Page 11 of Mantle

“The angel will heal,” he responded, matter-of-fact, as he stared at me intently, looking me up and down studiously and with a whole lot of curiosity. “The Fallen need not fear for your wellbeing. Itoldyou… I told you I healed you.”

“I don’t… how? I can feel your Celestial power… why didn’t you use that?”

He lifted a shoulder. “It was instinct to use my blood instead.”

I jolted in surprise as he suddenly dropped his fangs.

Fangs?

“You’re a… Celestial-Vampire hybrid?” How wasthatpossible?

He took my interest the wrong way, his eyes lighting up, and making him step right up to me again, invading my personal space.

I instinctively put my hand up.

He groaned as my palm pressed against his bare chest.

His very cold chest.

Despite those molten cracks, there was no heat to speak of.

“No,” he answered, making me suck in a breath as he laid his hand on mine, holding it to his torso. He leaned in again and scented me. “You smell good. Different thanthem.”

“Them?”

“Agents of the Celestial Plane. You… you smell… fresh. Liberating. So much true Light… not their falsity.”

I went to pull my hand away as I tried to make sense of his words, of his… everything.

But he held fast.

Then those black eyes narrowed again. “Why do you keep trying to pull from me? I told you repeatedly that I have no intention of hurting you. That first time was an accident.”

“It’s not that. You can’t just push yourself onto people, into their space.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a violation.” I locked eyes with him. “Especially if you take it any further than this.”

He frowned. “Further?”

Did he really not know what I meant?

He gazed down at our joined hands. “You’re warm. They kept me in cold. You’re the only one warm for me,Kindred.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

He flinched and swung his head.

In the next moment, an eruption of red magicandthat familiar gold tinted with blue shot toward the dome, just as my dad and mom arrived on the scene, flanking either side of my grandfather.

“Release her, creature!” Dad boomed in that deadly authoritative way he only employed when those he loved where under threat.

Ketheron grunted, then looked into my eyes. “They are your family, yes?”

“You can sense that?”

“I can smell their blood connection to you.” His lips lifted. “Not just because I’m vampire. I’m many things. A PolygenusEntity is what they called me when they cut into me. When I came out wrong, they whispered, ‘Broken God.’”

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