Angel reborn, p.12
Angel Reborn, page 12
“Ah, well. Many faiths tell of miracle healings through prayer. I read once about a group in the Middle East who could deliberately create a wound using a knife or a sword and have it heal within minutes with minimal blood loss. Scientists believed they must be using some form of self-hypnosis or mental imaging, but when they conducted the experiments under observation, the Sufi were simply utilizing spiritual energy. Their faith. Faith-based phenomenon often defy any scientific explanation, but since you aren’t of a praying nature, we need to keep searching.”
Turning back toward us, Aria sighed. “Let’s say I did somehow inherit some magic mojo from one of my ancestors, and the whole ordeal last night brought it out. Couldn’t that also explain why I healed so quickly?”
“Not likely,” Noelle said with a sympathetic frown. “The descendants’ ability to self-heal rarely shows up beyond the third generation once humans are introduced to the genetic mix. And even that far down the line, it manifests as a propensity for the body to mend more quickly, not the kind of radical healing you’re describing.”
Impatient for answers, I leaned forward, bracing my forearms on my knees. “Then what other explanation is there for her healing?”
Noelle’s deep sigh conveyed that she was frustrated with the lack of answers as well.
“It has to be supernatural, but I don’t know how or why.” She tapped her index finger against her chin again. “Are you certain you weren’t exposed to any supernatural influence? If not a healer, then was there anyone else you came in contact with who might have triggered your body’s ability to heal?”
Aria’s eyes met mine, and the question there was clear.
“That’s not it,” I answered.
“But there’s no other explanation, babe. That has to be it.”
“What?” Noelle asked. “What has to be it?”
With a sigh, I sat back against the couch. “When I realized Aria was dying, I was desperate to do anything I could to save her. I tried giving her my blood.”
“Well, then that’s it,” Noelle said, her eyes bright with excitement. “That’s the supernatural intervention!”
“No, you don’t understand. I barely got any in her. She couldn’t even swallow at that point, so only the tiniest bit went down. There’s no way she consumed enough to do anything.”
“It doesn’t take much, Nicky. Maybe she consumed more than you realized. You were in a panicked state. She obviously got what she needed to survive the hit and heal from it. Depending on how much she took in, it could also explain why you read flashes of her vibrations as being beyond human. It’s simply the presence of your blood giving off the elevated energy.”
“But what does that mean?” Aria asked. “Will I just always be this way now?”
“No. Not at all. Foreign DNA can present in the body for days, weeks, sometimes even a year in cases of a significant transfusion, but since this was only a small amount, I’d think it should clear your system within a week. Maybe two?”
“Are you saying this will just wear off?” Aria sounded optimistic for the first time since we’d started talking to Noelle. “That means I’m okay, right? I’m still human?”
“Yes, you’re still human,” Noelle said with a smile. “And yes, the effects of his blood should wane. The life span of a human blood cell is three to four days, but our blood as supernaturals is, of course, a little more resilient, and the Turpisi blood composition is the strongest and therefore, the hardest to eradicate from the human body. But again, with a small amount in play, as your body continues to produce its own white blood cells every day, eventually, his cells will be sufficiently overwhelmed and die off.”
Aria plopped down on the sofa beside me with a loud huff. “Whew! That’s a relief. I thought I was going to be some kind of mutant or something.”
“I don’t think you have any cause for worry,” Noelle said, her smile widening as she sat forward and laid her palms against her thighs. “I’d still like to do the energy evaluation though, just to rule out any internal damage and make sure there are no other lingering issues.”
“Okay.” Aria smoothed her hands over her jeans with a nervous exhale. “What does that entail?”
“Nothing torturous.” Noelle chuckled. “I’ll simply guide my hands over your energy field to see if I can pick up on any abnormality. You’ll probably feel a warming sensation, but some feel nothing at all. For the most part, it can be very relaxing. It might even make you drowsy. I’ve had people fall asleep during an evaluation before, but I think that’s due to the calm, meditative state, not necessarily anything I’m doing.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Aria said, the tension easing from her voice.
Sage’s voice rang out from upstairs, calling out, “Daddy, can you come here, please?”
“Let me just tell her I’m going to be a few minutes,” I said, rising, but Aria motioned for me to go ahead.
“It’s fine. Go see what she needs. I’ll be all right.”
I tried to read her face in an attempt to gauge how much she meant that. She didn’t appear frightened or even nervous since Noelle had explained the procedure. Still, it felt wrong to leave her when I was the one who had insisted she be examined.
“Nick, I can wait until you come back,” Noelle offered, but Aria shook her head.
“No, it’s fine. Sage probably has something she wants him to play or she’s done something she wants to show him. Otherwise, she would have just asked our friend Angie for whatever she needed since Angie’s already upstairs with her.” Turning her attention back to me, she smiled and took hold of my hand. “I’m good. Go take care of Sage.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. If it’s as simple as Noelle says, then it’s no big deal, right?”
“Right. I’ll just be upstairs if you need me.”
