My Fallen Angel

Chapter 5

"First off, you should already know that we aren't mortal," said Suga in a monotone voice.

I stared at him. "I know that now, thanks," I said sarcastically. "So what are you?"

"We are Guardian Angels," he replied simply. "There are seven of us born every century. We are born with divine powers to exorcise demons, protect mortals, and keep them from finding evidence of the world they could never understand. But I guess being born isn't really accurate, we kind of just... appear, and then we are drawn to our brothers and gather together to achieve our purpose. For the past ten years or so, we've made our home in Rome, where the demonic activity is greatest."

My eyes widened. "You're angels?"

Taehyung nodded in response, then with a dramatic whoosh, a pair of pearly white wings materialized behind him, spreading wide and tucking back in, before vanishing again. I gaped at him. 

"But then... am I an angel too?" I asked, confused about how I fit into the equation.

"No, as Jungkook told you before, you are what we call Blessed," said Suga. "That means that you are one of the chosen mortals born with the ability to heal wounds and to purify demons."

"Excuse me, what?" I blurted.

"We Angels are better built for combat, but we need someone with divine power to heal us and to help us either purify the low-level demons, or to help incapacitate the more dangerous ones for us to wipe them from existence," Taehyung clarified for me calmly, though I could tell he was not thrilled to be telling me this. "That's why you weren't hurt when you fell from the window. After you met Jungkook, your divine powers awakened. Congratulations, you're basically unkillable now."

My jaw dropped. My mind raced, trying to absorb all of this information. It was insane. It couldn't be true. And yet... in my heart, I knew that it was. I looked at Jungkook, who was watching me with concern. "Then, when I met you in the restaurant, did you know?"

He nodded. "As soon as I saw you, I sensed it. I meant to take you home and find out if you knew what you were, but then..." he shrugged, "we almost died. Somehow, when I leaned over you to shield us, I think you lent me some of that power and we ended up the only place I could think of. Here. I think that's what awakened you." 

Taehyung wasn't about to be side-tracked. "You noticed there are eight chairs here. That's because there are always seven Angels and one Blessed mortal. We don't know why, but that's just how it works. At least, it used to." His gaze fixed on Jungkook with icy hatred. "We've been trying to keep fighting with just the six of us after the last Blessed one... after she died. And he abandoned us."

Jungkook flinched. I felt strangely defensive of him, but before I could say anything, Suga spoke again. "A few years ago, Jungkook and Bianca, the Blessed one, went out to take on a demon alone, which we swore we would never do, and things went horribly wrong."

All eyes were on Jungkook, who was looking down at the table stone-faced. "Leave. Now. I want to tell her this part myself," Jungkook's voice was firm, colder than I'd ever heard it before. For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of shadow spread behind his chair like wings, but I blinked and saw nothing there at all.

Taehyung and Suga rose to their feet. "So be it," Taehyung said and left the room.

Suga followed suit, saying, "I don't want to hear this story again anyway. When you're done, you should probably go clean up your room, Jungkook. We'll talk later."

When we were alone, Jungkook grabbed my hand and ran his fingers along mine, exploring them absent-mindedly. My heart raced at the contact of the warmth of his hand. I tried not to stare at the tattoos on his fingers and muscular forearm, but failed. The clock on the mantle clicked by as seconds passed in silence. I held my tongue, knowing that he was searching for the right words for his story.