“You two sit there after you’ve taken your boots off. Fire Dad will tan my hide if I get the place filthy again.”
“Fire Dad?”
“Long story, but suffice to say he’s my adoptive father.”
“Yeah, sure.”
We kick off our boots and sit, Erick hands us each a bottle of something. “Fire mead,” he explains.
Zhang’s not here. I could drink this. Hell, it’s something I would do to brat my way into a spanking, but I can’t. Zhang wouldn’t want me to drink this. My heart pangs and I think … I think I miss him. Seeing him lying there on the ground like that, near death—I could fucking kill Merrick for that.
Gods, I need to get back to him.
My heart freezes before it has to kickstart again, realizing that this is probably the longest I’ve been without him. To think, all that time I spent not wanting to be with him and now that I’ve got my wish, the only thing I want is the big lug’s arms wrapped around me.
Erick uses the kitchen floor as his stage, pacing it. “Kay, kid. A lot of this stuff is gonna throw you. You’re gonna think I’m full of shit, and I would say you’re smart to do so. Hell, if you do believe me from the get, I’ll have to agree with my mate that you’re not good enough for our son.”
I can’t say that I don’t want Merrick. My hallmark is not getting over people or things. I’m the kind that holds a grudge while simultaneously pining for those I care about, hence the fucking soap opera I find myself in.
“I’ll pass on the fire mead, sir.”
Erick opens it for himself. “Suit yourself, kid. Alright, let’s see.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I was human until one day, a long time ago, when a group of angels got together to save Earth from a rowdy batch of demons. Time passes differently in Heaven than it does on Earth and the rest of the universe for that matter. They needed a warrior who could help the archangel Michael use his sword. It’s not an actual sword, it’s more angel power than anything else, but it’s harnessed using human biology. Problem, though, it was also too strong for human biology. Solution? Tamper with a human’s DNA and make him roughly half angel, and half fire fiend. He’ll still have just enough human left for it to work. That’s me, if you hadn’t figured that out by now.”
He flashes his teeth at us. They’re wide. Too wide to belong to anything else I know of.
“Teeth of a fire fiend?”
“Yep. Using the sword ain’t easy, though. We needed the time to train—me and Michael that is—to have any hope of it working.”
“Okay, what does this have to do with me?”
Merrick reaches for my hand. Does he think I’m gonna flip out? I let him.
“You don’t remember this, but you did an enlightenment journey on Earth. You were human for several decades, Treyu.”
“Fuck that. I’d remember that.”
“Mhm. Normally, but you ran into some complications. You didn’t exactly hang out with the savoriest of characters when you were human. Some might even call you a criminal.”
“Nice, so you’re not only trying to convince me that I was human, but a shady human.”
“You weren’t a law-abiding citizen that’s for sure. Don’t worry, when I was human, I was a swindler. A Robin Hood-like criminal, but a criminal nonetheless.”
That much tracks. If I had ever become human, I’d definitely be in trouble with the law. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I process this. It’s a helluva story to invent when there doesn’t seem to be a motive. I’m already here and not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
“Alright, so why don’t I remember any of this?”
“You didn’t want to. You asked to be allowed to forget.”
“Why?”
Erick stops his pacing. “You got a good hold on him, son?”
Merrick nods.
“What the fuck?”
“Your mother.”
