Page 68 of Fallen Angels

“Does Revenant know?”

“No,” I say and shake my head.

“Are you going to tell him?”

“Maybe eventually,” I answer as I take another deep breath because there’s something more on my chest. “And there’s something else.”

“What?”

“When I was with Variant,” I start as I breathe in deeply. “It was that same evening,” I continue and find my attentionshifting to the floor. I can’t look Dragan in the eyes as I remember the specifics. “After he killed Anona, he walked over to me and I thought… I thought he was going to rape me.”

“Did he?”

“No,” I say and shake my head as I look up and into Dragan’s concerned gray eyes. “But, I thought he was going to and something happened when he touched me. It was like this huge blast of light and energy exploded out of me and it burst into him, sending him across the room.”

“Jesus,” Dragan says.

I nod. “And maybe it was due to that light burst or maybe he already knew,” I start as I exhale and then look up into his eyes. “But Variant knows I’m an intact angel. He knows I have my wings.”

“He told you he knew?” Dragan asks.

I nod. “He told me he knew.”

“Fuck,” Dragan says as he runs his hands through his hair and appears distressed. “Does Cambion know?”

“No.”

“Revenant?”

“No.”

“Pyre?”

“Doesn’t Pyre naturally know everything?” I ask with feigned humor.

“I don’t know.”

“I didn’t tell Pyre if that’s what you’re asking me.”

“Then I’m the only one you’ve told?”

“Yes.”

He faces me and his eyebrows crease in frustration. “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

“I didn’t feel the time was right.”

“And why am I the only one you’ve told?”

I shake my head. “It just felt right to tell you… now. I didn’t want to tell the others because I didn’t want to bring them down. It’s so important to free the Midnight Queen that I didn’t want anything to get in the way of that. And I thought maybe this news was big enough that it might bring everyone down and we can’t afford to be down. We have to focus on the positive.”

Dragan reaches out and wraps his arms around me, in a move that surprises me. When he pulls me against his chest, I lean into his touch instinctively, grateful he gives me this moment of peace in his arms while the others are out of sight.

“I hate it that you’re going back to the castle with us,” he whispers into my ear. “After what Variant forced you to watch and this obvious… interest he’s developed in you. And now he knows you’re an intact angel…” He pulls me away from him and glances down at me. “Does he also know you’re Succubus?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

He nods and takes a deep breath. “You should have stayed with Pyre.”

---