Only Human: Angels and Demons

Chapter 66: June Jackson

I want to thank all my readers for staying this long with the story! I would love to provide shout outs, but the number of readers has exceeded my ability to do so. I still appreciate each and every reader, and I love receiving the comments and feedback I have been getting. Please enjoy, as this is one of my favorite chapters.

-Lucinda Croft

I spent the rest of the day with Fidestro. I agreed to him being my fashion designer and he sketched out some really fun ideas. Some I outright vetoed as I wasn't comfortable revealing that much skin, but most were elegant and flowing. It soon was time for me to head back to my room for the night, and Fidestro was kind enough to help me find it.

When I was alone in the room, I plopped onto my bed face first. Being with my new vampire best friend helped me not think about the heavy reality that was dropped on me this morning. It almost felt like everything was some sort of dream that I'd wake up from. I mean, me an angel? Sure, when I was a little girl with missing teeth and an outlandish sense of optimism, I thought that I could grow wings and fly across the sky. If someone had told me that I was an angel then, I would have believed it in a heartbeat and ask what my powers were. I must be the same girl as an adult, because I'm at that same point.

I rolled back over and held up my hand to the light. I studied my hand as I turned and flipped it. This was a human hand that was a part of a human body, but under the skin my blood supposedly ran angelic. It could restrict a vampire's diet, smell of virgin blood, and apparently speed up my healing. As I continued to contemplate and turn my hand I realized that it also allowed me to sing in the magical continent, speak to and grow Angel's Hearts, and make the Gem of Heaven glow. Hendrix was right. I'm bound to give myself away at some point.

There was a knock on my door and I sat up confused. Hendrix never knocked. Maybe it was a maid, but they would have said something by now. I cautiously approached the door. "Who is it?" I asked.

"It's me." I heard Cenderion say on the other side of the door. He sounded nervous.

I thought Cenderion couldn't leave his forest. He would be too far from his tree, but he was outside my door. The shock of it pushed away my original aversion to seeing him and I quickly opened the door. Sure enough, the tall olive-skinned dryad stood there out of place.

"Cenderion? How are you—" Cenderion interrupted me as he rushed me and held me in his arms.

"Lily! You're okay! When you didn't come for your treatment, I thought something must have happened." He said while burying his face into my neck.

I pushed him away, and he allowed me to. "I'm fine," I held up my arm for him to see it wasn't broken. "I healed overnight, so I didn't need to come." I knew I was being short. I could hear the ice in my own voice, but I couldn't help it.

Cenderion looked both amazed and confused. "That isn't right. With Peony's magic it would take at least three days, and that's with consistent treatment."

"I'm a fast healer." I said glancing away from him. "How can you even come here? Don't you need to stay by your tree?"

"That is preferrable. I'm pretty powerless here and I cannot hear the voices of my people." Cenderion reached for my hand, and I pulled away before he could take it. "Lily, is something wrong? You're acting distant."

I looked back to him and could see the hurt in his dark brown eyes. "I'm... I'm angry with you, Cenderion." I said honestly.

He looked surprised and flustered. "Why? What did I do wrong? Was it because I left you yesterday? Did I upset you with how I handled the vampire that hurt you? Because I'm sorry but no one can treat my future queen like that—" Cenderion started going off.