Page 47 of Claimed by the Fallen
“What is it?” I hold mybreath.
Instead of coming right out and saying it, Mr. Cohen shakes his head and looks to Adrian. Adrian understands the cue and reveals, “A Nephilim is rare nowadays, but you, Veronica, are even morerare.”
I try to decipher what he could possibly mean. “Because?”
Now, its Adrian’s turn to look to another. I meet Gabe’s eye. I’m tired of the angels deflecting. Someone needs to tell me the truth.Now.
Gabe doesn’t balk at my hard expression. Thankfully, he delivers my request and reveals, “You’re not a Nephilim at all,Veronica.”
Hope springs up in my chest. I’ve been praying this is all a misunderstanding, and it seems like my prayers are about to be answered. I ignore the part of me which mourns the potential loss of the angels’ company. It’s not like we’re friends or anything. Until less than a week ago, none of them were a part of my personal life. I’ll get over their imminent departure soonenough.
Distracted by my thoughts, I almost don’t hear Gabe say, “You’re a full-blooded angel, Veronica. Half-light and half-dark. Your parents were both FallenAngels.”
* * *
My hope crumplesinto a heap of ash on the kitchenfloor.
Did Gabe really just say I’m a fullangel?
It can’t be. I wouldknow.
Wouldn’tI?
I shake my head, immediately rejecting his words. “No. That’s notpossible.”
“We thought so too.” Adrian leans forward and rests his elbows on the table, looking directly into my eyes. “Until we all felt your agony lastnight.”
“What does that have to do with anything? You all felt me the night of my birthday,too.”
“True,” Adrian says, “but not likethis.”
“Each of us could detect your growing powers the eve of your birthday, as well as the day after,” Gabe speaks again. “But last night, each of us felt your agony as if it were ourown.”
“And that only happens between members of the same Fallen race,” Adrian finishes. “It’s a way for our kind to know when our people are in danger. We can detect Nephilim abilities, but Fallen aren’t linked to them like we are to otherFallen.”
I see Mr. Cohen nodding from the corner of my eye, and Zeke crosses his arms and mumbles in agreement. I know the two sets of brothers don’t like one another, so their support isnoteworthy.
Still, I cannot bring myself to believe that they’resaying.
“But that doesn’t make any sense. I’m human. Or, at least, part human. I’m normal.” Or as normal as a half-human, half-angel can be. It’s hard enough to accept the fact angels are real and one of them is my mysterious father, but I can’t abandon my link tohumanity.
I justcan’t.
“Trust me, none of us understand this either,” Adrian says. “Your existence shouldn’t be possible. Not only are Light and Dark Fallen bitter enemies, but never before have two Fallen come together to produce offspring. Not since theFall.
“And while I’m not a mathematician,” Adrian continues, “I know your birth happened long after theFall.”
“Then what you’re saying can’t be true.” My head whips back and forth between them, my eyes pleading with them to see logic. “You’rewrong.”
None of the angels are willing to beswayed.
“Trust me, Messenger,” Mr. Cohen speaks softly, “we wish wewere.”
The other three angels murmur theiragreement.
I’m beginning to feel trapped. The angels refuse to listen to reason, and they are determined to rob me of my tie to humanity—to my entirelife.
The walls start to close in, and my breathingaccelerates.
