Page 28 of Carved
“I’m human,” I replied. “Mostly,” I addedhonestly.
“She’s possibly our only hope for endingthis,” Corson said.
“No pressure though,” I snorted.
His eyes were unblinking when he turned tolook at me. “None at all.”
I didn’t know if he didn’t get sarcasm or ifhe truly meant it. Kobal had said the same thing, no pressure, butI knew they all expected me to at least be able to dosomething. The only problem was Imight have already discovered all the things I could do, and Ididn’t think any of them had anything to do with closing anunnatural gateway into Hell or killing Lucifer.
“Whatelseare you then?” Vargas pressed.
“That’s not really your concern,” Corson toldhim.
“I don’t understand why they can’t know,” Isaid.
“Because it’s not time for them to know.”
I sighed in aggravation and turned to look atVargas and Erin who were staring at me curiously. “I lived most ofmy life believing I was human. Iammostly human. I’m more like one of you than I am anythingelse.”
Corson’s eyes burned into me when I finishedspeaking, I held his gaze unwaveringly with my chin raised high.They were part of this mission. They had been told to keep mealive, and would do everything they could to fulfill that duty, yetthey had no idea why. They deserved to know some of why they wereputting their lives on the line for me.
“That’s all you need to know,” Corsongrated.
“It is reassuring to know, even if that’s allyou can tell us,” Erin said.
I gave her a small smile, grateful to hearsomeone say that. She smiled back at me before focusing on the townonce more. Bending down, Corson rested his fist on the truck bed ashe leaned closer to me. I glanced at the back of his hands. Histalons had retracted; I tried to find some evidence they had oncebeen there, but his flesh looked perfectly smooth and normalnow.
“Are you sure you’re more human than anythingelse?” he inquired in a voice so low that it didn’t carry beyondus.
Before I could respond, he turned away tospeak to Hawk through the truck window again. “You’re going to makea right at this intersection. There’s a high school with a largefield in the back. We’ll wait for the others there.”
I was still trying to puzzle out Corson’squestion when Hawk made the turn. Of course I was more human thannot, wasn’t I? I was mortal like a human, and my body partswouldn’t regenerate after being lopped off. At least I didn’t thinkthey would. I wasn’t going to leap at the chance to test theidea.
I loved Kobal and most times Corson wasfun-loving and easygoing, but the demons were all emotionallyaloof. Unless that emotion was anger or passion and then it was afree-for-all. I was far from aloof or distant with my feelings; Iput more value on sex than the demons did. Until me, Kobal hadviewed sex as the easing of a need with no attachmentsinvolved.
Was my more emotional behavior because I wasmore human than angel or demon, or was it simply because I’d onlyever been a human, living with other humans?
I was still mortal, but did being mortal makeme more human or was it simply a consequence of having been born onEarth? My ability to summon fire came from being part demon and theability to draw on life from being part angel. My visions andprophetic ability could be from either part, or even from my humanpart, as some humans did have extrasensory abilities too.
Ugh, I rubbed at my temples with my fingers.It was all too confusing, and in the end, what did it really matterif I was more one thing than another? I was still simply me, thebiggest hope for humanity and demons alike. Go me.
My stomach rumbled as the July sun reachedits apex in the sky. Its rays beat against my skin, but its warmthdidn’t bother me like it did the others. Erin waved a hand at herflushed face and Vargas wiped the sweat from his brow; sweat stainsmarred their clothes and caused them to stick to their bodies likea second skin.
Did the ability to tolerate heat better meanI was more demon?
Cut it out!You’ll drive yourself nuts with thisone!
I lifted my head to glare at Corson forimplanting this train of thought in my head, but he wasn’t payingattention, and if he had been, he probably would have been amused.Tearing my attention away from him, I glanced at the supplies whenmy stomach rumbled again. Between the happenings of last night andtoday, all I wanted was some food, a chance to clean up, somewhereto sleep and Kobal. I had a good chance of achieving the first two,but I’d never be able to sleep while Kobal was still out there withthose things.
Hawk drove into the parking lot of the highschool and around to the back before stopping the pickup next tothe back of the building. Climbing out of the truck, we made quickwork of finding food and drinks in the bags of supplies we pulledfrom the back. We settled in the shadow of the building to eat anddrink in silence.
“There’s got to be somewhere we can cleanourselves up,” I said when everyone was finished eating and we hadpacked up and returned the supplies to the truck. “I’m sure theschool has locker rooms and showers.”
Corson looked at the building, rubbing hissmooth chin as he studied the brick façade. “We don’t know whatcould be in there, and it’s a lot of space to search in order tomake sure we’re alone. It could take hours.”
“Probably a fair amount of rats and otheranimals inside,” Erin said.
“Maybe we could use one of the houses thatare still in good shape,” I suggested.
