Page 31 of Light

The odors were acrid and all at once cloistering. Adalaide jumped from her bed and rebounded off the solid form of a man.

Not a man, an angel. Her angel.

Her mind wrapped itself around that thought. He wasn’t hers, much as she might have liked to believe it was otherwise.

I am, as you are mine.

The words were a shout in her mind. She pressed her hands to her head, wincing.

“Why are you screaming?” she asked. Her voice was rough and scratchy as though from disuse. She closed her eyes, massaged her temples, and fell back onto her bed. “Please, close the window.”

Gabriel turned, dazzlingly white feathers whipping her in the face as he pressed down on the glass, blocking out some of the noxious smell.

He turned back to her, hovering beside the bed. “It will take some getting used to.”

“What will?” she asked, rubbing her temple once more.

“Your newly heightened sense.”

She looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time. “What do you mean?”

“You have awoken your Nephilim side. Or, rather… that is…”

Gabriel backed away from her bed, putting space between them. She waited for the feeling she normally had when they parted, and it was then she noticed a wholeness within her she’d never felt before. It was as if there had been a space waiting to be occupied, and suddenly it was.

She gasped, rubbing at her breastbone. “What is that?”

Gabriel’s face changed, the guarded, wary version of him she was more accustomed to reappearing. “Something has happened.”

She waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, she prompted, “Go on.”

“You were dying.”

She raised a brow.

He let out a long sigh, saying, “We have bonded.”

Adalaide’s breathing hitched for only a moment before her whole face split with a grin.

Gabriel’s features softened just a fraction. “You’re not angry?”

The apprehension in his tone would have made her laugh if she couldn’t hear his unspoken words.

Please don’t reject me. Don’t leave me.

She lunged forward, letting him catch her, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. He held her stiffly as she pressed her nose into his neck and inhaled his mahogany and pine scent. It reminded her of an ancient forest on a rainy day.

A tear ran down her cheek as she pressed herself more firmly into him and felt his feathers tickle her nose.

His arms tightened around her, making her feel safe in a way she couldn’t put into words. “I accept you,” she breathed; at her words, he squeezed tighter.

Their hearts beat in time with each other, but it wasn’t exactly a heartbeat. It was a current of energy running under both of their skins. She could feel it before, but in her new state, the energy between them was alive.

My light in an infinite darkness, he said into her mind.

She pulled back, looking into his eyes. They searched her face, still hesitant, still expecting the worst. She suddenly understood why he’d stayed away. Why he’d tried to put distance between them. He thought himself unworthy. Of her? Or happiness?

“Both,” he said aloud this time.

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