The fire was dead. A plume of sizzling smoke trailed up toward the clouded sky as Angel poured another bucket of water for good measure. There were no stars. The ocean had turned black except for the rolling foam crowns on the waves.

Cassie and Blossom were already over the rocks, carrying the stereo, leaving Nyx and Angel alone on the beach.

“Ok, let’s get outta here,” she said, brushing the sand off her hands. Nyx rummaged in the tote bag for a flashlight and clicked it on. “This place gives me the creeps when it’s so dark, ya know?”

“No, I don’t know,” Angel laughed. “I can still see.”

“It’s freaky,” she said, scrunching her nose.

Nyx reached for the tote bag, but Angel took her hand instead. “Why not leave that until tomorrow and I’ll fly us back?”

“It’s gonna rain,” she said, gesturing at the sky, and then at him, “and look at ya, you’re coated in mud. You’re filthy.”

“I’ll go rinse off,” he said, turning toward the ocean, but she tightened her grip on his hand. “What?”

“What really happened at The Barn?” she asked. “You didn’t just talk to Jack and Caroline. I’m not stupid.”

The beam from her flashlight reflected in her emerald eyes as they narrowed. Her lips drew into a stern line.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I was going to bet on a fight, but I didn’t.”

“Why the sudden self-restraint?” Nyx asked.

Angel stepped back and looked away at the empty stretch of beach. His palms grew sweaty and his heart thundered at flight-speed, pulsing blood in his ears.

“Caroline’s vision showed that I fight Carl tonight and win,” Angel confessed.

The look of horror on her face only made the ball of tension in his chest tighten its depth grip around his heart, crushing his lungs until he couldn’t breath.

“It was just a vision -”

“Why would you even go there?” she snapped. “Why would you even talk to them? Especially Crazy Carrie. What could you possibly have to gain?”

“Don’t call her that,” Angel muttered, “she’s not so bad. You never gave them a chance. I wanted to catch up with them. They’re nice underneath it all.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” Nyx tossed her hands up. “They do nothing but put you in danger and throw you under the bus the first chance they get. I didn’t forget high school when you were nearly expelled because of them.”

“That was high school, we were kids -”

“They haven’t changed, and neither have you apparently.”

Nyx turned on her heel and marched up toward the rocks and he hurried after her, finally catching her elbow as they reached the street. If her eyes were daggers, she would have impaled him on the spot with the glare she flashed, yanking her arm away.

“Fuck off.”

“Nyx, please, listen to me, it was just a vision, it doesn’t have to come true.”

She rounded on him again, her eyes blazing. “If you can’t see why I’m pissed, we have bigger problems. You went there in the first place and then hid a very key detail from me. Are you starting to see why trusting you is a bit difficult?”

“I didn’t do anything,” he insisted. “I can’t help what Caroline sees. I should have told you, but i was still chewing on it, and I knew you’d react like this.”

“How else should I react when you won’t just do what I ask?”

Heat mounted in the center of his chest, throbbing like a tiny ember.

“You’re mad I’m not following orders then?” he snapped. “Is that it?”

“No, that isn’t -”

“I need a little room to breathe. I can’t make a move without getting the third degree. I can have my own life.”

Nyx fixed her eyes on his, setting her jaw. “Sure you can, but you have to decide if it has me in it. I’m not fucking doing this forever. So pick.”

The air grew heavier, pressing in at all sides. He couldn’t breath. Heaviness sunk into his chest. All the words in his mind swirled together to form static, so he opened his mouth and trusted whatever would come out of it.

“You, of course,” Angel said. “I won’t have anything to do with The Barn at all, or Jack, Caroline or Carl. I’m gonna stay with you all night to make sure, if you’ll have me? Or I can lock myself in my house, werewolf style?”

“It won’t come to that,” she said, sighing. “I wish you’d have told me sooner.”

They began the walk up the sloping hill toward Nyx’s cabin. The street lights shimmered off the mist. The fog was so thick even Angel had a hard time looking ahead.

“I should have,” he admitted. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have gone at all. I figured it would be fine so long as I didn’t fight or something, but now look.”

How hard is it to stay home? I’m an idiot. Maybe I really can’t be trusted?

They arrived at the cabin, careful to let themselves in quietly, expecting Kismet and Alistair to be fast asleep. Instead, they found Kismet sobbing on the floor with her knees tucked under her chin and a concerned, yet confused, Alistair at her side.

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Nyx rushed to her and Angel wasn’t too far behind. If she were hurt somehow he could heal her, but he didn’t see any sign of blood or other evidence of injury.

“What’s going on?” Nyx asked.

“I dunno.” Alistair shrugged.

Angel hovered over Nyx’s shoulder, squeezed in the now crowded space between the couch and coffee table. His heart pounded, lodging itself into the base of his throat, pressing underneath until swallowing was tender like a bruise. All he could smell was the tang of fear.

“Is someone dead?” he asked.

Kismet shook her head, sniffing, she peered up at them. Her hazel eyes were wide and blood-shot. The skin around them had turned pink and puffy.

“I’m a telepath,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry I lied.”

“Daisy asked her to,” Alistair explained. “She didn’t want anyone to know until the end of the council meeting.”

“So you could read my thoughts all this time?” Nyx asked, withdrawing and standing up again.

“Yes, well, no… it’s complicated,” said Kismet, her cheeks blazing red. “I can’t help it. Sometimes I can keep it out, sometimes I can’t. Daisy helped me a lot, and so did Angel.”

“What did you see in my head?” Nyx demanded.

Angel put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Take it easy, would ya?”

