I turned and saw a dark silhouette outside my second-story window. I jumped and almost screamed. Images of the study's bloodstained windowsill ripped through my mind.
"Grace," came a muffled voice through the glass. The shadow moved closer to the window. It was Daniel.
Embarrassment replaced fear. I crossed my tingling arms in front of my chest--not that I had much to hide, but still. I turned my back to him and grabbed my terry-cloth robe. It was still damp from my shower, but I pulled it on anyway. I went to the window and pushed it open. "What are you doing here?"
Daniel balanced on the sloping roof outside my room. "I promised we'd talk." He stared at me through the thin mesh screen. "Can I come in?"
Chapter Thirteen
Hounds of heaven
ROOFTOPS
Heat flushed up my arms and chest. Fm sure I went as pink as my bra. I pulled my robe tighter around me. "I ... I can't let you in."
Mom hadn't made me promise, but I felt like I should respect her wishes not to invite Daniel in the house again. It was the least I could do for her now.
"Then you'll have to come out." With a flick of his hand, he pushed the screen out of my window. It landed at my feet, looking perfectly untouched. Not mangled and broken like the time Jude had shimmied the screen out of the study's window just below us. "Come on." He reached for me through the window frame.
Before I could even think, I put my hand in his. He pulled me up and out and into his arms. He held me to him, his fingers twisting with the sash of my robe against my back.
"I thought you were gone," I whispered.
"A promise is a promise." His breath warmed my damp hair. He grasped both of my hands and lowered me to sit next to him on the narrow eave of the roof. He wore jeans now and the red-and-black coat I'd given him. He hadn't had it with him when he showed up earlier for dinner.
My robe wasn't as warm as a coat, and my feet were bare, but I didn't mind. "I'm glad you came back."
Daniel grinned. It was an almost-grimacing smile-- pained. That's when I noticed, in the dim light from my bedroom, the purplish-green bruise across his cheekbone.
"You're hurt." I touched his face.
He leaned his cheek into my hand.
"I'm sorry. You're hurt because of me. I'm the one who made up the story about the creek. I'm the one who made Jude--"
"Don't be sorry. None of this was ever your fault." Daniel clasped his hand over mine. "I'll be fine soon anyway."
He closed his eyes and pressed my bandaged hand against his cheekbone. His skin grew warmer under my touch. My palm started to sweat. His skin flared hot. Just as it felt like it was going to burn me, the heat tingled away. Daniel dropped his hand, and I pulled mine back.
His skin was bare. No bruises or marks of any kind.
"You really are a superhero," I whispered.
Daniel leaned against the house. His feet dangled over the side of the roof. "I'm nothing of the sort."
"How can you say that? I've seen the things you can do. You could totally help people. And you saved James." I scratched at my bandage. My hand and feet throbbed, and I ached all over. The power to heal myself would come quite in handy right about now. "I wish I could do some of those things."
He clasped his fingers around his smooth stone necklace. "You wouldn't like the side effects."
"Are you kidding? I'd do anything to be like you."
"No, you wouldn't." Daniel glanced at me. His eyes flashed with that hungry glint. "That's what makes you so special."
A frightened shiver rushed through my body. Part of me wanted to climb back into my room and lock the window. But most of me wanted him to take me in his arms and run away from everything and everyone.
"You are special, you know," Daniel said, and brushed my arm.
"Daniel, I..."
Daniel winced and pulled away. He clutched the black necklace tighter and mumbled something I couldn't understand between sharp breaths.
"Are you okay?" I stretched out my hand to him.
"Please, don't." He shrugged off my touch and backed up against the side of the house. He pulled his legs to his chest, as if creating a barrier between us. His body quaked. He closed his eyes, panting. His trembling stopped, but he still clenched his pendant in a rigid fist.
"Is that what gives you your ... abilities? The necklace?"
Daniel kept his eyes closed. "No." "Then how? What?"
He let air out between his teeth. "I should leave you."
"But I want to know everything."
"I'm sorry, Gracie. i really should go."
I folded my arms. "You're not getting off that easy. A promise is a promise, remember," I said in my bossy Grace voice.
Daniel stopped and his mouth edged into a grin. "You have no idea what you do to me."
I blushed, but I wasn't going to let him distract me. "Is this why you left town? Or did this happen to you while you were gone? How did you become what you are? Tell me, please."
"Nothing happened to me. Not exactly. I guess you could say I was born this way."
"I don't remember you being like ... this." But then I remembered all those times as a child that he seemed to have bruises in the morning that were gone by the afternoon, or limps that mysteriously disappeared. I remembered how baffled Daniel's doctor had been when his skull fracture healed in a matter of weeks rather than months.
"It develops with age ... and experiences."
"Superpowers are a little more intense than armpit hair and zits," I said.
Daniel laughed. "It's kind of a family thing," He lowered his voice. "You know what your father says in his sermons about how the devil works--among other things--
through flattery, jealousy, and complacency?"
I nodded. That was one of Dad's favorite subjects.
"Well, the devil wasn't always so subtle. In the beginning, he used demons, vampires, and other evil spirits to do his bidding. Real things-that-go-bump-in-the-night monsters." Daniel looked at me for my reaction.
I didn't know what to say--or even think. Was he being serious? Did he really want me to believe that monsters existed? Rut then again, up until today, I thought people with super strength and the ability to heal themselves were just characters from comic books.
When I didn't respond, Daniel went on. "With demons running loose on the earth, God decided he needed to 'fight fire with fire,' so to speak. My family--the Kalbi family--dates back before written language. Back before real civilization even existed. My family was part of a tribe of warriors. They were strong defenders of their land, but they were also stalwart in their belief in God and followed his teachings. He decided to reward them-- bless them with special abilities. He infused them with the essence of the most powerful animal in their highland forests, giving them enhanced speed, agility, strength, cunning, and tracking." He rubbed his hand across his cheekbone. "I'm not sure where the healing ability came from--must have been part of the benefits package."
"So God made the ultimate soldier in His fight against evil?" My question sounded so logical, even though I still couldn't believe what I was hearing.