Full Moon (9 page)

Michael rubbed his face. “It’s complicated. Grace has one as
well. We all do. It’s called a
Siorghra.
”

“
Siar—a what?” Crazy alert -- again.
Get out of the cabin and start running through the
forest.
Nah, you know what happens in
horror movies.
I ignored my own warning,
too curious about the necklace and what Michael might say. I held
my tongue, waiting for Michael to wrestle with whatever demons he
was fighting and explain what on earth he was talking
about.

“
The
Siorghra
was created as a link. It’s Gaelic, a term for eternal love.
Sarah and Caleb wear each others. Once on, it can never come
off.”

I reached for the pendant.
I’d be
wearing this for the rest of my life?
“What! Never?”

“
I didn’t put it on you, so it can be taken off.” Michael
sighed. “I meant it won’t fall off or be broken unless specific
things happen.”

“
Like what?”

“
I have to put it on you, it’s my blood.”

Freaky—but kind of romantic at the same time.
“You’re sister’s pretty gutsy.”

“
Yeah, she likes pushing me when she can.” He chuckled and
relaxed. They obviously had sibling affection I’d never
experienced.

“
Is this something Caleb’s family created?”

“
In a way.”

I hated how he
was answering my questions with bits and pieces. Sighing, I blew
the bangs away from my forehead. “What’s going on? You want to
talk, but you’re not really telling me anything.”

Michael pushed
off the couch and began pacing in front of the fire. His costume
clinked and sparkled against the flickering light. I kind of hoped
it would irritate him and he’d pull the top off. He paced back and
forth about ten times. Just when I was about to suggest we head
back, he began talking.

“
That—” He pointed to the pendant on my neck “—is the last bit
of me that still holds life.”

“
What?”

He stopped
pacing. “I’m not who you think I am.”

Ah, double
crapper. I didn’t know what was going on, but after seeing that
beast a few months back nothing would seem unbelievable. “You acted
all scared about the book I got, but then got ticked when I asked
if you were one of those Grawlics.” I started laughing, the
nervousness inside of me escaping.

“
Grollics,” he corrected. “I’m not one. We are in no way
related. But… we are the same in a sense.”

“
You’re kidding.”

“
I wish I was.” He sat down beside me.

The sadness in
his eyes tore little bits off my heart. “What’re you trying to tell
me?”

He stared at
the necklace. His eyes were bright blue against the reflection of
the fire, almost aqua-green in color. “I’m not like
you...anymore.”

I couldn’t get
my head around this conversation. “It doesn’t make any sense. You
said this is your blood.”

His eyes
closed. “Grace and I, we were…like you… about a hundred and forty
years ago. The man I knew as my father wasn’t my… my biological
father. Grace and I never knew.”

This was jacked up
.
“What happened?”

“
Our…My mother was raped before she married my father. On the
day of their wedding, just before they took their vows. She never
told us, we learned about it after her death.”

My mouth fell
open. “That’s awful.” What a secret to carry. “Maybe your dad
really was your father.” I felt I was grasping at straws. “You
know, fifty-fifty chance.”

“
No,” he spoke sharply. “Mother was raped by someone you could
never imagine.”

“
What do you mean?” I couldn’t believe I was actually having
this conversation, and believing it.

“
You know those Greek mythology stories about the gods coming
down and having children with humans?”

My eyes grew
huge. “You’re the son of Zeus?”

“
No.” He shook his head and dragged his fingers through his
hair. “Shit! I’m screwing everything up. I was trying to use it as
a comparison. The Greeks used these folklore stories because they
are partially true, they just got the heavenly participants mixed
up.” He waited, obviously wanting me to guess.

“
Okay,” I said slowly. “You’re a soul returned back to earth.
Or, you’re living some reincarnated life?”

“
No. I’m part…” He began pacing again.

Something
clicked in the back of my mind. “Angel?”

“
Sort of.” He threw his hands in the air. “This is so hard to
explain. Grace used to joke about angels, saying we were distant
third cousins, once removed.”

“
An angel raped your mother?” That didn’t make sense.
Impossible.

“
I know what you’re thinking, but not all angels are good.
They come from both ends of the spectrum. We’re not angels. My
mother was not an angel. We still don’t know the entire process or
what exactly created us. We think it may have something to do with
fallen ones but aren’t completely sure. One thing for sure, Caleb
is different than us.”

“
Caleb’s one, too?”
This was
unbelievable
.

“
We all are. Sarah found Grace and me. She met Caleb later and
they gave each other their Siorghra.” He tapped his head, as if
trying to knock out a noise.

I thought about how similar Sarah, Grace and Michael looked
with their tanned skin.
Except Caleb’s so…
so dark
. Well, he was pale, but he seemed…
I didn’t know. Maybe he came from the bad guys. The only thing he
had in common was –“You all have blue eyes.”
So they’re some kind of immortal.

Michael’s
brows went up in surprise. “Grace and I had brown. They turned blue
when we died.”

“
What? Dead?” I rubbed the heel of my palm against my
forehead. “Slow down a bit. I think I’m missing something
here.”

He sighed.
“Grace and I didn’t know until we were killed.”

Killed?

Chapter
8

“
What?” My back burned near my left shoulder blade. I reached
behind and rubbed the muscles.
Could this
conversation get any stranger?
Was I
actually starting to believe him?

“
That’s the worst thing about being one of us, being a
slightly Nephilim. You don’t know until you’re dead.”

“
Nympho?”
Wait. That didn’t sound
right
. My cheeks went hot.

