Sapphire Flame (Sapphire Wings Book 3)

I ended up going on a long trip in that car. I believe that it took us about five hours to get to where Yuki was taking us. I eventually did fall asleep again, not able to keep my eyes open for the exhaustion that was plaguing me. When I finally woke up again, we were pulling into a long driveway in an area that was full of hills and trees.

“Where are we?” I asked, although I was still trying to make myself wake up completely.

“Welcome to Richmond and my home,” Yuki answered as he flashed me a smile.

“Richmond?” I repeated, “That far?”

“Yep. Fair warning too, you’ll probably hear me get chewed out when we get to the house.” Yuki admitted.

I wanted to ask him about that, but left it alone, assuming that he was talking about his dad getting mad at him for taking off like he did.

I looked out of the window at our surroundings as we slowly made our way up the gravel driveway. After another minute or two, the trees parted, and an old farmhouse came into sight. It looked kind of rundown on the outside, but not really ominous or anything like that.

A girl with long brown hair that was slightly lighter than Yuki’s was sitting on the porch, and she immediately got up when she saw the car.

“What do you know? She waited for me again.” Yuki commented as he parked and turned off the engine.

“Who is she?” I asked him.

“My sister. Her name is Hayden. She’s a year young than me, although you wouldn’t think so just by looking at her.” Yuki answered.

I took a deep breath, feeling for Noel again as I opened my door to get out at the same time as him. But again, there was nothing. She remained in hiding for whatever reason.

Hayden was coming over to the car as we got out, making a beeline straight to Yuki and not hesitating to glare at him.

“Where in the world did you go?! We were worried sick about you! Didn’t we ask you not to take off like this anymore?!” she scolded him.

I couldn’t keep myself from smiling as I saw this. Something about her straightforwardness reminded me of my mother.

Yuki wasn’t fazed at all by her anger with him, “Good to see you too, Hayden. I’m glad to know you missed me so much.” he joked.

“Of course I missed you, you idiot! What were you thinking, taking off on us again?! We thought we might have lost you forever this time!” Hayden continued.

I cleared my throat, hoping to finally catch her attention and stop her tirade. Thankfully, it seemed to work. She turned and looked at me, her dark blue eyes widening.

“Um… who is this?” she asked, sounding a little dumbstruck.

“Just some hitchhiker I picked up. He said his name is Noah Renaldi.” Yuki answered.

Hayden looked shocked now, “Noah Renaldi? As in Raphael Renaldi’s grandson?!”

“You say that like we’re not his grandchildren too,” Yuki responded.

“You know what I mean!” Hayden fussed, punching his shoulder.

So, this was the other kid that was born from Noel’s forbidden child. I had to say that she was really pretty, though obviously very fiery when she wanted to be. She looked a lot like Yuki, although her features were more delicate and her hair was lighter in color and fell to her waist. She was dressed in a long white dress and brown coat, along with boots.

“That’s what Yuki was telling me.” I spoke up, “So, you’re also another cousin of mine.”

“I guess so, but I really wasn’t expecting to ever meet you,” Hayden admitted. She turned back to Yuki and glared at him again, “And you! What in God’s name were you doing picking up a Renaldi, and Noah nonetheless?!”

“Seriously, it was just a chance thing, and he was running away, so why not?” Yuki countered.

“Running away?” Hayden looked back at me, “Why?”

Nothing like being put on the spot. But far be it for me to tell them the whole truth about it, especially with Noel involved.

“I was having some family issues. But I never expected to meet more family out here.” I responded.

Hayden looked like she was thinking about what I’d said, while Yuki remained casual beside her.

“You know sis, it is pretty cold out here.” he reminded her.

“Oh!” Hayden shook her head, bringing herself back to reality, “Sorry! Let’s get inside where it’s warmer.”

I didn’t know what to expect going into that house. This whole thing seemed like some strange dream. I couldn’t believe that I had run into more family, or managed to stumble onto the biggest family secret we had.

