Few Are Angels Read online

  I turned to the laptop, entered “past lives” into Google, and read over the results. The first website was about past life regression readings, and I quickly dismissed that one. If the things Kale had told me were true, then my visions were memories of my past life, and I didn't need anyone to help me “regress.” I could do that on my own. The second was a band website, and the third was just as unhelpful as the first two. I scanned the forth and was intrigued. The website explained how it was believed that everyone had a past life and how knowing about your past life can help you gain more insight into your current life. Had I read this site before I met Kale, I would’ve believed that the writer was insane and that past-life readings were scams. But I couldn’t deny the things that I’d seen in my memories and how real they’d felt. Though I had no use for a past-life reading, I was still interested in other people with the talent. I jotted down the writer’s information. Maybe Kale was right. Maybe I wasn’t a basket case, and I had a talent.

  I heard the first rock hit the window at midnight, and I went over to open it for Kale. I had no idea how he had climbed up the side of the house, but I didn’t question it. I was more curious about the necklace he showed me. I’d seen it before in a vision. A blue stone hung delicately from a tarnished silver chain. Kale placed the necklace in my hand, and though it was light, I could feel the weight of its past. The cool stone rested in the crease of my palm as if it had finally arrived where it belonged. I knew that it had belonged to me, even though the first time I’d seen it was months ago in the vision that sent me to Dr. Lithe.

  “Do you recognize it?” Kale asked quietly as he sat in the chair in the room’s alcove. His eyes were dark against his pale skin and his lips formed a crescent moon, showing just a bit of his pearly white teeth. “I think you do.”

  I smiled and held the necklace up, allowing the sapphire stone to sway in between us. “Where did you get this from? It’s beautiful.” It was the same necklace from my vision, which strengthened my belief that I could see my past lives.

  “Keeping the truth from you is just as dangerous as telling you everything and leaving your mind open to Laurent.” His smile faded.

  I knew he was ready to tell me everything, even though he’d been anxious about doing so. Kale was a part of my past in some way, but I wasn’t sure what part he had played. I placed the necklace on the nightstand and sat on the bed. I motioned for Kale to sit beside me, but he didn't. He waited for me to speak. It seemed as if we took two steps back for every one step forward, and I wanted that to end.

  “I want to tell you something,” I said softly.

  Kale stood and moved closer to the bed, but didn’t sit. I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but I wasn’t sure that I should. What was the barrier between us? Did Kale have the same ability to see past lives, and if so, was he ashamed of it? I wasn’t sure about that, but I was sure of my feelings for Kale. Things had moved so fast in the short time that we’d known each other, time seemed irrelevant because I was ready to admit my feelings for him. Rejection was the farthest thing from my mind because there were important things that needed to be said. I reached up and took his cold hand in mine. I squeezed it gently, hoping I could send him some of my strength. “Sit, please.”

  As he settled next to me, I held on to his hand and shivered from the sensation his skin sent through me. I gathered my nerves, took a deep breath, and spoke.

  “I want to tell you what I’ve been feeling.” I looked him in his eyes as I spoke. I wasn’t quite sure why, but they gave me the strength to continue. “I have this feeling like we have met before, and we have been separated before also. I know you. I know that at one point in time I loved you because I think I can see my past life.”

  Kale squeezed my fingers lightly, and I hoped the warmth from my fingers would heat his. He looked at me without a hint of surprise, and I knew I was on the right track. I held the necklace tighter in my hand and thought back to when Hélène wore this necklace. Before I could stop them, the tears started rolling down my cheeks, and I was over taken by sadness. “Hélène wore this the day she died, didn't she?”

  Kale shifted uncomfortably beside me, but didn’t let go of my hand. “Yes. I couldn't protect her.”

  I felt horrible that Kale wanted to take responsibility for something that’d happened in the past. Something he wasn’t there to stop, and I needed to explain this to him. “That was in the past, Kale, you couldn't have stopped it.” I pulled Kale’s hand into my lap and caressed his face. “It’s okay—it’s not your fault.” I saw that he didn't believe me.

  Kale frowned and shook his head. “Ella, you don’t understand. That isn’t a past-life version of me in your visions.” Kale stood up and started to pace.

  “Please help me understand, Kale.” Confusion was something I was feeling more often, but I wasn’t going to accept it.

  Kale stopped pacing and turned to me. “Ella, you see past lives because of what you are. You are an Arc.” His eyes seemed to search mine for any recognition of the word.

  But I had no clue what the word meant. I hadn’t seen it on the website earlier. “A what?”

  Kale ran his hand through his dark hair and sat back on the bed. “An Arc is someone who is clairvoyant. She can see the past, and it’s believed there will be one that can see the future. It’s a gift passed through a bloodline linking back to Laurent.”

  I let his words sink in. I didn’t want to believe that I was so different that there was a class of people like me out there somewhere separate from the rest of the world. The woman who’d written the article lived in New York City, so there had to have been more out there, not just me.

  “So there are people that—”

  “Just you, Ella,” he said, cutting me off mid-sentence.

  “Only me? What does an Arc do?”

