Александра Адорнетто - Halo

“So am I,” Xavier said.

Gabriel and Ivy had already heard what happened by the time we got home.

“We have to act now,” Ivy said. “This has gone too far.”

“And what do you propose we do?” Gabriel asked her.

“We have to stop him,” I said. “Destroy him if that’s what it takes.”

“We cannot simply charge in and destroy him,” Gabriel said. “We’re not permitted to take life without reason.”

“But he’s taken someone else’s life!” I cried.

“Bethany, we cannot harm him unless we know without a doubt who or what he is. So, much as we might wish it, confrontation is out of the question for the time being.”

“Maybe you can’t hurt him,” Xavier said, “but I can. Let me fight him.”

Gabriel’s gray eyes were unyielding. “You will be no use to Bethany dead,” he said sharply.

“Gabe!” I cried, distressed by the very idea of anyone touching Xavier. I knew he would jump headfirst into a fight if he thought he was protecting me.

“I’m stronger than him,” Xavier said. “I know I am; let me do it.”

Ivy put a hand on Xavier’s shoulder. “You don’t know what we’re dealing with in Jake

Thorn,” she said.

“He’s just a boy,” Xavier replied. “How frightening can he be?”

“He isn’t just a boy,” Ivy said. “We have felt his aura—it is growing stronger now. He is aligned with dark forces that no human can understand.”

“What are you saying? That he’s a demon?” Xavier asked incredulously. “That’s impossible.”

“You believe in angels. Is it so difficult to consider we might have evil counterparts?”

Gabriel asked.

“I’ve tried not to think about that,” Xavier said.

“As surely as there is a Heaven, there is a Hell,” Ivy said softly.

“So you think Jake Thorn is a demon?” I whispered.

“We believe he may be an agent of Lucifer,” Gabriel said. “But we need proof before we can act to stop him.”

The proof came when I unpacked my school bag a little later on that afternoon. A familiar coil of paper was tucked inside the zip. I unrolled it to reveal Jake’s distinctive script:

I felt a sudden lump stick in my throat. Jake had threatened Xavier. His vendetta was no longer against me alone. I clutched Xavier’s arm. I could feel the muscles there beneath my fingers—but it was still only human strength.

“Is that proof enough for you?” Xavier asked in a low voice.

“That is a poem and nothing more,” Gabriel said. “Listen, I believe that Jake is behind the murder and all of the accidents. I believe that he means to wreak havoc, but I need concrete evidence before I can act—the laws of the Kingdom demand it.”

“And then what will you do?” Xavier wanted to know.

“Whatever is necessary to keep the peace,” Gabriel said.

“Even if it means killing him?” Xavier spoke plainly.

“Yes,” was Gabriel’s icy response. “For if he is what we suspect him to be, then taking his human life will send him back where he came from.”

Xavier considered this for a moment and then nodded. “But what does he want with Beth?

What can she give him?”

“Beth turned him down,” Gabriel replied. “Someone like Jake Thorn is used to getting what he wants. Right now his vanity is wounded.”

I shuffled my feet uncomfortably. “He said he’d been looking for me for centuries. . . .”

“He said what?” Xavier exploded. “What does that mean?”

Gabriel and Ivy exchanged worried looks.

“Demons often search for a human to make their own,” Ivy said. “It’s their twisted version of love, I suppose. They lure the human to the underworld, and they’re forced to stay there forever. Over time they’re corrupted and even start to develop feelings for their oppressor.”

“But what’s the point of it?” Xavier asked. “Can demons even have feelings?”

“It’s mainly done to spite Our Father,” Ivy said. “The corruption of His creations causes

Him great anguish.”

“But I’m not even a real human!” I said.

“Exactly,” Gabriel replied. “What better prize than an angel in human form? Capturing one of us would be the ultimate victory.”

“Is Beth in danger?” Xavier moved closer to me.

“I think we may all be in danger,” said Gabriel. “Just have patience. Our Father will reveal our path to us in due course.”

I insisted that Xavier stay the night with us, and after Jake’s message, Ivy and Gabriel did not object. Although they didn’t say as much, I knew they were worried about Xavier’s safety.

Jake was unpredictable, like a firework that could go off at any moment.

Xavier called his parents and told them he was staying the night at a friend’s place so they could finish studying for an exam the next day. There was no way his mother would have allowed him to stay if she’d known he was at my house—Bernie was far too conservative for that. She and Gabriel would have gotten along famously.

We said good night to Ivy and Gabriel and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. Xavier stood on the balcony while I took my shower and brushed my teeth. I didn’t ask what he was thinking or if he was as frightened as I was. I knew he would never admit it, at least not to me. To sleep, he stripped down to a pair of boxer shorts that said, “Don’t sweat it!” across the back and a white tank that he had on under his shirt. I put on a pair of leggings and a loose T-shirt.

We didn’t say much to each other that night. I lay still and listened to the sound of his steady breathing, felt the rise and fall of his chest. With his body curved around mine, his arms protectively wrapped around me, I felt safe and cocooned. Even though Xavier was only human, it seemed he could protect me from anything and everything. I wouldn’t have been worried if a fire-breathing dragon had torn off the roof, because I knew that Xavier was there. I wondered fleetingly if I was expecting too much of him but dismissed the idea.

I woke in the middle of the night, frightened by a dream I couldn’t remember. Xavier lay beside me. He looked so beautiful when he was asleep, his perfect lips slightly parted, his hair tousled on the pillow, his smooth, tanned chest rising and falling gently as he breathed. My anxiety got the better of me and I reached out to him. He woke easily, and his eyes were startlingly blue even in the moonlight.

“What’s that?” I whispered, suddenly aware of shadows. “Over there, do you see that?”

Leaving his arm around me, Xavier sat up and looked around the room. “Where?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep. I gestured toward the far right corner of the room. Xavier swung himself out of the bed and walked across to where I was pointing.

“Here?” he asked when he reached the spot. “I’m fairly sure this is a coatrack.” I nodded then remembered he couldn’t see me in the dark.

“I thought I saw someone standing there,” I said. “A man in a long coat and a hat.” Spoken aloud it sounded ridiculous.

“I think you’re seeing ghosts, babe.” Xavier yawned and prodded the coatrack with his foot. “Yep, definitely a coatrack.”

“Sorry,” I said when he came back to bed. I wrapped myself around his warmth.

“Don’t be scared,” he murmured. “Nobody can hurt you while I’m here.”

I trusted him and, after a while, let myself stop listening for noises and movements.

“Love you,” Xavier said just before he drifted back to sleep.

“Love you more,” I said playfully.

“Not a chance,” Xavier said, fully awake now. “I’m bigger, I can contain more love.”

“I’m smaller, therefore my love particles are more compressed, which means I can fit more in.”