But also, I felt like I belonged there too. There was something very inviting to me about Hayden and Yuki. I wasn’t sure if it was Noel's spirit being inside of me that made me feel that way or if it was something else entirely. Either way, I was certain that things were changing forever as I stepped through that door.

The house was actually quite comfortable inside. Although things seemed older than what I was used to, there was a feeling of home there.

Hayden took our coats to hang them on the rack beside the front door, then turned to us.

“I’m going to tell Dad that you’re home,” she said as she went up the nearby stairs.

“Your father?” I said as I looked at Yuki.

“Yeah. His name’s Aiden. He’s the one I told you about.” Yuki explained.

“What about your mom? Is she here?” I inquired.

Yuki shook his head, looking down as he answered me, “No. She passed away last year.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that.”

So, their mother had died. I felt kind of bad for asking now. After almost losing my own mom, I sympathized with how they must’ve felt.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I glanced around us again. There were pictures here and there on the walls, and I noticed one that looked vaguely familiar to me. The young man in it looked a lot like my grandfather, with dark blue eyes and white-blonde hair. Could he have been Aiden?

The sound of footsteps made me look back at the stairs.

“They’re down here, Daddy.” Hayden was saying.

I have to say that from that first moment I laid eyes on Aiden coming down those stairs, I knew that Yuki had told me the truth. Not that I’d really doubted him, but it was like reality was staring me in the face. He looked so much like my grandfather. He had the same eyes and hair, and appeared around the same age as my dad.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs as he saw me, looking as surprised as Hayden had. But he quickly shook his head to bring himself back to the moment.

“Yuki, what do you think you’re doing? First, you take off for three days without saying a word to us, and now you bring Noah Renaldi home with you?” he said in a calm yet disapproving tone.

“He was running away, so it’s not like I could leave him out there.” Yuki defended.

Aiden stepped in front of me, and we looked at each other for a long, tense moment.

“So, you’re really him? You’re Noel’s son.” I finally stated.

“I guess I can’t lie to you about it. I’m sure you know the truth just by looking at me.” Aiden responded.

Hayden stepped over beside Yuki, looking a bit pensive now.

“What are we going to do now, Daddy?” she asked.

“There’s nothing more that we can do except to take him in for now. We have more than enough room here to accommodate him, and it seems that there are other circumstances involved in this.” Aiden answered.

“See? I told you that there wouldn’t be any problems.” Yuki gloated.

“Do not assume that this is all resolved so easily, Yuki. You’ve just opened a major can of worms with this.” Aiden reminded him.

He then reached over to lead me away from them to talk. But as soon as he touched me, I felt my soul get pushed to the back of my mind again, and Noel immediately took over.

Aiden realized this too, because he let go and faced me as she smiled at him.

“Hello, son.” she greeted him happily.

“What the hell?” I heard Yuki say.

They probably had no idea of what was going on, although Yuki apparently had suspected something about Noel before. Maybe he hadn’t known that she’d actually possessed me instead of just influencing me.

“It’s alright,” Aiden reassured them before looking back at me, “Hello, Noel. It looks like you really did possess Noah’s body, just like I heard from that Sumarian.”

“Ah, so you’ve kept tabs on our family through them, huh?” Noel guessed.

“I have. I see it as a good way to keep my family safe. Or at least what’s left of it.” Aiden confirmed.

“What is this? I thought that she was just influencing him.” Yuki insisted.

Aiden let out a tired sigh, “It seems like Ren was right. Noel’s managed to possess his body at times now. The woman that you’re hearing is your grandmother.” he explained.

That was interesting. Ren knew about Aiden and was in contact with him.

Noel laughed as she heard that, “Those Sumarians certainly know how to choose their ranks. Ren and that other one must be quite cunning to pull off being friends with you. If Morosa had known that you existed, I’m sure he would’ve alerted Michael right away.” she pointed out.

“Yes, more than likely,” Aiden agreed, “But back to the point, I’m surprised that you didn’t reveal this to anyone. I get the feeling that you didn’t let onto this boy about me either.”

