Tuesday the 6th of June, 1989
I pulled into the school car park, still reeling over what my mother had told me on Saturday. Reeling over the fact that, not only had my grandfather died and merged with his own cousin, but he was my father’s father. That wouldn’t have been so bad if he wasn’t my mother’s father too. My mother didn’t just let the skeletons out of the closet, she’d let them out of the freaking attic! I was a product of incest. Freaking incest! Okay, biologically they weren’t siblings, because my father had come from my grandfather before the merge, while my mother had come after the merge. The same mind, different bodies. So, in essence they were cousins, but... it was still my grandfather who’d done the act, regardless of what body he was in at the time.
Which had freaked me out. Still freaked me out! I’d taken off after my mother had confessed everything. I’d gone to Stephen’s place, pretending that I wanted to spend some time with the dumbass, which didn’t go down too well. He’d told me to get lost or he’d plant his fist in my face. He was still angry with me for stealing Catherine from him, even though I couldn’t steal what he didn’t have. But it didn’t matter, because his parents had heard about my argument with my father, so had let me stay over the long weekend. I just wondered whether they would’ve let me stay if they knew I had demon blood. Or if they knew about my parents’ warped relationship.
Dio! I was a freak of nature. No wonder my mother didn’t want people knowing why my father looked like my grandfather. Though, I didn’t understand why my grandfather didn’t pretend that he’d only fathered my papà, since my mother didn’t look like him. She looked like her mother, someone who’d died well before I was born. I’d seen photos of her. They were spitting images of each other, so much alike that you’d think they were the same person. Apparently, my grandfather had loved her mother with a passion, but hated my father’s mother with an even greater passion. I still didn’t understand why he would permit my mother to marry my father. That was one thing my mother couldn’t explain.
Still thinking about the head-job of incest and demon heritage running through my veins, I went to open my door, jolting as Catherine’s pixie friend shot in front of me. With everything that had happened since last Friday, I’d completely forgotten that she’d witnessed Catherine attack me. Which meant I had to do some clean-up, because there was no way I could risk her telling someone about the water attack.
“Hi, Chris,” she said, bouncing in black suede boots. She was a cute-looking female, with crazy red hair that was sprayed to within an inch of its life; half Cyndi Lauper, half rooster. She’d probably done it on purpose to give herself a bit of height, because she was tiny. Regardless, it didn’t matter how small she was, she was a big threat to my people.
I levelled her with a hard stare, not above using intimidation to make sure she kept her mouth shut. “What happened the other night—”
“I know!” she cut me off. “That’s what I want to talk to you about. What Catherine did to you. I don’t even know where to start with that. The water—”
“Did you tell anyone about what you saw?”
She rolled her eyes as though my question was stupid. “Nooo. How would I explain,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “water exploding from Catherine’s body? People would think I’m nuts.”
“Have you spoken to Catherine about it?” I asked, relieved with her answer.
She shook her head, her hair not moving an inch. “Whenever I ring her, her mum blows me off, making all sorts of excuses why Catherine can’t answer. I even went over on Saturday and she said Catherine was sleeping. I tried again the next day, this time phoning her, but she was having a shower,” she said, making quote marks with her fingers. “I just… I need to talk to someone about it, and right now the only person other than Catherine is you. That water explosion, it was surreal. I can’t stop thinking about it. How could that happen?”
I nodded at my car. “Hop in, I don’t want to talk about it out here.” I glanced around, making sure no one was listening. And they weren’t. The majority of students swarming the school grounds weren’t paying us any attention, and the ones who were, were more interested in throwing me flirtatious smiles than listening in on our conversation. Still, I wasn’t going to risk it, so I climbed into my car as Catherine’s friend got into the other side.
The girl, whatever her name was, whipped her gypsy skirt inside the car and closed the door. She was wearing a mesh jumper over a leopard print singlet, and enough jewellery to supply a pawn shop. Her bracelets were clacking together, putting me on edge even more. I didn’t like the fact a human knew about my people, especially after what had happened with Levy. But I couldn’t do much about it, other than convince her to continue what she was doing, which was keeping her mouth shut.
I closed my door. “What’s your name?”
She looked offended at my question. “You should know, I’m in your confirmation class.”
I shrugged, only remembering the names that were important. “I’m not good with names.”
She frowned. “It’s Nicky Taylor. So, what do you think caused the water explosion?”
“How long have you known Catherine?” I asked instead, trying to work out how best to deal with the situation.
“Since Form Three. We’re best friends, almost family.”
“So, you’d do anything to protect her?”
