Angel Star (8 page)

Garreth kissed my forehead gently and led me outside. “Darkness takes many forms. The time has come for me to tell you about Hadrian.”

T
here was no obvious reason why I should shudder at the name, yet I was very aware of the prickling sensation on my arms and I looked down to see the light hairs standing on end.

Hadrian.

Why should I respond so vehemently to a name my ears had never heard before? The look in Garreth’s eyes was clearly unsettling and I, in return, was filled with unfamiliar agitation.

I placed my hand back into the safety of his warm one and asked the question my heart was dreading. “Who is Hadrian?”

Garreth set his jaw tightly. I watched him cautiously.

“He’s a dark angel.” His sweet voice deepened as he bowed his head.

I realized at that very moment how scared I was beginning to feel. But what frightened me more was the strange feeling coming over me. The same feeling I had from the dreams I couldn’t remember. The same feeling that washed over me when I stood at the bus lane.

There had been only one dark angel I had ever learned about and my skin crawled at the thought.

“Is he…?”

“No. But trust me, he’s just as lethal, perhaps even a bit more cunning. Hadrian was a Guardian originally, like the other angels. As he became more familiar with his human, much like I am with you, he became curious about how fear, anger, and even hatred could affect your world. It intrigued him. He became… How do I describe this? I suppose “enchanted” is the correct word…with the human psyche.”

I sat down on the smooth curve of an uprooted tree, curiously spellbound by his words.

“When the novelty wore off, he craved more. Something darker had settled in. Hadrian was created with all good intent, but the lust for power overwhelmed him. Like the humans he studied, he discovered that it is so much easier to give in to the havoc than it is to disregard it. He eventually set his sights on toying with another society. A hidden society that seemed untouchable, one he knew only too well.”

“Other angels?” I guessed as I tried to follow how someone so pure and good could become so corrupted.

“Yes. If he could conquer and control the Guardians then Hadrian would truly be victorious and he would control the most powerful army, an army of vulnerable, unprotected humans, molded into whatever he wants.”

“But can’t God stop him?” I couldn’t understand how this could be happening. If God was the creator of all then certainly this wouldn’t be allowed.

“It’s been foretold that there will be a second war in heaven, the first being the war of the Archangels, when Lucifer was banished. Lucifer can influence humans here on earth, bend the will of many to his own liking.

“You see, an angel is sort of a direct link to one’s subconscious. We’ve perfected a way to tap into it. Heaven is here.” Garreth placed his fingertip on the center of my forehead. In an instant, I felt the cool breeze of the park we were in yesterday. “Listen carefully the next time you hear the little voice inside your head that steers you. It may not be your own.”

With that he gave me the most incredible smile, and although it was somewhat pained, it outshone any sun.

“Hadrian’s ultimate goal is to control the angels. Corrupting them will ultimately change how humans here on earth behave. It’s a domino effect, to take over what Lucifer has started. Hadrian has the highest advantage. He has the knowledge of a Guardian.”

“So heaven isn’t a place? I thought it was pearly and white.” My head tilted up toward the treetops, which were thickly obscuring any sign of blue sky.

“Heaven starts within. It’s your soul’s sanctuary. But Hadrian has the power to corrupt psychologically. He’s blatantly abusing his power as a Guardian.”

“But wouldn’t Lucifer prevent Hadrian from challenging him?”

“You would think so. But, you see, that’s what gives Hadrian the thrill, the constant hunger for more. Oh, sure, Lucifer will come after Hadrian, that’s inevitable. But until that moment comes, Hadrian will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

“Which is gaining control of the Guardians?” I asked as the truth finally hit me.

Garreth looked off into the distance, reflecting. “So he can manipulate all humans on earth.”

My heart sank for Garreth. He could protect me but who would protect him? I sat stunned by his words while an icy chill crept through my veins. My heart was racing as my mind played back my nightmares and the strange fluttering in my room as I prayed for sleep. I had hoped it was Garreth popping in to check on me while I slept. Who else could it have been? My mind had forced me to forget, and it all came rushing back in a sickening spiral as my subconscious formed the pieces of the puzzle.

