Ungifted by Kelly Oram
“It’s one in a thousand,” Cynthia corrected warily. “And yes. Grace will be the one. I know it.”
“If you say so. But I’ve never heard of a human accepting us. They aren’t like us, Cynthia. They’re too simpleminded. Especially sweet, little, innocent Gracie St. Claire.”
“Simpleminded?” Cynthia sounded offended on my behalf. She’s awesome like that. “You stupid nephilim are all the same—always think you’re so superior to everyone else.”
“I’m not like that,” Ethan argued. He sounded as if he was getting angry. “You know I’m not! I have never once thought of myself as better than you.”
“You think you’re better than Grace, though, because she’s human.”
I waited for Ethan to deny it and lose his temper. Well, get angry he did, but deny it? Not so much. “I am!” he hissed. “And so are you! All supernaturals are better than humans, Cynthia—it’s just fact. It’s disgusting that you—especially you—choose to hang out with her above your own kind. You’re a natural female werewolf and the daughter of an alpha. Your friendship with Grace is a slap in the face to your pack.”
I always knew that Ethan didn’t like me. His attitude hurt, but it wasn’t a surprise—at least not to me. It was news to Cynthia, though. She really had believed he was secretly in love with me. When she yelled at him, even though she yelled in a whisper, I could tell she was never going to give me a hard time about Ethan Dunn ever again.
“If you hate her so much, then why do you do it?” she asked. “Why do you constantly come to her rescue? If Grace is so beneath my friendship, then why isn’t she below your protection?”
“She should be!” Ethan spat. “She’s a filthy human, and the most pathetic one I’ve ever seen on top of it. She deserves her nickname. She is a disgrace!”
I felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. I was glad I’d been sleeping on my side with my back to them because I couldn’t stop the tears that began falling from my eyes.
When Ethan spoke again, he’d calmed down but he sounded so bitter that I knew exactly what his face would look like. “I protect Grace because I have no choice.”
There was silence for so long that I thought I would die. Snot was dripping from my nose, threatening to make me sneeze, but I didn’t dare sniffle. No way did I want him to know I was awake now.
Finally Cynthia broke the silence with a gasp. “You can’t be talking about a warrior’s bond? That’s impossible! Those are just a myth!”
I heard Ethan slunk to the floor. “I always thought they were just myths, too. Until the day Grace showed up at Atherton. The connection was instant from the very moment I first saw her. I didn’t know much about warrior bonds, but somehow I knew that’s what had happened to me. Over the last six years the bond has been fairly weak, but about a month ago something changed. It’s become so strong it practically controls me—and it’s only getting worse.”
There was a long silence until Ethan sighed the most heavy, tired, hopeless, frustrated sigh I’d ever heard. I almost pitied him.
“Serves you right, jerk,” Cynthia hissed. I guess she didn’t feel any pity.
“You can’t blame me for resenting her,” Ethan grumbled. “It’s supposed to be such an honor to be bonded to someone as their protector. Only a handful of nephilim in the history of the world have ever formed a warrior’s bond, and they’ve been bonded to important, powerful people like the Creator and the Oracle. Never, never has a nephilim been bonded to a human.”
Cynthia gave him a cynical laugh. “I’m sure. What’d your clan have to say about it?”
“Are you kidding? They don’t know.”
“Not even your mom?”
“No one knows! I’ve never admitted it to anyone before now. I had to tell my uncle that I made you help me get this job because it would be good for the resistance to have an in if her dad wins the election.
“Cynthia, you can’t tell anyone. Please! Promise you won’t say anything.” Ethan sounded a little panicked now. “You’re right about the nephilim being stuck up, and my uncle is the worst. Do you know what he would do if he learned I was bonded to a human? He’d consider it an insult to the clan. I’d be exiled from my own people.”
“Come on, Ethan. You can’t be serious. If you’ve been chosen to be a warrior, you’re special.”
