Halflings (13 page)

He carefully placed her arm across his lap and gently rubbed his fingertips around the wound. “I hurt you. I’m so sorry.”

She should say something, but the velvet feel of his hands trickling over her skin stopped the words.

His head bent, and he lifted her arm to his lips and dropped a kiss beside the wound.

Well now.

Nikki faced forward as he released her. She tried to give her attention to the surroundings, but everything around dulled to black and white and Mace was the only color. Too much color! Too much that didn’t make sense about all of this …

Listen to your mind, not your heart.
“This can’t be real.”

He offered a noncommittal lift of his brow.

“I mean, I know it’s real. I know we’re sitting here. But I grew up believing in the things that were scientific, concrete.” Still nothing from Mace: she was pretty sure he was giving her time to wrap her mind around it. “So, it just has to make sense scientifically, that’s all,” she said, half statement, half question. Nikki tapped her cheek while she scanned her memory for anything able to help connect the dots. “Okay, let’s think about the rainforest. Scientists are always finding new species of insect in the rainforest, right?”

“Uh, if you say so.”

She gave him a fleeting glance and wondered if he was holding back a smile. “They are always finding new bugs. So, that’s it.”

“Are you suggesting I’m an insect you’ve discovered?”

She fought the eye roll. “No. But those bugs didn’t just
appear one day — they’d been there a long time, but no one had discovered them. You’ve been here all along, but you just hadn’t been discovered yet. And now that I’ve discovered you … well, it makes all this make sense.”

His eyes twinkled with amusement. “That really makes you feel better?”

No, it didn’t.

“Let me get this straight. You’ve discovered a new species of insect.” He leaned slightly closer. “That would be me. And you’re gonna name it what? I’d go with
Angelicus Protecti
.”

“I can handle it if it’s supported by science.”

“What about having faith, believing in something you can’t see or label or name?”

“I believe in science.” She’d never known how final, how closed those words sounded. Science was all about discovery, ideas, hunches. Yet, right now it was both her crutch and her lifeline. “Sorry if you don’t like it. That’s just how I am.”

“Nikki, were you drawing before we found you in the woods?”

The total subject change surprised her, and it took a moment for her mind to catch up. She’d expected him to argue and try to sway her, not change gears. She found herself a little disappointed. “Um, in the woods, yes,” she said. What else could she say?
I was drawing, and, by the way, your presence in my life is making me question everything I’ve ever known. Beautiful sunset, isn’t it?

He set the swing into motion. “Maybe you’re a Seer.”

“A what?”

“Someone who sees things.” His brow furrowed in thought. “A Seer sees into the realm of the supernatural. It’s kind of like being able to look through walls, only the walls are the dividing lines between realms.”

Well, that makes it clear as mud.

“For instance, a person can’t see an angel’s wings unless they are able to look at them in the Spirit — unless they are able to look at them through the heavenly realm. If you’re a Seer,” he went on, “you might not be in as much danger as we first thought. Maybe Raven was right. You aren’t who we’re here to protect.”

“If I was a Seer, wouldn’t I know it?”

“Not until you embrace it.”

“Whoa, whoa.” She made the time-out sign with her hands and forearm. “Did you say angel
wings
?” Of course angels would have wings. That made sense. But Mace, Raven, and Vine didn’t have them … Her head hurt.

He gave her a cautious look, as if he were afraid she’d lose her mind soon. “As I was saying, maybe we’re not here to protect you. Maybe you just keep stumbling into the line of fire. In fact, I hope that’s the case.”

That rush of cold again, like tiny claws scraping from her scalp down her neck and back. “Why?”

“Because if you’re the one we were sent to protect, the enemy has targeted you.”

What’s a girl to say to that? She tried to take it in. “So, it’s good to be a Seer?”
Please, please give me some glimmer of hope. I’m drowning here.
Then she remembered his earlier words. “Wait, did you say I see the supernatural realm?”

He gestured, encompassing everything. “Around us, around this natural earth, another realm exists. Not only does it exist, but it’s in constant motion. Things that happen here are affected there. It is written that ‘Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ It’s not talking about the
place
of heaven.
It’s talking about the heavenly realm. The supernatural realm. We call it the midplane.”