  “Recall the past.”

  I laughed. It wasn’t a “you are crazy laugh.” It was one of those laughs to keep from screaming. I believed that people could see past lives, but I didn't think that it was possible I was the only one able to do so. Kale didn't seem offended by my laughter. I think he knew it was going to be hard to explain.

  “Why do I see myself die? I mean Hélène, why do I see her die? She and I are the same person or related or something, right?”

  “It’s a past life.”

  I tried to understand what Kale had told me, but it was overwhelming. Kale’s intense gaze held mine for what felt like forever. I saw a pain that I was all too familiar with. The loss of my parents was still fresh. Even though I ignored that pain and pushed their memory away, I was still always aware of the ache in my heart that never seemed to dissipate. I squeezed his hand again, grateful he hadn’t let go, and hoped what little emotional strength I had left would be enough for the both of us. I think I’d always known that the girl in the vision was myself, but to have him agree made it that much more intense.

  “Ella, this is hard to explain. You and Hélène are the same person in the sense that you share the same soul, but with two different minds and bodies. Hélène and you are connected by blood, and because of that, there is someone who wants you. He’s called Laurent—the Father of all Arcs.”

  My stomach cramped and my head ached. I had finally gotten the answers I wanted, but I didn't feel any better. I was an Arc—the only one that existed. There were a lot of things that I could believe, but I never thought I would believe a story like this. I had the ability to see the past, and for that I had been murdered in my past lives.

  “I was trying to protect Hélène from him. But he found her, and she sacrificed herself for me and the others who she would have harmed at Laurent’s command. Things were slowly coming together, and the emotions that I’d felt through Hélène made sense. “So that is why Hélène felt a sense of relief when she knew that she was going to be killed.”

  Kale nodded.

  I took a deep breath. I was relieved that everything was making more sense, but I still felt fragile and stressed. Wha
t did this mean for my future, for the future I wanted to have with Kale? Could we have one, or would all of this be too much for us to handle?

  Chapter 14

  * * *

  “If ignorance is bliss, then who would dare live outside of its veil?” —Grandpa Grey

  * * *

  “Let me explain what you are so you will better understand,” Kale said. He moved closer to me and took my hand, tenderly kissing it. His smile was sad, but his kiss sent shivers through me.

  “Remember I told you of three men who looked for eternal life?”

  “Yes.” My voice was barely audible.

  “Well, they found the nomadic group and the leader told them to—”

  “Bring him someone pure of heart and full of love,” I finished, remembering that part of the story, mostly because it had disturbed me. I wondered why these men would need a person that was pure of heart and full of love. What could that person possibly do for them, and why couldn’t the nomads find a person like that on their own?

  “Yes, and in return for this woman, he would grant them eternal life. As they travelled back home in search of the girl, both men realized that they weren’t completely sure what the nomad leader meant when he had said pure of heart, so they travelled back to the Frenchman and asked for his advice once again. The Frenchman was a businessman, and he told the men he would find this person as long as they promised him their service for the first fifty years of their eternal lives. The men agreed quickly because they figured fifty years was nothing compared to eternal life.

  “Fifty years is a long time to be a slave, no matter how long you live,” I said, as if from experience.

  Kale looked at me, and it seemed that he agreed. “Once the deal was sealed, the two men returned to the nomad leader and presented him with the Frenchman’s eighteen-year-old daughter.”

  “What the hell?” I yelled, surprising both of us. Worried that I might’ve disturbed Lea, Sarah, or Eric, I went over to my door and listened to see if I could hear anyone moving around, but all was silent. Before I returned to the bed with Kale, I locked the door.

  “I can’t believe it. Why would he give his own daughter? Why did she even go?”

  “She was full of love and pure of heart, Ella. She trusted her father beyond all reasonable doubt.”

  “Oh. She was told where she was going and she still went?” I struggled to believe someone could be that naïve. Then again, I had followed Kale far into the woods, and I’d only known him for a day.

  “Yes. Her father said that she needed to go with the men to meet the Eternal Ones.”

  “Eternal Ones? Is that what the nomads were called? How did the Frenchman know what they were called?”

  “The two men never caught on that the Frenchman knew more about the Eternal Ones than he had let on. The Frenchman knew exactly why the nomads wanted someone like his daughter. He knew the power that they would give her, and once he retrieved her from the nomads and achieved eternal life, he would have power that no one else possessed.”

  “Power to do what?”

  “When the men presented the girl to the Eternal Ones’ leader, he performed a ritual that allowed her to see the past.”

  “She was the first?” I asked.

  “No, you are the first. You all share the same soul, and that is why you feel emotions that she once felt.”

  At first I’d believed that it was just Hélène and I, but now I knew the truth. I was the first Arc and every one after that—same girl, different body.

  “The Eternal One’s leader explained to the men that the girl’s power was to be used wisely. It could save humans or destroy them. Knowing this, the men thought to take her back to their homes to use her to save their home from—” Kale didn’t finish.

