I reclined back on my elbows under the midday sun, letting the warmth melt away the tension in my shoulders. Life had been hard lately, but that was to be expected after legions of angels took over the world, destroying most everything in their wake. Okay, so hard was an understatement. Today I allowed myself to forget that, if only for a moment, and indulge in an extravagant luxury - some rest and relaxation. Some time on the beach to feel like a normal teenage girl. I dug my toes deeper into the wet sand and let the waves wash over my legs, watching the clear, pale blue sky above me. I sighed, a contented smile playing at my lips. I shut out the world around me and persuaded myself to think it was any other normal, relaxing day in the world before. I would have believed it too, except I turned my vision toward the horizon ahead of me. Destruction met my eyes. Broken down cars, houses rummaged through and vandalized, and random pillars of smoke wafting into the air. If it wasn't the angels, it was the gangs. I shook my head in disgust. The human population frustrated me more than the angels - the angels were warriors, designed and programmed to fight. Death and destruction coursed through their veins, but humans, however, had those things angels - or at least most angels - didn't: compassion, sympathy, remorse. However, that, in no way, gave the angels an excuse for their destruction.
Sand shifted beside me, covering my hands. I turned my gaze away from the disappointing view before me to a more appreciated view above me.
"Hey there." Raffe stood over me, the sun illuminating an array of golden and mahogany strands in his deep black hair. His normally deep blue eyes shone azure in the bright light.
My mind flitted to a hidden fantasy including me pool side and a hunky cabana boy. Only this cabana boy wasn't bringing me a fruity drink with a little umbrella and he had black, leathery wings accented with polished scythes. Oh and he wasn't a boy by any means. I contemplated altering my daydream, and a warm flush unfurled from my center rushing to my cheeks.
"Hey." I turned my face away hoping he hadn't seen the blush spread across my cheeks.
Raffe smirked. Damn it, he saw it. My cheeks only grew hotter at the thought.
"How's it going?" Raffe suppressed a chuckle.
"Really good actually." The sincerity in my voice surprised me. "Thank you for watching Paige and keeping an eye out for everything." I looked up giving him a small smile.
Raffe returned the smile and sat down, his muscular shoulder brushing across mine.
"You're welcome."
"Where's Paige?"
"She's taking a nap. She knocked out after a game of tag. My ego might have been burned a bit, what with her catching me every time. And, I didn't even let her win." Raffe's smile grew. "You know the apple doesn't fall far from the Young tree. Paige is an exceptional young lady."
Raffe laughed at something unknown to me. "Get it? Young lady? YOUNG? Paige YOUNG?"
I steeled my lips into a thin line, refusing to laugh at such a corny joke, but my silently shaking shoulders gave it away, so I caved.
"See? I knew you thought that was funny." Raffe bumped his shoulder against mine, looking like a little school boy having just answered the teacher's question correctly.
"Okay. Okay. It was kinda funny," I admitted.
Raffe continued to describe his morning with Paige. I looked up to the sky, enjoying the warmth on my face, arms, and neck. It had been miserably cold the past few months until a freak heat wave crossed California last week. Something about the Angel's force influencing the weather again. The lasting winter cold made me shiver for what seemed like six consecutive months, and I was more than welcome to slipping on an olive tank top and khaki shorts this morning to absorb the heat, making sure jeans and a sweatshirt were stowed away in my pack. Just in case.
After getting dressed, I traipsed down the stairs. I reached the kitchen to find Raffe and Paige sitting at a large wooden table, eating honey oat cereal by the handfuls.
"Morning Ryn-Ryn!" Paige spoke through a mouthful of dry cereal, little crumbs flying out of her mouth.
It was such a human gesture that I couldn't help but smile. Her body was finally holding down some regular foods.
"Morning Paige." I turned to Raffe. "Morning. Thanks for getting her breakfast."
"You're welcome. How'd you sleep?" He tossed another handful of cereal into his mouth, chomping loudly.
"Not too bad. You?" I took a seat at the table, reaching for the box of cereal.
"Same." Raffe's eyes looked far away. Uriel was probably on his mind.
After finishing breakfast, it was Raffe that suggested I go relax. "Take some time for yourself," as he put it.
I argued. Demanding we needed to get going to the new aerie. Go find Uriel. Stop this madness.
He only replied, "We have time for all of that later, but first you. You will be able to focus better when you're not so stressed."
He had a point, I had been pretty stressed lately, but who hadn't? It was the apocalypse.
Reluctantly, I took him up on the offer to watch Paige, and I spent a few hours gathering my thoughts. I wouldn't dare tell him, but it was a great idea. I didn't realize just how stressed I had been.
"Earth to Penryn." Raffe waved a hand in front of my face.
I jumped back, startled, returning to our present conversation.
