A few short hours and we were already well on our way to the Vault again. Kael was exhausted from working the electrum and layering as many cloaking spells onto Malachi as he could. Now, all we could do was try to get to the Vault as quickly as possible, before circling back out into the city for Chi and her Clan.

Our walk to the nearest road had been uneventful, Malachi finally and thankfully silent. Nevaeh had quickly 'convinced' a passing SUV to give up their vehicle, and to not report it stolen for a day. And now Malachi sat in the middle row, wrists and forearms bound with so much electrum it almost looked comical, flanked by Nevaeh. Ailech sat in the back with a dozing Kael so he could watch Malachi for any escape attempt. And I sat up front with James.

Unfortunately, that meant the rearview mirror perfectly framed our newest guest, who hadn't taken his eerie eyes off of me the entirety of the trip. His eyes without his Shift were somehow even more unnerving, unearthly, than his black ones. They were like James' deep blue but, just like everything else about him, the opposite. So different yet so similar. They were such a pale brown they seemed truly yellow or gold, like an animal, not something a Human should have. It was unsettling, like his grin, like his hair, like his beauty. But even with their pale color, they were sharp and bright in the low light of the car, almost glowing, only adding to their animal-likeness.

James and Malachi's other similarities, though opposite too, also unnerved me. I had always thought that James seemed to reflect the sun, or maybe not reflect it, maybe he was the source of the golden light, like it emanated from inside of him. He had always seemed bathed in gold, warm light, even now when his hair wasn't blonde, even now when he was pale from his winter in the city. He still somehow looked like a sunset radiated from underneath his skin, despite the changes his physical body had gone through.

But Malachi, he was the Human manifestation of moonlight, the same but different, opposite, like the light was still coming from him, but pale and cold, a haunting beauty. He was the other side of the coin to James' warm glow. His yellow eyes seemed to smirk at me from the mirror and he stuck his tongue out, biting it and showing a silver piercing before snapped his teeth with a wolf's grin.

He's trying to scare you. Don't let him get in your head.

James' words filled my mind and I realized I had been staring into the mirror, watching Malachi watch me, pulled into his eyes like I often was by James'. I tore my gaze away and looked out the window, but I could still feel those unnatural eyes on me.

Is that what you were trying to do when you used to look at me like that? Scare me?

I continued to look out the window, determined to not let Malachi know how we could speak in our secret way. Trying to hide our conversations from Nevaeh was enough for me.

What do you mean? I don't think I ever scared you, you made that very apparent. Frequently.

I caught myself before I rolled my eyes, keeping my face placid instead as I watching the roadside whizz by.

In my store, the first time we met. It felt like you were trying to drown me in your stare, on purpose. That's just one example...you tried that a lot in the beginning.

I did not.

Yeah, actually, you did. Often. And he does the same thing. You two are similar and it's creepy.

You think I'm creepy?

I said your similarities are creepy. He's an evil version of you, can you not understand how you - minus the good - is unsettling?

I don't see it.

I finally caught the humor in his words, in his refusal to concede. I spared him a casual glance, figuring that not looking at him could be just as much of a tell as looking at him if it was too long in between. He was near-smirking as he continued to watch the road, both hands on the steering wheel.

He isn't an evil me, he is me. He is exactly how I was before my Clan, before Jevin. And that means he can change, too.

You barely had enough humanity left to change, and it took you years. He has been with your father for, what, nearly three decades? Do you really think there is anything left to save there?

Do you?

I looked in the rearview mirror again, immediately met by yellow animal-eyes and a slow spreading grin as Malachi realized he had my attention again. I looked forward stonily.

I don't know.

And it was the truth. I wanted to believe he could be saved. Something in me craved it, needed him to be saved. I didn't want James to have to carry the guilt of yet another life he couldn't help, another life he would blame himself for, another burden on his soul, another mark. But I honestly didn't know if I believed Malachi had anything good in him. Had he ever? I certainly didn't think he was stronger than James, better than him, lighter. So how could he possible overcome his past like my Pair had? Overcome even more?

Is he a Half, too?

From the corner of my eyes I saw James' shift toward me, but he pulled them back to the road before they landed, the ledge in his hollow jaw appearing and disappearing as he clenched and released.

My father wouldn't waste years of his time and energy on anything less. He has followers who are more diluted, pawns, ones who are loyal to him beyond measure like Juda was, but he still despises them. Loyalty means nothing to him, not really. And anything but Halves, the purest Fallen allowed to be created on Earth, are trash to him. Just a tool to be discarded after its usefulness has run out.

Aren't there only two good Halves?

That's never specifically said. Maybe we're the first of our kind in another way - the first light True Pair Halves. That's the thing with prophecies, who can know what they mean, really?

You're reaching.

I saw his jaw clench harder and his hands tighten on the wheel, but we both knew I was right. He glanced into the rearview mirror before leveling his eyes on the road again and stretching his neck, forcing his muscles to relax.

And what if I am reaching? All I know is I came back from the edge with only Jevin as my moral compass, so I think there's a chance that he can come back too. You didn't know him back then, he wasn't like me, he never was. He was softer, kinder. He always had a better soul than me, Half or not. Prophesy or not. If anyone was going to become truly good, a light, it should have been him. He deserves it more.

I decided to let it drop. Changing to a question I had pondered many nights as I stared at my ceiling in the Vault.

Why can't two Fallen make another? Why is a Half the highest that can be born?