“He knows what I wanted him to know. But let us not talk about that. I’ve missed you so much, my precious Aiden.” Noel cooed.

Aiden wasn’t really moved by her words, “I know that you’ve always been influenced by that curse, but I don’t want you here, and I won’t let you allow that curse to hurt my children.” he warned her.

“Come on. Is that any way to speak to your mother?” Noel pouted.

“You gave birth to me, but you weren’t truly in my life. You died when I was three, and if you hadn’t lived with Aunt Dot when you found out you were having me, then I probably would’ve been killed without you saying a word against it.” Aiden stated.

Noel wasn’t put off. In fact, she sounded very firm in her assertion to him, “Don’t be frightened of me Aiden, and please don’t blame me for all of that. I won’t allow anything to happen to your precious angels that you’ve created. I am simply happy to be here with my son again. That’s all.”

With that, she pulled back and allowed me control again. I tried to catch my breath as I came back to my full consciousness. It felt like I’d just broken out of a stranglehold every time she did that.

Aiden laid a hand on my shoulder, “Are you alright, Noah?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine now. She just surprised me this time.” I answered, rubbing my head.

Aiden looked back at Hayden and Yuki, “Why don’t you two go upstairs and get the guest room ready for Noah? I’m going to get him something to eat.”

The two agreed and hurried upstairs. I stood up straight as I regarded Aiden with the two of us now alone.

“I guess we have some talking to do,” I noted.

Aiden gave me a friendly smile, “Yes, we do. Come with me.”

We walked down the hallway to the kitchen. As I sat down at the small oak table, I watched him pull out a plate that was wrapped in aluminum foil from the refrigerator.

“Are you hungry Noah?” he inquired.

“A little,” I admitted.

“I have some leftover biscuits and gravy, so I’ll heat them up for you.” Aiden offered.

I watched him unwrap them and put the plate in the microwave, then looked down at the table. What in the world was I even doing there?

My mind drifted to my mother. By now, she probably knew that I was gone. Some son I was. She’d just gotten out of the hospital and I’d run away again.

“You seem troubled, but I think I understand why,” Aiden noted as he brought over the food and some silverware for me.

“You know what’s going on. I’m sure that Ren told you.” I responded as I took a bite of my food. It was good. I wondered if he’d fixed it or if it had been Hayden.

Aiden nodded as he sat down beside me, “Yes, I know some of it. Your mother was almost killed because of this curse that is still wrapped around mine. It was awful to hear about, and I hope she’s doing better now.”

“She was,” I admitted, “but now she’s probably up and worried sick about me. Some son I am.”

“Don’t blame yourself. I think she understands that you only want to protect her. My mother isn’t exactly someone to be trusted in the state she’s been in for so long, especially if this curse makes her believe she’s jealous of someone.” Aiden pointed out.

“You sound like you know a lot about her and this curse,” I commented.

“I know enough. I spent the first two years of my life with her while she was living with our aunt, although I admit that I don’t really have memories of her because I was so young. But Aunt Dot would tell me things, and she was also the only person who could quell at least a little of the curse to help her. But sadly, it was never enough.” Aiden explained.

“You also said something about her not standing up to keep you from being killed if she hadn’t been living with our aunt. You really think that your grandfather would’ve done that?” I asked him.

“Well, I admit that I said that kind of rashly. I have a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to my mother and how I came about. But Aunt Dot did tell me before that Melvin wouldn’t have made her abort me. He just thought after what happened that it would be better for me to stay with her and not be known about.” Aiden confessed.

“I get some of that,” I conceded, “So, you’re around my dad’s age, right?”

“I’m actually three years older than your father.” Aiden corrected me.

I shook my head as I finished eating, “And you’ve been hiding this whole time. It doesn’t seem fair.”

“No, I do agree, but there’s been nothing more to do about it. I’m not supposed to exist, and even I question why I do at times. Aside from that, I also want to keep protecting my children. Even if the family wouldn’t hurt them, I don’t want them persecuted because of me.” Aiden explained.

