Golden Keeper Ch. 12

Epilogue: Lost Angel

She slid her hand through his, holding onto him tightly. The sun warmed her skin, and slight breeze cooled her down. Her wings rustled.

"So what did he say?"

He meant her father. She'd asked him about the time differences between here and wherever the hell she was before. "He's never been to where Petiro lives. But he said that, wherever it is, it's not in the human realm, so time is just… different… like it is with the immortals watching over us." May tilted her head up to stare at the clouds in wonder.

They strolled slowly, without rush, to the Hall where most could be found hanging outside on beautiful days like this one.

May giggled.

"What is it?" Grant asked her, looking at her curiously.

"Remember when you tried to hug her?"

He didn't need to ask who. A few weeks earlier, when he'd just met Ana, he tried to hug her. It was a welcoming gesture. Unfortunately for the furniture, it wasn't so welcoming to her. Grant was just grateful Charamaine knew to put a shield up in time…

He sighed. "I had no idea…"

She giggled again. "I know. You're face was hilarious, though." She draped her left arm around his back as they walked, and he rested his arm around her shoulders.

They neared the Hall, and they could hear her singing.

May sighed this time. "How lovely."

Grant nodded, still not used to the magical sounds. Ana couldn't talk aloud, but boy could she sing. Granted it wasn't actual words, just notes… but still.

Her voice could go from chilling to inspiring to warm in a matter of seconds. Today, as she sat perched in a tree branch, Emmett sitting near her, her song was fed by the sunshine that simmered down on her. It was happy, and it made everyone subconsciously gravitate towards the source of such amazingly pleasurable sounds.

When Ana spotted Charamaine, she leapt agilely from the low branch and ran to May's side. She smiled happily and pressed her hand to May's. She was getting a little better with human contact…

That was beautiful, Ana, May told her.

Thanks! Emmett was humming along with me.

May smiled at her, glad she'd made new friends with the others here.

Hey, May, guess what day it is today.

May looked at her, confused. Uhm, it's Wednesday, right?

Yeap. But today is my Birthday.

Oh! May's eyebrows rose. And how old are we today?

Thirty—maybe.

Silence.

Thirty? What…

Yeah, I'm small, Ana pouted.

She doesn't look a day older than eighteen, May thought to herself; then to Ana, No, no. That's not it at all… I just… then something else occurred to her. How long had you been there?

Ana shivered under the warm sun. I'm not sure. Time is slow there; I age very, very slowly now. Hence… She gestured to her petite form. So I'm going to say that I've been there since I was about seventeen or so… in human years, that is.

May was too shocked to say anything. They moved to sit at one of the nearby picnic benches, but May couldn't even move her legs.

Baby, what is it? It was Grant this time.

She struggled to think. She's practically thirty, Grant. Ana turns thirty today. Thirty! She stressed again as she sat. She's older than I am! And I treated her like a child…

Wait. What? No… she's… she's tiny.

She'd been there since she was seventeen years old! That's what she told me.

May could feel the waves of barely-contained fury roll through her beloved. Ana had become like daughter to him.

We'll talk about it later. She interrupted whatever he was about to think next. What are we going to do for her Birthday, though?

Right as she said that, Orion walked up to them, cheerful as ever. "Afternoon, all."

Grant nodded, deep in though. May and Ana smiled at him.

He grinned. "Happy Birthday." He bent down to kiss her cheek.

May's eyes widened and Grant reached out a hand, too late.

Orion's chaste kiss lingered for a second then he stood back up, still grinning. He was oblivious to their reaction. After all, no one else knew what was about to happen…

Should've happened…

But nothing happened.

Orion just stood there smiling down at Ana, who was in too much shock to be embarrassed by the blush that had spread across her cheeks.

However, when the silence stretched, Orion realized there was something he wasn't getting. "Uhm," he started awkwardly.

May cleared her head quickly. "What's doing?"

Orion raised an eyebrow, but followed her conversation. "I'd just come to see your wing."

She nodded and let them unfold into their plane. Since her powers… manifested… her wings had turned white. Except for one part: where her uncle, Petiro, blasted something dark at her and it hit her shoulder. So now her left wing starts out black but fades quickly to white within an inch or two. It was peculiar, to say the least.

Orion looked over it thoughtfully. He hadn't had a chance to see it, yet. "You know what this means," he said after a moment of intense inspection.

Charamaine just looked up at him.

He grinned. "Right. Well, it means you've still got a little tainted bit left in you."

She frowned. "So I'm part evil?"

Orion chuckled. "Not really, no. But whatever you were hit with was never expelled from your body. It won't really change how you act or feel… it just looks wicked." He joked, winking.

May rolled her eyes, then smiled up at him. "Thanks, genius-boy."

"How did you know it was my birthday?"

The question was unexpected. Not because of what it was, but because of who it came from.

Anyone near stopped and stared — werewolves had good hearing — at Ana. Everyone was so surprised — no one but May had even heard what her voice sounded like in their mind. They all knew she couldn't talk, at least, not before.

"Orion?"

Her voice was a refreshing. It was smooth with a lilt of soprano.

She waited for an answer.

Then she realized that she'd spoken out loud.

"Holy cr—" She slapped her hand over her mouth.

Eyes flickered from her to Orion and back again. No one knew how this was happening.

Orion was the only one relaxed. He just put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. He smiled down at her.

Completely and wholesomely confused, Ana blushed again.