Grim appears in my room seconds after I find the feather. The raven that shows up is my only warning, making me shove the thing underneath my pillow and flip around. I pretend to be passed out, my head buried in the softness of my pillow. I'm not ready for any more threatening news. I just want a moment to relax and act like my life is somewhat normal.
Yet finding an angel feather in my room is completely un-normal. "Pumpkin?" Grim saunters over to my bed where he plops down next to my ankles. I don't answer, not really ready for reality about to crash back into me. Only my eyes pop open against the pillow as images of me kissing through each of Grim's abs soars through my mind.
What is with all these hormonal thoughts?
Maybe now that I realized Grim actually feels...something for me, it's awakened a part of me I didn't know existed. Great, add that onto my plate of things to handle.
I really wonder if by the end of this I will become my crazy grandmother. I was told stress can drive someone crazy, and recently, the only thing eating away at my bones has been stress. And hellhounds. And those dirty thoughts about Grim. Okay, maybe stress isn't the only thing gnawing on my bones.
"I know you're awake," Grim's hand touches my ankle making me roll over suddenly and stare at him. I almost instantly gasp as I see him.
His lips look darker in the red light of my room, his black eyes reflecting that same red light as he stares at me. The way the moon filters through my window highlights his hair perfectly, making my throat squeeze up in hunger. How the hell is he so sexy? Seriously? How?
By the way Grim chuckles, I realize my mistake. I thought my thoughts. Kill me now.
"Sorry," I look off awkwardly, blushing.
"It's a normal reaction for humans."
"Yeah?" I look at him sharply. "How many humans have looked at you like that?" I raise an eyebrow.
"None," he answers smoothly, making my spine liquify. "You're the only human who's seen me besides your friend Ruby. I normally hide, and I was when I was at your parents...funeral," Grim's voice turns to a whisper. "But you saw through my facade and look where it brought us." Grim motions to me and leans in closer. My eyes widen as he expects me to lean closer to him, but I just lean away because I know exactly how intoxicated I get on his Earthy mud smell.
"Why were you at my families funeral anyway? I saw them there and then they were--"
"You what?" Grim's voice cuts through me. It's sharp as a knife, making me wince and back against my bed's pillow. I notice how Grim's head suddenly tilts as I accidentally move my pillow making my breath stop for a complete moment.
"My parents. I-I--" Grim cuts me off by standing up suddenly and pacing.
"That's impossible."
"What?" I look up at him. I beg him with my eyes to give me this answer. He's given me so many, he cannot keep this one from me. Not when it includes my parents.
I know Grim doesn't want to tell me what happened, but when I forcefully grab his arm and force him to look at me, his eyes soften as they meet mine. "Cassie--" he cuts himself off as he suddenly tenses. I think he's seen the angel feather, but when I turn to look at my pillow, it's covering it. I hope it doesn't give off any putrid odors that I cannot smell since I'm a weak human. Shocker, right? Grim continues slowly, "What you saw is not something you want to know about. Ignorance is sometimes bliss, remember?"
I turn on Grim in a second. "You said that about the prophecy and look where we are. I know about it and why the angels are after me."
And how I cause your demise. I don't say that, of course. And I definitely don't think it.
Grim looks like he knows I'm right but he just sucks in a breath before licking his lips. I notice how no hood covers his face, but he still tries to act like he has the safety of a hood to hide himself from me. "I was feeding," Grim's voice is eerily soft.
"Feeding? Like sucking out my parent's souls like noodles?" My face twists, along with his. I didn't realize how truly horrible that sentence was, but I inwardly cringe. I wonder what would happen if I jumped out my window right now...hopefully die. Actually, Chris the pine tree would probably save me from my fall because come on, he's Chris the pine tree.
"When you put it like that it sounds horrible."
"No, it's horrible either way," I shake my head.
"It's how I stay alive, Cassie. You think I enjoy walking into a dour funeral and eating right in front of people crying? Or how about standing beside someone as I watch them slowly die and then eat their soul like a 'noodle' after they finally crumble? Don't think of me as some horrible person just because of how I have to stay alive," he hisses. It catches me off guard, his sharp tone. I had gotten used to the soft whispers, not the serrated snaps and snarky words. "I don't think of you as a horrible person because you're an outcast from your own family!"
I take a step back from him in a trance as soon as he says those words. How dare he? How does he even know about that? "Your thoughts, Cassie, they give you away all the time."
"All the time?" My voice breaks pathetically. I don't know why it feels like I am constantly being slapped by an eel as he continues speaking. He's just telling me the truth. As I realize this, my anger rises and my pathetic whimpers turn into harsh whispers. "And you think it's right to go digging in my thoughts?"
Grim's reply is cold and cuts right to my core. "You're a human. Anything you humans consider wrong is the right for immortals like me," he hisses. My eyes widen and my rage runs over the top.
"Oh right, sorry, I forgot I'm a human. I'm weak and puny and a worm compared to you," I shrug my shoulders, pointing at him. "Then how come angels are trying to protect you from me, huh?" I'm sure he can sense the amount of rage secreting off of me like the mist that used to fall off of him.
"It's not like that," he defends himself as his voice rises.
"How exactly is it, then?" I narrow my eyes, finally growing a pair. He narrows his as well as he stares at me. It's completely silent between us until he backs away and shakes his head.
"I knew this was going to happen one day. I would tell you too much and you would look at me like the monster you once thought I was," his voice wavers slightly. "Just because I cannot say no to you. What power do you hold over me where I hand you all my deepest secrets on a platter?" His words make me pause and my anger subsides shortly. I am stuck, wordless, and gaping as he stares at me before he sucks in a breath and looks down.
"All your secrets?" I laugh in anger, remembering what he said moments ago. "You've told me nothing except your name! All the other things I had to get from Azrael because you don't trust me!" I hiss.
"That's not true!" He shakes his head. "I've told you many other things. I do trust you, can't you see?"
"Oh right. I forgot. Basically every day you tell me how I'm a worthless human. I should know that right? Since you're my sacred protector, right?" I tilt my head menacingly. "Sorry to break it to you, but I don't need a protector. You saw how I handled Rowl. I did it without your help," I snap cockily. I know that is completely false because without him showing up in the car, I never would've had the balls to actually do what I did. "I don't need you, Theodosius."
Grim tenses completely at my words. He doesn't even turn to me as he speaks, a hood slowly shifting over his face. When he finally turns around it feels like hours passed and that damn black shadow covers his face, hiding all of him from me. The one piece on his body that would tell me exactly how he was feeling is covered up and I fear I'll never be able to see those beautiful eyes again.
"Alright, Cassiopeia," his tone is deathly. "Come this time tomorrow, I will no longer be your 'sacred protector'," he snarls and disappears with an angry, animalistic growl. I stare at the spot he was just standing in, boiling with rage.
As soon as he disappears I scream in anger and run my fingers frustratingly through my hair.
How dare he? How--
I pause as something suddenly winks through my room. I stop moving and pacing, turning to look at my bed. Another flash. My eyebrows raise eagerly before I slowly walk over to my bed, completely forgetting about the anger and rage washing through my body as a beautiful light fills my vision.
I curiously move my pillow to reveal the feather. It's slowly turning into gold, a piercing light giving off of it as it shifts. It floats softly in the ground, defies all rules of gravity. Seconds later, it falls to the pillow in a pile of golden ashes. My mouth falls open. I know that the feather somehow definitely caused that horrific fight.
With beauty also comes madness and that's exactly what this feather caused.
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