“I’m afraid we’re at an impasse, Eli,” Bex said.
Eli’s brows pulled together, but he still managed a smile. “I’m hearing you say you won’t tell me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’m sorry, Eli,” Bex said, genuinely apologetic.
Eli was certainly out of his element. It seemed, very possibly for the first time, that Eli didn’t know what to do.
Chapter Seven
Eden
Levi leaned against the wall to keep himself upright while I turned the squeaky doorknob of my bedroom. Once the door was open, he held his breath from the pain, even as I supported his full weight.
“Still not healed?” I asked.
“It’s slower this time. I don’t know why.”
The color had already returned to his beautiful, albeit bruised and battered face. Those wounds were procured while trying to save me, and although I’d already loved him for an eternity, that made me want to love him for another one.
We paused at the end of my bed, and Levi leaned down to kiss me.
“Wait just a second.” I chuckled.
“Are they still talking downstairs?”
I nodded. Allison had a minor mental breakdown when Eli blinked from our plane, and only Mom was patient enough to wait for Dad to explain things his way. So Ryan offered a human’s perspective, while Bex and Claire explained everything to Allison.
“What do you mean I can’t leave?” Allison asked. I could hear her weight leave the chair she sat on and transfer to the boards of the floor beneath her feet.
“It’s not safe for you to go anywhere alone now,” Bex said.
“Unless I’m a Ryel,” she said. “Eli said… He said Ryels are protected.”
“Everything okay?” Levi asked.
I nodded again. “She mentioned that if she’s a Ryel, she’s protected.” I listened more and frowned.
“Uh oh,” Levi said.
“Bex just told her he doesn’t want this life for her. Stupid,” I hissed under my breath. I smiled. “She’s stubborn. She just said it was too late now.”
Allison began to pace, and Bex waited, allowing her a moment to be human. I felt bad for her, and I could feel that my mother did, too. Taking a crash course in Heaven and Hell and the creatures and laws that came with it would be frightening for anyone, and now the man she loved just said he didn’t want to marry her. That would be a shitty day for anyone.
“We all understand, Allie. It’s okay,” Mom said.
Ryan stood, and Allison paused in front of him.
“How … how did you feel?” Allison asked. “When they told you?”
Claire sighed. “Don’t ask him. He’s a mutant.”
Allison took a step back, her heart rate rising.
Bex couldn’t hold in the chuckle that rose up in him. “She’s not being literal,” he said.
“You think this is funny? I just had a run-in with Satan himself. This isn’t a joke, Bex,” Allison said, irritated.
“You’re right,” Bex said, clearing his throat. “You’re right. It’s just that … I haven’t seen you for what feels like an eternity, and you’re here, and it’s … surreal. You’re still beautiful and as feisty as I remember.”
I smiled. Bex had women throwing themselves at him since he was fifteen. He’d looked like a full-grown man since he was even younger than that, but it wasn’t until he saw Allison for the first time in Titan Shipping’s lobby did he even hope to have a normal relationship. He’d been waiting to learn who his Taleh was and was devastated to learn she wasn’t it. My father’s Taleh was my mother; Claire’s Taleh was Ryan. Bex knew how hard it was for his father Gabe, an Arch, to love a human who wasn’t his Taleh—to be away almost all the time from his wife, his family. Bex didn’t want that for Allison, and so he'd let her go.
Allison spoke again. “I know you said to stay away, but when you called … your voice… I knew something horrible had happened, and I couldn’t not come.”
We’d all gotten to know Allison while they were together. She’d always possessed a quiet strength, very different from her uncertainty in that moment. I knew it was hard for Bex to see. “C’mere. Alli, please? C’mere.” His voice was softer the second time, begging her to trust him.
Allison’s heart stopped pounding, and she relaxed, sitting next to him.
Bex explained himself yet again. “No, I don’t think this is funny. Ryan is human like you. He was unfazed when Claire told him. Other than thinking she was messing with him at first, Ryan just wanted to know her secret so it would be one less thing standing in his way. He doesn’t get rattled by much, which is probably why my sister married him.”
“And you?” Allison asked.
“Me?” Mom said. She’d stayed relatively quiet during Allison’s education. “It was so long ago.”
“As if you don’t remember,” Dad said.
She paused, her mind fully submerged in the memories. “He was very thorough when he told me the truth. It was overwhelming, but I’d already had an idea something was … amiss.”
“You were very patient,” Dad said. “And I was terrified.”
Their feelings were making me uncomfortable. Mom had told me that story dozens of times, and I knew there was some intimacy going on that night, but it was as if they’d forgotten I was in the house.
“Please stop,” I yelled. The sudden loudness caught Levi off-guard.
The talking turned to whispers, and although I could’ve kept listening, I tuned them out.
Levi touched his temple to mine. “That’ll be us one day, and that’s the closest to Heaven I’ll ever get. Free to be in love with you, to hold you, to share memories with you. I can’t imagine anything more perfect.”
“It’s not perfect. Mom misses her old life. She misses not knowing about the politics of Heaven and Hell.”
“She wouldn’t trade her life with your dad for ignorance.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” I said. “Not in a million lifetimes. It can be hard to watch.”
“We won’t miss it, Eden. It’s all we know.”
I looked up at him. “True. We’ve been at this for a few eons now. It’s so strange to have memories of both. I remember what it was like not to know you, and to have known you all along.”
“You’re lucky. I’ve ached for you my entire life.”
I touched his cheek and then my lips to his. Despite everything his half-human body had been through, his lips were still soft, and he held me close, pulling my shirt into both of his fists. A quiet, sweet sound resounded in his throat.
When I pulled away, his eyes were still closed, his brows pulled in. He cupped the back of my hair and touched his forehead to mine. His breath faltered before he spoke. “I love you. I love you so much. Please don’t ever leave me again.”