Without trying, I recognized the dark wings in the shadowy corners of my room. My thoughts had fought against it. Garreth didn’t reveal his secret from behind a shroud of shadows, he had delivered himself to me in a heavenly glow of light.

I forced the words to escape my lips. “You said darkness takes many forms.”

Garreth grew quiet for a moment.

“You’re different from other humans, Teagan. You can sense when I’m near and it’s made you a bit of a magnet. Do you remember what happened right before you slipped off the curb? Can you recall what you saw?”

“It was black and cloudy. Like thick exhaust coming from the bus, but I think I knew it
wasn’t
the bus.” I was struggling to remember. “It wasn’t anything like I’d ever seen before.” I shook my head, trying desperately to recall and escape the memory at the same time. “Was that…?”

“Yes. Hadrian.”

I shivered. “He wants me to lead him to you, doesn’t he?”

This was too much for me. I shook my head, refusing to believe, but there it was. What a perfect package we made. Tears began to well up in my eyes and I wiped at them furiously with the back of my hand. Angels are used to emotions, but to me Garreth was still a boy, and there was no way he was going to see me cry.

Garreth leaned forward, his face resting in his pale hands, and released a weary sigh. “Hadrian wants you. You’re different from the other humans he’s collecting for his army. I’m just an obstacle.”

“How am I different?”

“Do you wonder why Hadrian is willing to stand up to someone as foreboding as Lucifer?”

I remained silent; it seemed he was avoiding my question.

“Hadrian is Lucifer’s twin.”

“That explains the dark tendencies,” I tried to add lightly.

“Not entirely true. You see, Lucifer was cast out of heaven before he could become a Guardian. He refused. Hadrian on the other hand was the good brother, at first. The light brother, whereas Lucifer was his dark half. Dark by choice.”

I concentrated hard on the words he spoke, as though the English language no longer made sense to me, and I instantly regretted not paying attention all those years I had taken CCD.

Garreth continued. “You do know Lucifer was an Archangel, prior to the Great Fall, as was his brother Hadrian?”

I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure.

“The essence of the Archangel falls upon the human charge, like a bloodline.
You
are our one hope to stop Hadrian.”

I wasn’t expecting that revelation. It didn’t make sense. “But you’re not an Archangel, are you?”

“I wish I were, then I would have power against the darkness, but you, believe it or not, are stronger than I am.”

“Me? How?” I fumbled over my words.

Our eyes met in silence and I knew what he was going to say. I felt it in my core.

“Hadrian was your father’s Guardian, so it is up to you to destroy him.”

M
y ears still couldn’t believe what they had heard.
“My father?”

For my entire life his existence had been a secret, save for a few pictures lingering around our house. I purposely kept him locked up in the back of my mind to keep from requesting explanations from my mother, explanations I knew would rip her heart open, revealing a wound I was sure had never healed. She loved him long ago. I, on the other hand, held no emotional ties to him. He was a stranger in my universe. Even now, I felt nothing.

“Are you all right?” Concern shone in Garreth’s eyes. He was forever watching out for me.

“Why is this up to me?” I was having trouble breathing. This was not what I had expected when I envisioned my Saturday with Garreth.

He looked at me as we slowly began our trek back to the car. “Only a human with an Archangel bloodline can undo the havoc wreaked here. Only the pure of heart can stop this.”

“I’m not that pure of heart. I hate Brynn Hanson, remember?”

“Nice try, Teagan.” Garreth shook his head and laughed. “Seriously, what’s expected of you is important. Don’t you feel the slightest bit special?”

I looked at him sideways. “Is that a trick question? Because I’m not finding anything special about this.”

The sun no longer peeked through the trees overhead but instead cast shadows at an angle that could only mean late afternoon. Between glances at my shoes, I looked up at Garreth in hopes of deciphering something, anything. I continued walking, picking up my pace. I was anxious to get away from all this green and clear my head. All this responsibility was unnerving me.

