I was so confused. “Mexico?” I squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe if I kept my eyes closed long enough and pretended they weren’t there, they’d go away, and I wouldn’t have to deal with this. Whatever this was.
“No, Hell. Keep up, would you, child? If they choose to serve in Hell, they retain their immortal status, becoming a demon angel instead.”
I put my hands on either side of my head and bent over. It felt like it was spinning so fast that it was going to pop off and fly across the room like a balloon.
This is a great fairytale, but there’s no frikkin’ way it’s real. My dad is just Dad. Not a flippin’ angel. I’ve had enough of this crap. I just want a damn brownie without all the stupid practical jokes, is that too much to ask?
Slowly, I opened my eyes in time to see Grams pick a piece of lint off her shirt. When she noticed my gaze, she continued. “In the case of your father, he fell madly in love with the woman he was assigned to protect—”
I sighed. “He was her guardian angel.” I made a blah, blah, blah motion with my hand. Muriel glared at me, but she stayed quiet.
“Yep, and he left Heaven for her. He gave up his immortality and chose a life with her here on earth, which is about as close to Hell as you can get without burnin’ your toes.” She laughed at her own joke.
I stared at her and tried to figure out exactly when it was that everyone in my family went nutso. Surely, she didn’t believe what she was telling me. “Lemme guess,” I said in a sarcastic tone, walking around the kitchen counter and sitting on the couch—in the corner furthest from my grams in case whatever she had that made her go batty was contagious. “That woman was my mother?”
“Yes indeedy, speedy. Your dad lost his wings, gained a wife, and a few years later, you were born. Then they got a big surprise when little Ben made his appearance ten years later. Anyway, the two of you were born from a human and an angel, making you demi-angels. You know, like demi-gods?” Grams waved her hand in the air like she was batting them away. “They don’t exist, by the way. That whole Zeus and human thing? Who’d believe that?” She looked at me with a smile.
“Yeah. Who’d believe it?” I whispered, staring back at her. A chill ran up my spine, and I watched my grams’ steady gaze.
“But demi-angels do exist, Milayna, and I’m staring one square in the face. Actually, two. Muriel’s also a demi-angel. That’s how she knows you’re having the visions.”
I swung around in Muriel’s direction, feeling my heart speed up. “What do you know about my visions?” My hands clenched. I had the oddest fight-or-flight sensation come over me.
“I know that you see things before they happen. Bad things. I know that you can’t help yourself. If it is in your power to stop whatever is going to happen, you have to,” Muriel answered quietly. She wouldn’t meet my gaze. Instead, her eyes stayed on her lap, where she twisted her fingers together.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You knew what was happening to me, and you didn’t tell me? How could you do that to me, Muriel?” I had a heavy feeling in my chest and a lump lodged in my throat. The thought that Muriel, the one person I shared everything with and thought she did the same with me, kept something so big a secret from me? It physically hurt.
She raised her head, her eyes wide. “You would have thought I was insane. I thought I was insane.”
“You’ve let me think I’m a freak! You could have tried, Muriel. You could have tried to tell me, so I wouldn’t have been so scared that something was really wrong with me—that I wasn’t going insane.” Tears pushed at the back of my eyes, but I fought to keep them from falling. I was too angry to cry in front of Muriel. As far as I was concerned, she’d betrayed our trust.
“I’m so sorry, Milayna, but you wouldn’t talk to me when I asked. And until it happens to you, it’s pretty hard to explain. Or believe.” Muriel held out her hand to me, pleading, but I pushed it away.
Grams tsked behind me. “How long have you known, Muriel?”
“I didn’t know for sure until the day in the cafeteria. I started wondering the day at the mall.” Muriel dropped her hand.
I turned my back on Muriel and met Grams’ gaze. I asked, “So my dad and Muriel’s dad are angel brothers?”
“No. They’re just angels who happened to find each other on earth. They think of each other as family. And they are, if you think about it. They love each other like brothers. I think that makes them just as much of a family as anyone else.” She folded her hands in her lap, the sparkle in her eyes introspective. “See, angels don’t have blood family, dear. We’re created, not born like humans. Other than your mom, your brother, and you, your father is alone in this world.”