"I must have drifted off." I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment again.
Raffe winked at me, a smile crinkling the corner of his eyes. "So, one thing we do need to do is talk about a game plan."
Yeah, a game plan. Raffe discovered that Uriel had moved the aerie to Los Angeles. Sounded like Uriel. Old Hollywood glamour was his style, why not move it to Hollywood? He could use all the props and sound stages to produce his soon to come infomercials and political ads. Oh, wait, he destroyed all our electricity. I could feel my good mood going south fast.
"Got it. Game plan. So what's your idea?" I asked.
"I was thinking we fly to a location in Santa Barbara. I know a place there where you and Paige can hold up for a few days, maybe weeks, while I take care of Uriel."
"Uh Raffe, didn't we talk about this before? You cannot tell me what to do, and you cannot put me in a bunker until you deem the world safe for entry again."
"That I get, but that was then. This is now. This time Paige is safe. You don't have to go find her. You can stay safe, and I can put my mind to rest that you're safe." Raffe's voice turned to a gentle whisper, focusing on me. "I can't lose you again."
"Well that goes both ways bird brain." My day was definitely heading south. "What about me? Don't you think you mean something to me? I've told you, we're better together than apart."
"Penryn." The way he said my name was a cross between squeal and a growl.
"Raffe." I replied mocking him. "No. You're not leaving me in Santa Barbara, outside the action, while you basically walk into a nuclear bomb site with next to no intel."
"I can't have you there. It's too much. I can't do it again. Every time you're in the line of danger I have flashbacks. I can feel the breath leaving your body. The way your heart stopped beating." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
"I can't do it again Penryn!" He clenched his fists into the sand beside him. I could hear the desperation in his voice, a stark contrast to the beautiful day around us. This was why he wanted me to relax. He wanted me in a good mood to spring this shitty command on me. Well, he has another thing coming.
"Listen! I will not now, nor ever be told what to do." I stood up, brushing the sand off my shorts and bare legs, placing my hands on my hips. "Where were you when I had to fend off my psychotic mother and all of her attacks? Where were you when I had to take care of my family when my father left us? Where were you when I had to take care of Paige? NOT HERE!" I was shaking. I needed him to see that his issues were not my issues.
Raffe leaned back on the beach, an expression on his face that had bad boy written all over it.
"You know you're really sexy when you're mad?"
"Damn it Raffe! Listen to me!" My patience was quickly running out.
"I am listening to you, you just said, 'Damn it Raffe! Listen to me!'" He imitated my voice perfectly.
I peered at him through narrowed eyes, willing them to burn a hole in him somehow. Maybe just singe those perfect curls that played at his temples.
I threw my hands into the sky with a cross between and growl and a scream to the heavens, and walked off toward the house. I made a show of my exit for sure, complete with stomping feet.
I reached the rocky boundary separating the beach from the houses, when a firm hand grabbed my arm and twirled me around. A pair of fiery blue eyes met my own. Even though he was at least a foot and a half taller than me and his shadow consumed my own, I wasn't scared. I trusted Raffe. Enough even to put my life in his hands. I just couldn't see why he didn't trust me.
Raffe pulled me against him, leaning his head down to my ear. "You are so infuriating sometimes. Can't you just see I want to protect you?"
I pulled back, catching his fiery stare again. "I don't need anyone to protect me."
"Don't you think I know that? I just want to. I need to. It's me Penryn! I can't bear to lose you again. Once was enough and you are a gift that was returned to me before I realized what a gift you were. I won't waste that again!" Raffe's arm held me tight, his muscles shuddering.
"I-"
Raffe's lips cut me off. At first I stood there stiff and rigid, surprised by his sudden show of affection, but quickly instinct took over and my body pressed against his. Our lips dancing in unison. My hands sliding around his neck and into his soft curls. We were breathing each other in and exhaling all the frustrations and stress and buried emotions. I was a drowning person and Raffe was the ocean, his arms engulfing me. Me melting into him. I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Soon the passion and hurried frenzy faded. Raffe trailed soft kisses along my jaw and down my neck letting us both catch our breath.
"What was that for?" I asked between gulps of air.
"Well, if you're going to go to Hollywood with me, I needed to do that one more time." He stared at me as if he was elsewhere. Recalling another time.
"And, you should know. I like you. I like you a lot." Raffe lightly kissed my forehead, running his fingers down through my hair to my hand, giving it a squeeze. He turned and walked away, leaving me with my mouth slightly ajar.
My mind shifted to another day and another time. Back at the San Francisco aerie. Our first kiss playing through my mind - fire and ice - but this time I replaced his words from after that kiss with the words he just spoke to me, and a smile crept across my face.
I looked toward Raffe, now about to enter the beach house. "Hey! Wait up!" I called out and took off running toward him.