I understood where he was coming from. Hayden and Yuki were his kids, his world. I could see it in how he looked at them. He would do anything and everything to keep them safe and happy.

A few minutes of silence passed before I decided to change the subject a little, although I didn’t think much about my words.

“So, can I see them?” I requested.

“See what?” Aiden responded, not catching onto what I was asking.

“Your wings. I’m sure you have them.” I clarified.

“Oh, yes. Of course,” he responded, taking off his shirt and bringing out his wings. As I suspected, they were blue like the rest of our family’s.

As a courtesy, I brought out mine too. Of course, I only had one, and he immediately noticed.

“Only one wing?”

“Yeah. My other was cut off in a fight with a spirit.” I explained.

“Wow. You’ve had a pretty rough time lately, haven’t you?” Aiden noted.

I shook my head, “It was my own fault. I wanted to help my cousin, so I convinced him to go after this spirit with me and we tried to fight her off, and I ended up paying for it.”

“I’m going to take it that you’re talking about Michael Renaldi’s grandchild when you're referring to your cousin.” Aiden guessed.

“Yeah. Actually, he has twin grandchildren. Sevee and Seraphina.” I confirmed.

“I do recall hearing of that. Their father is a Fox, and one ended up inheriting the Fox traits while the other got the Nephilim. It’s quite unusual.” Aiden responded.

“Yeah. It is when I think about it. Sevee was the one who was having most of the trouble with that spirit too, and he’s the one who inherited the Fox stuff.” I elaborated.

Aiden seemed to muse over it before speaking, “How odd that Mom’s predictions for that did end up coming true. I just wish that I’d been able to bring my children into the family as well, but like I said, I have doubts that we’d be that welcome, especially for how I came about and the things Mom did under the influence of that demon.”

He stopped as we heard Yuki and Hayden coming back downstairs. They joined us in the kitchen when they did.

“Wow. You two brought out the wings already.” Yuki noted.

“You only have one, Noah?” Hayden added as she came over to me to look closer.

“My other was cleaved off,” I responded.

She made a face as she petted my remaining wing, “You poor thing. We’ll make sure to take much better care of you here.” she promised.

“You’re making it sound like you’re expecting me to stay,” I noted.

“Of course we do. You are one of us.” Yuki responded as he sat across from me.

“And we really want to know you too,” Hayden added as she hugged my shoulders.

Aiden smiled, resting his cheek against his hand as he looked at me.

“We won’t force you to stay, but you’re welcome to be here as long as you like, and if you want, you can also contact your father from here. I have ways to keep the number from being traced.” he offered.

His offer was incredibly tempting, and he’d been completely honest with me about everything. Thinking it over, I knew that Noel wouldn’t hurt any of them. If anything, she’d probably feel right at home there.

But also, there was the feeling of belonging that I was sure came from myself. I was meant to find them. I was sure of that much.

“Okay. I’ll stay here as long as you’ll have me. I think that I might actually like it here.” I agreed.

“Yay!” Hayden chimed, hugging me a little tighter.

Yuki and Aiden seemed please too, and inside of me, I swore I felt Noel smirk. I had a funny feeling that she was saying I’d made the right choice. I was home here.

And so began my stay with Aiden Renaldi and his little family. After breakfast, I was shown around the house and to my new room. It was cozy enough, though not nearly as spacious as the one I’d had with my parents. Obviously, they lived very differently here. I didn’t mind though.

Yuki also lent me some of his clothes until I could go out and get some of my own. I settled in fairly quickly, then decided to explore the house a little on my own. Aiden had told me that no place was off-limits to me there.

He’d seemed at ease with me being there, but I’ll admit that I wasn’t totally sure about him. I had the distinct feeling that he was afraid over all of this. He was probably imagining Michael and them coming here to find me.

But we were also hidden there in the mountains of Virginia, so I really didn’t think they would find me there. At least, not for a long time.

Walking downstairs, I headed into the living room and looked at the pictures mounted on the wall. Unlike my family’s homes, this one seemed to have pictures of everyone from our family. I even saw one of all of my grandfather’s siblings together.