“I’m the only one here who had their mind read without knowing it,” Nyx snapped. “I think I can be mad, thank you.”

“Of course,” Kismet muttered, pressing the heels of her hands to the sides of her head. “You should be. It wasn’t fair, and I’m so, so sorry.”

To see Kismet even smaller and curled in on herself broke his heart. He knew exactly how crushing the weight of such a secret could be and drowning under her abilities on top of it must be agonizing.

“Look Kizzy,” Angel said, “if you hadn’t cut your finger, I very well could have been the one lying to you about my powers.”

Nyx sighed and plunked onto the couch. “I get it, but I don’t have to like it.”

“Why did Daisy want you to lie?” Angel asked.

To his horror, Kismet burst into tears, sobbing into her hands.

Alistair scooched in closer. “It’s ok, you can tell them.”

Angel frowned, but said nothing.

“Tell us what?” Nyx asked, sitting up. “What else could there be?”

“I read your mom’s mind at the barbeque,” Kismet confessed, peeking out from behind her hands. Her eyes were wild behind the wall of frizzy curls. “I saw a meeting Jay and Molly had with Julian where they talked about Angel and his resurrection. They knew. Or at least figured something happened.”

The blood drained from Angel’s face, sweeping him with a frigid chill across his body. The ember of heat flickered on in his chest, curling his hands to fists.

“Why wouldn’t they say something?” Nyx asked, frowning.

“Julian asked them not to in case it wasn’t necessary, then when Angel manifested these powers, Molly and Jay begged him to talk to Angel about it.”

“That doesn’t explain where these powers come from?” Alistair asked, getting to his feet.

Angel couldn’t look away from Kismet, but his mind was a storm.

How could they keep me in the dark like this for so long? All month, I’ve been struggling to hide my powers, not thinking I could even tell anyone…

“Something called Operation Pomegranate,” Kismet continued. “I don’t know much about it. I tried to research and found nothing. So I talked to Daisy about it and she told me. Angel, maybe you should sit down?”

“No, no, I’m fine to stand,” he said. “Go on.”

The cold, clipped tone to his voice made everyone stop and look at him.

“Really, I’m fine,” he insisted. “I want to hear the rest.”

“Umm, Angel…” Alistair said. “You should probably have a seat. You’re, um, glowing.”

“Am I?” He looked to see that Alistair was right. An azure light had enveloped the contours of his body.

It’s so strange how I can’t feel it. I can’t feel anything.

“Finish the story please,” Angel asked.

“Maybe we should go to bed,” said Nyx, reaching for his arm. He could hardly feel the pressure of her fingers tugging against his mud-streaked skin.

“Yeah,” Alistair agreed. “We can find out the rest in the morning when we’re all a bit clearer minded. It’s already been a lot to take in -”

“Kismet, please finish the story,” Angel insisted through gritted teeth.

“Ok, if you’re sure,” she said, looking to Alistair and Nyx, who nodded for her to continue.

Why does she need their permission?

Kismet told him how Ember had exposed her wings to fly, only to be captured by the Watchers and taken to The Old Academy where she would meet Ivy and be sequestered into the basement laboratory. She told of how Ivy started the war to set her free and found Angel in the process, delivering him as an egg to the island after Ember’s passing during the war.

The room spun, churning a cold nausea into his gut, while heat blazed throughout the rest of his body.

Everything is a lie. No wonder they all hated me. I was just some weird little lab experiment. They were all waiting to see how I’d turn out, give them a reason to feel the way they do and justify it. There’s nothing I ever could have done to shake that.

When Kismet finished speaking, silence echoed through the room. They looked at him, waiting to see a reaction. Their eyes were wide with anticipation, but worst of all, fear. He could only fathom what he must look like to them now. They eyed him like a bomb.

“I’m really sorry,” Kismet sobbed, hugging her knees. “Angel, please say something.”

“I’m going to go see Julian,” he said, stepping around the side of the coffee table.

Nyx hurried after him, with Alistair and Kismet right behind. They cornered him at the door, his back to the stairs. She slipped in front, blocking the door and with the other two hovering in the archway, there was no escape.

His airways pinched at the top of his chest as blood whooshed in his ears.

“Let me go,” he said with as much calm as he could muster. The rage boiling beneath the thin crust of dissociation threatened to crack through the surface.

“We both know what happens if you leave this house tonight,” she said as tears filled her eyes. “We’ll deal in the morning.”

The heat flared, pulsating a short wave of bright light.

“Nyx is right,” said Alistair. “You’ll have a clearer head after a good sleep.”

“My head is clear,” said Angel. “That’s what you all don’t seem to understand. I see everything so much better than I ever have before. Please move Nyx, I need to talk to Julian.”

She shook her head, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. “You won’t come back.”

“I will,” he said. “I’m only going to talk to Julian. I’ll stay far away from The Barn. I swear. Now, let. Me. leave.”

“Let him go,” said Kismet. She sagged against the side of the archway. “We can’t keep him if he doesn’t want to stay.”

“But -” Nyx began.

“Let him go,” Alistair sighed.

“Thank you,” said Angel, stepping for the door as soon as Nyx got out of the way.

“Don’t thank me yet,” said Alistair, boring his green eyes into Angel. “You can go if you want, it’s your choice. Rember that. I’m sorry you learned something horrible tonight, but it doesn’t have to define the rest of your life. If you don’t want to stay here and let us help you, fine. Go.”

Angel’s grip loosened on the door knob, looking back at the exhaustion on their faces.

“I’m only going to talk to Julian,” he muttered, “I’ll be back.”

He stepped outside into the night, letting the door slam at his back.