“I am, but she isn’t! She’s no one! Just a deep, dark secret that’s ruining my life! And now this! Not only was I bonded to a human, but I’ve failed to protect her. I’m as pathetic as she is.”
“You haven’t failed her,” Cynthia whispered, having chilled out a little. “She’s not dead. You can still protect her, and if she turns she’ll become one of us. You won’t have to be ashamed of your bond anymore.”
I can only imagine the look Ethan gave Cynthia then, because she sighed and said, “Look at the bright side. Now that she knows the truth, you can explain it to her and maybe she’ll cut you some slack about getting the job.”
“She would have turned by now,” Ethan said. He sounded resigned in his depression. “She’s still human. She’ll be in an institution by sunset.”
“She will handle it,” Cynthia said fiercely. “She may be human but there’s something about her, Ethan. She’s special. Probably more special than most supernaturals.”
Ethan scoffed bitterly.
“Think about it,” Cynthia insisted. “She didn’t turn. When my brother and I touch her, our powers don’t work. Tell me you don’t feel something when you touch her.”
Ethan didn’t respond.
“You formed a warrior’s bond with her for a reason, Ethan. Only people chosen by the Creator are worthy of such protection. She’s special. And when she wakes up, she’s really going to need our help. Both of our help.”
Cynthia took a deep breath. When she spoke again, she sounded menacing. “If she ever figures out how you really feel about her, I promise you I will rip your heart out of your chest. Breaking her heart would be like failing her too, you know.”
“I know,” Ethan admitted quietly. “I’ve always tried not to let my hate show. Fat lot of good it did me. She’s hated me all along anyway.”
He sounded so angry and so sad and so, I don’t know, broken, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to have any compassion. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and rolled over to face them.
“I can hear you guys, you know!” I said, wiping furiously at the tears on my cheeks. Both of their faces paled, and suddenly neither of them had anything more to say. That was fine with me. I had plenty to say for all of us.
“For the record?” I said, glaring at Ethan. “I didn’t like you before. Now I hate you. Get out of my house. You’re fired!”
“Grace…” Ethan looked as if he were going to be sick. “You can’t fire me. You already tried that once. You’re dad won’t do it.”
“I’ll talk to Randy. I’ll tell him you’re crazy. Obsessed. I’ll tell him you hurt me.” I held up my wrist where Caleb’s teeth had torn my flesh. “I’ll tell him you did this! He’ll believe me. He can make my dad listen.”
“Don’t do it, Grace,” Cynthia said. “You need him. You have vampires after you. Powerful ones who know there’s something different about you. Andrew will be back.”
I shuddered. “I’ll get a new bodyguard.”
“Not like Ethan. He’s an angel. He’s your angel.”
I didn’t need the reminder.
“Someone used magic to make that light fall,” Ethan said. “Someone tried to kill you, Grace. Someone supernatural. No human bodyguard your dad hires can help you the way I can.”
“I don’t care!” I screamed. “I don’t want your help!”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll protect you anyway. I don’t have a choice. At least this way it doesn’t raise any suspicions.”
“GET OUT!”
“Gracie.” Cynthia took a step toward me, and I backed away from her.
“You too, Cynthia! Get out! Now! Before I call the cops!”
Cynthia froze, her eyes welling up with tears. “I’m sorry, Grace.” She started to leave my room. When Ethan tried to stop her, she grabbed him by the shoulder. “Leave her alone.”
“I’m supposed to take her to school,” he argued.
“That’s not for another hour. Give her that much time, at least.”
Ethan gave up. “I’ll wait outside.”
. . . . .
I decided Ethan could wait outside forever. After everything I’d been through last night, school just didn’t seem like a priority anymore. My dad was going to be crazy angry that I skipped, but like I cared about my dad at this point.
I locked myself in the bathroom and soaked in a hot bath, cursing my stupid cast that had to dangle over the edge of the tub. Broken leg and all, the water was exactly what I needed to relax. I put on my headphones and let Mozart push away all of the nightmares clouding my thoughts.
