Milayna's Angel (4 page)

Then I felt it. I ignored the first one. By
the third kick, I was pissed. I pulled away from Chay and swung my
head in Xavier’s direction.

“What?” I bit out, out of breath from Chay’s
kiss.

“Sorry. I just wanted to make sure we were
still on for lunch today.”

He had to interrupt my kiss to ask about
lunch? What the heck?

“I guess so.”

“Good.” Xavier smiled and started leafing
through his chemistry book. I stared at him.

Chay cupped my cheek. He pulled my face
around to him and kissed me softly, trailing his lips to my ear.
“He’s jealous,” he murmured.

“He’s starting to irritate me.”

Chay laughed. “Good.”

Xavier kicked the bottom of my seat three
more times during the class period. Each time, he handed me a
folded piece of paper with a note scrawled across it. Finally,
growing tired of the game, Chay grabbed the last one, wadded it up,
and threw it back at Xavier. I heard a faint chuckle behind me.
Next to me, I heard a curse.

***

I heard the sounds first. Then, my vision
started zoning in and out. It narrowed into a circle, becoming
smaller and smaller until it was as if I was looking through a
periscope. The sides were like static on a television.

My stomach burned. It felt like it was
squeezed in a vice, and someone was cranking and cranking the
handle until they couldn’t tighten it anymore. I leaned over in
pain, my arms wrapped around my middle. A vision. I hated having
them at school.

Me. Wait, I don’t see visions about myself.
But that’s what I see—me.

I shook my head to erase the image. It was as
though I was looking at my reflection in a mirror. My palms grew
sweaty and it was hard to breathe, like something heavy was sitting
on my chest.

Me talking. I can’t hear what I’m saying. I
can’t see who I’m talking to. I back up, holding my hands out,
palms first as if in surrender, holding someone off.

My head pounded in time to my heartbeat, the
blood rushing so loudly behind my ears I couldn’t hear the noise of
the other students in the hall. They bumped into me, jostled me,
pushing me out of the way. I stood in the middle of the hall,
concentrating on the vision. They always told me something. There
was a reason I was having a vision about myself. I just needed to
concentrate and let the vision tell me what I needed to know, what
I needed to do.

I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, and I
jumped. I looked up expecting—wanting—to see Chay. It was Xavier’s
face that looked down at me with questioning eyes.

“Are you okay?” He gave my shoulder a small
squeeze.

“Yeah. What?” I pushed the images away and
locked them in my brain. I’d worry about the vision later, when I
had time to concentrate on what I saw and decipher it.

“It’s like you zoned out. You’re just
standing here, doing nothing. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just tired is all.
Ready for class?”

“Sure,” Xavier said, looking into my eyes
like he could read all my secrets.

“Let’s go then. It’s weekly torture day.” I
took a step away from him so his hand would fall from my
shoulder.

“Huh?” He looked at me in confusion.

“The test. Our weekly torture.”

“You mean we have a history test every
Friday?” A look of horror marred his gorgeous face.

Whoa, gorgeous? I shouldn’t be thinking that.
I shouldn’t be noticing at all.

I nodded. “Yes. In calculus, too. Every
Friday.”

“Great. Weekly tests. This school just gets
better and better. Where’s Chay?”

“He had to get to his next class early.”

“So you’re forced to carry your own books,”
Xavier said with a smile.

“Mm-hmm. They’re heavy, too.”

Before I could stop him, Xavier slipped my
book bag off my shoulder and swung it over his.

“No, no, that’s okay. I didn’t mean for you
to carry them.” I reached for my bag.

“I got ‘em. Let’s go get the test over
with.”

I turned to follow Xavier to class. I saw
Chay watching us from the end of the hall.

Great. This isn’t gonna make Chay jealous.
Nope, not at all.

***

Chay picked me up at four Saturday afternoon.
He still hadn’t told me where we were going. We stopped at a little
café by the Waterway to have lunch, sitting at a small table
overlooking the river. The ice was just starting to thaw from the
harsh Michigan winter, and we could see patches of deep blue water
peeking through.

