Backing up quickly, I headed back to my room and closed the door quietly behind me. I leaned back against the door with my eyes closed, mulling over the conversation I had heard. It was really nothing new. I'd known for some time that Haniel was keeping something from me. It was somewhat comforting that I wasn't the only one being kept in the dark, nor the only one that found it aggravating.
"Can't fall asleep?" A voice in my room asked. I bit back a startled scream as my eyes flew open.
"Seriously, dude. You need to stop hanging out on my bed," I hissed at Emrys, who was once again lounging against my pillows like he belonged there.
"But it's comfortable," he replied, folding his arms back behind his head. "You've got a point though. We have about thirty seconds before your aunt senses I'm here. Do you want to get out of here for a while?" he asked.
Ten minutes ago, I would have turned him down. I was convinced I owed it to everyone to take my duties seriously, but with the conversation I'd just overheard fresh in my mind, those duties almost seemed a mockery. If Haniel was going to treat me like a child, I was going to rebel a little more like one.
"Tick-tock, babe. What's it gonna be?" he asked, reaching for my hand.
"Wait, turn around," I said, snatching a clean pair of jeans from my drawer. In less than five seconds I had the yoga pants I'd worn to bed off and my jeans pulled on. I grabbed my boots by my bedroom door and turned back to Emrys only to realize he'd ignored my request.
"Seriously?" I asked, arching my eyebrows.
"I make it a rule to never turn around when a striptease is happening right in front of me," he smirked.
"Soul sucking perv," I said, reaching for his hand.
"Oh, that's hot. Say it again," he said, grasping my hand firmly in his.
My room disappeared around us just as my bedroom door opened. For a split second I saw the shocked look on my guardians' faces before I was whisked away.
The familiar catwalk appeared beneath my feet. I smiled, feeling liberated as I took in the sunrise that was just beginning to peek up over the horizon. I was sure to be in a shitload of trouble when I returned home, but at the moment, I didn't care. All the secrets and half-truths had worked me over like I just went ten rounds of boxing.
"Pretty spectacular, huh?" Emrys asked, coming up behind me.
"You seriously have a hard-on for this place," I said, trying for blasé since my pulse was going wild.
"Yeah, it's sort of special to me," he answered quietly into my ear. His warm breath sent goose bumps traveling up my arms.
"Why is that?" I asked, focusing on keeping my voice steady, even though I had the urge to shift my hair to the side so I could feel his breath on my neck.
"My dad used to bring me here when I was a kid. Of course, the skyline was a whole lot less cluttered. That was even before the World Trade Center buildings were built," he mushed, moving even closer as he pointed over my shoulder. "That's where they used to stand," he added.
I leaned back into his embrace, unable to resist the proximity between us. "How long has it been since your dad brought you here?" I asked, enjoying the way his voice rumbled up through his chest as he talked.
"Early fifties," he answered like we were discussing the weather and not the fact that he'd been around long enough to be my grandfather. "He passed away when I was fifteen."
"What about your mom?" I asked, curious about his origins since I couldn't remember my own.
"She died giving birth to me," he answered, wrapping his arms around my midriff.
"Shit, I'm sorry. That's total suckage," I replied, trying to control my breathing and not focus on how good his touch felt.
"It wasn't too bad. My dad was a great guy. He worked hard, didn't drink, and didn't beat me. He was a hero in my eyes. He taught me the difference between right and wrong and how to be a respectful man."
I was dying to ask him what had changed all that. How had his soul been stuck in limbo if he was a good guy?
"What about you? What's the deal with your parents?" he asked with a sudden hard edge in his voice.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Not much to tell. They died in a car accident last year. Our car went off an embankment and landed in a lake. I was the only survivor. If you can call it that," I added sarcastically.
"What do you mean?"
"I essentially drowned. My brain went without oxygen for too long. I lost every memory of who I was."
"I see," he said in an oddly strangled voice.