It amazed me how much Gabrielle and Noel had looked alike back then. Yet, seeing later pictures of Noel by herself, I could see the change in her. I could tell that the kidnapping and curse had warped her. Her once dancing eyes were dark and sullen, and in at least one picture, I saw how she was looking up at Raphael. She didn’t see him as a brother. You could tell by the look on her face.

“Are you surprised?” I heard her say in my mind.

“Yes. You did surprise me. I never imagined that you really did have a kid. I thought that you were bluffing to throw me off balance or something.” I responded mentally. I wasn’t about to let someone catch me talking to myself.

“Isn’t my son beautiful? He’s more beautiful than your bastard father.” Noel gloated, ignoring my comment about her bluffing before.

“So you’re still keeping up that rivalry with my grandmother? I saw your memories of meeting her. You were hinting about Aiden, weren’t you?” I guessed.

“How is it that such an educated woman can be so stupid? I practically came out and told her.” Noel complained.

“It’s not exactly something you'd think of. You slept with your own older brother and had a child with him. You committed incest, and you know it.”

“So what?” Noel contended, her voice becoming darker again, “I loved him, and I thought that he loved me.”

“You controlled him and forced him into that. I’m sure he’ll be mortified when he learns about all of this.” I argued.

“I didn’t force him to do anything, and he’ll love this boy and his children regardless. Just wait and see.” Noel insisted.

I shook my head, “You love to deny things, don’t you? You really are sick.”

That one apparently made her mad. I felt her cut into my right hand. I looked down with some distaste. This really was getting old.

But before I could say anything, I heard Hayden coming in there.

“Hey, Noah. Taking up Daddy’s offer of exploring?” she asked happily.

“I guess you caught me,” I joked, turning to smile at her.

She was about to say something more, but stopped as she noticed my bleeding hand.

“Are you okay? Your hand…”

“It’s nothing. I just made your grandmother mad again.” I interrupted.

Hayden walked over and looked at it, “Come on. Let’s clean it up. Then I’ll show you around some more.” she offered, leading me into the nearby bathroom.

I sat on the side of the bathtub as she wet a washcloth to clean my hand off.

“So, how old are you Hayden?” I asked.

“I’m fifteen. You are too, right?” she answered.

“Yeah.”

I winced a little as she cleaned the cut off. It was pretty deep. Damn that Noel.

“You also have wings, just like us. Our mother was always amazed by them, although it was hard when we were getting them too. I’m so glad that she was homeschooling us for that part. Daddy took over when she died, so we haven’t had to worry too much about other people figuring us out.” Hayden explained.

“We were home schooled too. It’s not easy growing up as a Renaldi kid, and we didn’t like people looking at us so much because we were different, even if they didn’t know what we were.” I told her.

Hayden finished cleaning my hand up, and we watched as the cut began to close. Good thing we healed so quickly. At least I didn’t have to worry about bandages.

“No. I guess you could say that being what we are isn’t easy. But things have been okay here. Yuki and Daddy have been good to me. We lean on each other, and we don’t keep secrets. Daddy’s always told us the truth, even though it was hard sometimes. We know that we shouldn’t exist, but we’re here now, and nothing will change that, so we just have to accept it.” she admitted.

That sounded very different from what I’d grown up knowing. Though my family had always been kind, they’d always kept certain things well away from us. I know it was probably with the best of intentions, but it never seemed to help in the end. Sevee and I had always felt like we never belonged. How odd it was that I could realize that there.

“You don’t know it, but you and Yuki are pretty lucky to be here. Things weren’t exactly great there.” I admitted.

Hayden just looked back up at me, “Really? I’ve always thought that it would be amazing to live with Grandpa and the others. Seeing other Nephilim, having anything you could ever want.”

“It’s not. Not once you’ve been there.”

I think that she was getting the picture fairly quickly, so she dropped the subject. Instead, she finished helping me, then got up to walk around with me.

