A knock came at the front door while Lily was taking a shower, so Jason was the one who answered it. He grasped the door knob and cracked open the door so he could see out of it. Through the crack, he could see a tall blonde girl with soft white skin and bright yellow eyes, and another girl who looked much older, with dark black skin and black frizzy curls.
“Celeste?” Jason asked the blonde girl. Celeste was one of the most powerful archangels, she was Lily’s older sister. But unlike Celeste, Lily was a half-breed. She was the result of an angel and a demon. Jason was not an angel though, he was part demon, part human. But he wasn’t just demon, his father was an fallen angel so his demon half had powerful blood in it. “Who is that?” he wondered, indicating to the older girl with brown curls. She also had golden eyes, so Jason knew she was an angel of some sort.
“Jason,” Celeste said, her voice awfully childish. “This is madam Nyla.”
His eyes widened. “Wait... the leader of the angel race, Nyla?”
Celeste nodded.
Jason looked over to Nyla, his eyes narrowing. “If you’ve come to torment Lily, I’m not letting you in,” he said a little harshly. “She’s already going through a lot, and I’m not willing to risk her getting upset.” Fallen angels weren’t fond of the goddess race. Jason only liked Celeste because she was Lily’s sister, and because he was Lily’s boyfriend, he had to show some respect.
He looked over to Celeste again. “Why did you bring her here?” He asked, his eyes still narrow.
“I would like to speak to Lillian Morningstar if you don’t mind,” Nyla said. Her voice was deep and highly superior. Jason supposed it made sense, she was the leader of the angels. Their “queen.”
When he hesitated, Celeste said, “Jason, please. It’s important.”
“Fine,” he growled. “But don’t torment her. She can’t handle that right now.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” Nyla said.
He opened the door fully, letting them inside. Right as he shut the door, he felt a very painful sting on his hand. Wincing, he looked down at his palm to find the oath rune glowing a bright orange, like metal pulled out of a fire. Celeste seemed to notice this too.
“Why do you have a juramentum rune on your hand?”
Juramentum was Latin for oath. In the past, angels spoke Latin. So all the names for the spells, runes, and potions were all Latin. They know all the languages of course, and so did Jason, but Latin was their first language.
Jason cursed under his breath, knowing why the oath rune was burning.
“Hold on a second,” he told both angelic girls, his voice clearly straining from pain. Then he walked down the hallway, trying to mask the pain when he knocked on the bathroom door. “Lily?”
There was no response.
“Lily, I’m coming in,” he warned.
He unlocked the door with his thumb nail and softly opened it, noticing Celeste glance at Nyla in confusion in the corner of his eye.
The shower was still on, steam waving out of the curtains, fogging the glass on the mirror above the sink. He closed the door so it was less likely for Celeste or Nyla to walk in.
“Angel,” he said softly, walking closer to the shower. Still no response. So he softly opened the curtain to find Lily laying on the floor, curled up into a ball as she cried silently. “No, no, no,” he said as he saw why his rune was burning. Her nails were digging into her palms. So she wasn’t hurting herself intentionally, she was just crying. And sometimes when you’re angry, you clench your fists tightly to help conceal the anger.
“Hey,” Jason said gently. As if he raised his voice, she would break and shatter like glass. “Look at me.”
Lily turned her head into the floor, hiding her expression. She didn’t want Jason to find her. How did he find her? She wasn’t injured, was she?
“Angel,” he whispered. “Come on. Celeste brought someone to meet you.”
That’s when she looked up, her brows drawing together. Her eyes a bright red from the sting of tears. “Who?” She asked softly.
Jason smiled playfully, the smile she always loved. “You’ll have to see, won’t you?”
“They’re here?” She wondered. “Right now?”
He nodded.
That’s when she sat up, her bright yellow hair sticking to her shoulders and back with water dampening the strands. Turning off the shower, she covered herself as she stared at Jason. “You mind?” She said, indicating with her eye movement that he should leave.
“In a matter of fact, I do,” he said playfully.
She narrowed her eyes. “You really want to do this right now?” She questioned.
He blinked. “Do what?” Then he smiled. “Kiss?”
Lily chuckled darkly. “Not going to happen, little boy.”
“‘Little boy’?” He quizzed. “How old do you think I am?”
“I don’t know...” she said. “Twelve?”
Jason smiled evilly. “You did not just say that.”
“Say what?” Lily wondered with an innocent tilt of the head. She wasn’t smiling, but he could see in her bright blue eyes that she was laughing inside.
“I told you my age,” he said, clearly annoyed. “I’m way older then twelve, you know. I’m two thousand years old, little girl.”
“Oi!” She exclaimed. “I’m two thousand years old too!”
Jason’s lips curled into a half smile. “You know that the legal age of being an adult is eighteen. So technically, both of us are old enough to have fun….” He didn’t have to finished his sentence for Lily to know what he was talking about.
“Jason,” she said sternly, but she knew he was messing with her. “My sister is outside this very door. I’m not kissing you or doing anything else that you’re hinting at while I’m naked.” She saw him stick out his lower lip, faking being hurt. “Now, move out of the way so I can put my clothes on.”
He sighed in annoyance and moved out of the way so she could step out of the tub. She padded over to her clothes that laid on the floor in a pile, and started putting them on.
“You’re missing out,” he said as she tugged her shirt over her head. When she turned he was grinning, and Lily had that look of pure irritation as he gestured to his whole body, while she fought a smile. “I’m the whole package.” Then he gestured to her, seeing her look of annoyance, but also noticing the slight blaze of hunger in her eyes. “I can see you’re the whole package as well.”