With a quick kiss to the top of her head and a nod to Noelle, I left them and headed up to Sage’s room, but my feet were heavy. I wanted to believe Noelle when she said we had nothing to worry about, but I knew there was no way Aria had gotten enough of my blood to matter. And if I wasn’t the cause of her body’s bizarre reaction, what was?
Thirteen
Aria
After unbuttoning her shirt cuffs to roll up her sleeves, Noelle began to rub her palms together.
“I’d like for you to lie back on the sofa and get into a comfortable position. Then, I want you to close your eyes and take in a deep breath and hold it.”
As I followed her instructions, she talked me through a centering exercise focused on breath, and then she grew quiet.
A gentle warmth beamed onto the top of my head, almost like someone was shining a powerful lamp over me. I resisted the urge to open my eyes and look as the heat began to radiate across my scalp. Within the warmth, there was a presence that moved over me like a gentle massage, easing away any tightness in its path.
The muscles of my face and neck relaxed completely under the mystical ministrations, and the phantom wounds on my neck where Nick’s bite had mysteriously healed tingled with a delightful burn.
Noelle seemed to be in no hurry, and by the time she moved past the scar on my chest and over my torso, my body felt as though my bones had begun to dissolve and I might melt into the sofa.
It seemed like I was glowing from the inside out as the heat reached my hips and continued into my legs. Every bit of tension in my body had dissipated, freeing me in a glorious liberation. I lost any sense of how much time had passed. I wasn’t sure if I was asleep or awake, and though I didn’t try to move, I suspected it might be impossible to do so.
But then suddenly, Noelle sucked in a sharp breath, and the heat abruptly left my body.
My eyelids fluttered open in alarm to find Noelle staring down at me with wide eyes, one hand covering her mouth.
“What?” I asked, sitting up. “What happened?”
Dropping her hand only slightly, she said, “I felt it.”
“Felt what?” I tried to stand, feeling strangely vulnerable seated, but my legs were like noodles. “What? What did you feel?”
Every possible diagnosis ran through my head. Was my heart irreparably damaged from the arrow? Had she sensed some form of disease, like cancer or something? Or was there some other unknown threat lurking in my body?
“The energy,” Noelle whispered. “You carry the energy. But now it’s gone. This can’t be.”
She looked somewhat traumatized, and I wasn’t sure if I should be more concerned for her or me.
“You felt it? What Zeck and Nick felt?” I managed to stand, and she took a step back from me, nodding.
“I don’t understand. You present in every way as human. Even now, your energy field is human. There is nothing that indicates you’re a descendant, but I know what I felt.”
Things had gotten awkward quickly, and I had no idea what to do or say. “I’m gonna get Nick, okay?”
She nodded again.
“Hey, babe?” I called from the bottom of the stairs. “Can you come down here for a minute?”
“Be right there,” he yelled from Sage’s room. “I’m about to win the tic-tac-toe championship!”
“Can you make it quick?” I turned back to Noelle, who was staring at me like I was Elvis brought back to life but with three heads. Wanting to escape her scrutiny while we waited for Nick, I offered to get her a glass of water.
“Yes, please.”
I grabbed a glass from the kitchen and filled it, and by the time I got back to Noelle, she seemed to have regained some of her composure.
“Thanks.” She took a small sip and then managed a smile. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. I’ve just never encountered anything like that.”
“I lost,” Nick said as he approached from behind me. “That daughter of ours is ruthless, and she—what’s up? What happened?”
“I felt it,” Noelle said. “It was just as you said. One minute there, and the next, it was gone.”
They both stared at me, and I felt like I’d been caught stealing or something.
“Is this bad?” I looked back and forth between them. “It’s bad, isn’t it? Wh-what does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” Noelle said. “Like I said before, it isn’t something I’ve ever encountered.”
“But you also said before that I was probably spiking due to stress and that having Nick’s blood in me might be messing with things.”
Noelle shook her head. “No. This was a much higher vibration than Nicky’s.”
“Yes,” Nick agreed. “Last night, it was higher than any I’ve ever felt. What could cause that?”
“I have no idea.”
“Guys? You’re starting to really freak me out,” I said, taking a step back from both of them. “What does this mean? What’s wrong with me?”
“I don’t know what it means.” Noelle began to roll her sleeves back down. “Everything reads normal. No abnormalities, no sickness, and other than a bit of scar tissue, no damage at all from the bolt’s entry. Your energy was strong, stronger than most mortals, but still in an acceptable range for a human. And then just before I finished the exam, your vibrations suddenly skyrocketed. Like, off the charts. Can you tell me what you were feeling then—what you were thinking?”
“I wasn’t really thinking anything. I was incredibly relaxed. I felt like I was melting into the sofa, and I was wondering if I’d fallen asleep.”
“When I felt it last night, you were asleep,” Nick said to me and then looked to Noelle. “Could sleep be triggering something in her? Is she experiencing heightened anxiety in a dream, maybe?”
Noelle shook her head. “She wasn’t asleep when I felt it. It’s possible she was entering a hypnagogic state, but there’s no way a dream or hallucination would spike that high. I don’t even know what an energy level that high would do to a human. It should throw her body into complete instability, but it was gone so quickly, she didn’t even react.”
“Could the two of you please stop talking about me like I’m not standing right here?”
