not entirely, at least.” Faith pointed up at the star-filled sky. “I’ve read about nephilim. The children of earthbound angels, half mortal and half divine. Maybe your mother didn’t die. Maybe she just went home.”
“Now you think my mum was an angel? That’s the stupidest—” The words died, half formed in my mouth.
My dad had always loved to tease my mum about their first meeting, at some bigwig general’s party. My mum had been a guest while my dad had been working security. “I fell in love with you at first sight,” he’d always said to her, “but with all the gold braid in the room, I thought I didn’t stand a chance. Then you saw my tag, and did that double take, and started laughing your head off.” My dad would poke her, grinning. “I think you fancied my name more than you did me!”
My mum had always just shaken her head with a small, private smile. And she never would explain what had been so funny about my dad’s last name.
Angelos.
I sank down to the leaf-covered floor, my wings obligingly refolding themselves behind me, and put my head in my hands. “Okay,” I said after a moment. “So let’s say I’m, I’m what you say I am. Why?”
“You mean, why did we want an angel?” Krystal asked. She jerked her thumb at Faith. “Your turn, Faith. This is your show, after all.”
Faith knelt opposite me, her expression grave. “Raffi, how much school gossip have you heard about my father?”
“Huh? What’s that got to do with anything?” I vaguely remembered Suzanne sneering something about Faith’s “crazy, dead dad.”
“Everything. He was trying to summon an angel too, before he died. My father was a member of a secret organization sworn to protect the world against the forces of darkness.” She took a deep breath. “You see, Saint Mary’s is built on a Hellgate.”
It took me two attempts to find words. “This school is built on a what ?”
“A Hellgate,” Faith repeated, apparently completely serious. “A place where demons can manifest in the mortal world.”
“You have to admit, it explains a lot about this place,” Krystal interjected.
She kind of had a point, considering the rampant bullying, but I shook my head. “There’s no such thing as demons.”
Krystal snorted. “Says the guy with the wings and halo?”
“Raffi, you saw that tentacle yourself,” Faith said earnestly. “That was a demon. It must have been trying to stop me from awakening your angelic powers.” She frowned, looking worried. “I’ve never seen one physically manifest like that before. It shows that the Hellgate is starting to open without my father here to hold it shut. Soon the demons will be able to break through fully. They’ll be free to roam the world, spreading evil through people’s hearts, unseen and unsuspected.”
“Unseen? I should think people would notice giant, alien squid-monsters crawling around the place.” My wings shuddered as I thought of that icy-cold tentacle curling out of nowhere.
“If only demons were that obvious,” Faith said, the corner of her mouth twisting. “Raffi, Hellgates let demons approach our world, but in order to be able to stay permanently they have to find a human host. A demon will seek out a weak, foolish person inside the Hellgate’s area, and infiltrate their dreams with visions of a pentagram containing the mystic symbols that spell out the demon’s true name. When the person draws the pentagram, the demon manifests inside it, taking on a seductive appearance to better tempt its target. It will promise power, money . . . whatever it takes to make its target agree to the binding.” She shook her head. “Demons don’t lie. The host will get the promised rewards . . . while the demon slowly corrupts them with its evil. In the end, the host becomes as cold and heartless as the demon itself. And that’s not the worst of it.”
“It gets worse than demons turning people into monsters?” I said.
“Yes.”
“Now you think my mum was an angel? That’s the stupidest—” The words died, half formed in my mouth.
My dad had always loved to tease my mum about their first meeting, at some bigwig general’s party. My mum had been a guest while my dad had been working security. “I fell in love with you at first sight,” he’d always said to her, “but with all the gold braid in the room, I thought I didn’t stand a chance. Then you saw my tag, and did that double take, and started laughing your head off.” My dad would poke her, grinning. “I think you fancied my name more than you did me!”
My mum had always just shaken her head with a small, private smile. And she never would explain what had been so funny about my dad’s last name.
Angelos.
I sank down to the leaf-covered floor, my wings obligingly refolding themselves behind me, and put my head in my hands. “Okay,” I said after a moment. “So let’s say I’m, I’m what you say I am. Why?”
“You mean, why did we want an angel?” Krystal asked. She jerked her thumb at Faith. “Your turn, Faith. This is your show, after all.”
Faith knelt opposite me, her expression grave. “Raffi, how much school gossip have you heard about my father?”
“Huh? What’s that got to do with anything?” I vaguely remembered Suzanne sneering something about Faith’s “crazy, dead dad.”
“Everything. He was trying to summon an angel too, before he died. My father was a member of a secret organization sworn to protect the world against the forces of darkness.” She took a deep breath. “You see, Saint Mary’s is built on a Hellgate.”
It took me two attempts to find words. “This school is built on a what ?”
“A Hellgate,” Faith repeated, apparently completely serious. “A place where demons can manifest in the mortal world.”
“You have to admit, it explains a lot about this place,” Krystal interjected.
She kind of had a point, considering the rampant bullying, but I shook my head. “There’s no such thing as demons.”
Krystal snorted. “Says the guy with the wings and halo?”
“Raffi, you saw that tentacle yourself,” Faith said earnestly. “That was a demon. It must have been trying to stop me from awakening your angelic powers.” She frowned, looking worried. “I’ve never seen one physically manifest like that before. It shows that the Hellgate is starting to open without my father here to hold it shut. Soon the demons will be able to break through fully. They’ll be free to roam the world, spreading evil through people’s hearts, unseen and unsuspected.”
“Unseen? I should think people would notice giant, alien squid-monsters crawling around the place.” My wings shuddered as I thought of that icy-cold tentacle curling out of nowhere.
“If only demons were that obvious,” Faith said, the corner of her mouth twisting. “Raffi, Hellgates let demons approach our world, but in order to be able to stay permanently they have to find a human host. A demon will seek out a weak, foolish person inside the Hellgate’s area, and infiltrate their dreams with visions of a pentagram containing the mystic symbols that spell out the demon’s true name. When the person draws the pentagram, the demon manifests inside it, taking on a seductive appearance to better tempt its target. It will promise power, money . . . whatever it takes to make its target agree to the binding.” She shook her head. “Demons don’t lie. The host will get the promised rewards . . . while the demon slowly corrupts them with its evil. In the end, the host becomes as cold and heartless as the demon itself. And that’s not the worst of it.”
“It gets worse than demons turning people into monsters?” I said.
“Yes.”
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