Adam-
The moment I step outside of the Camden house, I find that they were waiting for me.
A blockade of angels stand across the street with their wings stretched out, all of them wearing black cloaks that cover their feet. Black circles crown their temples like a halo of darkness. And they all wear the same hard expression.
It’s impossible to ignore the bowling ball of fear that’s just lodged itself into my stomach.
Which is odd.
Because I was always told that angels were immune to fear and that’s why we don’t have a monster.
I briefly consider going back inside and rattling off some lame excuse to Mrs. Camden on why I can’t go home. But when I feel the cool brass of the door knob under my fingertips, I realize that it’s locked. Autumn must’ve locked it behind me. Crud. And judging by the looks on the G.A. Council’s faces, if I were to knock on the door, I wouldn’t be the only one punished. I won’t do that to Autumn and the Camden’s. I won’t.
“Adam Malach,” Khisoul growls, taking a long stride forward. The other Councillors follow his movement and behind him stand Bailee, Ciara, and my mother.
“Mom?” I say.
I will never forget how she looks at me. The way she doesn’t even meet my eyes. Her disappointment is worse than any punishment the G.A. Council could think up for me.
“Do you know why we’re here, Mr. Malach?” Asks Sky.
I glance back at the house, half-hoping someone will hear the commotion and come running.
But nobody does.
“They won’t hear anything,” Leasen promises me. “So don’t get your hopes up.”
“What do you want?” I demand, hoping the tremor in my voice isn’t evident.
“You had one task,” says Celestial darkly. I’ve never seen her face so angry. “You broke the code.”
“For a while we could excuse your silly crush as fleeting teenage infatuation,” continues Eme. “We thought everything would shift out okay. We thought you’d remember your duty and to whom you are bound.”
“We, it seems,” Khisoul’s shoulders are rigid, “thought wrong.”
I try and exchange glances with Bailee, but she won’t look at me either. The only one of the three of them that meets my gaze is Ciara. She mouths, I’m so sorry.
I think of Theo, and how Ciara was in love with him.
I think of what they did to him.
My situation can’t be that much different.
But my wings are hardly stubs. What can they do to me? I don’t want the wings anyways. This could actually work out in my favor.
Aero’s looking at me like he’s followed my thought process. I’m cold. I want to rewind to a few moments when my only worry was that my breath was bad. With Autumn in my arms, I felt safe. But now that she’s upstairs, asleep, and not with me, I feel open. Exposed.
Afraid.
“By opening up to a human girl and falling for her, you have diminished your standing as a Guardian Angel. By this, I mean that you are more human than angel. You have a Monster,” says Aero.
Mom, Bailee, and Ciara gasp.
My eyes go wide and I place my hands to my chest where my heart is pounding. I have a monster. A monster that could kill me. Images of ferocious beasts and broken homes tear though my mind and my thoughts are a whirlwind, trying to determine what I focus on so fiercely that my life is in its grasp.
“Do you know what this Monster is? The source of your downfall? Your chink in your armor?” Asks Khisoul.
I shake my head. No.
Eme snaps her long fingers. “Her.”
Instantly, the curtain to the upstairs window flies open and we all get a view of the beautiful girl smiling in her sleep. My chest hurts. I’m having a hard time breathing.
But the thing is, I don’t care if she’s my downfall.
I’m surprised at the next words out of my mouth. “I love her.”
It’s that simple.
Mom and Bailee scream. The Council eyes me with disgust.
“TRAITOR!” Celestial yells, her eyes flashing like emerald fire. “You are a disgrace to your own kind! You’ve spent all your chances!”
I back away.
Khisoul snaps his fingers and suddenly, I’m right in front of them. He clutches my chin tightly.
“You,” he spits on my cheek, “do not love her.”
“You,” I say back, furiously, “don’t get to tell me who I love.”
He shoves me to the ground. “It’s time.”
“Time for what?” I demand, ignoring the stinging in my palms.
“Your insubordination is not appreciated and you blatantly broke the Guardian Angel Code. But I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, given the history of the Malach men.”
There’s a choking sound that’s my mother sobbing. Her small tears shine under the moon. I wonder what he did. I wonder if I’m just like him.
Bailee puts an arm around her, holding them both together.
I look away.
This is my fault.
I did this.
So this is why Autumn blames herself. I glance up to her window and at the sight of her, my lips twist up into a smile.
She’s worth it.
“We are not so naive to believe that taking your wings away would be a punishment,” says Eme.
I snap my head back to face them. Crud. I feel my heart sinking to unfathomable depths.
“So we’re going to force them. Humanity would be a reward for you. And I believe that today you shouted at your sister about not wanting to be a Guardian Angel? So what better punishment?”
I hope Bailee can feel the hate I’m radiating in her direction. Tears spill over her eyes.
“How could you?” I spit. “You’re supposed to look after me! You’re supposed to protect me!”
“I am protecting you, Adam,” her voice breaks.
“No, you aren’t. I hate you.”
She crumples beside my mother.
“You can’t do this to me,” I say through clenched teeth. “You can’t give me wings that I don’t want.”
“Oh, no?” Sky narrows her eyes. “Then how about we make your sweetheart watch?”
I hear a voice behind me before I can puzzle out what this even means. “Adam?”
She looks so scared crumpled in the grass in her athletic shorts and long t-shirt. She’s wearing glasses and her hair is askew from the pillow. Moonlight glints off a retainer. She races into my arms and all at once I feel so safe.
She’s here.
She’s home.
“Who are these people?” She asks. “Bailee? Wait, why do they have wings?” She laughs dryly. “Okay, so this is a dream.”
Eme rips her away from me.
“No!” I cry. Autumn struggles against the strong grip.
“Let me go!” She pleads. “Let me go!”
“You get to watch your lover serve his punishment,” hisses Khisoul, grabbing my shoulders.
“Punishment? Okay, seriously, is this a dream? I want to wake up! Let me go! Adam, what is going on?”
“I’m sorry,” I say heartbrokenly. “This is all my fault. I never wanted to lie to you. Or hurt you.”
“Wait, wait, what?”
Khisoul digs his long nails into the skin where my wings had begun to grow. At once, a shooting pain electrocutes my body and I fall to my knees, a scream ripped from my throat. I hear the blood pounding through my body and Bailee, Mom, Ciara, and Autumn scream.
“STOP!” Autumn shrieks. “STOP IT, PLEASE!”
The wings continue to burst from my back and I snarl, trying to escape Khisoul’s grip. He won’t let go. I fight until everything seems like it leaking out of me. There’s a fire and it’s me. I’m on fire and I can’t put it out. All of it burns and I want it to stop. I want to die. Anything to make it stop.
“ADAM! ADAM! LET ME GO!”
Her screams are knives in my heart. They twist in the most painful ways. She shouldn’t have to watch this. She shouldn’t have to know what I am.
She shouldn’t have to know that I lied.
Finally, Eme screams and cries, “She bit me!”
And then Autumn is at my side and shoves Khisoul aside, startling him. He staggers away in shock and some of my agony subsides. Autumn cups my sweaty face in her palms, tenderly wiping away some of my tears of pain. Her eyes are beautiful and brown and kind and all good things.
“You bit her,” I mumble hazily.
“I love you,” she whispers.
Then she kisses me softly. I try and savor it, knowing that it might be the only comfort for the rest of my life.
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