? If what you’re saying is true, they would have told me.” I’m getting defensive now, but I’m frustrated. I need answers.