Lily sighed as she rolled her eyes, turning to the sink and picking up her hairbrush. She stared at it for a moment. The color red. Like blood. She shuttered as a picture of Damean flashed through her eyes. Not noticing that Jason was standing right next to her, she jumped out of her skin when he touched her shoulder.
“Woah,” he said as she settled back into herself again. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she responded as if nothing happened.
Jason picked the hairbrush out of Lily’s hands, taking her by surprise. She turned to look at him when he smiled softly. Not that playful smile he had before when he was joking with her. It was a soft, sad smile.
“Let me do it?” He asked gently.
Lily turned to face the mirror again, staring at her reflection as the steam melted off the glass. She saw Jason raise the hairbrush and run it through her damp hair that was tangled in mats. Even though she could feel the tangles get stuck in the bristles, she couldn’t feel any pain. He was so gentle with her.
“Why were you crying?” Jason wondered as he grabbed a strand of her hair and ran it through the brush.
“Huh?” Lily said.
“I came in here,” he explained, “and you were on the floor. You were crying.”
She looked back at herself in the mirror, seeing Jason stare at her as well. His hair was damp from the steam that started settling around them, sticking his them to his temples. Lily’s bangs were long now, they flowed down the sides of her face, to the bottoms of her ears. When he started brushing her hair again, she saw her hair ended at the middle of her back. It was so long... But she remembered the day before it was at her shoulders. That was odd...
“Can you answer my question, please?” He wondered.
“Oh umm...” she stared at her reflection again, thinking, “I think I was just overwhelmed.”
“You ‘think’?” He said. “Not ‘know’?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm...” he murmured. She saw his unreadable expression as he continued to brush her hair. “Why were you overwhelmed?”
“Uh...” she hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Well that’s a lie,” he noticed with his eyebrows raised.
“I... don’t really want to talk about it,” she said quietly.
“Okay.” His understanding took her by surprise. “Tell me when you’re ready.”
She turned to look at him, he held the hairbrush up staring into her eyes. “Did you come and find me because people were here?” Her brows drew together and he saw her eyes mix colors. “Or was it something else?”
“What do you mean ‘something else’?” He questioned.
“I mean anything else.”
Jason sighed and showed Lily his hand. The symbol rested there, it’s normal black color like midnight. She looked up at him. “But I didn’t hurt myself.”
Lightly, he grasped her hand, opening her palm so she could see the deep nail marks in her skin.
Lily’s stomach surged as she stared up into his gaze. “I swear I didn’t know,” she said really fast.
“I know,” he assured her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “It was a reflex.” He lightly set the hairbrush down onto the counter, and grasped her hand as she stared at him. “Come on,” he said. “There’s someone who wants to meet you.”
“Wait,” Lily said quietly. “We can kiss now if you want.”
A smile crept onto Jason’s face as the light glowed off her golden lashes. “Can’t resist me any longer, can you?” Then he chuckled. “I knew it.”
“Just shut up and kiss me,” Lily groaned while rolling her eyes.
So he did, bending down to lightly touch her lips with his. A slight heat burst through her veins as their lips touched, and she wondered what is was or if he felt it too. Then as he started to pull away, she grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer.
He managed to pull away even though she was irresistible. “Hey.” He brushed his fingers though her hair. “I know.”
Lily just stared at him. What did he mean by, “I know”?
“What?” She wondered.
“I know you want to kiss...” he hesitated, “but....” She stared into his tentative expression as he broke off, wondering—not for the first time—what was going through his head. “But...” he said again. He then cussed under his breath. “Screw it.” He bent down and pressed their lips together again, tangling her golden stands in his fingers. She was irresistible, it was so hard to resist her. He wondered how she could resist him. Did she feel the same way about him?
Lily slipped on a puddle of water on the ground, letting out a yelp of surprise as she reached out to grab the sink so she didn’t fall, but Jason caught her. Her hand was inches away from the sink. His face was inches from hers. He was so close.
When he spoke, his voice was low and in a whisper. “Don’t worry, angel,” he breathed. “I won’t let you fall.” Slowly, he leaned into her, barely kissing her soft lips.
He wanted her to get irritated or desperate, and she did—both of them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, rising on her tip-toes, and crushed their lips together.
Woah, now, he joked to her thoughts. Now I know you really can’t resist me.
But she didn’t respond, her breath shivered as she struggled to breathe with Jason’s lips tearing through all her thoughts, scattering them through her mind. His kiss made heat rise through her entire body, making her sweat as the warm mist from the shower settled around them, coating them in its haze.
There was a new emotion that started consuming her weeks earlier. This sadness that made her feel as if she was the world’s destruction, and her fate was to kill. Nothing but kill. But moments like this. Moments when she kissed Jason, and not just the little pecks. Moments when he kissed her this long, it made her feel like she was worth something other than causing fear and destruction. She knew she felt this way because she could feel Jason’s love in ways she had never known could be possible.
So why?
Why the hell did she try to kill herself? She hurt him. She knew she did. And she wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive herself. She wasn’t sure if Jason could ever forgive her for what she had done.
When he read her thoughts, he pulled closer. So close that he felt his lips go numb. So close he could taste the sweetness of the cherry lip gloss that still lingered on her lips.
Then a loud knock came on the door, and Celeste’s mildly annoyed voice came through the entryway. “You know we’ve been waiting out here for twenty minutes, right? I know you little teenagers have issues with this, but at least show a little respect.”
Jason pulled away when Lily did. Which was seconds after Celeste started talking. She looked up at Jason. “‘Respect’? Who’s out there?”
“Someone I wanted you to meet even though fallen angels absolutely despise her,” he said matter-of-factly. He turned to the door. “We’ll be out in two seconds!” And Celeste’s shoes tapped away in the direction of the living room. He brushed Lily’s hair to the sides. “All right, let’s go meet this wonderful person.”
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