Angel lounged on the opposite end of the couch, eating chips and dip, as Kismet smiled and laughed with Nyx. What a rare sight her smile was. It was dazzling in that endearing way she had. Kismet curled up on the far end of the sofa with the folded blankets, her feet tucked up under her. The soft evening sun cast her round face in a golden glow. When Kismet came back, he'd become aware of how scared he'd been to lose her, that she'd be gone as quickly as she'd come and they'd be left with only her letter.

Nyx sipped her coffee, curled up tighter under her blanket, and nestled into the armchair. Her pink hair was ruffled, still clumped from sea salt and sand even though she'd washed it that morning. A pair of large white sunglasses concealed her eyes.

"I think I might be dying," she groaned, bringing the mug to her lips for a careful sip. "I'm starting to remember why I stopped doing this."

"Doing what? Having fun?" Angel teased. "I can see why. You're crippled by a good time."

"I'm on my deathbed and this is how you speak to me?"

"I say it with love."

Alistair had come over to celebrate with them, and squashed onto the couch between Angel and Kismet. Since hearing of Cassie and Blossom's departure, he had fallen into melancholy.

"You seem more upset by Blossom going than Cassie," Nyx teased. "Why don't you tell her how you feel already?"

"What good will that do?" Alistair slumped on the sofa, his long legs sprawled out. He pushed his blond hair out of his eyes. "She's leaving regardless, and it's not like I wanna stop her. They both seem so happy and excited about it."

"Maybe you could go with them?" Kismet suggested.

Alistair laughed. "Cass would love that."

"She'd let you if that's what Blossom wanted," said Nyx. "She asked me to go, so I don't think she'd care that much."

"Wait, what?" The thought of Nyx leaving struck ice into Angel's veins.

"Simmer. I'm not going, obviously," Nyx assured him.

"You can if you want," he grumbled.

"Ok, here we go," she rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't want to or else I would have."

"I'd go if I were you Alice," said Kismet. "If you love someone, you gotta follow them."

"Like a stalker?" he laughed.

"No," she said, flushing. "If they love you back, it's ok."

Alistair poked her in the side. "You're such a romantic Kizzy. Well, I dunno if she loves me back. What do you think? You're the mind reader."

"Good luck, she's a steel trap, that one," said Angel.

Kismet looked away. He noticed how she fidgeted with the ends of her sweater sleeves. Her energy cinched closer to her body.

A loud knock, more like a thump, at the door interrupted their conversation. Nyx frowned and squirmed out of the armchair to answer it.

"Was Cass going to stop by or something?" she asked Alistair, heading for the door.

"Fuck if I know," he shrugged and lit another cigarette.

"Is Angel here?"

Angelus recognized his father's voice and tensed, feeling like he was fourteen again and out past curfew. Alistair spared him a sympathetic glance, but Kismet's energy shifted, spinning faster into a panic.

"Yep," he said and got up and went to the door and Nyx stepped back to make space. "I'm here."

They hadn't spoken since Julian yelled at him a month ago. Angel had hoped to keep it that way for a bit longer. A cigarette dangled from Julian's mouth and his eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot. At first Angel assumed it was liquor related, but then thought maybe he had been crying and wondered why.

Julian exhaled smoke, gripping the cigarette between two shaking fingers. "Can I talk to you a minute, Kid?"

"What did I do?" Angel asked, stepping out onto the porch, and clicked the door shut behind himself. The evening wind was warm. A crow called somewhere in the distance while moths already danced around the porchlight. Crickets sang in the tall grass and one of the neighbors was barbequing. The scent of cooking meat hung in the air.

"You didn't do anything," Julian sighed and leaned against the railing. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long while."

The quiver in his voice made sweat form on the palms of Angel's hands. He'd never seen his father quite so shaken before and was nearly tempted to comfort him, but didn't.

Julian sat on the porch steps and gestured for Angel to join him. For a moment, Angel froze, he didn't want to go, but he didn't dare say no, so he squeezed in next to him. They were shoulder to shoulder, uncomfortably close. The sour tang of beer was on his breath. Julian chipped out his cigarette and sighed, deep and heavy.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"I knew something was up after Timmy told everyone you died," he began, "but I didn't want to dig. I didn't want to look too closely so I wouldn't have to believe it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You really did die, didn't you?" Julian locked eyes with him. It was less of a question and more a statement.

"Uh -" Angel stammered, unsure how to respond. His heart pounded until his temples throbbed.

"It's ok. I know," said Julian.

"Did Kismet -"

"No," said Julian. "I was much harder on her than I should have been. She hasn't said a word. She didn't have to."

"Then how?" He wanted to be sick, and gripped the edge of the porch step. Angel's fingernails sunk into the soft wood.

"Did I tell you how Ember died?"

"No?" Angel frowned, unsure what that had to do with anything. He'd asked what happened to his mother many times, only to receive silence at best or a slap at worst.

Why would Julian choose now to answer?

"We were almost here," said Julian, his voice cracking. "We almost made it to the island, but she couldn't wait. She just had to see it for herself. We were supposed to meet up with Aiden in the morning. At that time, he was using his portals to smuggle mutants over. That's how we met." He swallowed. "That night, Ember tried to fly to see the island. It was like a myth to us. We spent years trying to find it, unsure if it even existed, but it gave us something to hope for. She was caught almost immediately."