After a while, the door to the bathroom burst open without warning. I screamed bloody murder thinking that Andrew had come back, but it was just Ethan. Somehow he managed to look panicked, angry, embarrassed, and relieved all at the same time.
“What are you doing?” I screamed.
“Sorry!” he gasped. He tried to look away but he spun toward the mirror, which only gave him the reverse image of the same view. “Sorry!” He pinched his eyes shut and stumbled out into the hall. “You didn’t come outside, and you didn’t answer when I called your name. I was worried. Sorry. I’ll be downstairs waiting for you.”
So much for my peaceful morning.
Ethan was pacing the living room when I finally hobbled down the stairs. He’d gotten over his relief and embarrassment, and pretty much just looked angry now. “School started fifteen minutes ago,” he said. “Were you planning on getting there before lunch?”
“Actually, I wasn’t planning on getting there at all.”
“You’re just going to skip? Don’t you think your father will—”
“I was attacked by a freaking vampire last night!” I exploded. “My best friend is a werewolf! I have my very own guardian angel who hates my freaking guts, and to top it all off I saw Caleb Layton naked! I think I deserve a day off!”
Ethan thought about it a minute and then sighed. “That’s probably best. It’ll give us the weekend to see if you’re going to crack up.”
I sunk down to the couch, glaring at Ethan, but he just shrugged. “The odds are a thousand to one against you. Doesn’t exactly inspire much hope.”
I reached for the remote, but Ethan pulled it out of my hand and sat down next to me. “We need to talk about this, Grace. I’ll try to answer any questions you have. I think the more you understand, the better chance you’ll have at accepting it.”
I snatched the remote back and turned on the TV. I had a million questions, but Ethan Dunn was the last person I was going to talk to. Ever again.
“Fine,” Ethan said with a sigh and sank back on the couch, preparing himself for a long morning of television.
I watched hours of home design shows just to torture Ethan, but oddly enough he actually seemed to enjoy them. I can’t tell you how much it annoyed me that we had something in common.
We sat in silence, watching HGTV until my cell phone rang around lunchtime. I looked at the caller ID but didn’t answer it. I knew Cynthia was probably really worried about me, but I knew she’d come over right after school no matter what and I really just needed a couple more hours to sort things out in my head.
When I let the call go to voicemail, Ethan finally broke our silence. “I don’t blame you for being mad at me.”
Mad at him? Try loathe him more than any other person on the planet.
“You went through a lot last night, Grace. You learned things humans aren’t supposed to know. If you won’t talk to me, fine, but don’t shut out Cynthia. You need her if you’re going to get through this.”
He was right, but I wasn’t about to admit that to him. When I continued to ignore him, he got pissed and stomped off to the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later with a couple of sandwiches. “Eat,” he commanded.
I didn’t, just to spite him. Instead, I grabbed a pen and went to work finishing the drawings on my cast. After I was done, Ethan pulled my leg into his lap. I was so startled by the action that I didn’t even think to move it. He examined my drawings and said, “It’s interesting that you were right about both Cynthia and Andrew. You must have pretty good instincts. You’re wrong about angels, though.”
He took my pen and went to work on a drawing of his own. “The nephilim, which is what I am, are descendants of angels. We’re the strongest and fiercest of all supernatural beings. We are literally the Creator’s chosen protectors. It’s why we were created.”
Internally, I was rolling my eyes. Ethan would think he was God’s chosen people.
Ethan paused a minute, waiting for me to ask him to stop talking, but I’d vowed to ignore him completely and deep down I was too curious to stop him. When I didn’t object, he kept drawing and launched into a story.
“The Mother Creator is the creator of all things. She is light, and glory, and all that is good. She is life itself. In the beginning, all of the Mother Creator’s creatures lived in peace and harmony. But things were too perfect. There was no bad to balance the good, and before long the peace collapsed.
