“Is that all?”
“No, she’s pretty cool. I mean she cried a lot, but that’s to be expected. All in all, I like her. And Miku’s in love with her.”
“Miku loves everyone. Tell me more about Emerson.”
“She threatened to beat up Jay if he didn’t get out of her way. I was right: she’s got a little fight in her.”
“Good. She’s gonna need it.”
We went down to the living room where Ameana, Jay, and Reese were already gathered.
“Where were you?” Ameana asked.
“At a barbecue.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, but Rage got to Julian.”
Reese called out for Miku and the girl to come out of the bedroom. I picked up the Muse and started looking thought it. I had a feeling that Tony-Tone wasn’t being completely honest with us. I would have to run that by Ameana and see what she thought.
Finally, Miku and the girl came out of the room. I had already set it in my mind that I wasn’t going to like this person. She would somehow try and get in my way, and that meant that I had to be leery of her.
I focused on the Muse. Miku introduced me to the girl. “Marcus, this is Emerson Baxter. She’s gonna help us save the world.” I looked at her quickly, then went back to the Muse. She was too short. Her hair was a tangled mess. Her T-shirt had a cartoon pig on it and was ugly and ill-fitted.
I wanted her.
I wanted to touch her. My eyes wanted—needed—to see her again, to do nothing more than to spend the rest of forever getting to know her.
Angry at my visceral reaction, I forced every part of my body to stay put and focus on the Muse. I had to give her instructions, but I would not, could not, allow myself to look her again.
What the heck is going on? Why can’t I focus? I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. No, still can’t make out the words in front of me. There was a buzzing in my ear, a painful sound that came from looking away from her. I didn’t ever want to look away from her.
I didn’t talk to her, I talked at her. I never took my face away from the Muse. I told her that we needed to know everything about her and that she had to stay in crowds. The Akons could not attack her in crowds. She told me that they came after her already. That enraged me.
Then she said she wanted to go home. I wondered what her home was like. What kinds of things she liked. Was she the girly type with tons of teddy bears and scented writing paper? Or the rock ‘n’ roll poster type who had no problem breaking the rules? What was her favorite song? Where was she when she first heard it? Who was she with when she first heard it? Was she with friends? Family? A guy…? Stop it, Marcus. Stop it right now.
I told Reese to Blink her home. I dared to look in her direction just then. She was going to get into Reese’s arms. I had to leave the room. For some reason I couldn’t bear to see her in another guy’s arms.
I told Ameana we needed to talk. We went into her room. But it’s like the girl was still there. Her powers didn’t diminish because she was no longer near. If anything, they seem to get stronger.
Once in the room, Ameana looked at me strangely.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Why?”
“You looked flushed. And why were you so rude to her?”
“Are we sure she’s human?”
“Yeah, I asked Rio earlier and he said she has a soul.”
“Maybe she’s a Pawn.”
“I don’t think she’d do evil things for money. When I pointed the gun at her, she looked terrified. She’s not used to being around them. I’ve never met a Pawn who wasn’t familiar with weapons. And if she was working for Lucy, why would Lucy send people after her?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“What’s going on? Why are you so unfocused?”
“I don’t know. Rage took a lot out of me. He burned down a building and lots of people were hurt.”
“I’m sorry. Did anyone die?”
“No, but it was…bad.”
I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. I sat down in the chair by the window. I wasn’t lying (not completely, anyway): the blaze was hard to watch. I wondered if there had been a way to stop Rage before he set the building on fire. Any time humans get hurt, it gets to us. For me, the guilt is worse. If I were a better leader, would any humans be harmed at all? I looked out the window, deep in thought about the humans who had been hurt in past missions.
Then I wondered about the girl. Something could happen to the girl. My chest tightened and my jaw clenched. I ran my hands through my hair again. Ameana always said that was my way of telling her that I needed time out from being in charge. I guess she was right, ‘cause I really didn’t want to lead anything at that moment.