Nicky nodded.
I chewed my bottom lip, not sure whether I could trust her, but also not wanting to hurt her, because that would be my grandfather’s and father’s automatic response if they found out she knew. Those two always used violence to solve everything, which for my father now made sense, because demons were prone to violence. Christ! This demon thing really was doing my head in. Regardless, I needed to shove those thoughts aside so I could deal with the immediate threat: this girl.
I took a deep breath in, then went for it. “If I tell you what really happened,” I said, praying I wasn’t going to regret this, “you can’t tell anyone, because if you speak about it, even to one person, you’ll put yourself and Catherine in danger. Me too.”
She crossed her heart, her expression serious. “I promise I won’t tell a soul. I didn’t mention to anyone about what happened, even though Janet wouldn’t stop asking. I wouldn’t do anything to get Catherine into trouble.”
“That’s good to know, because what I’m about to tell you might freak you out.”
“Are you warlocks and witches?” she barrelled ahead, looking excited instead of worried. “Because I could totally get with that. I love anything witchy. Could you teach me some spells? Especially a love spell. I so want to learn one of those.”
“I never said we’re witches.”
Her smile fell away. “But what Catherine did—”
“Is a different kind of magic from witchcraft. It’s purer, biblical.”
“Like in the bible?”
I nodded.
“But there’s nothing in there about this sort of thing, well, nothing the priests ever mentioned, because I didn’t really read that much of it. Couldn’t get past the son of the son of the son, or was it the son of the father?”
“What are you on about?”
She waved a hand at me. “You know, the first part of the bible. It was all about who was whose son, totally left out all the females. So not fair, like we didn’t even warrant a mention. Anyway, no one ever mentioned water coming from a person’s body.” She screwed up her nose. “Well, not from the normal places and that’s definitely not in the bible. I’m talking about going to the toilet—”
I cut her weird ramble off, “You don’t have to spell it out for me. I’m not an imbecile.”
She grimaced. “Sorry, I have a habit of stating the obvious. Catherine constantly ribs me for it.”
“I have no idea what ribs have to do with you saying way too much.”
“I wasn’t talking about pork ribs, I was talking about—”
“I don’t care what you’re talking about!” I snapped, the girl irritating as hell. “Can we just get back to what we’re supposed to be talking about?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
I exhaled, the female already giving me a headache. “Bene, because if you blurt out the wrong thing to the wrong person, I’ll make damn sure you end up in a mental hospital.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “I said I wouldn’t, so stop giving me the evils.”
“You better not, because what I’m about to show you will blow your mind.”
“Then blow it, well, not blow it in the rude way, wait, can you even blow a mind?”
“Shut up!” I yelled.
She jolted. “Sheesh, you don’t need to go berserk at me, I was just asking.”
I shook my head, wondering how this weirdo ever became friends with someone as incredible as Catherine.
“You know, you’re really mean,” she said, still pouting. “That’s probably why Catherine wants nothing to do with you, well, she’s interested in your face and body, but not you, because you’re meeean.”
I raised my hand, covering my other one. She stopped rambling as a flame sparked from my middle fingertip.
“What the hell?” she gasped.
“Catherine and I are Merges, which are types of angels,” I said, not wanting to admit that Merges could also be demons. Like me. Or part demon in my case.
Another flame flickered to life on my second fingertip. “I’m a Seraph, which is a fire Merge, while I think Catherine’s a Stella, someone who can control all the elements.”
Nicky continued to stare at the flames coming from my fingertips, transfixed by them.
I extinguished the flames with my other hand. “We don’t usually tell humans about—”
She burst out in a fit of giggles, cutting me short.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, irritated by her response.
“You said humans. This is so freaking weird.” Her expression turned excited. “Is Stephen an angel too? He has to be with the way he looks. He’s sooo heavenly.” Her hand shot to her mouth. “Don’t tell him I said that!”
“I won’t, and he’s not an angel,” I lied. “So you can’t tell the dumbass about what happened.”
Her hand whipped out, smacking my arm. “Don’t talk about your cousin like that, he’s not dumb.”
“You mustn’t know him very well, then.”
“He’s not dumb.”
“Okay, how about I set you up on a date with him and see whether you’ll still be saying that afterwards.”
Her eyes went round. “You’ll get me a date with Stephen?”
Seeing an opportunity, I nodded, hoping that she could distract my idiot cousin from his infatuation with Catherine.
She squealed, then launched herself at me, giving me the biggest hug.
“Ah... please let go of me,” I said, holding my hands out, not wanting to touch her.
