Page 91 of Crimson Promises
“In your bible, God gave Moses a set of ten commandments for humans to abide by. He set a list of ten rules for angels as well. One of them forbade any physical relations between angels and mortals. Throughout time, there have been whispers of offspring here on earth that show remarkable gifts and are labeled by your society as ‘prodigies.’ In Heaven, they were given the termdimidiumfor their unique heritage. They are born so scarcely that it mostly remains off the radar, but that doesn’t mean that conceiving adimidiumis any less dangerous or comes without consequences. Because of the baby’s unique genetic coding, most mothers do not survive the birth.”
My gaze became unfocused as I soaked in Ben’s words. My mom died giving birth to me because ofwhatI am. I pressed my hands against my ears and began rocking back and forth. I didn’t want to hear anymore.
Then I shot to my feet with a gasp. “Stephen’s not my father.”
Ben reached for me, but I took a step back. He patted the empty, uncomfortable wooden seat. “Aurora, sit back down. There’s more you need to hear.”
“Stephen’s not my father, is he?” I slowly lowered my body to the seat, no longer confident that my body could support itself. “My mother, Alice, she couldn’t be the one with angelic heritage?”
“No.” Ben shook his head. “I’ve looked into her lineage. Resoundingly human.” He took my hand in his, and this time I didn’t fight him. Not when my entire world was falling apart. His gaze never wavered from mine.
“Stephen is your father in all the ways that matter. He raised you. He loved you.Lovesyou. Take it from someone who watched him get up for every nightmare or take care of you during each illness. Genetics doesn’t make you family. Who loves you does.”
My eyes watered at that. Stephen would always be my dad.
“Do you know who my sperm donor is?”
“I don’t, but it has to be someone with a wealth of power, definitely someone from The Gifted.”
“Does Stephen know?”
“I don't know,” Bennet said. “I came into your life once your mother was already gone.”
He pulled me closer to him and tugged me into his side. I had no fight left in me anymore and let him. “You said there’s more.”
“Dimidium'sfull power manifests on their twenty-first birthday, which marks their transition to full maturity.”
I turned my face up to his. “My birthday is in just a few weeks.”
He nodded, tracing my eyebrow. “I think the demons have tried to take you before your birthday to ensure you were in their possession on your birthday to use your powers to whatever ultimate benefit would serve them.”
“I’m half angel, half human. Part of two worlds but belong to none.”
Ben grasped my chin and looked at me fiercely. “Aurora, you don’t belong to anyone or anything. You were meant for more than these two worlds. You’re the balance between light and dark. You’ve been what everyone has been waiting for. Never doubt that.”
“What if I don’t want that? What if I just want to go to school and be normal like everyone else?”
“You can hide yourself from the world as much as you want to, but in the end, it will find you. There is a whole part of yourself you would be neglecting if you walked away from this.”
I tucked in my upper lip. “We don’t even know if I'm a demigod.”
“Dimidium,” Ben corrected.
“Whatever.” I blew air out between my teeth. “So, what happens on my twenty-first birthday?”
"No one knows for sure. Again, I’ve never met anydimidiumin person before. And this is entirely speculation, but back when we were in front of Ol’ Eleanor, you asked for the facts, and here they are, or at least what I suspect is happening.”
Ben broke off eye contact with me to look at the horizon.
“Right now, you are in a state of in-between. Not fully human, not fully angelic. When you turn twenty-one, you must choose: embracing the potential of your powers or forsaking those abilities and becoming completely mortal.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Either I adopted a people and society I knew nothing about, leaving everything I’ve ever known behind. Or I lose any chance of finding out if I would belong.
“How can I even decide when I know nothing about this?” I threw my hands up in the air.
“It’s not fair.”
“No, it isn’t.” I scowled. Why did nothing go my way, ever? “How could you suspect this the entire time and not say anything to me?”
