Page 14 of Under His Wings

Zach scrunched his nose at his burger even though he picked some gourmet-style abomination with goat cheese, or avocado, or whatever weird shit it was.

“This is what you were ‘dying to try'?” he asked skeptically. “And you said ‘restaurant’. I don’t know if this qualifies.”

“Ha! Stop complaining or I will take you for a food snob,” I joked. But as I observed Zach place a napkin in his lap and go at his burger with a fork and knife instead of just biting into it as you should I realized. “Oh my god. You really are a food snob. The flower shaped fruit should have clued me in.”

“I’m not a snob,” Zach said, snobbishly. “I just have an appreciation for fine cuisine. I didn’t train my tastebuds for years just to—”

He stopped and clutched at his head with a pained expression that had me instantly worried.

“Zach?” I asked, reaching out a hand but leaving it hovering between us, unsure if I should touch him.

“I’m... fine. Eat your greasy food.”

“We could move somewhere else if you want,” I offered, my appetite gone.

“No... it’s just... I know I have very particular tastes but I don’t know why. I don’t remember. Sometimes the words just leave my mouth but if I try to think about them... I can’t. I don’t recall ‘training my tastebuds’. I don’t remember anything from my past life.”

“Oh, damn, I should have realized sooner. You are an Ascended,” I said as my brows rose up nearly to my hairline.

He acquiesced to my theory with a tilt of his head, his face grim.

“I know we are rare. Both among the angels and the demons. Have you ever meet one like me?”

“Probably,” I shrugged. “But, usually, it’s not... advertised. If a demon can keep it a secret they will try to do so. Some see Ascended as...”

“Weaker? Beneath them?” Zach asked dryly.

“I was going to say ‘abominations’ but sure, that as well.”

“And what do you think?”

I hesitated over what kind of an answer to give.

“I was always told that the Ascenders are created only from humans who are strong, unique, iron-willed. Aren’t you all that as an angel as well?”

“The unique part is certainly true,” Zach chuckled mirthlessly. He picked at the edge of the cloth covering our table and spoke only after the silence grew heavy. “I learned only today that I may, in fact, be an abomination. The nightmares... I thought they were a normal part of the process of going from a human to an angel.”

“They are not?” I asked quietly.

“They are. For the first few weeks. Or months. Not years. It’s normal for the newly made Ascended to retain the ability to dream for a while, and that may include nightmares, but...”

“How long ago had you Ascended?”

“Three years.”

Oh my Lucifer, he was a baby. A baby angel who apparently thought the worst of himself. Wait, was that blasted Archangel reinforcing that belief when I saw them argue? Did he just drop the bombshell about his nightmares not being normal on Zach and left him alone in such a state?

“Did Gabriel do something to you?” I blurted out like a moron.

Blue eyes widened then narrowed.

“You saw us. I’m going to spank your ass for not respecting my privacy, Hellion.”

“Is that a promise or a threat?” I shot back. “But really... he didn’t do anything did he? Not like I could do a lot against an Archangel, but I will gladly bitch about him with you.”

“No... He is... well, I still think he is my friend but he is on fucking thin ice,” the rare expletive falling from the angel’s lips only highlighted how frustrated he was. “Gabriel was the one who guided me into the life of an angel after I Ascended. His support and friendship helped me a lot. But apparently he decided keeping some facts from me, like how the dreams should stop soon after Ascending, was for ‘my own good’.”

“That’s some bullshit. Bitching about him it is,” I nodded with determination. “I will start: his hair looks hideous. Just cut it and be done with it or let it grow out! The half-state he keeps it in is an affront to creation. Now you.”

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