“I’m still trying to understand the “bloodline” thing. I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head.

Garreth paused for a moment to find words that would help me grasp this. “It’s the essence, the spirit, that is transferred to the human being guarded. It’s not blood, nor does it mean you’re related in any way. Think of it simply as a succession, like an inheritance being passed down through generations.”

I let it sink in. “He had something to do with my father’s disappearance, didn’t he?” Garreth opened the passenger door for me when we reached the car and I climbed numbly up onto the seat. “Maybe he knew too much?”

“Your father certainly understood that angels, light and dark, existed. Perhaps that was reason enough for your father to be a threat. Either way, something happened to allow Hadrian to turn like he did. Perhaps it was simply a show of power to Lucifer.”

Garreth had said the essence of an Archangel flowed through my veins like blood. That I was the only hope for the Guardians. I shook my head in despair. I was barely passing French class. What hope could I be?

There was just enough clearing to turn the Jeep around, allowing us to head out to the main road. We were both quiet as Garreth seemed to respect my need to let my thoughts churn. He took my hand and I sighed. I didn’t want to leave him just yet, especially now that I knew we only had a few days left. What made it worse was that I sensed these last days together were not going to be pleasant; they would, in fact, be the darkest days of my entire life.

“Is my mother in on this?” I couldn’t help but wonder if this was perhaps a family legacy.

“No. Fortunately, she has no clue what exists outside the human world. Teagan, your father was very heroic but
you
are stronger. The power of the bloodline increases with each generation. You have to believe in yourself. At the end, your father was left to fight alone against his own Guardian, one who used everything he knew about your father as leverage to destroy him.”

To my surprise, I felt sad and angry. How strange that I would share a bond so significant with someone I never knew and that my mother could never be a part of it.

Garreth slowed the car to the side of the darkening street and turned to me. Even after spending the entire day with him, the sight of him made me weak yet powerful at the same time. I knew at that moment that whatever I faced, whatever was expected of me, I could handle, as long as he was by my side. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Garreth.

Today, a door had somehow opened, allowing what was meant to stay myth or phenomenon to be more real than the world I knew, and now I was facing the impossible. If it were true, could I do the impossible? Could I, me, an ordinary girl, defeat a dark angel? My hands were hot with sweat as I thought about how my father, an adult, failed at this. And now it was up to me.

“Can I ask a dumb question?”

“Sure, but I doubt it’s dumb.” He was rolling the windows up now against the evening chill that was descending, and once again I caught a whiff of that beautiful incense.

“Is it normal for an angel to have a last name?”

Garreth’s brow rose in stunned curiosity. “You go from talking about your father vs. darkness, to angels with last names?”

“I’m just trying to understand all this. It’s too much and this is how I deal with it, okay?”

“Let me explain. This hasn’t exactly been done before. No Guardian, other than me, has been granted this type of request. For a Guardian to appear like a human is no easy task. We may look the part but we are not like you at all, and in order to create a human identity for myself, I had to adopt a name, for enrollment purposes. Carver High School frowns upon single names. It confuses their filing system. Unless you’ve reached celebrity status, which most of us haven’t yet.”

“Don’t tell Brynn Hanson that, she’ll freak,” I interrupted.

His laughter echoed within the space inside the car, erasing the tension.

“I simply chose a last name suitable for what I had been granted. Adam was the first man created by God.”

“And you’re the first angel to become human on earth?”

“Not human in the true sense. Lineage within our race is nothing like a human’s. Guardians simply aren’t created the same.”

I noticed we were racing back to my house at a speed I never would have attempted. Trees and houses zipped past in a blur.

“Hey, I thought angels were all about safety and preventing accidents. Do you realize how fast we’re going?”

Garreth looked at me, the gleam returning to his eyes after all the seriousness of the last few hours. “I’m taking on the daunting task of appearing like a normal teenager. Might as well enjoy it.” He reached his arm over and pulled me into his side where I rested my head against his chest. I closed my eyes for a second, wishing later would never come.