Ameana came over to me and sat on my lap. She weighs almost nothing. She wrapped her hands around my neck. I lifted my head and looked into her face. After all this time we still have secrets the other has yet to discover. Looking in her eyes, I was certain there were things she hadn’t told me. I was also aware of how much I enjoyed being in her embrace. She had a softness to her that she rarely lets anyone see.
“Hi,” she said simply.
“Hey.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“Work.”
“Is that the only thing you can think about?”
“Can you suggest something else I could focus on?”
She leaned in closer until our lips were almost touching. She never kisses me first. She likes to test me to see if I can get close to her and not kiss her. I never pass the test. I cannot be that close to her and not touch her. I moved in and closed the gap.
Her lips are soft and giving. She leans in and kisses my ear and down my neck. I gently return the favor. I’m slightly more forceful in kissing her than she was in kissing me.
It had been so long since we got close. It felt great to hold her again. Her skin was flawless and warm. I hold her face in my hands. I kiss her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks. Then I tug gently at her lips. I make my way down her neck. I know it’s about to happen, and I know she hates it, but I can’t stop myself. I was about to make her Shine. A Shine is a hickey on an angel.
A hickey on a human is actually a broken blood vessel that appears after a love bite. Since angels don’t have blood, what appears comes from the glow and pureness of our souls. It’s silver and luminescent. Also, instead of appearing on our necks, for some reason, it appears in our hair.
Ameana seldom gives me one. She thinks it is unbefitting for a First Guardian to walk around with a streak of shining hair. But every now and then I would give her one. I don’t think she minded, per se. Shining only lasted a day or two depending on how much work went into giving it.
I think her issue was the team making fun of her. Namely, Reese and Jay. They were almost always the first ones to notice. She would wear a hat or try to hide her hair so that the Shine was sort of hidden. But they always knew.
Sure enough, the moment I pulled away from her, a long strand of Ameana’s hair started glowing. Within seconds her head was completely illuminated.
“I’m sorry, Mimi,” I said ruefully.
“Yeah, you look really sorry,” she laughed as I went in for another kiss.
Good, Marcus. This is good. Kissing Ameana and not thinking about the human. That’s very good. Yeah, I’m not thinking about her at all….
*
CHAPTER EIGHT: A QUESTION OF DUTY
It’s a good thing angels don’t sleep. I don’t think I could have had I been able to. I couldn’t get Emerson off my mind, which I found irritating and completely unproductive. Everyone in the house was either guarding her or recharging. But I couldn’t stand still long enough to recharge. My mind was on overdrive, trying not to think about her.
When Ameana and I arrived at school the next morning, I wanted to lay eyes on the human so badly, it hurt. Before I could, I got a text from Reese about a possible lead down on Wall Street.
We had just arrived at the location when Rio called and told us to come back to Livingston Academy. He said Emerson was under attack.
When I busted into the classroom and saw her lying there, it killed me. I had never been hit with such a powerful wave of sorrow. Never in my life as a human or an angel, did I feel such utter despair. Then I turned and saw Agony, and I had a place I could channel all my rage. And I did. I had never used that much force on anyone. Agony begged and begged for me to just kill him, but I didn’t. I had never reflected that long on someone. It wasn’t necessary. At that point it was pure torture, and that was very unangel–like, to say the least.
We finished with him, and the others went to tend to Emerson. I told them I would stay behind to be sure there were no more Akons or Runners. The truth is, I couldn’t take watching her being laid out and put on a stretcher.
I walked into the hospital room later. I looked everywhere but at her. I couldn’t. The others asked how she was. I should have done the same, but instead I was angry. When I finally spoke, I reprimanded her for not following instructions. Then I walked out of the room and headed down the hall. Ameana followed me.
“Why are you such a jerk to her?”
“She had no right to endanger herself like that. She could have died.”
Then I realized that was the real reason for my behavior, the real reason why I blasted the girl for not following orders.