The sun was big and bright in the baby blue
sky. Lazy, fluffy white clouds floated by. It was deceiving,
though. It looked like a mild day, until you went outdoors and the
brutal cold stole your breath. I hoped whatever Chay had planned
was inside.

I was thankful our table was close to the
café’s stone, floor-to-ceiling fireplace, where a small fire
burned. The sound of the crackling wood and the dry warmth of the
fire relaxed me, and I didn’t want to leave when we’d finished
eating.

“So? What are we doing today?” I asked for
the millionth time after we left and got in the car.

“You’ll see,” he answered for the millionth
and one time, driving to the mystery destination.

I peered out the window when we pulled into
the zoo’s parking lot and drove to the garden’s entrance. “Ice
skating?”

The zoo had a small ice rink in the middle of
the gardens. Large pines draped in colored lights surrounded the
rink. The days were still short and when we reached the ice rink,
dusk was already settling in. The lights made the scene look
magical. The colors reflected off the ice, creating multi-colored
crystals.

“Here.” Chay handed me thick mittens and a
scarf. “Your mom helped me sneak these out for you.”

“But you hate ice skating.” I’d been asking
him to go with me all winter, and his answer was always the same:
I hate ice skating.
It’s too cold to go sliding around on
my butt on an overgrown ice cube.

“Yeah, but you like it and I love you. So I
want to take you ice skating.”

I pulled him to me and kissed him. He was a
romantic at heart, even if he was moody and occasionally
intolerable.

When I pulled back from our kiss, I caressed
his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, just remember this day when I
want to go to a football game.”

I laughed. “Deal. Let’s go.”

Chay was right. He did spend most of the time
sliding around on his butt. I spent the time giggling at him as I
glided across the ice. I loved to skate. Even the cold night didn’t
bother me. It was so beautiful. The trees surrounding the ice, the
lights, Chay… there wasn’t anything any better. Or so I
thought.

He slid to me on one knee, grabbing my
hand.

“I wanted to do this on one knee, but I’d
hoped to be standing first.” One side of his mouth tipped up in a
half grin.

He pulled my mitten off and kissed my hand
before sliding a gold band on my ring finger, engraved with our
names, one on each side of a small diamond.

I stared at it, my mouth opening and closing
like a fish. I had no idea what to say. Was he asking me to marry
him? I wasn’t ready. I loved him, but…

“Milayna, I want you to wear this. I promise
to love you with all my heart. I’ll be yours, and only yours, as
long as you’ll have me. This ring is a reminder of that
promise.”

I was speechless. I knew I should say
something, but I couldn’t get my mouth and brain to work together.
I stared at the ring, then looked at Chay, then looked at the ring
again.

Tears sprang to my eyes, and I pulled him up
to me. I framed his face with my hands and kissed him, my warm,
salty tears falling on our lips. “I love you,” I whispered.

“Does that mean you’ll wear my ring?”

“That means I’ll never take it off my
finger.”

Smiling broadly, he held out my mitten for me
to put on. Taking it from his hand, I stuffed it in my pocket.

“Your hand will freeze,” he said,
frowning.

“Nah. Besides, I want to watch the lights
sparkle off my ring. Look at it.” I held my hand out, moving it
slightly so the diamond would catch the lights. Streaks of colored
fire burst from the stone. “It’s more beautiful than the stars in
the sky,” I said quietly.

“Don’t go getting all sappy. It’s just a
ring.” He tried to play it cool, but I could tell he was holding
back a smile.

“Don’t ruin the moment, Chay. You manage so
few good ones.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.”

“You know what this means, right?”

“What?” I was still admiring my ring.

“You’re mine.”

I dropped my hand and looked into his eyes.
“Chay, I’ve always been yours.”

He smiled and lowered his lips to mine.

***

When Chay took me home that night, I showed
my parents the ring. I was nervous about what they’d think. Chay
made it clear it wasn’t an engagement ring—we were both too young
for that. But it was a commitment ring, almost like a
pre-engagement ring. Or something like that. I didn’t know, really.
I just knew it was his ring and he wanted me to wear it. So I did.
And I loved it.

“It’s beautiful, Milayna,” my mother said,
smiling. She held my hand out and moved it slightly so the stone
would catch the light. “The diamond is so clear and sparkly.”

