The Impact (Book II)

Tensions

Chop, chop, chop.

"Mel, you can't keep ignoring me like this."

Chop, chop.

"It was the best solution I could think of, given the circumstances."

My chops grew sharper and faster against the plastic cutting board where I stood, slicing up tomatoes for the salad. I was gritting my teeth as Will stood behind me, trying to get me to talk to him.

"Would you have preferred if I let Luke take Keith?" he asked rhetorically, his tone beginning to grow as sharp as the knife in my hand.

The blade sank into the flesh of my thumb. Hissing, I stuck the digit in my mouth before going to the sink and turning the cool water on. I placed my finger under the stream, still dutifully ignoring my husband.

It had been three days since Keith's Adsecula made his presence known. Each afternoon, Luke stopped by and each time I placed myself in front of Keith's door, though the Angel of Death made no attempts to go upstairs. He liked to stand nearby and glower at me. Once, I feared him, but I had still been a girl. He no longer held the power of fear over me.

"Mel, you've done this before and you always crack around the three-day mark," Will said as I shut the sink off. The bleeding had mostly stopped but I had a piece of skin barely hanging onto my thumb.

Only Zach agreed with Will. Emily leaned more toward my side but, ever the peacemaker, wanted out of the whole thing and Cole was staunchly standing beside me in ignoring his father and added Zach to his list as well. And Keith...

Keith kept himself in his room, refusing to come out. He hadn't been going to school—not that I would have permitted him to go given his unstable condition currently—and he wouldn't eat much. The only time he left his room was to go to the bathroom. I tried a couple of times to coax him out but he was being obstinate about his self-imposed exile.

I finished chopping the remaining tomatoes and dropped a handful into each salad bowl with the cucumbers, celery, lettuce, and black olives. Will was practically breathing down my neck as I went around the kitchen. Emily set the table for me and got the rest of the family from upstairs for dinner.

To everyone's surprise, Keith came down, clutching his teddy bear like a lifeline. He looked exhausted and his clothes were wrinkled. Cole and Emily kept their heads bowed as they ate while Keith timidly took his seat and pushed his tomatoes around. He didn't like any dressing on his salad.

It was mostly quiet during dinner until Zach dropped his fork on his plate. "I don't get why we have to sit at the same table as Demon Spawn over there. He's dangerous."

"Zach. That's enough" My voice was soft, but heavy with warning. He met my gaze defiantly, much to my surprise. He usually backed down.

"No, Ma. You may be blinded by it, but we can smell it. He is an abomination and in the end, he'll turn on us." At "we," he indicated himself, Will, Emily, and Cole.

My stomach twisted itself into a pretzel as heat flushed my cheeks. Cole's mouth downturned severely and he snapped "Do not lump me in with you."

Emily gaped and ducked her head down further and Will straightened up, his grip around his fork growing tighter. Keith slumped in his seat, his shoulders bunched around his throat. I watched him out of my periphery as I replied, "You mean angels. In case you have forgotten, Zachary, but I am a demon. Don't you think I would know better than any of you how close he was to losing himself?"

"You aren't above protecting your own. You're going against Dad's wishes; if he was having his way Keith would be dead and out of our hair!" Zach snarled.