My fingers capture his against my face. “I’ve had dreams. Most of them make sense now, but . . . but there was one . . .” I cringe. “There was one of me on top of a mountain, overlooking the town. A man, who I assumed was Levi, threatened Havenwood Falls. I’m not sure it was Levi now.”
Leaning forward, Lucas kisses me gently on the lips, his face close when he answers, “Being a psychic summoner can either be dangerous or powerful. Now that you know, you can learn to control it. Without control, spirits can use you. You don’t want that. You have a bright future, Harper. The dream is a warning that this town, because of what it is, is always in danger. That’s why you have the Court. That’s why having people like you they can call on is so important. You are going to be an asset here.”
He smiles. “I have to admit, you confuse me. That takes power. Some of the things that happened to you were Levi. Some were your powers waking up. I have theories, but maybe all Levi needed was your energy and blood and Gillian’s ritual. The Court is going to want to register you as a supernatural. Mortal blood flows through your veins, but you have the ability to call on spirits who would serve you. Who would kill for you if you asked.”
“And Gillian?” I ask.
“I don’t see them letting her live,” Lucas replies. Discomfort lines my eyes and face with troubled thoughts, and Lucas leans his forehead against mine. “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t let her live. Not only did she perform black magic on your mother, but she devised a way and a ritual to help a powerful demon escape a supernatural prison. That’s dangerous information.”
He pulls back and lifts my chin. “It took me and a legion of angels and demons to take down Levi hundreds of years ago. If I hadn’t fought him here straight after he escaped the prison and while his powers were weak, this wouldn’t have been an easy fight. Revenge blinded him. He wanted to imprison me in the Infernum, and he didn’t have the patience to wait years for his power to grow. Lack of patience has always been Levi’s downfall.”
His fingers tighten on my chin. “I want you to remember something. I came into this town prepared for the worst because that’s what truly great warriors do. It doesn’t matter how easy a fight seems, it can always turn. There are too many variables in battle. Be confident, but don’t let confidence blind you.”
“You’re going to leave, aren’t you?”
The smile he gives me is sad. “I have a lot more enemies than just Levi. I am a risk the Court is not going to want to take, and I don’t blame them.”
My thoughts go immediately to the mountain man on the ridge. “There are other angels here.”
“Not my kind. Not with my history.”
I start to speak, but he stops me. “If you’re going where I think you’re going in your head, don’t. You just bought your first house. You have a new beginning here. A place where you’ll be safe, where you can finally be the psychic you were meant to be. There are people here you may finally be comfortable enough to get to know. People who need your help. Places you should go. Words won’t be dangerous for you anymore. Not once you learn how to control them.”
“Did you really think I was going to offer to go with you?” I ask, exaggerating the hurt expression I give him. “That’s a really high opinion you have of yourself.”
He cocks a brow.
“Okay,” I smile, “maybe I was going to suggest it, but I don’t think I would have meant it. I just hate,” my gaze drops, “that there’s no chance to see what this could have been. That there’s no chance to get to know you.”
“You’ve seen more of what I am outside of being an angel in the past couple of days than I’ve let anyone else see in a long time.”
I look at him, and this time, I make myself hold his gaze. “You remind me of a falling star. Something beautiful I saw fall from the sky, and then bam, gone.”
He grins, apparently okay with the analogy. “Did I make wishes come true before I left, at least?”
I nod.
He wraps me in his arms, our bodies pressed close. No barriers. Skin to skin. Beating heart against beating heart.
In the still room, he whispers, “Mortals can be falling stars, too.”
Chapter 15
When I wake the next day, Lucas is gone, and even though I expected the absence, my heart clenches like a fist inside my chest.
The house is too silent.
After I dress, I make hot chocolate, the smell rich and deep when I lift the cup to my lips. It doesn’t permeate the air quite the same way coffee does, the same way my aunt’s apartment always smelled in the morning, but the chocolate is my smell. My scent in the morning.
The sun has already risen, leaving the world white and beautiful. Clean. Shadows climb the walls as the sun climbs in the sky, and I watch them over the rim of my cup. They remind me of the night before.
A psychic summoner. Someone who can both channel spirits and use them. My aunt is a conduit for spirits. She allows them to use her body to send messages to others, but she can’t control them. I can. Not only can they use me to send messages, I can call them forth and use them to do my bidding. I can use them as an army, although I have no desire to do it.
A mortal supernatural.
I smile into my cup. Maybe Lucas is right. Mortals can be falling stars, too. I don’t make sense as a person, but I do make sense as something in between human and make believe.
Maybe I’m the fairy tale I always tried to make my mother.
“Boy, he sure leaves a big empty feeling behind for having been here for such a short time,” I tell the silence.
“That’s Lucas for you.”
I almost drop my cup of cocoa, my gaze flying to the floor. Desi. “What the hell?”
The mace shudders. “He told me to stay here with you until you’re stronger.”
The cocoa suddenly doesn’t seem like a strong enough morning drink. “And how long will that be?”
“I’ll know when,” he replies cryptically.
“Great.” Now I really do have a pet baseball bat. A talking one.
Despite my sarcastic tone, my heart melts. Lucas may have left, but he didn’t leave me alone.
“You are not allowed to go into town with me,” I tell Desi firmly. “There’s no way I can explain you and your nasty looking bronze thorns.”
“I don’t have to be with you. All you have to do is call me. I’ll hear you.”
Thank God! I’m not sure I have a backpack big enough to hold him in public.
Speaking of public, I may not have gotten more than a sip from the cup Lucas brought me the other day, but I know Coffee Haven makes really good hot cocoa.
It’s time to be brave.
Chapter 16