Dark One- The Khiara Banning Series Book 1

Twenty one

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Shouts Vicky as she pops up in a sudden burst of energy. “There’s going to be food there, and I’m hungry.”

Cara, Tristan and I exchange an awkward look with each other. “Okay then,” I say.

~*~

Vicky glances at me with a strange look on her face as we walk up the steps to a small bungalow not two minutes away from the heart of the town.

“What?”

She sighs, “Don’t be nervous okay?”

I laugh, “What, does Liam thrive off of fear?”

“Kind of,” she says as he pulls me towards the door of the small house.

“Really?”

She chuckles and I realize that she was kidding. Tristan, Cara and Cael are not far behind us.

As we walk through the back door into the little kitchen/dining area, I’m struck by how cozy it is inside. The appliances in the kitchen, which is painted a cheery canary yellow are all new, but you can tell they’ve been used. The kitchen table is small and round, enough for about four people, but there’s an island where some chairs have been placed, I assume to accommodate more people.  

Liam is sitting at the table, reading a magazine. His bare arms are covered in tattoos, angelic symbols I think, and his hair stands straight up in a black mohawk. His skin is a nice tan colour, a little darker than Damien’s, and I notice that his eyes are a deep green when he looks up at us.

At first glance, he looks absolutely terrifying, but when I look through the kitchen to the living room, I realize that his appearance is just that; an appearance. There are toys and gaming consoles in the living room, an indication of children and the walls are painted a nice shade of orange. The two couches that occupy the space look as if you’d sink right into them if you were to sit in them.

“Hi,” I manage to say.

He looks up from his magazine again, nods at me, and says gruffly, “You’re the one?”

Awkwardly I run my fingers through my hair, a gesture I guess I must’ve picked up from Cael. “Yeah, I guess so.”

He smiles and beckons me over, “Come, sit. Do you want anything?”

I try to answer, but he just gets up and smiles warmly. “You like pizza?”

“Um, yeah, I do,” I answer a little bewildered.

“Is cheese okay? My daughter’s allergic to the spices they use in pepperoni, and V here hates anything with vegetables so I just ordered plain cheese.” He says.

I smile, encouraged a bit. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

Tristan, Cara, and Cael walk in and he asks Tristan and Cara the same question. They both tell him it’s perfectly fine.

Liam claps Cael on the back and they exchange one of those man-hugs, “Hey, Cam.”

“Nice to see you again Leliel,” says Cael, using (I assume) Liam’s angelic name.

“Cam?” asks Cara.

Liam smirks, “Camael, angel of Divine Love. But of course that’s not what he’s going by these days.”

“Oh,” Cara takes a moment to think about it. “That would make sense, then. I’ll have to start calling you that,” she says, teasingly poking Cael in the ribs.

Cael smiles good-naturedly, his blue eyes sparkling. “I like Cael just fine. It makes me feel…” he trails off in thought for a second. “It makes me feel more human.”