Michael
laughed. “I’m not a nymphomaniac – at least, I don’t think so.
We’re sort of Nephilim. Fallen angels. Only a small, tiny part,
we’re also something else.” He paused. “It’s really
complicated.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
What could I say?

“
You know, I’ve never told anyone.” He swallowed and rolled
his eyes at the ceiling. “Caleb’s going to peel a layer of skin off
me when he finds out I’ve told you.”

“
That’s horrible!” Caleb was a monster, probably related to
the Grollics.

“
Not literally. He’s just going to be pissed.”

I stood,
feeling the need to get my bearings. Everything felt backwards. I
rolled my shoulders trying to get the burning muscles on my left
side to relax. “This is way too much.” I rubbed my eyes, not caring
if my makeup smudged.

“
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. The world’s
complicated enough and I just threw more confusion into it.”
Michael checked his watch. “It’s getting late. I guess we should
probably head back to the house.” He pulled his ear. “Sheesh! Grace
won’t let up. She wants to know where we are and if everything’s
all right.”

“
Say what?”

He chuckled, breaking the intensity of the moment. “Might as
well spill it all. It’s different between Grace and me. We’re
twins, born
and
killed at the same time. Caleb’s never seen it before. And
he’s seen a lot.

I basically
filed most of what he said into my brain to try and think about
later. I stuck to the basics. “So, you can read her mind because of
it?”

“
Sort of. Grace and I are kind of unique - like talking on the
phone without the phone. We can tune each other out whenever we
want. I can’t read Grace’s private thoughts anymore than she can
read mine.”

Despite the
seriousness of the situation, I giggled. “I got a feeling you tune
her out a lot more than she does you.”

“
A little.” He smiled, his eyes flashing.

“
Why do you all have the exact same eye color?”

Michael
glanced at the pendant around my neck. “Caleb figures when we die,
our blood loses its oxygen. Blood turns blue without oxygen.”

Like our
veins. “You don’t age? If you’ve been around for a hundred and
forty years and Caleb’s been around for, like, forever…”

“
You remain the age you were at the time of your
death.”

“
But you and Grace are so young.”

“
Long story.” He checked his watch again. “Too long to get
into tonight.”

I planted my
legs and crossed my arms. This was way too fascinating to have him
just tell me a little and say it’s time to go. “I’m not finished. I
have more questions.” I hadn’t even started to scratch the surface.
“What’s with Caleb?”

Michael began
pushing the logs around in the fire with a cast iron stick, trying
to get it to die down. “He’s an original of the Coven.”

“
Coven?” I sounded like a parrot. It sounded like some vampire
story. Next he’d be telling me they existed as well.

“
Kind of like royalty…original bloodlines. That’s another very
complicated story. There are not many of his kind. He’s extremely
powerful and much respected in our world. No one crosses him. He’s
monumental to all of us.” Michael shook his head, his hair falling
forward. “We really need to get back to the house. I didn’t take my
phone and Caleb’s bugging Grace now.”

“
Fine.” I grabbed my shawl off the couch. “We’ll go, but
you’re driving slowly. I have a million questions.”

Michael
smiled. “I’ve a feeling they’re never going to end.” He killed the
fire and we left.

My brain
wouldn’t stop humming as we drove. “If you and Grace were together
when you… when you…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. “Did Caleb
find you after?”

Michael focused on the road, his tanned knuckles white as he
squeezed the wheel. “Sarah found us. We had no idea what was
happening, but she knew.” He was silent for a moment, either
concentrating on the stop light, or reliving what happened. He
cleared his throat. “Caleb met Sarah a bunch of years later, after
she’d adopted us. He saw her and immediately gave her his
Siorghra
. She did the
same without question. They were simply drawn to each other. Caleb
had been alone before he met her. She was his first.”

I stared at my Spartacus sitting so close, but seeming from
another world. There was so much information to sort through. It
didn’t scare me, but rather fascinated me. It was like I’d been
waiting all my life for him. I’d never fit in anywhere and this all
made sense, like it was a part of me or my ancestry. I don’t know
why I felt the ties, but another part of me was horrified at the
thought. What I did understand: I wanted to wear Michael’s
Siorghra
more than
anything. It also made me wish I had one to give him.

We pulled into the driveway and walked silently to the house.
Doubt began to fill my head. What if his family was angry I knew
their secret?
What would Caleb say?
Michael took my hand and pulled me closer to him
as we reached the front steps.

Brushing
close, his silk skin touched mine and I groaned. “I need to change.
I can’t talk to your family wearing this.”

Inside,
Michael led me straight upstairs.

“
I gotta change, too.” He kissed my forehead and turned toward
his room. “Take your time. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

I walked into Grace’s empty room. Changing into a pair of
jeans and plain long sleeve top, I kept Michael’s
Siorghra
on and slipped
it inside my shirt.
Time to head into the
lion’s den.

First, I
needed to pee. I slipped into the bathroom.

“
You okay?”

I nearly
jumped ten feet when Grace spoke. I switched light on. She sat on
the counter, her bare feet swinging in the air.

“
You scared the heck out of me!” My heart felt ready to
explode, and there she sat, all chipper and smiley. “Why’re you
sitting in the bathroom, in the dark?” I punched her
shoulder.

“
Wasn’t sure if Michael would come in the room too. Didn’t
know if you needed some privacy.” Grace tilted her head. “Sooo, you
know our dirty little secret.”

“
Kinda.”

She slid off
the counter and staring at me. Then suddenly she lunged at me and
swung her arms around me, hugging me tight. It was a moment before
she let go and it took me a moment longer to catch my breath. “I
knew you were special the moment I saw you. I knew you’d totally
get it.”