The house was pretty nice. One thing that I did like was that they had a piano. As it turned out, Hayden knew how to play. That was a welcome surprise. We ended up spending most of the afternoon playing together. She was very good, and I was more than happy to have someone who was equal in that like my father had been.

As evening fell, we all sat down to a nice dinner. I found out then that Hayden, Yuki, and Aiden took turns cooking. Sitting at that dinner table, I knew then just how different this family was. How odd that it should be that way. There was nothing hidden there. Yuki and Hayden were happy just the way they were, and Aiden seemed content to just be there with them. It wasn’t that there wasn’t this love with the others, but it certainly wasn’t as obvious to me.

Sitting up in my new room that night, I decided to take up Aiden’s offer to call my parents. I at least had to speak to my father. He and Mom deserved to know that I was okay, and not dead somewhere because of Noel. Aiden had told me that the phone in my room had a number that would be very difficult to trace, so I picked it up and dialed my father’s cell phone. I just hoped that he’d answer it with an unknown number calling.

Thankfully, he did.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me,”

“Noah? Where the hell are you?” Dad demanded.

“I’m fine Dad. I’m… with friends.” I answered. I wasn’t about to try and tell him about his half-brother and his children.

I could hear my mother talking in the background.

“Is he okay? Where is he, Raziel?”

“With friends? What friends? Why did you take off like that?” Dad asked.

“Just some friends I met. I had to leave Dad. I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. She’s loose again.” I explained.

“Noah, you know that we wouldn’t have let that happen. Michael and your grandfather were looking for a way to help you. You need to come home.” Dad reasoned.

“I can’t. You know I can’t.”

“Noah, listen to me. Nothing that’s happened was your fault, and we’re worried sick about you.”

“I know you are,” I acknowledged, “and I’m really sorry. I hope you can forgive me, but I can’t come back there right now. I won’t let her hurt you or anyone else. I’m safe here too, so you don’t have to worry anymore.”

I heard him let out a ragged sigh.

“I can’t just sit back and wait. You’re my son, and I want to help you. Your mother and I want you back with us.” he reasoned softly.

That really hurt, and it made me want to be home even more. But I kept my resolve.

“I’m sorry Dad. I can’t.” I responded.

The other end was quiet for a minute. I wondered if maybe he’d hung up. But then he spoke again.

“Noah, you know we’re not just going to let you stay out there. Sevee and Lenore have gone out looking for you.”

“What?”

Sevee was looking for me? Why would he be the one to do that? Something must have been going on.

“You heard me. Sevee insisted that he’d bring you home. They left Sage with the rest of us while they went out. Lenore’s using her connections to find you too, although Michael doesn’t think that you’ve gone beyond the Veil again, and judging from this number, I’d say he’s right.” Dad explained.

This was not good. If Lenore went back to the Watchers, she very well may have been able to find out that I was there. It was probably written now. But I pushed that one to the back of my mind for the time being.

“Dad, please listen to me. I’ll come home once I know I’m safe. I promise. So Sevee and Lenore shouldn’t waste their time.” I insisted.

“They’re not, and we’re bringing you home one way or another,” Dad warned me.

“I love you, Dad. You and Mom both. But I’m not coming home right now. I’ll call you soon.” I promised, hanging up before he could protest.

I had to sigh as I put my face in my hands. That had been incredibly painful. I wondered if Dad was feeling the same thing that I was. This whole thing was really weighing on us. I bitterly hoped that Noel was happy with what she’d done.

Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well that night. I kept worrying about Sevee coming there and bursting in. He was no fool either. Once he laid eyes on Aiden, I was certain that he’d put two and two together.

But I lucked out that night, and there was no sign of him.

Three more days passed, and nothing happened. I began feeling a little more at ease. Maybe Lenore didn’t have any luck. Hopefully, they’d gone home. I’d have to give my father another call and find out.

But it was on the third night that Aiden made a bold proposal. He offered to take Noel. His reasoning was so simple that it was almost painful. She was his mother, and I was his nephew. He would not see me suffer because of her, and he doubted that she would cause him troubles like she’d caused me.

