The Dark Divine(54)

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll clean it up.” I tried to pull out of his grip as I bent down, but he didn’t let go.

He drew me up. “I can do it.”

“No, it’s my fault.” I trembled in his grasp. “I’ll clean it up.” I looked around, as if searching for a broom. “And then I’ll get out of your way.”

Daniel released my arm. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I rubbed my wrist. “But it’s late, and I should get home.” I was being a chicken. I was failing. But at that moment I knew the truth might be more than I could handle. “We can do this another time.”

“Grace, what’s going on?” He placed his hands on my hips.

I looked down at the mess between our feet. “I forgot that I needed to do something.”

“I know you didn’t come here to paint. I can see it in your face.” He paused for a second. “Is this about the kiss? Grace, did you come here for something else?” He brushed my cheek. “Because I don’t think you’re ready—”

“No,” I practically shouted. “No, not at all. I came here because …” But I couldn’t say it. I needed to go. I needed to get out of there. I tried to pull away, but he held me tight around the hips.

“Grace?” he asked, his voice sounding hurt. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Heat tingled up my neck. “Look at me then.”

I gazed up into his eyes. They were deep and soft and familiar. My brother had to be lying.

“I don’t think you should be here just as much as you think you should go,” he said. “But I can’t send you away like this. Tell me what happened.”

“Jude.”

Daniel’s eyes shifted downward. He moved the broken plate with his bare foot.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s not himself. He’s making all these crazy accusations against you.” I bit my lip. “He called you a monster. He said that you were using me. And he said other awful things about you. Things you did.”

Daniel moved his hands away from my waist and crossed his arms in front of his naked chest.

“I refused to believe him. I didn’t think you could do those things.” I paused. “But he said that you were lying about the Urbat. I know it doesn’t mean ‘Hounds of Heaven.’” I sucked in a breath. “You lied to me … and now I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Daniel looked up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry, Grace. I should have stayed away from you. He told me to keep away from you and Jude, but I couldn’t. I saw your name in that art class, and I had to know. I told myself that if you could look me in the eyes … then maybe you could still love me. Maybe there was hope for me after all.” A tear ran down his face. He wiped at it with his knuckles. “But I was selfish. I didn’t care what it would do to you or Jude. All I wanted was your love, and now I know that’s the one thing I can never have.”

“Yes, you can.” I touched his bare, sinewy bicep. “Just be honest with me. I can help you if I know the truth.”

“You can’t help me.” He turned away and gripped the edge of the counter. “I could never ask.”

“You don’t have to ask. I know what I’m supposed to do.”

The muscles in Daniel’s shoulders went rigid. “You can’t possibly …”

“I figured it out. I’m supposed to help you use your abilities to help people. I’m the one who can turn you into a … a superhero.”

“Damn it, Grace!” he roared. The counter creaked and groaned under his white-knuckled grasp. “Who the hell do you think I am? A superhero? I’m not Peter Parker. I’m not your own damn Clark Kent. Your brother told you right—I am a monster!”

“No, you’re not. I can—”

“I’m using you, Grace,” he snarled. “You think I can be saved, but I can’t. You don’t even know what I’m capable of!” He swept the second plate off the counter. It exploded at my feet.

I jumped back, my shoes crunching on broken glass. “I don’t care,” I yelled at him. “I don’t care if you’re using me. And I don’t care what lies my brother tells about you. That person he’s describing isn’t you.”

He reeled on me, his eyes black and empty. “And who is that person?” he said. “What did Jude say about me? Because I’m pretty damn sure he knows exactly what I am.”

I looked away at the cat-shaped clock above the stove.

“He said you were a liar and a thief and a murderer,” I whispered. “He told me to ask you what it felt like when you left him for dead.”

Daniel drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Like every remaining ounce of light and hope was sucked out of the shell I used to call my soul.”

“Then it’s true?” My voice cracked in my throat. “Tell me what you are. Tell me what you did. I think you at least owe me the truth.”

I heard the shifting of broken glass as he moved away. I kept looking at the cat clock. Its eyes swung back and forth with every second that passed until Daniel finally spoke.

“I didn’t lie about the ‘Hounds of Heaven,’” he said from the kitchen table. “That’s what my ancestors were originally called. Everything I told you was true—God’s fight against evil, His blessing on my people—I just didn’t tell you the ending to that story.”