  I thought I saw the same pain in his eyes from earlier, but at a second glance I could see that it was much more. “What is wrong?’ I asked sympathetically, but he didn’t respond, and he wouldn’t look me in the eyes. I couldn’t understand why he had stopped. Who were the travelling men trying to protect their homes from?

  “What did the men want to do with the Arc?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

  Kale finally spoke. “Nosophoros.”

  The word stirred emotions of fear, sadness, and unequivocal loss in me. I didn’t know the word, but I’d heard one that was similar. “Nosferatu,” I whispered.

  Kale’s face fell, and he shifted away from me.

  “I think I have taken everything that I’ve learned pretty well so far, so what is your fear about this?” I tried not to seem to upset by his withdrawal. Suddenly, I remembered the first night that I met Kale and his fight with the blond-haired man in the front yard. He had spat the word at Kale as they fought. “That man with blond hair called you Nosferat.” I barely kept the accusation from my voice. “Why?” The word was familiar, but not just from Kale’s fight with the blond man.

  “Jace.”

  “That’s his name? So you two know each other?” I was getting tired of asking questions. I wanted him to spill his guts, stopping only to breathe.

  “Yes, I know him. He is part of the Council of Immortals. He was supposed to be your Guardian, but I sent him away.” Kale sat up and rubbed his hands through his hair.

  “I have a Guardian? You told me about the Council, but not about a Guardian. Didn’t you say he was trying to break into my house? Would a person who is supposed to be a guardian try to break into the house of the person that they are supposed to guarding?” I asked.

  Kale stiffened at my accusing tone.

  I stood up and faced him, wondering what else he was keeping from me. “Seriously, you told me that you were protecting me from him when all along he was trying to protect me from Nosferat—which is you,” I said, finally putting more of the pieces together.

  Kale said nothing to deny the accusation, and I sat there silently, arms crossed. Kale inched closer to me. His eyes were dark and laced with sadness, but I didn’t let it chip away at my icy demeanor. I was angry, and I wanted him to know it. I had been nothing but honest with him about myself, and I wanted the same from him no matter what.

  “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know how to, Ella, not because I was trying to be deceitful.” He sighed. He took my hand and squeezed it lightly. Warmth enveloped me. I wanted to be angry with him, but it became harder because I could hear the truth in his voice, and I could feel it in his touch. He wrapped him arms around my back and placed a hand on my neck, sending shivers down my spine. He leaned toward me, allowing his lips to touch my ear before he spoke.

  “I am Nosferat, Ella. I was made by the Dark Prince in 1884, the same time Hélène died. He made me this way because he knew that whatever was left of the Council would not allow me to be near her in the future. It was punishment for loving you.” His scent was familiar, as was his touch, soft and hesitant. His lips moved softly against my ear.

  I fought the urge to turn my head to feel his lips on mine. It had been too long since I’d tasted his breath, and my heart begged me to kiss him.

  “He brought me to you and showed you what he’d made me, and you called me Nosophoros. It means disease-bearing. You looked as if you were ashamed of me.”

  Kale moved his hands to my face so that I was looking directly at him. His gaze branded me, and the tears on my face were cooled by his breath. He waited for my response, but there was nothing I could say. I couldn’t find the words to express what I felt for him, and I didn’t think that I ever could. I stood on my tiptoes and leaned into Kale, never letting his gaze leave mine. I could feel his chest pressed flush against mine. I reached around and ran my fingers through the soft hairs at the nape of his neck. His soft moan begged me to continue, and I was powerless to stop. Kale leaned into me, his soft lips caressing my cheek.

  “Kale,” I whispered. I knew I wasn’t ready to go any further than kissing, but it seemed like I would have to convince my body of that fact. Kale seemed cautious and unsure, but as I pressed closer,
his lips molded to mine. He moved his hand from my face to my back, pulling me even closer. His taste was so familiar and warm that it was hard to hide my disappointment and embarrassment as he pulled away. Kale looked at me, seemingly judging my reaction. A few emotions played across his face as we stood close and struggled to catch his breath. I tried to look away, but Kale placed his hand on my chin.

  “Don’t look away.”

  “Sorry, I just…” I buried my head into his chest. I breathed in his scent. It made me feel even closer to him, though there was no space between us.

  “It’s okay. I just need to tell you the rest.” He kissed the top of my head. “The name you called me has a special meaning to it.”

  “Is that what you meant when you said that I was the one who thought you had a disease?”

  “Yes. The word is meant for bad people, Ella.” Kale pushed me away. “It’s meant for vampires, Ella.” Kale looked at me to gauge my reaction.

  I couldn’t look away from him, though I wanted to. I didn’t move. I hoped he was joking. “Wait, are you saying that you are a-a-a…” I tried to finish, but my throat locked up in disbelief, and I backed away from him. I could see the hurt in his eyes as I moved away, but I couldn’t stop my body.

  He stood with his hands still out where they had held me. “Vampire,” he finished for me.

  The vision of him crumpled on the floor of the shed with dried blood on his face flashed through my mind, and I clutched my stomach. There were some things I could believe and others I just couldn’t. Kale moved closer, and I held my hands up to stop him.