My dad slapped Chay on the back and tried to
work up a glare, but he laughed instead. “I told you there was
nothing to be nervous about. She loves it,” he said.

“Wait, you knew?” I asked, looking between
the three of them.

“Of course we knew. Chay asked for our
blessing days ago.” My dad gave Chay’s shoulder a small squeeze
before walking toward the kitchen whistling.

***

Chay and I spent all of Sunday together.
First, we had breakfast with Chay’s parents. I showed them my ring.
His mother gushed over it. Of course, they already knew. Chay asked
them for advice before going to my parents. But it was fun showing
it off, even to people who’d already seen it. They hadn’t seen it
on my finger, and that made all the difference. A ring in a box was
just a ring. A ring on a finger was a symbol of love. Or something
ooey, gooey like that. My head was full of all kinds of mush. I
couldn’t get the silly grin off my face.

After breakfast with Chay’s parents, we spent
the afternoon doing homework before having dinner with my parents
and brother. It was a wonderful weekend… until they arrived.

“We have visitors,” my dad told me.

“Who?”

“I’ll give you one guess. They’re waiting for
you on the swing set.”

“Damn hobgoblins,” Chay muttered.

I grabbed a quilt, and we walked outside.
Sitting on the swing on the back deck, we watched the goblins climb
on the swing set and run through the backyard playing in the
snow.

“They seem to like the snow.” They made
snowballs and threw them into the air.

“Yeah. I don’t imagine they have much of it
where they come from.”

I giggled. “Nope, probably not.”

Wrapped in a thick quilt, Chay and I swayed
on the deck swing and talked while the hobgoblins entertained
themselves. It was over an hour before they were ready to tell us
why they were there.

“We want to see it, too,” Friendly said in
his high-pitched voice. He sounded like a little girl. I thought
about chasing him down. It would be fun to put him in frilly
dresses and tie bows in his hair.

Chay elbowed me in the side.

“What?”

“Your ring. Show me,” Friendly said
again.

I hesitated. If they knew about my ring, it
meant Azazel was watching us. I held my hand up and showed him.

“It’s pretty.” He smiled and reached out with
one sausage-like finger to touch it.

I pulled my hand back before he could touch
me. “Thank you.”

“Too bad it’ll be wasted,” Scarface
grumbled.

“What do you mean?” Chay stretched his arm
out in front of me and nudged me behind his shoulder.

“He’s here for her. It won’t be long
now.”

“Who? Azazel?”

“No! I told you already it isn’t Azazel,”
Scarface snapped. “This one has more power than Azazel. He’s here
for you, Milayna. Your time is running short.”

Images flashed before my eyes. I saw myself
in the vision. I was talking to someone, like I’d seen in my vision
at school. And like before, I couldn’t hear what I was saying, but
I was talking fast, my hands gesturing quickly around me before I
held them out in front of me. It looked like I was trying to hold
someone back, keep them away.

Then the vision changed. I was seeing myself
through someone else’s eyes. They looked down. I could see a knife
in their hand. No, a dagger, like the one I had. The only thing
that could kill demons. They lifted their arm above me, the dagger
pointing toward me. I saw a soundless scream on my lips just before
the dagger plunged downward.

“Oh!” I stood so quickly Chay had to hold on
to the swing to keep from falling off.

“What’s the matter?” Chay asked. “A
vision?”

“Yeah.” It was gone. I didn’t see where the
knife went, but if the vision was any indication… it had gone into
me.

I looked at Scarface. He smirked at me before
disappearing back to the underworld where he belonged.

4

“I can’t believe he gave you a ring!” Muriel
squealed when I showed her Monday morning. “Have you set a date
yet? I think spring, right after graduation—”

“It’s not an engagement ring, Muriel. It’s a
promise ring.” I moved to the side of the hall so a boy could
pass.

“Yeah, a promise to get engaged,” she said,
following me.

I rolled my eyes. “No, just a promise to be…
I don’t know… committed. Think of it as a commitment ring.” I was
trying to get her mind off weddings because I so wasn’t ready for
that yet. I didn’t even know what college I wanted to go to or what
I was going to major in. No, a wedding was not what I needed.