Noel was more than agreeable about going into him. So we sat down that night and she transferred herself. Aiden was weak afterward, but not too affected. Instead, he just smiled at me and asked if I was all right. Once again, I felt a freedom that I hadn’t felt in years.

But I also felt guilt too. Noel had not been sent back. She’d simply moved to another host.

Another week passed, and all was quiet. Although Noel had her presence known through Aiden here and there, nothing really happened. So, once again, I called my father to check-in. But unfortunately, he informed me that Sevee and Lenore had not given up. And it just got worse too.

Michael was now joining them.

He was more than determined to end all of this and bring me home. I asked him if they’d suspected where I was, but he claimed that they still didn’t know. If they had, they would’ve been there.

I actually felt pretty lucky now. Maybe they were flying blind after all, and if anything, perhaps I could convince Aiden to move us if they got too close.

Sitting back in the living room that night after I’d called him, I watched the fire intently as I let these thoughts float through my mind. I don’t know how long I’d sat there before Hayden came over and took a seat beside me.

“Are you okay?” she asked, leaning over and curling up against my shoulder. I knew now that she really did like me. She never missed a chance to get close to me.

“I’m fine. I was just thinking.” I replied.

“Are you upset with your dad?’ she asked.

I shook my head, “Not really. I’m just worrying again. I really don’t want them finding you all here.” I admitted.

“You worry too much. We’ll be fine, and they won’t find us.” I heard Yuki say. I looked over my shoulder to see him plopping himself down on the couch behind us.

“I hope you’re right, but they have Lenore with them. She has ways to get information, especially with your father knowing Ren.” I warned him.

“Lenore?” Hayden repeated, “What is she supposed to be?”

“She’s a Sumarian like Ren,” I answered.

“So you have a Sumarian in the family too?” Yuki noted.

I nodded, “It’s a long story, but for the sake of this, yes. She’s Sevee Renaldi’s girlfriend.”

Yuki glanced back over at me, “Really? A half-angel, half fox has a Sumarian for a girlfriend. Now that’s interesting.” he commented.

“Like I said, it’s a long story. They have a son too. His name is Sage.” I told him.

“But I thought that Sumarians couldn’t have children.” Hayden pointed out.

“That’s what Ren said,” Yuki added.

I couldn’t help but sigh. They really were going to make me tell more of this.

“She didn’t have him as a Sumarian. She started out as an Astarte and ended up dying than becoming a Sumarian.” I explained.

“Wow, you guys really do attract trouble, don’t you?” Yuki commented.

“No. Sevee does. But like I said, it was a long story that I really don’t feel like getting into.” I stated, hoping that the conversation would just drop with that.

Hayden curled up a little closer to me, “You were jealous, weren’t you?”

I felt my breath catch for a minute. How did she know that? I’d never told anyone about that.

“I wouldn’t call it that.” I lied.

“You shouldn’t try to lie to her. It’s Hayden’s special ability. She can read your thoughts just by touching you.” Yuki warned me.

That was a lot like Seraphina. I just had to ask more about it.

“Do you see images as well?”

“No. I can’t see anything like that. I can only hear your thoughts, and the whole time that you were talking about Sevee being with Lenore, I could hear you thinking how it wasn’t fair that he’d found someone so easily.” Hayden explained.

She was dead on. It looked like they weren’t kidding about that one.

“I really don’t want to talk about it though. I think you understand.” I said.

“I do.” Hayden relented, “It’s a touchy subject for you. You have a lot of things inside of you that you really don’t want to touch. I don’t know what they are though. You have a tightly closed door in your mind. It must be a talent you inherited from Granddad.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Daddy has the same thing. He can block me out when he wants to. It’s like a closed door. I’m betting from what I’ve heard that Granddad has it too.” Hayden explained.

I had to sigh as I laid my head on hers. Behind me, Yuki chuckled.

“Isn’t it funny how we’re getting along so well?” he pointed out.

“Yeah. I guess it is.” I admitted. I looked back over my shoulder at him, “So what about you? Do you have a special ability as well?”