“Uh huh.”

Frustration furrowed his smooth brow. “You believe a house full of angels live here, but you don’t believe there is a realm from which they come?”

She pressed her hands to her eyes. “Okay, sorry. I just … This all weirds me out a little.”

“Nikki, this is the real world. You can pretend it doesn’t exist — most people do — but it doesn’t alter the truth. You saw the hell hounds in the forest.”

Her eyes widened. “Hell hounds? That’s what those things were?
Hell
hounds?”

He nodded.

Nikki ran her fingers through her hair as she shook her head. “No, that’s what
you
think they are. I didn’t grow up believing in stories about hell hounds and some misty realm we can’t see.”

“Mist? The same mist you thought angels were made of?” he asked.

She released a tiny smile. “I see your point. But somehow this conversation turned to me, and I want to know about you. Mace, you’re an angel. Just admit it.”

An unexpected veil of sadness hooded his features. “There are two classes of angels: heavenly and fallen. The fallen are one-third of the angels, those who were cast from heaven with Lucifer.”

“So, you’re a
heavenly
angel?” she asked.

“No.”

She swallowed, and a big part of her wanted to clamp her hands over her ears and beg him to stop. Instead, she pulled a deep, calming breath.

“Heaven’s angels are mighty warriors who battle evil continually, not guys like me who end up attending high school. They’re massive in stature, precise in purpose, and driven beyond human understanding. They’re perfectly fashioned weapons who don’t know defeat. A heavenly angel can never retreat and carries the scars of many battles.” He looked away. “I’m no angel. I have no right to enter the great hall of the chosen, where the martyrs rest beside warriors. I’ve no place in that kingdom.”

Her internal alarm began ringing. Two classes of angels. And he wasn’t in the first class, which left the fallen class. Whether she believed in all this stuff or not, having a house full of fallen angels trailing her couldn’t possibly be a good thing. As she was about to confront him head on, however, she looked into his eyes and saw … purity. And that purity just didn’t fit with the whole follower-of-Lucifer thing. “I can’t believe you’re a fallen angel. I
don’t
believe it.”

“I’m not.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I don’t fit there either. That’s why we call ourselves Lost Boys.”

“When I walked in, I heard Will say
Halflings
.”

“Both terms mean the same thing. We’re the offspring of fallen angels and human women. Our ancestors were of the fallen.”

She shook her head, relieved. “But that’s not bad. So angels fell in love with humans. Is that so wrong?”

Mace went rigid. “They didn’t fall in love. They were sent for an evil purpose. Yes, they saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, but there was no love involved. Lucifer planned to mar the bloodline — if fallen angelic blood mixed throughout the entire world’s population, there would be no way for God to fulfill his promise through a purely human vessel.”

“So, Lucifer tried to
trick God
?”

“Yes,” Mace said.

Nikki stared at the appearing stars — at whatever was supposedly up there. “This is a lot to absorb.”

“It’s too much to absorb, actually. Come on,” he said, and gently began to tug her to her feet. “You’ve learned enough for tonight.”

She wouldn’t budge that easily. Nikki dug her heels into the porch floor. “I want to know more.”

“And I said, you know enough for tonight.”

She pulled from his grasp and crossed her arms defiantly. “I’m not leaving.”

“It’s gonna get lonely out here.”

Nikki huffed and decided to try a new approach. She gazed up at him. “Pleeeeease?” She batted her eyes as insurance.

Mace’s resolve crumbled and he sank onto the swing. “One more question, then we’re done.”

“Why would the enemy — whoever that is — have me as a target? And how did you get here? And what about your parents? Are they like you?” she asked.

“That’s way more than one question, though I can actually answer the last two. My parents are both Halflings. But I don’t know them.”

“What?” There was no hiding the sadness in her tone.

“Nikki, try to understand. I belong
nowhere
. Halflings can’t stay with their parents because it’s too dangerous, so we’re snatched at birth for our own protection. I’m bound to earth, yet an outsider to it. I’m the universe’s orphan.”

