Seventh Mark (Part 1 +2) (8 page)

Michael inhaled
and exhaled loudly, his nostrils flaring.

Something about
Damon’s comments gnawed at me. I tapped a finger against the top of
my knee, not sure if I should ask Michael or just ignore Damon’s
useless babble.
Honesty or nothing.
I took a deep breath.
“He said he knows what you are. What the heck’s he talking about?
Is Caleb part of some sort of mafia?”

Michael
snickered then covered his mouth. “Sorry. That was rude of me.
Trying to picture Caleb eating spaghetti like some TV mafia-guy...”
He shook his head. “If you knew Caleb, you’d get it.” He moved, and
shifted me as well, so we sat facing each other. He took my hands
and rested them on his knees, laying his on top.

More strange
talk
. Maybe there was something wrong with the water here. I
pulled a hand out of Michael's and touched the pendant. “What is
this necklace?”

Ignoring my
question, Michael stared at the window behind me. “Damon knows what
the pendant stands for. He knows who we are.” He removed his hands
from mine and began picking his perfectly clean fingernails.

Why the
sudden nervousness?
“What?” I’d get answers tonight, if I had
to shake them out of him. “Whose necklace is this?”

“Mine,” he
whispered, not looking up.

I slid the
pendant along the chain.
Not really a surprise, is it?
“What’s inside?”

“Blood…my human
blood.”

Wha-?
I
didn’t expect that as a reply. The pendant dropped with a clunk
against my chest. “If it’s you’re blood, why wouldn’t it be
human?”

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?

“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.