I don't know, not really at least. The Book of Dust just says it isn't allowed, Heaven has promised it. Here, see for yourself.

His lips quirked up minutely as my Gift shifted in my mind at his invitation, rolling over restlessly. I let it focus on James, on his mind and his alone, reveling in the familiar feel of him, the electricity that ebbed and spiked, but was always there, running through my veins whenever he was near. I closed my eyes and relaxed back into my seat.

» ✦ «

I was in a grand room, clearly James' father's house, back when he was a child. I could see a thick book in his hands, my hands, as I looked at the world through my Pair's navy eyes, through his memory.

He was lounging in an oversized chair, near a fire, and I could feel his pleasure in the stretch of his long limbs, his enjoyment in his lazy afternoon, like a cat curled up in its favorite sunny spot purring contentedly. His peace felt strange, it wasn't connected to anything, anyone, just a fleeting feeling of warmth and relative comfort, complete but momentary, shallow. Meaningless.

He was quickly reading, scanning each page before flipping to the next one, speed reading more for a memorization drill than anything else. He paused when he got to a page with the depiction of an infant with dark eyes and needled teeth, surrounded by others in shrouded cloaks. He read the passage out loud, closing his eyes for certain lines as he practiced recalling the words, mumbling them quietly.

"Just as Angels cannot multiply by laying with another in Heaven, so they cannot on Earth. Breeding among Fallen is forbidden and any product unviable, struck down by Heaven before its first breath. The expelled numbers will dwindle, their strength will dilute, each death unable to be replaced by new life without mixed parentage and weakened blood. This is Heaven's gift to Earth, so that it may not be overrun by our lost. As it is in Heaven, so it must be on Earth."

The young James peeked one eye open to check the passage and make sure he had recited it correctly. A self-satisfied smirk crossed his face as he realized he had. He snapped the book closed and rolled his head toward the door, watching it, waiting for something he had sensed.

A moment later the door swung open and a young Malachi walked in, though he looked different by more than just the years. He had deep brown hair that suited him and complemented his pale yellow eyes. He held his face in a more pleasant way, an ever-present crooked smile on it, but more like a cocky soldier's than a predator's.

He crossed the room swiftly, silently, and sat on the floor with his back against James' chair in an oddly familiar way, actively seeking proximity to James instead of sitting across the rug in the empty chair. He watched the fire for a moment, soaking up the heat like James was. But then he laid his head back onto the chair's seat next to James' leg and looked up at him, me. That was when I first smelled the blood, when I saw it just barely coming through Malachi's shirt at the shoulders, lines of it disappearing down his back where he leaned against the chair, staining the pretty fabric.

"Your father wants you. He's cross."

Malachi's rumbling voice was so similar to now, it took me back, so starkly contrasting his pretty features and youth. But James merely closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and swung his legs from the armrest, standing without disturbing where Malachi had laid his head. James dropped the Book of Dust in his lap and began to leave. But Malachi's voice halted him.

"I'll be here after he's finished. I can heal your back if you want."

James turned his face just enough to look at Malachi, and I felt his lip curl in disgust as he dropped his eyes before sweeping them back up his old partner in clear contempt.

"I'll survive without your weak little heals. I'm not quite so delicate as you."

James' voice matched his look, condescending and biting, showing his lack of respect for Malachi with each syllable. It wasn't the voice of my leader, it was the voice of our enemies, a Half without compassion or empathy inside of him. It made a shiver brush up my spine.

Malachi sneered back, his face hardening before he returned his golden eyes to the fire and flipped open the book without looking at it.

James left the room and the image began to blur, but I dug in, trying to hold the thought a little longer, see a little more. I could feel James' dread with each step as he got closer and closer to his father's quarters, but his gate never faltered. I saw his hands, my hands in his vision, reach for a pair of tall, glossy double doors, but there was no shake to them even as I felt fear growing in my Pair's mind. And then the doors swung open and James' voice broke the silence in the cavernous room.

"You wanted me?"

His voice sounded haughty, like he was annoyed he had to go to his father. But I knew it was an act to cover any tremble, just like he had been harsh with Malachi's offer to cover any weakness, any dependence or connection to another.

My vision blurred again, and I knew James, the one in the real world, the one next to me in the SUV on our way to the Vault, was trying to pull me out, to not let me see what his father was about to do to him. But I held the vision, pushing my Gift to see more, to not retreat, not yet.

The James in my vision turned to close the doors, and then a fiery pain split through his back, running down it like ice and flames interwoven. It was a whip, electrum, it must have been by how easily it sliced his skin. I felt myself tense even in the real world as I realized that was what I had seen on Malachi's back, and that more were coming. But James merely gritted his teeth and finished closing the doors, leaving his palms pressed to the wood as he braced against it just in time for the second razored strike to land.

I came out of the vision staring out the window, my back aching, my hands held in tight fists in my lap, my eyes burning. I blinked to try to soothe their fire, I didn't dare look at James...or in the backseat.

Well, here we are with a little more information. Not only did we need a flashback with my young dear Malachi - we needed to know why 'Half' is the best the Collector [or any Fallen] can do in their...well, collections.

Interesting, no? And when have I ever made a chapter without a reason? Of course, I've also never written and posted in quick succession like this. So, maybe these chapters are all fillers and fluff and will be edited out in the future...or maybe there is more in every word and scene than you yet know.

Guess you'll just have to keep waiting and reading to see ;)

Enjoy
T