Yuki smiled, “Yep. But I’m not telling right now.”

“He doesn’t like to talk about it. It’s always caused him a lot of trouble.” Hayden told me.

“Don’t you say a word about it, Hayden,” Yuki warned her.

I was a little surprised by how he’d suddenly become so serious. He really didn’t want her saying what he could do. But I decided not to push it.

“That’s fine then. I’ll tell you what I can do if you want. But even the others don’t know about mine yet.” I offered.

“Really? Your family doesn’t know what you can do?” Hayden asked.

“No. I never let on about it.”

This was true. Even Seraphina hadn’t read it. I had to wonder how I’d avoided it with her around.

Yuki turned on his side to look at us, “So, what is it?”

“Watch.”

Looking over at the nearby mantle, I focused on a board with a bunch of large marbles on it. I believed that it was some kind of old game like Chinese Checkers. It seemed like the best thing to use in a demonstration. With a quick flex of my mind, the marbles began floating.

I could easily recall the first time that I’d used this ability with full consciousness. It had been rather difficult, but with time and practice, I’d been able to almost master it. Noel had taken advantage of it when she was inside of me, hence the things around me moving without my knowledge, but now that I was myself again, I was enjoying using this gift.

Hayden laughed as the marbles floated and danced around us.

“I see now. You’re telekinetic.” Yuki said, sitting up.

“Yes. I enjoy using this. It’s easy to get away with things with it.” I gloated.

I really wasn’t one to boast, but this power was great. The truth was, I had used it several times as a kid to get Sevee into more trouble. They’d never suspected me either.

“That’s really cool. Wish I could do that.” Hayden pouted as she watched the marbles float back into place.

“Come on Hayden. You think everything about Noah is cool.” Yuki said, sitting back.

Hayden blushed a little, “Don’t say things like that Yuki. You make it sound like the wrong thing.” she complained.

“I’m just telling the truth. You embarrass yourself.” Yuki responded.

“I am not embarrassing myself. Cut it out, Yuki!” Hayden protested as she crossed her arms.

Yuki smiled, leaning over my shoulder, “She doesn’t want you to know just how much she likes you.” he whispered.

“Stop it, Yuki!” Hayden cried, covering her face.

I had to smile, “I’m glad to hear that. At least I know I’m liked here.”

It really was the truth. I was always so confused at home, especially with Sevee and Seraphina. I wanted to believe that Seraphina liked me, but I wasn’t always so sure. Maybe that was also from my insecurity over feeling beaten time and again by Sevee, but I’ll never be sure.

But before any more could be said, Aiden suddenly came in there.

“I need you three to go upstairs right away,” he told us.

“What’s going on?” Yuki asked as he got up.

“We’re about to have visitors. Please, just stay upstairs for the time being.” Aiden requested.

I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I heard this, “Visitors? Do you mean the others?” I asked.

Aiden nodded, “Ren just called me to let me know.”

Hayden quickly got up and went over to him, “Daddy, what’s going to happen? We can’t leave you down here all alone if they’re coming.” she insisted.

“I’ll be fine, Hayden,” Aiden said, touching her cheek.

That gentle look that he gave her was painful to see. He would do anything to protect us, even standing up to what could be his death sentence.

I stood up beside Yuki, “Aiden, you don’t have to do this. I’ll leave and let them find me elsewhere.” I offered.

“It wouldn’t do any good. They already know now, and I certainly don’t want them to believe that I turned you out to save my own skin.” Aiden told me.

“But…” I started.

“Please, just do as I ask.” Aiden insisted. He looked over at Hayden, then at Yuki, “Now, go upstairs and wait. I will call you when the time is right.”

I really didn’t want to go up those stairs and hide, but I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice. Aiden had done a lot for me, and he was probably hoping that I’d at least try to protect Yuki and Hayden. As we went up there, I found myself swearing to do so. Even if I had to fight the others now, I would not let anything happen to Yuki or Hayden. But things weren’t to turn out as I’d somehow imagined.

They turned out more incredible than we’d ever be able to.