“Hey man, you won’t kill me out here, right? I’m already late to opening my shop for the day,” I call out, getting goosebumps. He abruptly halts before reaching a small creek. At this point, we're within reaching distance of each other, enveloped by mossy trees, fallen leaves, and large rocks. Standing only a tad taller than me, he slowly turns around, and his golden eyes ensnare me. When he looks at me from this close, it feels as though he’s peering straight into my soul, seeing every choice I’ve ever made, goodandbad. Suddenly, I feel lightheaded, and the green-hued forest is spinning, losing its color as it spirals. It’s taking strength not to faint, and I don’t quite understand why.
“I’ve been told my looks can be blinding.” He flashes a tantalizing smile. I strain to keep my eyes open, and then he blinks, breaking our intense stare. As he does, his eyes fade from gold to hazel. In an instant, the world stops spinning, I can stand up straight again and no longer feel like I’m going to pass out.
What. The. Actual.Hell.Is. Going. On.
“Hey, Jasper,” he reaches out his hand, presumably to shake mine. “I’m Kai.”
Eight
Jasper
While recovering from the mind-warp, I gaze at his hand in a daze, hesitating to move a single muscle under his watchful eye. I don’t feel inclined to trustKai, let alone shake his hand while alone in the forest, after the sensation I experienced seconds earlier. He catches my drift and pulls his hand away, shrugging. “Suit yourself, buddy.”
Buddy?Absolutely not.
“Look, Kai, I followed you out here thinking we would talk, man-to-man, about Iris. I didn’t expect to be nearly blinded, so pleaseforgive meif I’m not ready to bebuddies,” I say, looking into his eyes pointedly. I’ve never been one to cower away froma challenge—especially if that challenge comes in the form of an overconfident guy who may or may not have superpowers.Ohshit, am I losing it?
He chuckles and motions toward a massive gray stone perched on the creekside.
“Understood—let’s start fresh. You’re going to want to sit down.” He eyes the stone. I look at the time, seeing I’m already thirty minutes late to opening the shop. At this point, I’m too dumbfounded to leave this conversation, so I prop myself up against the stone.
“So, want to start by telling me what that was all about? Is the golden eye thing a magic trick?” He rakes his fingers through his golden brown hair and sighs as ifI’mthe unreasonable one here.
“Before we get into that, I need to divulge more important information, Jasper. I’ve never been one to beat around the bush, so I’m just going to say it: Iris is essential to me. Her safety is my utmost priority. Everything I do, I do for her.” He picks up a silver pebble, tossing it into the creek. I watch it skip a couple of times before it plunders into the clear mountain water.
“I understand, man. I can tell she means a lot to you. I don’t know if she’s told you, but she and I are just working together from a business standpoint, so there really isn’t anything for you to worry about—”
“Excuse me?” Kai interrupts. “What are you suggesting?”
“Well, I’m just saying you don’t need to worry about me pursuing her. We’re all good here,” I assure him, feeling uncomfortable about this entire situation. Suddenly, Kai bursts out into an obnoxiously loud roar of laughter. He’s laughing so hard that it transitions into a faint wheeze while I feel thoroughly confused.
He grins, looking down at his feet and shaking his head. “Dude, Iris and I aren’t together. I’m not her partner. I’m herguardian.” Strange. They seem close to the same age which is uncommon for guardian-child relationships.
“Oh… how does that work?”
“Alright, we’re going to go all in now. You sure you don’t want to sit down?” He waits. “Okay, fine, here we go. I’m dead. Well, not quite dead I suppose, seeing as I’m here, having this conversation with you. But I can assure you, I died, and at this moment, I’m not alive either. I don’t like using the termangel, but if that helps make it easier to understand, just think of me as a guardian angel, I guess. Although, I denounce the second part of that.”
He can't be serious. Wait, is he serious? I expect him to admit he's joking, but he stares at me with a serious expression instead. My mind is whirling, but not from an eye-piercing gaze this time.
Ah,fuck. Is this it? Is this my breaking point? I really must be losing my damn mind.I mean, throughout my childhood, my mother often talked about angels. Our family is not particularly religious, but she firmly believes in angels. She would’ve fainted upon hearing the words I just heard. Quite frankly, I’m surprised I haven’t fainted yet.
“I’m sorry, didn’t you say earlier, ‘I’m not one to beat around the bush,’ and then you proceeded to do exactly that? Why didn’t you start with this?”
“I didn’t know if you’d believe me,” he admits. “I’ll be honest. You’re the first living mortal being who’s ever been able to see me, so I’m not used to talking about this.”
Truthfully, I don’t have the slightest clue what to believe. As someone who’s always relied on numbers and logic, this defies all reason. But logic can’t explain the mind-warping number he performed on me earlier by simply staring into my eyes. How is this possible? Why on Earth can I see him?Why me?
“So, no one else can see you?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Great. Well, I need to get to my shop right now, I should’ve been there an hour ago.” I turn around and begin trudging back to my car, crunching leaves with every step. He catches up instantly, keeping in step with me.
“You just found out guardians exist, and you are worried about being late for work?” he questions me. He’s got a point, but I’m just going through the motions right now, hoping my mind can make better sense of this later. Maybe I’m in shock. Who knows. “Okay, that’s fine! I don’t actually have to be next to Iris 24/7 to guard her anyway; as you may have noticed, guardians have special abilities. Earlier, I actually used my soulsight on you. I also share an unbreakable tether with her. If she is severely distressed, I feel it in my gut, and I can teleport to wherever she is.”
As you may have noticed.I scoff. I couldn’t have ignored the soulseeing madness from earlier, even if I wanted to. We reach my car, and I settle inside, turning the key in the ignition and taking a deep breath to steady my nerves. As I grip the steering wheel, I realize I have chills. It’s not every day someone peers into your soul and you find out guardian angels are real. Kai appears in the passenger seat beside me without having to open the car door himself. I eye him. “So, you’re connected to Iris as her guardian. What does your job description entail, exactly?”
“Eh, it’s pretty stereotypical, honestly. I protect her from harm, lift her up when she’s down, you know. The types of things you’d expect a guardian to do,” he says in a nonchalant manner as if he didn’t just turn my entire world upside down in a single conversation.