“So that’s why you’re called Lost Boys?” Her eyes turned to liquid as she recalled Peter Pan and the tale of boys with no homes, no families. Her least-favorite part of the book had
always been when Peter returned to his house and found the window locked. “What will happen to you?”

His muscles tensed. “I try to not think about it.”

But she’d think about it. Probably for the rest of her life. It seemed as if an unkind world — much larger than the one she knew — swallowed her. A place of pain where innocent boys were snatched from their parents and paid penance for sins not of their own making. “Mace, I want to help you,” Nikki said, finally beginning to understand the storm of emotion that continually churned in his gaze. This wasn’t “Will I make the football team?” drama.

“You can help by cooperating. If we’ve been sent to protect you, it means the Throne has plans for you.”

“The Throne?”

He nodded. “The One we serve. The Creator of all things.”

Everything in her sphere of vision started to darken from the outer edges, working in. “And he has plans for me?”

A hint of a smile touched Mace’s face. “He has plans for all those he created. But many never choose to walk the path laid before them.”

“Well, I don’t choose it. Last week I was a normal teenager. And suddenly I’m being hunted by dogs from one realm and angels from another and supposed to
embrace
it? No.” Her voice rose. “No, I don’t want to be in the middle of your war.”

Mace’s posture softened. “Everyone is in the middle of this war, Nikki. Humans, Halflings, and angels — both fallen and heavenly. You’ve ignored the battle for seventeen years, but something on the inside of you knows my words are true. You’re in a war and it’s time to choose a side. If you don’t, a side is chosen for you.”

All the air left her lungs. She slumped against the support of
the porch swing, letting the slats press into her back. So much for solid ground. So much for firm foundations and photo-quality paintings. “Welcome to hell,” she muttered.

“Uh, actually, hell is way,
way
worse than anything this realm can offer.”

Her mouth dropped open and she cast a long look at him. “Please refrain from any more details.”

“I tried to tell you you’d learned enough for one night.” Mace scooted closer so that her arm and his were touching.

The contact created a slow river of calm that slid through her as if the weight of several worlds hadn’t been dumped on her narrow shoulders. The sky was nearly dark now, so she tried to make out the hillside across the meadow from where they sat. Instead of helping ease her mind, the darkness made the world feel both larger and smaller to her. When a breeze drifted by, she shivered.

Mace pressed closer, creating more contact between their sides. His thigh shifted to touch hers. How could she feel so chaotic and yet so peaceful? Sitting on the porch swing, gently sliding forward and back with the most unusual being she’d ever met, Nikki made a decision. “If I’m in a war, then I want to help you. You, Mace. How can I help you feel like you belong somewhere?”

He’d tilted his head to look at her, and the look he gave — one of such appreciation and admiration — nearly destroyed her. Her hand was warm. She glanced down and realized their fingers had intertwined. A heartbeat thundered in her head when Mace’s eyes dropped to her mouth. Was he going to kiss her?

But an instant later, he pulled away. “You can’t help me. I’m beyond redemption.” His words dropped like lead weights onto glass, shattering the moment.

This was eternity drama. “But if there’s no redemption for you, that means you’re fighting a war for someone who rejects you.”

“I fight for what’s right, Nikki. The enemy we battle has an insatiable appetite and, unfortunately, he loves to feed on humans. Let me give you an example. Do you know much about the Holocaust or about Hitler?”

“Not much.” She called on memories from history class. “Hitler was trying to create a race of super humans, an Aryan nation. Blond hair.” She gasped. “Blue eyes.” Like Mace, Raven, and Vine. Though Mace’s and Raven’s could be considered almost brown. Still, they fit the Hitler specifications.

“Not create, exactly. Hitler was searching for Halflings. He wanted to build an unstoppable army of half humans, and even used genetic testing. To this day Halflings are hunted by demons and men willfully given over to the enemy.”

“That’s why you aren’t left with your parents?”

“Each of us must be accounted for. A caretaker looks after us, usually in groups of three Lost Boys. The caretaker can protect us better than our parents would.”

“Why can’t your parents protect you if they are both half angels?”