Angel's heart twisted. "Did the Watchers kill her?"

"No. They took her to The Academy." Julian wouldn't look at him, examining the ground instead. His hands balled into fists. Electricity buzzed about him like a fallen powerline. "That's where she met Ivy."

"What?" Angel's heart was pounding so loud now he could hardly hear himself think.

"She was there for a year, and in that time, I guess they got to know each other." Julian wiped his eye with a knuckle. "I heard this all from Ivy herself sometime shortly after The Academy fell and the war began."

Angel blinked, trying to digest the information.

"So far as I understand, Ivy was not as we know her to be today. From all accounts, she was a quiet girl. At some point after being promoted to Watcher, they put Ember in the basement lab for one reason or another. Who knows. As the stories go, any infraction could get you put down there. Ivy thought she was dead, but when she found out Ember was being kept alive - some guard let it slip I guess - that's when she killed Derek Vaughn, the original headmaster. Ivy destroyed The Academy to get Ember out, then started the uprising from there."

Angel wanted to run, pretend like he hadn't heard a word of this, but he had no choice except to listen. He'd longed for answers. Now he'd do anything to take it all back.

Julian tried to put his arm around Angel's shoulders but he moved away.

"Don't fucking touch me," he growled. The heat of rage flared in his chest. "You fucking knew and wouldn't -"

"Please let me finish," said Julian, letting his arm flop to his side. "You'll be free to yell at me all you want when I'm done."

Angel grit his teeth, clenching his hands into fists. Every muscle in his body tightened, wanting to run, but fully fixed him in place. The heat built inside him with nowhere to go. His breath rasped quick and ragged in his ears.

"When Ivy found Ember in the basement, she was barely alive. They had been doing experiments on her continuously for months. Though Ivy was able to heal her physically, I'm sure it must have been awful." He wiped another tear, still looking at the ground. "They found you as they were leaving."

Angel's eyes widened. "Me?" He shot up from the step to glare down at the man he once thought to be his father. "How? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"They had taken some of Ember's DNA to make embryos. They were going to do something with them, but she didn't know what. The scientists called it Operation Pomegranate. Everything they did to her was because of this project. When Ember escaped, she and Ivy found you in some type of synthetic egg. Ember wouldn't leave without you. You have to know that." Finally, Julian looked at Angel, his eyes swimming with tears.

The pain in Angel's chest twisted and rotted rage into a bitter hatred. It was like acid in his lungs, permeating every cell of his being.

"Like that fucking matters now," Angel snapped, tears streaming down his face. He pictured his poor mother, even younger than he was now, alone and scared in a laboratory basement.

Did any of them try to get her back? Or did they write her off the minute she was taken?

There was nothing five teenagers could have done to rescue Ember from The Academy, but his rage was far from logical.

"After Ivy staged her coup, the two of them tried to bring you to the island. I don't know details, but Ember died in a battle along the way. Ivy insisted this is where you belong."

"So you took me in?" Angel asked. "Wow, what a hero. A saint, you are."

"Angel please -"

"How did I get my powers then?" he demanded, already knowing the answer. It gnawed at the base of his heart.

"Angel," Julian said with a hard look. "They must have been doing all sorts of experiments. Who knows what they did."

"Did they combine me with Ivy somehow?"

Julian shrugged, but his eyes were sympathetic. "I mean, it's possible. I don't know the ins and outs of it. Ivy had no idea. It wasn't until you survived that fight with Carl a month ago that I began to suspect -"

"And you still said nothing?" Angel exclaimed. "I was out here going crazy wondering what was happening to me and you still kept your fucking mouth shut. In fact, you yelled at me -"

Julian got to his feet, to stand toe-to-toe, glaring up at him, and jabbed a finger toward his chest. "You're still my son -"

Angelus stood his ground and glared at him. The fire inside consumed everything in its path until he was certain there would be nothing left of him but ash.

"I've never been your son a day in my life and you never let me forget it."

"Angel -"

"Who else knew?" He couldn't help it and laughed, tossing his hands into the air. "Of course, it would have to be everyone wouldn't it?" He ticked them off on his fingers. "Daisy, Aiden, Molly and Jay. You were all in on it this whole fucking time and not a single one of you said a word."

"I asked them not to. Don't be mad at them, they promised, and to their credit each of them, especially Daisy, nagged me to tell you every step of the way, but there was a chance you'd go your whole life never needing to know this. Why would I want to cause you so much pain?"

"This explains why you hate me so much."

Now I finally know what's wrong with me, why something's been missing all these years. I was cooked up in some lab for who knows what reason. Maybe I was made wrong right from the start.

"After Ember was taken I just wanted to grieve in peace. I wanted to finally have a life, or at least try to have the one we'd planned, and you were so hard to handle. You wouldn't give me a minute's rest. Do you have any idea how hard that was for me?" Julian's face turned red under his thick beard. "I didn't know what to do with you. Ivy just tossed you at me and I never wanted -" his eyes widened as he realized what he had said. and he attempted to back peddle, but it was too late.

Blinded by tears and throbbing rage, Angel turned on his heels and marched across the lawn. His flesh burned. Even with his shirt now stripped off and the cool wind against his skin, the heat consumed him from the inside out. His wings emerged, whipping up the air. Angel jumped and was airborne. He flew off, uncertain where he was going, but it didn't matter.