Kalbreal didn’t need to know that she was obsessing over William. She had many unanswered
questions, to which Angel-boy seemed to have most of the answers, and so did her brother.
The wicked gleam and sudden broad smile that etched his face had her narrowing her eyes, “What’s
the joke?”
“Do you still want to see my wings?”
She tilted her head, a grin playing on her mouth, “Will I die?”
“No, I can show it to you under the water, the lake’s blessed with healing properties, it’ll protect you as
long as you stay emerged.”
“Okay.”
“Take out your clothes and get in the water and I’ll show you.”
She coughed out, “Angel-boy has seriously lost his mind.”
“Angel-boy? You couldn’t have chosen a better name, maybe hero or prince.”
She snorted, recalling a similar thing he said to her in his room the day before, “Prince, huh, that’ll be
the day. ANGEL-BOY is much better.”
Face flushed as thoughts of William assailed her again. Mind drifting to the faceless man that had
touched her and comforted her, as one would their lover. What’s wrong with me, she cursed her brain,
cursed her skin, as it tingled with the urge to be touched by him. So lost in her mind, not hearing as
Kalbreal spoke, his voice a background sound.
Coldwater splashed on her face, bringing her back to reality, she screeched, “What the hell.”
“You mind gazing AGAIN, you want to see my wings or not?”
She turned her back to him and started removing her t-shirt first, “And I’m not getting naked, I’m
wearing underwear, turn around.”
He didn’t respond to her, so she halted in her quest, and turned around to face him, but he wasn’t
there. She moved carefully toward the water.
Hair clinging to his face, curled around his cheekbones, his eyes blazing hot, looking more of a crimson
red than orange, as he swam closer to the shore, his voice deep, “Hurry up,” he called from the lake.
She discarded her clothes and at the last minute she had remembered her back, she didn’t particularly
trust him that much, so she slipped the t-shirt back on, she hadn’t thought of why she hid the barely-
there mark on her back from anyone, but her instincts seemed to take over when it needed to.
Kalbreal didn’t seem to mind much really, he deliberately refrained himself from the temptation at
looking at her legs. She touched the water with her barefoot, expecting, well she didn’t really know
what she expected but the water of the lake was warm under her feet and remained so.
The deeper she got, the warmer it felt. She swam closer to Kalbreal, who was now in the centre of the
Saltril lake, she swam further in until he stood opposite her, “You okay?” at her nod, he said, “Count to
seven and come down.”
She nodded again, her hair wet floating in the water. Some of the water touched the inside of her
mouth, it was clear and sweet, she was tempted to swallow, but rethought it. After seven anticipated
seconds were up, she took in a lungful of air and swam down toward the lakes bed. Half down, she
could see the sparks of fire, milky, blurry lava, she went further down, swimming deeper, holding her
breath. Her eyes stayed open, not willing to lose a second of this, as excitement coursed through her,
when she was less than ten feet away from him.
The heat from his body made the water hotter, her lungs getting heavy, she focused on the brightness,
and she saw it, his wings. They were expanded about two meters wide and a little over three in length
as it spread out. She blinked, water burning her eyes. She saw his face was normal like he was
breathing, his body flamed up in wrappings of fire, his eyes, it was so bright…
Her owner couldn’t handle looking much longer. She peeled them open just a tiny bit to see his wings
one last time, but the water got too hot in the instant and she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she
signalled him, that she was going back to the surface.
She swam up, and vacuumed in a large amount of oxygen, freeing her lungs, as she broke free from
the water. Feeling exhilarated as fresh air soaked up into her lungs, her breathing barely regulated
when the water scorched her skin.
She swam as fast as she could to the shore of the lake. Her hair barely covered her black panty as she
ran out of the water.
She had just caught her breath, when she heard footsteps from behind her, she slipped on her jeans, “I
could see it, but not for long, water was too hot.”
“Pity, since you’ll probably never get your name back.”
He's said it so bluntly like it was definite, but parts of Clare refused to believe it, she didn’t say anything
more about it.
“How did your wife die?” Her eyes widened by her loose tongue, turning to face him, and winced. Clare
hoped she hadn’t treaded too dangerously and was about to apologize when she found herself muted
by the sight of him shirtless. His muscles ripped, wet with droplets of water, she almost didn’t catch his
words,
“She didn’t.”
She lowered her voice, “but you said..”
“I didn’t say she’s dead, I said she’s gone, you should listen more attentively next time, words can be
very deceiving.”
“But it sounded like you loved her, or love her.”
“I do, but love is a broadened emotion.”
“There you go again.” She bowed at him sarcastically, “Sometimes you speak like a person, and other
times you just shut a person out, your tone changes, do you even hear yourself sometimes, is that how
all Angels are.”
“I’ve been on earth for a while, but I am not a person, I am superior, an Angel, to answer all your
questions would be to betray sacred laws. But I can tell you that there are limits to every emotion. My
wife crossed those and paid a price far more treacherous than simple death, and that’s all I’m going to
say about it.”
Clare saw that look in his eyes, as he stood there, not moving, not blinking, unreadable, guarded by
something too solid to break or crack. A tear fell from her eye, a single tear for a Broken Angel, a
tortured soul.
She wanted to press for more, but her heart couldn’t give her courage to hurt the Angel, not now, and if
she did, it would be as if she’d killed him a little inside.
She heard her name been screamed, “It’s Nathan.” She said quietly, “I think we should go.”
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