Dark One- The Khiara Banning Series Book 1

Twenty

When Tristan gets to Cael’s, he’s pretty confused as to why Cara is sitting on a couch next to somebody she can hardly stand on a good day, but when his eyes meet my own, I can see he’s remembering the other night and what Victoria said to him. Cael gets him set up with a coffee and everybody goes quiet, the only sound coming from the T.V, which is on pretty low.

“Clearly I’ve missed a lot,” he says to nobody in particular.

Smiling sheepishly, “You have no idea,” Cara says.

“Soo,” he says. “I guess you guys want to clue me in on something? Because that’s the reason I called Cara in the first place. I had something to tell her.”

Cara bites her lip and her blue eyes meet mine. I nod my head, smile, and even throw in an exaggerated wink to break the tension.

“Well, I guess I should start first,” says Tristan. “Try not to freak out, and just listen to what I have to say. I’m not…I’m not human. Well, I am, but I’m not exactly a full one. I’ve always known that I could do some pretty strange things, but I always figured it was just…I don’t really know.”  He clears his throat. “My father was a Fallen Angel, but I know next to nothing about him because he left my mother when I turned two. My mother is human.”

Cara smiles slightly, “That’s uh, not so bad. I mean, I just found out all of this stuff exists thanks to these two,” she points at Cael and Victoria, but it’s nice to have a little continuity I suppose.”

Tristan opens his mouth to say something, and Victoria cuts him off. “Yes, as you know, I am not human. And neither is he,” she nods in Cael’s direction. “We are of the Fallen, on the side of Light.”

“I liked it better when you talked like a regular teenager,” mutters Cara, throwing some serious shade at Victoria with her eyes.

Victoria smiles, “Yes, well, sometimes I need to work on not killing people who get on my nerves. Pretending to be a teenager gets hard sometimes. So watch it.”

“Stop being so violent!” Laughs Cael.

Victoria chuckles and Cara sticks her tongue out at her. I guess old habits die hard.

“Okay,” says Cara. “So now that you’ve put things on the table, I have to tell you something. And then maybe Khiara might want to also add in some…important information, since this has become a weird supernatural pow-wow.” She twirls a lock of red hair and takes a deep breath. “I’m also not fully human.”

The shock that shows on Tristan’s face is intense. I feel as though it’s a tangible thing, a cloak that’s wrapping itself around his being. He looks around the room and takes everybody in.

“Is there anybody here who is a normal human?” he whispers. Oddly, I can relate to how he seems to be feeling.

I raise my hand. “I’m human. But can you define normal?”

He shakes his head. “I guess not.” Then, to Cara, “I just…wanted somebody to balance out the non-human part of me. I’m not natural.”

Tristan stands up. “What are you?” he almost shouts at Cara, his voice frantic and like a slap directly to Cara’s soul, because he looks almost disgusted – which is ridiculous because he just admitted that he isn’t even fully human.

Cara’s eyes are wide and filled with tears but her jaw is set, and I can tell that she is very hurt, maybe angry. “I’m half Fire Nymph. My father was of the Faen people. My mother, like yours, is human. She cheated on him, and he killed himself.”

Tristan looks at me. “And what’s wrong with you? You’re human, but there’s obviously something off about you too. I could feel it when we met.”

I’m about to tell him the whole curse thing, when Cara stands up and grabs Tristan by the shoulders with both of her hands, and brings gets right in his face. “There’s nothing wrong with her, and there’s nothing wrong with me, or anybody in this room. We are just different, and so what? Why is that so bad? I’m not that much different than you are. I’m still a person; we all are. Race doesn’t make anybody less of a person.”

“Damn,” says Victoria, surprised. Cael lets out a low wistle.

Tristan shakes Cara off of him, and stumbles towards the door. “I just wanted somebody uncomplicated, normal, and human. I knew you were a bit of a lush when we met, but I liked you because you seemed interesting. I just…I need to think about all of this. I just need some time.”

 “But –”

“I’ll text you later,” he says, and soon he’s out the door. Cara runs to the door and I follow after her, but it’s already too late. He’s gone.

 "That did not go well," I say as Cara turns to me. She shakes her head. "No," she says, her voice wavering. "It didn't."

~*~

 Cara and I are sitting alone in my bedroom, eating some muffins and cookies and watching cheasy romance movies. Well, I'm eating them and Cara is currently taking out her frustration by yelling at the food. 

“I don’t deserve this muffin! Stupid low fat muffin! I shouldn’t be eating this; it’s for skinny people. I’m so fat! I should be eating like a fatty! Buy me some McDonald’s!” It’s no use arguing with her when she’s like this, so I stay quiet as she screams herself hoarse.

“Are you done now?” I ask as Cara puts her head in her hands and begins to sob. I try not to let the sympathy show in my voice, but it carries through and she nods, miserably.

I smile at her, and she smiles back at me and blinks her tear-thick lashes, “Sorry,” she says. I roll my eyes, “Don’t even worry about it. So you’re half Nymph and your boyfriend is half Angel. You guys should be on a show together. The premise would make a lot of people pretty interested.” I bop her on the shoulder, “He’ll come around. I think he’s just scared. He just found out what he is not that long ago, and he was suddenly craving something 'normal' he thought you could offer. But he really likes you Cara, and he'll call you eventually.”

She hiccups and then burps, prompting us to laugh like idiots and then she’s snorting, which is making me laugh harder. When she calms down enough to talk, she says, “Thank God you’re not one of those stereotypical heroines who keeps her best friend in the dark. I would hate you. Really, really hate you. And I wouldn’t have been able to tell you about what I am.”

“Heroine? Screw that, Cara. I’m probably going to die, for all we know about this 'Great Battle'. And stereotypical actually is a pretty good word to describe me. I’m just a regular, average looking teenager who’s had the fate of the entire world as we know it thrust upon her. Call me Merry-Sue.”

Cara nods her head, “Mary-Sue it is! I can be you’re right hand gal, Merry-Jane.”

I wipe an imaginary tear from my eye, “What would I ever do without you?”

She shrugs and pulls me into a big bear hug, “Don’t think about that, Merry-Sue. Merry-Jane’s got your back” She pulls back, and holds me at arm’s length, “Seriously though, don’t think about it. Because I’m not going anywhere. And I'll help keep you safe.” She holds out her hand, which is wet with tears and snot (and yes, I let her touch me with that hand) and a brilliant red flame appears in her palm. "I promise."