“Her first creation, an angel named Beelzebub, was the first to pose opposition. He rallied the other angels, and he and those who followed him were cast out of the Creator’s presence. They found their way to Earth and became the Fallen. They immediately began to wreak havoc, so the Creator sent down those who had remained good to protect the people of Earth.
“The angel army was led by Beelzebub’s brother Michael. Michael was the fiercest warrior the world has ever known, and together with his army he drove the Fallen into a different dimension. Beelzebub became Lord of the Underworld and the Fallen became his demon servants.
“All the demons were locked away in the underworld, but the Creator had realized the importance of balance, and so, while Beelzebub and his most powerful demons were forbidden from ever returning to Earth, many of the lesser demons were allowed to stay.
“They were still powerful, though—more powerful than all other creatures on Earth—so Michael and his army stayed behind, too. But angels aren’t meant to live on Earth, so they mated with humans in order to form a race like unto the demons—not quite heavenly, but more than earthly. They raised up the first generation of nephilim and taught them how to protect the Earth from the demons that plagued it. To this day it is every nephilim’s calling to be a protector of the people. We’re destined to be warriors.”
Ethan finished his drawing at the same time he finished his story. I was shocked by what I saw. Even though Ethan is perfect at everything, I was still surprised by the beauty in his artwork. He’d drawn himself wearing some kind of leather armor, wielding glowing daggers in each hand. His wings were spread gloriously out behind him, and even though the image was beautiful, Ethan was right; he looked fierce.
I could do nothing but stare at the drawing and remember what he’d been like the night before when I’d seen those wings in the flesh. Or is that feathers? Anyway…
After hearing his history, I was overwhelmed. There was so much more to the world than I’d ever realized. Even with me about to become the daughter of the leader of the free world, I was nothing in the grand scheme of things.
It was no wonder Ethan thought I was so pathetic. I really was. All humans were. Wandering around the planet, thinking they’re the only intelligent creatures, worrying about nothing but themselves, blind to all the power around them, and so incredibly weak.
Ethan had given me a lot to think about, and I spent the rest of my afternoon oblivious to him. I was left thinking about the supernatural and everything I’d learned until Cynthia burst through the door after school, Caleb following close behind. When they saw me sitting on the couch, showered and dressed, they bo
“When you didn’t come to school I was so worried,” Cynthia said. “I thought maybe you’d…”
Cynthia couldn’t finish her sentence, so good old Ethan did it for her. “Cracked up?” he offered. “I think she did. She hasn’t eaten a thing all day and she isn’t speaking.”
“I’m not speaking to him,” I told Cynthia. “I just needed some time to process. Not a stay in a mental hospital,” I added, glaring at Ethan again for good measure. He looked surprised to see me respond so normally. He really had thought I’d lost it.
“So you’re really going to be okay?” Cynthia asked. “You’re not too freaked out by this?”
“Oh, I’m definitely freaked out. But I’m not going to crack up over it.”
Cynthia’s eyes glossed over with pride. “I knew you’d be the one.”
“‘The one’?”
“Supernaturals aren’t supposed to tell humans that we exist. Most humans can’t handle it. They go crazy if they find out the truth. They say only one in a thousand humans can really deal with it.”
“I don’t see why. It kind of makes sense to me.”
“It does?” Ethan and Caleb asked at the same time. Caleb had been crossing the room to sit next to me, but stopped short at my confession. Both he and Ethan stared at me, wide-eyed with their jaws hanging open.
I shrugged. “Legends have to come from somewhere, right?”
A proud grin spread across Cynthia’s face and she pulled her shoulders back, standing tall. “I told you she’d handle it.”
“Sure,” I said to Cynthia. “I mean, you’ve been trying to tell me for months haven’t you? With all the books and movies, and all our stupid talks? You’ve been preparing me for this, right?”
Cynthia looked surprised and shook her head. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I think I just wished you knew. I hated keeping it from you.”
“It’s surreal,” I admitted, “and a little scary that guys like Andrew can just take people if they want, but I’ve always said you’d make a good werewolf.”