My mother sighed. She wrapped her arms around her middle and sat down. Her lips clamped together in a straight line as she glanced at my dad. Her eyes were soft and swimming with emotion. I could almost see her irises swirling like waves in a storm. “Sort of,” she answered finally.
I laughed so hard that I snorted. “Wow, when people say turning eighteen is a milestone, they really have no idea!”
My dad chuckled. “Look, Milayna, the bottom line is that you have to be aware at all times. He’ll use anything or anyone to get to you. If he is able to convert you and pull you to his side, he’ll control your powers, making him even stronger than he already is.”
“Wait, he’ll use anyone? What keeps Mom safe?” I looked between the two of them.
My mom pulled the collar of her shirt down her back and showed me a patch of raised skin. I’d seen it before when she’d worn a tank top or swimsuit, but I’d never examined it before. Now I saw it was an intricate design, the layers of skin weaving above and under each other. “It’s a rune for protection. All human family members get them. It doesn’t keep us completely untouchable, but it gives some protection.”
I ran my fingers over the patch of skin. “Good. That makes me feel better.” I smiled at my mom and she pinched my side, tickling me. When I stopped laughing, I looked at my dad and asked, “So, what is he waiting for? I mean, I’m not in the safety period anymore.”
“The closer it gets to your birthday, the stronger you’ll become. That means there’ll be more power for him to absorb. He’s greedy. He’ll wait until the last possible second so he can absorb the most power from you.”
“So what do I do now?”
“Your powers are weakest when you’re having a vision. Azazel will exploit that. He’ll force visions on you by creating situations that will require your involvement. Knowing that, I want you to make sure you’re always with another demi. They can protect you, and you can protect them.”
Taking a drink of his coffee, he wrinkled his nose. He dumped some creamer into it and tasted it again. With a nod, he turned his focus back to me. “Because you are the highest-ranking demi and the leader of the group, the others in the group are also vulnerable until you turn eighteen. You must, you must, work as a team, Milayna. I can’t stress that enough. You’re strongest when you are a united front. Alone, you are at your weakest, and Azazel has a better chance of defeating you. It’s very important you understand that.”
Okay, then, this Azazel guy was really serious. Taking in a deep breath, I glanced at my mom. She’d been silent while my dad talked. She stared into her coffee mug with glassy eyes, and I could see a slight tremor in her hands. My dad was also acting strange, downing coffee like it was water, and he was in the middle of Death Valley in July. They seemed as worried and scared as I was, and my heart rate kicked up another beat. I thought this was all about my demi-angel status and me, but looking at my parents, I could see it was also affecting them.
I forced a smile. “How do we fight him, Dad? This Azazel guy? Do I have laser beams for eyes or spider webs that shoot from my hands?” I asked, only half joking. If Azazel was as evil as they said, what could a group of teenagers do to stop him?
My dad laughed. “No, you don’t have spider webs or laser beams. You’ll have to rely on good, old-fashioned, hand-to-hand combat against his demis.”
“The Tae Kwon Do and every other type of self-defense class you could find—is this why you made me take them?”
“Yes.” My mom set down her coffee mug and moved to pull me into a hug. I squeezed her to me, breathing in her comforting scent.
“As your powers increase, you’ll have telekinetic energy, but it will be weak. You won’t be able to rely on it until your powers fully mature.”
“Wow.” My brain was slogged down with information. It was so full that I had trouble focusing on one thing to process. But telekinesis? Really? I was really starting to believe my dad was embellishing the story a little. Everything I’d heard so far seemed mega far-fetched, but the telekinesis tipped it over the mountain into bizarro world.
“It’s a lot to take in, I know. Think about things for a while. When you have questions, and I’m sure you will, I’ll be here to answer them,” my dad said with a sad smile.
Nodding at him, I grabbed my music player from the counter and started to clear the kitchen table, rinsing the plates for the dishwasher. I hummed along to the song playing through my earbuds while my parents still sat at the table, drinking the last of their coffee. I could hear them talk about getting the oil changed in the cars and other boring stuff that parents had to do.
I tried to clear my mind of everything we’d talked about and just let the music distract me for a little while. I needed some downtime away from demons, visions, and evil people named Azazel who wanted to kill me for powers I wasn’t sure I had.
Hey! My powers…
I pulled out my earbuds and leaned over the kitchen island. “Dad, I have a question now.”