She instantly let go. “Sorry! I’m just so happy! When can he go out? Tonight? I can see him after I visit Catherine, that’s if her mum lets me see her. I asked, but she said no, but if I bug her enough—”
I cut her off with a raised hand. “He has to say yes first.”
Her face dropped. “But I thought it was a done deal. You said you’d get me a date.”
“I’ll do my best, and if he says yes, I’ll make it for Friday or the weekend. Anyway, he has a cold, so he can’t go out tonight.”
She brought her thumb to her mouth, biting at the nail. “Do you think he’ll say yes?”
I hesitated for a moment, not sure she’d like my answer. Then again, I could always manipulate Stephen into saying yes. “I’ll make sure of it,” I replied with more confidence, “but if you so much as make a squeak about flaming fingertips and exploding water, I’ll make sure he never speaks to you again.”
“I told you I won’t open my mouth!” she snapped. “So, don’t threaten me.”
I smirked, threatening taking Stephen away working better than a physical threat.
“What are you smiling at?” she growled.
“Maybe you two will be the perfect match.”
A smile quickly replaced her scowl. “You think so?”
I nodded, thinking the imbeciles were made for each other.
***
Catherine wasn’t at school the following day either. But Nicky was. She cornered me after I’d left my history class for lunch, relaying what she’d heard from Catherine’s mother: that Catherine would be off school for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, that translated to Nicky following me for the rest of the week. Not to mention asking excessive questions about my kind, as she called Merges. But what got on my nerve even more was how she wouldn’t stop pestering me to ask Stephen out for her. He’d been off school sick for the past couple of days, so I hadn’t had the opportunity to ask, but did she give my ears a rest? Hell no! She was like a freaking Chihuahua that wouldn’t stop yapping around my heels.
I sat down on the bench outside the English class, wishing she would just go away.
She sat down next to me. “Are there lots of your kind around?” When I didn’t reply, she slid closer to me, her arm brushing mine, the girl not knowing the meaning of personal space. “Well, are there?”
I shrugged.
Her gaze flicked to the students walking past. She indicated to Kylie, a girl from my homeroom. “Is she a demon version of your kind?” she whispered.
“No, just a bitch,” I replied, wishing I hadn’t let slip that demons were Merges too.
Kylie’s attention landed on me as she drew closer, her gaze almost obscene. She stopped in front of me and Nicky, her friends piling around us. “Why are you sitting with Nicky, Chris baby?” she asked, making me cringe. Although she was hot, the way she spoke and looked at me was a major turn-off, the girl greasier than a fry pan.
“I thought you were dating Catherine,” she said.
“He’s not dating Catherine,” Nicky replied.
A mean smile pulled at Kylie’s full lips. “Well, then what’s he doing with you? Because he’s obviously far too gorgeous to even consider dating you.”
Nicky stiffened. “He’s getting me a date with his cousin.”
Kylie and her crew of bitches burst out laughing. “You and Stephen? He’s also way too hot for you.”
Nicky’s face went redder than her hair.
Kylie’s gaze shifted back to me. “Since you’re not dating Catherine, Chris, you should come over to my place after school. I have a pool and a spa. We can get nice and hot together.” She touched her finger to her tongue, making a sizzling sound.
I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Nicky’s wrong, I am dating Catherine.”
Kylie pouted. “But you two are always fighting. I won’t fight you, baby. I’ll be real nice to you.”
I put my hand in my pocket, touching one of my rosary beads, the one that Catherine had nicknamed the Jedi bead. “You should go see Mr. Glenmore,” I said, mentioning the art teacher she drooled over. “He was asking for you.”
Without a word, she walked away. Her friends ran off after her. Nicky pushed up, looking like she was going to follow them.
“Sit,” I said, realising the spell had worked on her too. Though, why I didn’t just let her walk away, I didn’t know. No, I did. It was her connection to Catherine, my only connection right now.
Nicky sat back down, looking confused. “Where’d Kylie and her minions go?”
“They went to see Mr. Glenmore.”
“The hottie art teacher?”
“If you say so.”
“He totally is. Catherine said that Kylie has a major crush on him.” She giggled. “But apparently, he likes Catherine instead. She said he’s always complimenting her.”
I frowned. “When does he compliment her?” I asked, not having noticed.
“He told her she would make a perfect model for his paintings. Even paid her to sit for him. Did a few paintings of her.”
My eyes widened. “The sleazy bastard!” I went to get up, fully intending on finding him. Confronting him.
