must have been hard for him, living in my shadow all those years.
“Yes,” Dad interrupted my thoughts. “Remi struggles with his heritage, having been raised around humans his entire life. Fifteen years is a long time for a young angel to remain on earth. But he is strong, and when it is required of him, he will do what needs to be done.”
“Remi’s heritage.” Mom and Dad had spent so much time arguing about it, and I had always assumed they’d meant his ethnicity and the fact that he was adopted and biracial. Seems I wasn’t as smart as I’d thought.
Dad placed a finger to his lips, making a shh sound as he did. “Remi’s path is for Remi to worry about, not you,” he insisted.
“Hi, Grace, I’m Marcus,” a voice behind me chimed in during the lull in conversation. I turned sharply to face the speaker. I could have been looking at Remi’s twin, several years older, with slightly darker skin and hazel eyes. With wings outstretched and a broad smile on his face, the stranger added, “Thanks for looking after Remi all these years.” He extended his hand to shake mine, and when we touched, I knew exactly who he was.
Remi’s father, I thought to myself, and couldn’t stop the smile that exploded across my face. I jumped up and rounded the bench so fast I would have been a blur to the human eye. As I grabbed Marcus into a bear hug, it was clear that he and Remi had the same pureness of heart.
I had so many questions. They invaded my mind so fast that my mouth had trouble keeping up. It was the one time I was thrilled angels could read minds.
“So,” I started slowly. “I don’t understand. Remi said his parents were punished, made human.” Dad smiled, then excused himself with a slight bow to me.
“Remi said you could be pretty human at times,” Marcus responded, but not to my question. I don’t think he intended to hurt my feelings. “We were punished. The order had been given. But when Remi’s mother died giving birth, The Divine One decided my eternally broken heart was punishment enough for us both. He decided to give me a kind of celestial ‘time-out’ by placing me here in the Garden forever. Don’t you see? I can never go home, or even to earth to see my son.”
“Can Remi ever visit?”
“He used to visit. But he’s come a lot less lately, and I’m concerned in light of his latest stunts.” Marcus’s thoughts turned to worry for his only son.
I figured the rest out on my own. Marcus was thrilled when Dad was chosen to raise Remi. Unlike humans, angels were capable of unimaginable levels of love. Even though Remi was not raised by Marcus, each of them loved the other as if he had been. Remi had the same love for Gabriel as he did his own father.
Arcturus was at my side without warning.
“Sorry, Marcus. I need Grace for a minute.” Agitation creased Arcturus’s brow.
“No worries, kid. Do what you gotta do,” Marcus said, then man-hugged Arcturus to himself quickly before releasing him in my direction. “Be well, Grace, and please tell Remi I said happy birthday.” It was the last thing he said before he walked briskly out of sight.
A pang of regret hit me as I remembered that I’d forgotten all about Remi’s fifteenth birthday! That I could ever forget was a testament to my mental state. It was the day after mine.
Arcturus took my hand and led me to the Garden’s east entrance, which was guarded by two cherubim with flaming swords that turned in each direction. At least that part was true. They seemed like harmless tweens, but I knew better. As I passed through and exited, the redheaded one with freckles shot me a look. They seemed serious, like the Queen’s Guard in England, though I had a feeling that trying to make them laugh was a horrible idea.
The land around the Garden was barren and the sky above gray in stark contrast to inside the gates. I waited for Arcturus to tell me why he had dragged me from my conversation with Marcus.
“Emeria, come forth!” Arcturus ordered in a voice that seemed deeper than it had before. He looked around suspiciously from left to right, then zeroed in on a translucent figure with a dim light glowing beneath its skin. It was my twin, the girl who’d tried to kill me.