Chapter 1

A Month after Cheshvan

I stood in the middle of the cemetery, letting the cool November air whip past my face. I shivered slightly but I had a feeling the coldness I felt had nothing to do with the temperature. The gleaming granite tombstone I stood in front of was the only indication of my fallen comrade and one of the bravest man I had ever known. I read the handsomely engraved words and tears sprang in my eyes.

Scott Parnell

A Beloved Son

Born: May 15, 1991

Died: October 31, 2009

I watched as my best friend, Vee, crouch down and gently place the crown of roses at the bottom of the tombstone. She bent down as if she was in prayer but I knew by the way her body shook in tremors that she was crying. The past month since Scott had been killed had been exceptionally hard on her. It wasn't a walk in the park for me either. I had regarded Scott as one of my greatest friends. He had sacrificed his life to save mine and I will always be grateful to him. Guilt gripped my heart again as I blamed myself for his death. If only I had saved him from Dante. If only I had known Dante's plans before any of this got out of control. If only I had the strength to defeat Dante earlier, maybe Vee wouldn't have to go through this pain at all.

Losing Scott was like losing my adoptive father, Harrison Grey, all over again. I glanced over at his gravesite just about four places away from Scott's. At first, his death was dismissed as a random mugging that caused my once solidly intact life to shatter. But summer this year, I found out he was in fact just trying to save another man's life, and that man was my biological father, Hank Millar.

Vee straightened up beside me. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, relaying my message of support. She nodded, understanding the gesture. She wiped the tears from her eyes before giving me a watery smile.

"Do you want to go to your dad's grave now?" she asked, turning her attention to it. I glanced at it again and nodded, before striding over in front of my father's own tombstone. Vee remained with Scott though, waiting patiently for me. I appreciate she was trying to give my father and I some privacy but I had a feeling she wanted to be alone with Scott too.

I settled my own crown of white lilies at my father's grave. This upcoming March would be his second death anniversary. For the past year, it had been hard for me to move on from his death because I felt like I never knew the reason why it had happened. But now that I know what truly occurred and now that the fallen angel responsible for his death was in hell, I was starting to let go of the pain more and more.

"Hey dad," I muttered silently. "Well everything's fine now. The Nephilim race is free and is living in peace. I'm back with Patch again and it seems like our lives are finally going to be undisturbed. Mom's fine. She's still not over Hank but she's getting there. Honestly, I hope soon. I miss you terribly and I wish you were here. But I know you're safe now with Scott. Tell him I said hi, all right? Tell him I'll drop by his house to check on his mom once in a while. And tell him…" My voice began to crack and I could feel the sting in the back of my eyes return. "Tell him I said thank you."

I slid the Volkswagen in front of Vee's house and stopped just in front of her yard. I glanced up at her wearily. I knew tonight was going to be another hard night for her, just by looking at how her face grimaced. She stared at her house for a few seconds before sighing.

"Are you sure you don't want me to sleep over?" I asked for what I had counted to be the fiftieth time.

"You know, you're sounding more and more like a helicopter parent, babe," she stuck her tongue out but I knew it was just a show. "Besides, Blythe would want you to start on your college applications now, right? That's the deal, we can hang out and visit Scott but you have to go to the library to keep up with your grades. I mean, it's no blood oath but hey, I don't want your mom popping a vein in her neck."

Before I could say anything else, she swung out of the Volkswagen and sashayed off to her front door. She gave me a small wave before she closed the door behind her. I stayed there for a few seconds, knowing she's probably sliding against the door before finally putting the car back in gear. She knows she can show she's hurting in front of me but I highly suspected what she's showing is a lot more composed than what she really feels.

It took me about fifteen minutes to drive from her house to the library. I headed straight to the elevators and pushed on the second floor button. It groaned and clanked loudly, making me doubt its durability. But it slid painfully to a stop and the elevator doors slid open. I settled down in the tables in front of the media center and took out my laptop. I plugged in my USB drive and began to work, focusing mostly on typing up an essay to a topic generally used by a lot of universities.

My mom had dreamt of me going to Yale, Stanford, or Harvard ever since I was a child. I admit I shared her enthusiasm about those schools and even earned the grades to prove my qualifications. I guess it all changed when I had been thrust in the world of fallen angels and the Nephilim race. For the past few months up until Cheshvan, school had taken a sudden backseat on my list of priorities. I was more occupied with trying to figure out how I'll lead Hank's secret Nephil army, please the archangels, and keep my relationship strong with Patch. The battle between the fallen angels and the Nephil had taken over my time and I had let school fall behind.

But now the Nephil had gained their freedom and the fallen angels are gone, I had no other choice but to return my life to normal. Well, as normal as I can make it. But then, a normal life is out of the question. I am a Nephil, a creature with strength and immortality. I am also dating a fallen angel so any possibilities of a normal life flew out of the window. I checked my phone at the thought of Patch. No new messages and no new missed calls. I wondered what he was doing right now. I amused myself with a picture of him studying like I was but I knew he was probably at Bo's Arcade playing high-stakes pool.

I had put in an hour of trying to organize my thoughts into rational sentences when my mind began to rebel. I reasoned I needed a break anyways and saved the essay before closing out. To my delight, the library had installed wifi in their establishment so I can connect to the internet without having to log on to one of their computers. I logged into my facebook account. In my homepage, I saw Marcie's pictures of her trip to Italy with her mother. She moved back in with her mom a week ago and told us she was going to finish her high school years and study college in Italy. When she had informed us, she sounded boastful and arrogant but I knew she was escaping after she had betrayed me by burning every fallen angel feather including Patch's. I hadn't forgiven her for what she did but I found my anger subside and a deep indifference take root. I closed the website off, deciding it's time to go home before my mom decides two months of grounding me wasn't long enough.

The following morning, I met Vee at our favorite bistro, Enzo's, before going to school. I ordered a steaming cup of Cappuccino while I waited for her, drumming my fingers lightly on the table. After a few minutes, she still hasn't showed. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the doors open, expecting to see Vee. But I felt my jaw drop when I saw the young woman glide through the doors and settle down one of the tables near the door.

She looked like a model who had just stepped out of a photo shoot. Her long brunette hair fell to the small of her back stood out vividly against her marble white skin. Her face was unbelievably and perfectly angled with every feature proportional, maybe except for her bottom lip which was thicker than her upper one. But even this helped her, accentuating the sensual form of her mouth. Her slender figure, which even Marcie would be completely jealous of, was covered in a simple royal blue v-neck long sleeve shirt and light jeans but I spied the small logo at the bottom of her shirt and I knew they were designers. I recognized the coat that she had shrugged off as well. I had just seen it in the latest issue of Vogue magazine where they were showing the latest Chanel creations. She straightened up and gently placed her arms on the table. She looked outside as if she was waiting for someone. Even her posture was elegant.

It didn't escape me I wasn't the only one gawking at her. Other costumers and even the servers were staring at her with wide open eyes, some of them had coffees halfway as if they were about to take a sip but was interrupted by this beautiful creature. Their expressions at least made me feel less ridiculous for staring at her.

I was saved from further gawking when the door's bell rang again and Vee walked in, flipping her hair. She spotted me waving before she approached the counter and ordered. A minute later, she had settled in front of me, a strawberry flavored donut and a latte in her hands.

"Okay, this is officially the coldest day of the year. Thank goodness for small blessings like strawberry filled donuts," she said as she cheerfully taking a bite.

I smiled and tried to say something but my eyes landed on the beautiful girl once again. She was absent-mindedly twirling her hair around her thin white forefinger. That was when I saw the band studded with diamonds on her left ring finger. She was barely older than I am, a year or two maybe. I wasn't sure why I was surprised she's married. I guess I felt that her beauty, as intimidating as it is, had a lot of potential. I knew in this world, if you want to be successful, being drop dead gorgeous would take you far. I couldn't help thinking it was a waste being tied down that early. But then, I wasn't the one to judge. I touched my own band. It was primitive and was a far cry from her ring's elegance. Unlike hers, the ring on my finger didn't look official. Even so, it held just as much promise.

Vee noticed my attention was divided and followed my line of vision. I saw her jaw drop as well, taking in the definition of the perfect standard of beauty in front of us.

"Who is that?" she asked in awe. Her voice was loud and I was sure it carried to where the girl was. But then, I'm sure Vee wouldn't care if the girl heard us. "Is she a model? What in the world is a model doing here in Coldwater? Wait, hang on, is Susanna finally hiring new models for her JC Penny Winter collection? It would be nice to finally stop seeing Marcie's hair-raising ho gazes like she's about to do the big deed with the camera."

"Marcie and Susanna are in Italy, remember?" I said, finally looking away from the girl, a bit embarrassed that my eyes kept wandering to her. "So there's no way she's here to be one of their models."

Vee smirked. "The ho. Is she really away for good?"

I nodded and her smile got even wider.

"You do know I think she's being eaten by guilt for all the stuff she made you go through right? The cowardly ho can't even stick around to make it up to you."

I shrugged. "I don't really care. She doesn't concern me anymore."

Vee nodded in agreement before her eyes landed on the girl again. "You know, I kinda wish she's here right now." I stared at her in slight disbelief. "Well, it's mostly because I want to see her expression when she gets a load of that hottie."

I chuckled, not being able to help myself. Besides being amused at Vee's banter about Marcie, I was more relieved that she seemed more like herself today than she's ever been after Scott had died.

She took a sip of her latte, turning back around to me. "But Marcie do have her beat at something."

I wrinkled my nose at the thought of Marcie beating the girl in any standard. "Really? What?"

"That girl can seriously use a tan. I mean, she's as white as marble. And you can't deny Marcie had fried her skin more than I think anyone should. I mean, if Chef Gordon Ramsey needed an extra cooking grid for his grill, they could definitely hire Marcie."

This made me snort, my heart lighting up. "Vee, be nice." I pushed myself out of my chair. "I'll be right back. I want some chicken wrap."

"Oh, can you bring me another donut?" she asked, waving a ten-dollar bill in front of her. I took it and made my way to the counter. As I passed by the beautiful girl's table, the hair on my arms stood up as if a chill had suddenly whipped through me. My Nephilim radar had picked up something off the charts. My head slowly turned towards her. Her gold eyes met my gray ones and a shiver had gone through my spine. My senses jumped the conclusion that the woman was not human. I quickly tried to identify her as a Nephl to explain the feeling I was getting but I knew it wasn't the right match.

She cocked her head to the side, looking at me condescendingly as if she wants me to feel embarrassed for looking at her that much. I blinked a couple of times before my face flushed red. I turned back around stiffly, trying to ignore the power radiating from her.

"Uhm, can I have a chicken wrap and one strawberry filled donut?" I asked the barista, my voice was unsure. I watched as the barista slid the door of the glass case and picked a donut. When she went back to the kitchen to get the chicken wrap, I slowly turned back to the girl's direction, trying hard to be inconspicuous about it. But by the time I had shifted my position to have her on my peripheral vision, the model was gone.

I returned to our table and laid down Vee's order. I chewed on my lip, debating whether I should say something about the sudden alarms my senses had sounded. I wasn't sure if the girl was even a Nephil but I didn't have any proof she wasn't either. Was there any point in making myself looking crazy in front of Vee? Better yet, was there any point in worrying her when there must be a logical explanation why I felt like identifying her as Nephil wasn't an exact match. Okay, maybe to say logical was stretching it. Nothing about the world of the Nephilim race was logical. But there must be an explanation for the power surge. Vee was about to take another bite when she saw my expression.

"Spit it out," she ordered, lowering the donut. "I know that look. I know you're debating with your head. I could practically hear your brain whirring away."

"Where did the model-girl go?" I asked, unsure what else to point out to her. I wondered why Vee didn't feel the girl's aura when she had passed by the model's table. She was a pureblood, naturally born Nephil. She should have sensed if another Nephil is around.

Vee shrugged, craning her neck towards the girl's table. "I didn't even notice she's gone." She waved her hand idly as if to dismiss any attempts to talk about her further. "Anyways, I was wondering if you'd want to go to the Devil's Handbag with me tonight."

My thoughts lingered on the girl for a few more seconds before I finally gave Vee my attention. I figured if Vee wasn't bothered by the girl, I'm guessing I shouldn't be either. I gave her my attention, focusing on what she was saying. My forehead wrinkled together. I know where this was going.

The Devil's Handbag was an establishment that the decent citizens of Portland had been trying to shut down for years. It was teeming with drugs, alcohol, loud music, and scandalous sex in the bathrooms. Before I had been thrust into the world of fallen angels and Nephilim, I would have never dreamed of entering such an establishment but now, it held a lot of memories, most of them of Scott, not only for me. His band, the Serpentine, would play there for at least once a week. I wonder if it was Vee's way to be masochistic.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said, automatically thinking of an excuse as an attempt to distract her. She may want to inflict pain to herself but I wasn't in the mood to go through a tear-fest. "I'm still grounded, remember? I'm trying to appease my mom before she forbids me from seeing Patch ever again."

She made a face. "I thought you told her everything about the last month? I mean, after all the crap you've been through with your psychotic boyfriend, I thought she'd be more accepting."

It was true I had told my mom everything about the world I belong to, even about Hank, though she was a bit hesitant to accept his true identity. I didn't hide the truth about Patch's true identity as a fallen angel. I was hoping she'd be more accepting of my relationship with Patch after everything I had told her but after I had that talk with her, she merely got up and went to sleep.

"I did explain it to her but I don't think she had digested the truth. So for now, I'm trying to stay on her good side."

"Well as long as she hasn't turned into a dictator yet. My mom's too far down that path. I have a feeling she'll change her name to Stalin soon. Anyways, how long do you think she's going to keep you grounded? I highly doubt her rules are keeping Patch away."

I smiled for an answer. She was right about that. My mom's rules hardly kept Patch away. He had always been able to see me when he wants to. I can't say I have been keeping her rules either. Before, Patch would always indicate when and where he would like to see me. But now, I had the key to Patch's newly remodeled studio underneath the Delphic Amusement Park and his townhouse.

"Ugh," Vee groaned in disgust as she saw my longing expression.

"I know you don't necessarily like him. But I thought you were a bit more approving of him now?" I asked, trying hard not to smile. Vee had always disliked Patch but ever since the war of the fallen angels and the Nephil, she had slowly come to terms with the idea of Patch and I.

"I still think he's a psychopath and I knew I was on to something when I said he wasn't human," she replied, grimacing. She sighed as she added, "But I was wrong when I said he'll be bad to you. He is bad for you, though I don't think you'd care."

"I hate to say I told you so."

Vee pouted. "I still want to go to the Devil's Handbag tonight. I mean, it's a Friday night. I seriously don't want to stay at home and just watch movies. I want to dance and get lost in the music."

"If you want movies, then maybe my mom will say yes," I pointed out. She scowled in response and took a sip of her drink again.

"Well, how about you tell your mom we're going to the movies and you can come with me to the Devil's Handbag?" she suggested, her eyes lightening up. "If you think your clothes will give you away, then just wear something wholesome. You can change in my house."

I checked my time. It was time to go. I stood up. I slung my backpack over my shoulder as I took the last bite of my chicken wrap. "Fine, I'll see what I can do."

She squealed in delight. "Perfect!"

That night, I settled down on the windowsill with my legs stretched out, holding my copy of Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" in my hand. I was in the middle of highlighting several words and sentences for notes when a knock on my door sounded. I glanced up and saw my mom standing on the doorway, smiling slightly. I knew she must feel relieved I had renewed my dedication to school, that things were slowly creeping back to normal. I was glad myself that my life is now peaceful but its return to normalcy was still up in the air.

"Hey, night in?" she asked, sitting at the foot of my bed.

I wanted to lie to her about going to the movies with Vee. But my conscience was eating my gut away. I had lied to her way more times than I should. I realy didn't want to go through the night with a heavy conscience. Besides, I didn't want to have to look at every corner of the Devil's Handbag and have the desire to cry my heart out. I know Vee liked Scott a lot and over the course of a month, they had grown close. I am still unsure how close "close" was for them but I am willing to bet Vee had attached herself to Scott to inspire a bucketful of tears every time we visit his grave.

"Yeah," I said, waving my book. "English needs some catching up to do. Might as well do all my homework before Vee suddenly wants to hang out this weekend."

"Good plan," she said, absentmindedly nodding. "So, I have to tell you something."

I settled my book down and turned towards her. I felt the dread slowly creeping in. Talks like this usually means she's thinking about selling the farmhouse again. "What is it?"

She inhaled sharply before diving in. "Hugo wants me to work out of state."

I blinked for a few seconds. "Wait, what?"

"He said he needs a secretary on the office in New York he's going to open soon and he's thinking of hiring me. He promised he'll double my salary and he'll even provide a condo unit." She said the words in an exact tone as if she had been practicing how she'll say it to me. But it was rushed as if she was trying to get the idea out there before I could say anything else.

The outrage that was slow to pick up had finally caught on. My mouth opened wide. "What do you mean 'New York'?! We can't just up and leave! I have my whole life here! What about the farmhouse? What about Vee? What about Patch? I'm on my junior year of high school here! Do you know how hard it is for me to suddenly change schools? And in the middle of the school year as well."

She bit her lip for a second. "I knew you'd react that way," she said silently, straightening my sheets.

"So why even consider it? We were doing fine on our own right?"

"You know we've been having a hard time for a while now. I was hoping Hank will help pay the bills but now he's gone too. I'm not expecting you to work and you're just catching up with your school. I don't want to mess that up for you."

"So you think moving to New York won't do that?"

She suddenly stood up and started pacing my room. "That is why I'm considering leaving you here on your own. I will drive home for a weekend every end of the month. I'll leave you with money for food and the bills. I can hire Dorothea again just so you'll have company. I didn't want to do it but I understand you're not moving to New York with me without hating me for the rest of your life."

Now that surprised me. Most of my sophomore year, she wasn't around because she was working out of town a lot. Though, I highly suspected that some of those times, she was actually with Hank. I remember how it took a lot of persuasion on my part to convince her to accept those jobs and how much I'll be fine. I looked at her with my mouth hanging open again. I couldn't believe how easy she's agreeing to my sudden refusal. She smiled weakly.

"You'll be going off to college soon enough and I'd be a fool if I didn't think you'd get out of Coldwater the first chance you get. I don't doubt Patch will be around long after I send you off to college. I know he's the only person who'd make you think twice before leaving and if he's with you, then there's no reason for keeping you around. I have thought that maybe we can try this out at least for a year. But if I see any hint that you won't be responsible on your own, I will either quit the job in New York and you'll have to settle for a community college in Portland and a cheap apartment next to Lynn Parnell or I'll have to drag you to New York, kicking and screaming."

"Are you for real?" I asked, still stunned. "I mean, are you sure about this?"

She nodded again but this time, it looked like she was second guessing herself. "Yeah, It'll be fun, right?" But later on she added in a firmer voice. "You definitely can't have Patch over when I'm not here. And when you're heading out with him or Vee, I want to know. If I don't hear anything about Patch or Vee, I'll get suspicious and I'll definitely get the first plane back."

I smiled at her threat, already working out ways I can go through her conditions. "All right mom."

She smiled again but this time it was a lot more confident. She approached me and planted a kiss on my head. "All right, sweetie. I'll talk to you about it more tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night mom."

I waited until I heard her door close before grabbing my phone and dialing Vee's number. "Vee, I can't come tonight."

"You are such a bummer!" she scoffed, displeased. "You do know one of your responsibilities as my best friend is to be my wing woman right?"

"I know but my mom isn't relenting. Anyways, she delivered some pretty heavy news tonight." When I finished telling her my mom's decision, all the annoyance she had with me earlier seem to ebb away almost immediately.

"I will forever hate her if she took you away from me," Vee declared. "And there's nothing in this world stopping me from taking you back. So good thing she had enough sense not to do that. She's avoiding a whole lot of unnecessary violence. We have at least another two years to get sick of each other before we finally move on with our lives but for now I don't want to be unstuck from you."

"Awww, Vee, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Oh shut up."

I laughed. "I'm sorry about tonight. I'll make it up to you. I promise you once my mom is out of here, I'll be your wing woman."

"Yeah I might as well let your mom ship you away to New York if you don't fulfill your duties. But compared to what Patch has in store for you, my plans are cheerfully innocent. What makes her think nothing will happen between you and Patch while she isn't here?"

At her words, I blushed, feeling the butterflies in my stomach. I wasn't going to deny there were a couple of times in the past that something almost happened between Patch and me. Before, I didn't want to complicate our relationship further with sex but now the fallen angels are gone and the Nephilim race was at peace I had one less reason why I shouldn't do it with him, though the other reason was more problematic. As far as I can tell, no fallen angel had ever fallen in love with a Nephil before us therefore there had been no offspring of the two creatures before. What kind of creature will Patch and I create if we were a bit careless? But then, would I ever really want to have kids?

Though now that Patch could feel him in every way I felt him, keeping my virginity was becoming tougher and tougher. Every time he kissed me, I felt the passion and hunger he had never displayed before. This made it hard for me not to reciprocate that hunger with my own passion. Every time he touched me, things were a few seconds away from being explosive.

"Well, I'm not going to say anything that will make me eat my words later on," I said vaguely.

I heard her chuckle on the other line. "Ah, I should know having this brief sex talk with you would be a lot better than grinding bodies at the Devil's Handbag."

"So we're going to stay at home and keep talking about my sex life?" I wasn't sure which idea horrified me more.

"Well, it's an option."

I shook my head. "Leave it to you to make this a bigger issue than it really is."

"Are you kidding? I don't know what else could be a more interesting subject than that!"

"How about yours?"

"Oh sweetie, I don't think you're ready to know about my sex life. Your innocent ears aren't prepared for it yet," she said in a lustful voice that I know was paired with her most teasing stare.

"Well, I'm going to go before this gets more uncomfortable than it should be," I said loudly. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure, I'll try dragging you to the Devil's Handbag again tomorrow."

"Don't count on it. School work is killing me."

"Oh that's okay. You can only say no to me so many times."