I was in far too good of a mood for him to take away my humor this morning, so I pressed on with a smirk. “Okay, bud. Whatever you say.”
He let out a growl as we approached Noah’s porch. “Try to forget that word from your internal dictionary before I retrieve you for training.”
I hopped up the steps, turning around once on the platform to wave at him as he left. “Bye, bud! Have a good day!”
He raised his thick middle finger up at me, not bothering to respond with words as he disappeared.
A shit-eating grin covered my face as I heard the door creak open, revealing Noah who had a steaming cup of what I assumed was his renowned green tea.
“Good morning, Kieran,” he greeted with a nod. “Please make yourself comfortable inside at my desk.”
I passed him by, heading inside with a greeting in return, making sure to deposit my shoes at the front before heading back to his desk with my coffee in hand. We both settled into our seats before he began.
“I want to thank you for having patience over the past week since we first met. I know that this must have been incredibly hard on you, but today I wanted to start your studies on dead affinities, to acquaint you with the knowledge of why they are in fact considered so extremely rare, and so you can learn abouteach. I’m hoping this will help satiate your thirst for information right now.”
My face fell, the spark of excitement in my chest that I’d be told what my affinity was this morning completely sputtering out.
My voice was soft as I questioned, “So are you still not able to tell me?”
He reached out, placing his calloused and bony hand on mine. “I promise it’s coming very soon. I’m just awaiting approval for a meeting with the council. It should come through any day now.”
I stared at the top of his desk, lost in my thoughts as his words only heaped on more confusion. Why was a council meeting needed for my affinity to be explained to me? Why couldn’t he tell me before them, or did they already know?
“Kieran,” he said gently, pulling my sullen gaze up to his. “What I can tell you is that your affinity is a prized one, with the last of your kind having left this world many centuries ago. We’ve desperately needed you to appear. So please know that you have a place in this world, and a lot to offer it, okay?”
I wasn’t sure if it was the constant swing of my mood in regards to finding out about my affinity, or the way he knew exactly what I needed to hear, but my eyes burned with the unshed tears that suddenly sprung to the surface. All I could do was offer him a nod as I wiped the tears that began streaming down my cheeks.
“Now,” he said as he pulled his hand back and rose to retrieve a leather-bound book down from his shelves, “I could bore you with lessons on the dead affinities, but I’ll give you a quick summary before letting you have free rein on reading about all of the known ones written in this book.”
My voice was shaky as I agreed, “Okay, that sounds good.”
Having something to focus on was what I needed to stem the tears, turning my attention to the fact that I would still learn something new today. I’d never even heard of a dead affinity prior to Gabe blurting about it back in Alfemir, so my interest on the subject as a whole was high. He’d also said I could read through the book. Perhaps I could find my affinity for myself there.
I eyed the top of the book, realizing it wasn’t the same one he had out on our first day together. I still had hope that I might be able to find my affinity, keeping in mind the test he had put me through.
“I’m sure you’re aware of the tight grip that the government in Alfemir has on the populace, but not many know the true history of our people. The history has been shared and passed down in the Rebellion from generation to generation, keeping it alive.”
Shock radiated through me.The history of our people?What was he talking about?
“It is true that all angels in Alfemir are born with a divine light shining down on them, giving us our wings and abilities,” he explained, causing me to nod along to what I already knew. “Long ago, a powerful group of angels formed a rebellion, wanting to challenge the divine. They were tired of the confines placed on them and wanted the freedom to do as they wanted, whether it be in Alfemir, Heaven, Hell, or with the humans on Earth.”
I felt my brows inching higher and higher on my forehead with every word.
“The depth of their abilities made it a bloody, long war between the angels who stood behind that rebellion and the ones who wanted to protect the sanctity of what Alfemir stood for. Thousands were killed on both sides. While this current rebellion doesn’t stand for the same things as the one in ourhistory, we condemn what happened in the aftermath of the war. It’s because of those actions that our own rebellion was born.”
I barely breathed, waiting on pins and needles for more information.
“Not only was the rebellion wiped out, but the government in Alfemir decided it was essential to wipe out all affinity holders that were the same as the leaders of the Rebellion. They came to a unanimous decision that it was too risky to allow those angels to live, due to the might the affinities had together.” He tapped his finger to the top of the book between us. “Any angel who had an affinity that’s found in this book was killed, no matter what side of the war they were on or how high up they were in power. They left one Mind Wipe affinity wielder alive and ordered all citizens to line up to have their memories of the war wiped from their minds, save for the entrusted higher ups, and then they slaughtered the wielder. To this day, anyone who shows signs of these dead affinities are killed.”
I stared at him for a few silent minutes as my stomach churned with bile. So many people were killed, simply because of what they were born to be? The realization that I…I would have been killed if my powers had manifested in Alfemir was sickening.
“Gabe…” I muttered, clicking the pieces together. “He faked his death so he could fall.”
Noah nodded, a grim expression on his face. “Myself and another instructor who conducted affinity placements routinely back then knew of our history. We were the only two with access into the preservation room in the library, and naturally we read the texts in there. We tried our best to keep an eye on any students who presented with possible facets of a dead affinity. While we have been able to save a few, not many would listen to us and take the action needed to leave. It is a hefty ask, toleave your home and family behind without an explanation or goodbye. Many can’t bring themselves to do it.”
My heart shattered and a single tear fell down my cheek. “With all of the time that has passed, who is now entrusted to know about this history in order to carry out these murders?”
“The Archangels.”
