Faith Heights

Chapter 42

I texted Nick the following morning to meet me in the forest once classes ended, near our spot at the river. That gave me almost seven hours to go over what I'd learned- and figure out what the hell I was going to say. But time was my enemy today, and the hours flew by before I could come up with any sort of feasible plan.

Thankfully, Lucas didn't stop by my dorm – as he often did – after classes. But that probably had less to do with luck, and more to do with the words I'd struck him with the last time we spoke.

I'd made plans with Jackson to study again in the library, but eventually messaged him to cancel. When he'd replied with a worried request for an explanation, I'd only been able to offer the simplest, feeblest of replies:
Will explain later.

It was a meek promise I hoped I could deliver on by the end of the day.

I switched off my phone before it could buzz with a reply, and stalked off into the woods. I knew the path to the river's bend without any effort, but this was the first time I made the trek in the daylight. A soft fog had drifted through the forest, making it seem almost as if I was walking amongst an indistinct dream. The waning sun filtered through the thick trees in bright patches, like moth holes in a heavy curtain. I followed the scattered chords of light over fallen logs and splintered stumps, until I finally heard the familiar murmuring of the river.

Before I could lay eyes on the running stream, a figure drifted forward from the trees' shadows. It didn't matter that I hadn't made it to the river; we were still buried coffin-deep in the dense foliage. No students would see or hear what I had to say, and no tourists on the beach would stumble upon us. It was just him, me, and the half-truths between us.

Nick halted a metre away from where I forced myself to stop. There were bags under his eyes, heavy enough to darken his grey irises to a looming storm. His hair was tousled and thrown about chaotically, but that was nothing new. Still, there was something sharply different about him, in a way that kept my feet planted. Maybe it was just my own mind, restless with the new information I was armed with. 

"Start talking," I demanded. "This is your shot to relay everything. You told me that Lucas manipulated the story that made you who you are? Well, this is your chance to finally tell it." I wanted to shake him- but I refused to close the distance between us.

His ducked his head and said darkly, "It's not that simple, sweetheart." 

"Then make it simple. Or I'm walking away. For good."

When he stayed silent, I swore. "Jackson told me that you're a demon. Is that true?" 

Silence. "Who are you?" I screamed.

That seemed to snap him out of his trance. His head whipped up and his eyes locked on mine. "You want to know who I am, Lila? I'm the one who's loved you the longest. I'm the one that's been searching the hardest. And I'm the one that chose you over heaven. That's right; despite what you might have presumed, I didn't choose to be a demon. I chose to stay here and search for you, and by default, became a demon.

"Lucas moulded the truth however he liked, never telling anyone that he too had been a demon when you first met, still on earth, refused by heaven. It wasn't until years later that he went crawling back to heaven, begging to become a warrior of the Lord on earth. But I. Chose. You." He implored.

I folded my arms, hands clenched. "Am I supposed to feel guilty for that? I never asked you to choose me and stay cast from heaven."

He groaned, frustration replacing the darkness in his voice. "I know. But I made a promise a long time ago to find you, and I'm not ready to break it just yet."