Nicky grabbed my arm, anchoring me to the seat. “Oh, no, no, no. Catherine said Mr. Glenmore’s not like that. He just wanted to paint her. Never made any advances, though he did tell her she was beautiful, but did nothing beyond that. Catherine said he’s a nice man.”
I jerked my arm free. “I bet she did,” I growled low.
“Are you jealous?”
“No!”
“You are too, Mr. Jealous Face.”
I glared at her, what she was saying true.
She giggled. “Catherine was right.”
“About what?” I snapped.
“That you’re sexy when you scowl. I’m so jealous of her right now.”
“But I thought you wanted Stephen, not me.”
“Oh, no, I’m not jealous because I want you. I’m jealous of Catherine. Even though she’s really mean to guys, they still fall hard for her. Like you have.”
“Hey! I’m not in love with her.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m not. I like her, that’s all.”
“Well, you have my sympathies, because she walks all over guys, especially ones who fall over themselves to get at her.”
“I’m not falling over myself,” I said, offended.
She laughed. “You are so deluding yourself.”
“I am not! I don’t need to chase girls. I have them falling over me. Kylie’s not the only one who’s asked me out today. I even had that young history teacher flirt with me.”
She raised a brow at me. “Then why aren’t you with her instead of talking about Catherine? Counter that, Chris baby,” she said, imitating Kylie’s breathy voice.
“That’s only because you won’t leave me the hell alone!”
“Excuses, excu—” She stopped talking, something behind me capturing her attention.
I glanced back to see what it was, spotting Stephen heading for the field. It was a surprise to see him, since he hadn’t shown up for his classes. Maybe he’d just come in for rugby. My cousin hated missing anything to do with the game. And he was dressed for it, his shorts, jersey, long socks, and boots ready to get dirty, while his long blond hair was tied back.
Seeing an opportunity to offload Nicky onto my cousin, I yelled out to him. He turned his head, but didn’t make a move to come over, probably since he was still angry with me. I indicated again. He grimaced, but headed for me, his annoyed expression changing to one of surprise as his violet gaze landed on Nicky.
He stopped in front of me, twirling a rugby ball in his hands. “You ditched Catherine for Red?” he asked, sizing Nicky up with a puzzled expression.
I shook my head. “I’m just sitting with her.”
Nicky remained quiet, staring up at Stephen as though he was some sort of god.
Stephen raised a blond brow. “Why are you staring?” He wiped his face. “Have I got something on me?”
“No, you’re perfection,” she sighed. “Can I touch you?”
I snorted out a laugh, while Stephen’s eyebrows shot up higher.
“What?” he asked.
“Can I touch you?” she repeated. “Please.”
Stephen indicated to her with a thumb. “Is this chick for real?” he asked me.
I smirked. “She wants a date with you. I said I’d get her one.”
He blinked at me. “You’re having me on.”
I shook my head.
He looked back at Nicky, then at me, clearly going to say no, but I got in first.
“You will go on a date with Nicky,” I said, touching the same bead as I’d done with Kylie.
Stephen’s face went blank. “Okay.”
Nicky squealed, recapturing his attention.
He blinked at her. “Why are you squealing at me?”
“Because you said yes! Well, actually, you said okay, but that basically means yes and—”
I cut her off, “Nicky, you’re rambling again.”
“That’s because I’m going on a date with Stephen Mackey!”
“I’m standing right here,” Stephen said, looking stunned. “And—”
“You’re the best!” she yelled, loud enough for half the school to hear. “Pick me up at seven on Friday. I live at 8 Angelo Avenue. Ha! So appropriate, since you look like an angel!” She jumped onto the bench and grabbed his face, planting a massive kiss on his lips. She let go of him and jumped off the bench, shrieking that she would see him later. I watched her sprint off, going only God knew where.
“What the hell just happened?” Stephen asked, watching her disappear around the corner.
“You just accepted a date with Nicky.” Unable to help myself, I sniggered. “Remember. 8 Angelo Avenue at seven on Friday.”
He grimaced. “I’m not going out with that nut job.”
“But you agreed.”
“I don’t remember saying shit. And I want Catherine.” His face hardened. “You’re a bastard for stealing her from me.”
“I’m sure Nicky will put out for you, so stop whining.”
A spark of interest lit up his violet eyes. “Did she say she wanted to have sex with me?”
“I think that one would do anything for you.”
His lips quirked up into a faint smile. “Maybe we can go out on one date. She is kind of pretty. I just hope she tones down the loopy.”
I bit back another snigger, thinking there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening.