***
We sat around the kitchen table. My mom and Mrs. Roberts made the six of us a snack. They hovered like two mother hens, making sure we ate, that our cuts were cleaned and our bruises iced. It must’ve been hard on them watching us fight and not being able to help. Demi-angels had superior strength to humans, even if a human was schooled in martial arts and self-defense like my mother and Mrs. Roberts. There was really nothing they could do but watch from the sidelines. As strong, independent women, it was a position they both hated but had learned to live with, if not accept.
“Milayna, what are you doing? Do you have a headache?” my mom asked when she walked by.
I dropped my hands from where they pressed on my temples. “Um, no… I was just trying to make that spoon move.” Everyone in the room looked at me like I’d lost my mind—I probably had. Chay pursed his lips to hide a grin. “Dad said we can sometimes sense what other people are thinking. Not read minds, but feel what they are thinking or feeling. Well, that’s happened to me twice now.” That got everyone’s attention.
“What are you talking about?” Drew scooted his chair closer to me.
“I was fighting this demi-demon idiot tonight, and everything was normal. He hit me, I hit him, blah frickin’ blah. Then it was like someone slowed time down. I could see his movements in slow motion, giving me time to prepare myself for the block. It was wicked cool, like I could sense what he was thinking before he threw his punches or kicks.”
I took a drink of my Coke and sat up straighter. “And the night we found out Steven changed? Well, I felt what everyone in the room was feeling. All I had to do was look them in the eyes and it was like we connected somehow. It felt like static cling sparking between us.” I moved my fingers to imitate little sparks in the air, moving my hand between Chay and me.
“Somehow, the person’s feelings were communicated to me through that connection. Like, when I looked at Chay, I could feel the electrical current connect to him, and I felt a sense of calm, strength, a sense of bonding to the team, and I felt… I felt… well, that’s all. When I looked at Steven, he only held eye contact a second or two and the emotion I felt the strongest was uneasiness. There was no tie to the group. Otherwise, I felt nothing.” I let my hands fall. “That’s when I was fairly certain he’d already changed. And it turned out I was right—well, the electrical current was right. Whatever. Anyway, I thought since that power was showing up, maybe I could get a handle on this telekinesis thing we’re supposed to have. I can’t seem to get it to work when I want it to, but it shows up anytime Chay and I… well, whatever.” I shrugged a shoulder, wishing I could suck those last words back in.
“Anytime Chay and you what?” My dad lifted an eyebrow.
I gave him a quick smile, the tips of my cheekbones burning. Chay wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Yeah, good luck. I’ve been trying forever and nothing,” Drew grumbled. He spun his plate around on the table and scowled.
“Well, we need to work on developing our powers. I know I have them, but I don’t know how I made them work. I mean, I tried to get the emotional electrical current thing. Sometimes it’s there and other times, nada. And we all have telekinesis that we need to learn how to work. Because this can’t go on.” I pushed my plate away. “The fights are making us weaker. There’s no way we can keep fighting and be able to fight off Azazel and his demons too.”
The group murmured their agreement.
“Dad, there has to be a way of killing them.” I looked at my father, who had one hip leaned against the countertop and his arm around my mother’s waist.
“Milayna, we can’t kill the demi-demons. They’re half human!” he said in horror. His eyes wide.
“Not them, Dad. Geez. I meant the demons. How do we kill them? How do we protect ourselves from their strength?”
“We fight like you did tonight. You use what you learned in your training. It’s no different. That’s why your mother and I have tried to train you in personal defense and fighting skills almost since you were able to walk. And you rely on your teammates.”
Except the thing I’m defending myself against is a demon with flaming hot skin who’d like nothing better than to throw me into the pit of Hell, and one of my team wants to help it do that.
“Well, there is one other thing,” Chay’s dad said from the corner of the room. He looked down at his hand and rubbed it with the fingers of the other.
“We’d never get one. I don’t know anyone, angel or demi-angel, who’s seen one.” My dad shook his head.
“What?” I asked, hope stirring for the first time. I leaned toward Chay’s dad. “Whatever it is, we need to try!” I said, talking so fast in my excitement that I wasn’t sure anyone could understand me.
“There’s a legend among angels that demons can be killed using a dagger,” my dad said quietly.