Pushing her hair back off her forehead, Noelle turned to face me. “I’m sorry, Aria. I’m just thrown here. I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and I don’t get surprised often.”
“Awesome. That’s very comforting.” The sarcasm in my voice came out with more of a bite than I’d intended.
“Hey,” Nick said, reaching to take my hand. “You’re gonna be okay. We just need to figure out what’s going on.”
“Yeah? And how do we do that?”
“I’ll do some research,” Noelle said. “I’ll see what I can find. Maybe I can consult with some of the elders.”
A warning flare shot off inside me. “No. I don’t want anyone else involved. I thought we’d agreed to keep this between us. Please?”
The hesitation was clear in Noelle’s eyes. “Aria, this is beyond what I know, but there could be others familiar with cases like yours. They could tell us what’s happening and what we need to do.”
Noelle looked to Nick, but he shook his head as his hand tightened on mine.
“No. I made her a promise. It’s her body. She gets to decide. No one else needs to know until she’s ready to share.”
“All right.” Noelle blew out a slow exhale. “I’ll see what I can dig up on my own. I still think you should have her blood tested. If she belongs to one of the bloodlines, it’ll show up there. That would give us something to go on.” She turned to Aria. “I know you don’t want anyone else to know about any of this, but you have access to the world’s foremost hematology lab at VCBI. Theodoor’s methods are fiercely protected. No one else has been able to duplicate his ability to determine the supernatural markers with such precision. If you truly want answers, that’s where you should go.”
Anxiety had constricted my throat and made it feel like I couldn’t swallow. “Am I still human?”
“Of course, you’re human,” Nick said, pulling my hand to his chest. “How could you not be? This is just some fluke. It’s probably like Noelle said earlier—it’s just some kind of reaction to what happened last night.”
Noelle didn’t look so sure, but she attempted to offer reassurance. “We discover new things about the body all the time. And it defies logic on a regular basis. This may be nothing to be concerned about. I’ll do everything I can to find answers for you. Discreetly. But I think knowing your blood composition would be helpful. In the meantime, just focus on what’s important. You’re still here. You’re alive. You’re healthy. Last night could have been much worse.”
“Daddy?” Sage called as she came running into the living room. “You said you’d be right back to put the puzzle together with me.”
Nick grinned at her, but she stopped short when she saw the stranger next to me.
“I’ll be up in a few minutes, Strawberry. Mommy and I are talking with our guest. Can you say hello to Ms. Noelle? Noelle, this is our daughter, Sage.”
Noelle smiled. “Hi, Sage.”
“Hello.” Sage tucked herself behind Nick’s leg, uncharacteristically shy.
“What beautiful curls you have!” Noelle reached up to smooth her hand over her own straight hair. “I always wanted curls like that.”
Sage peeked out from behind Nick with a grin. “Thank you. Your hair’s pretty, too.”
Resting his hand on her shoulder, Nick smiled down at her. “Why don’t you get all the pieces out of the box and get them flipped over? I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
Once Sage had gone back upstairs, Nick and I walked Noelle to the door. She promised to be in touch soon with any news she could find, and we promised to keep her updated if there were any changes in my condition.
“Thanks again for coming,” Nick said. “I appreciate your help. And your discretion.”
She smiled at him and then at me. “I’m curious, Aria. Do you see a color around me?”
“Yes. It’s green. A deep green. Almost the same shade as your eyes.”
“Interesting.” She paused a moment, and then she reached to take my hand and squeezed it. “Try not to worry. I’m going to find answers for you. I won’t give up until I do.”
I waited in the kitchen while Nick walked Noelle out to her car, and when he came back in, he pulled me into his arms.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he reassured me, kissing the top of my head.
“How? How is it going to be okay? We’re hiding out here surrounded by security because someone is trying to kill us, and I've somehow been possessed by something supernatural. I’d say it’s pretty freaking far from okay.”
Leaning back, he looked down at me with a grin. “Did you just quote Pulp Fiction?”
“Not intentionally.” I moved away from his embrace and hoisted myself up to sit on the counter. “Seriously, what are we going to do?”
“We're going to take things one step at a time, and as we learn more and know more, we’ll figure out the next step. I expect a status report from Graeco soon, and Zeck called to say he’ll be back in about an hour. He should have updates from his surveillance teams for us.”
“He’s already coming back?” I looked at my watch with a frown. “He’s only been gone a few hours. How on earth did he get enough rest?”
“Trust me. It’s nothing out of the ordinary for him.”
“Oh…does he not need sleep since he’s, ya know, immortal and all?”
“He sleeps. The Turpisi are the only line who can’t. Zeck just doesn’t need much of it, which is good since his line of work involves a lot of long nights.” Nick leaned back against the island and crossed his arms, lifting his hand to stroke his chin. “I’d like to give Zeck the bolt to have him run some tests.”
“The bolt?”
“The arrow. The bolt. Same thing.”
“Oh. Why didn’t you give it to Graeco last night? You told him about the crossbow but didn’t mention that we had an arrow.”
“It’s coated in your blood, so I thought that might raise some questions about the extent of your injury.”
