Angel Evolution by David Estes Read Free Book Online

awestruck. His tight t-shirt clung to his well-toned muscles like a second skin. It looked natural, like he was born that way, not like her brother’s obvious weight-lifting and protein-fabricated body. His glow was as strong as ever and even more noticeable under the night sky.
    “Earth to Tay…,” Gabriel said, imitating Sam’s tone from earlier in the day.
    “What?” Taylor said, pretending like she had been paying attention.
    “Am I boring you, Tay? That’s the second time you’ve spaced out while in my presence.”
    “Sam’s the only one who calls me Tay,” she retorted.
    “And as I said earlier, my grandmother is the only one who calls me Gabe. So I guess that makes us even,” he said, the perfect grin returning.
    Deciding to go on the offensive, Taylor asked, “Did you go to the eye doctor today?”
    “No, why do you ask?” Gabriel said innocently.
    Taylor ignored his question and asked another. “Hmm, interesting. Then did you get hit by a radioactive meteor today?”
    “No, not today, but the day’s not over yet.” He continued smiling, but behind the smile she could tell that he was thinking hard, like he was trying to work something out in his head.
     

     
    Gabriel tried to keep a stone face, as if her questions were just normal get-to-know-you type questions, but in his mind he was stunned. He had never met a human that could so easily see his inner light . In one very rare case, a human with a particularly strong aura told him that he had very strange-colored skin and asked him what nationality he was. Gabriel was easily able to lie his way through that one. He was usually able to lie himself through just about anything. He was a smooth liar.
    In this case, however, Gabriel wouldn’t lie about these simple questions. He would need to lie to Taylor many times before his mission was over, and so, he figured he would start with some truth.
    “Look, Taylor, I want to answer all of your questions, but not here,” Gabriel said honestly. “Can we go for that walk I asked you for earlier?”
     

     
    Taylor looked at him intently, trying to read between the lines. Why should she trust someone she just met and barely knew, especially before he had answered any of her questions? He could be a rapist or a murderer for all she knew. But for some reason she did trust him, and although she answered hesitantly, she answered in the affirmative.
    They walked together in the direction of Center Avenue, an appropriately named street that ran directly through the center of campus. However, when they reached the road, Gabriel grabbed her hand and pulled her left, away from the heart of campus. “I want to show you something,” he said.
    “Where the hell are we going?” she asked, trying not to sound afraid, although her heart was hammering.
    “The football stadium. I was here for the summer session and I found a great spot there to think, or in our case, to talk.”
    Taylor’s heart slowed back to normal as the answer sounded reasonable and she didn’t detect a trace of a lie. After all, someone as beautiful as Gabriel couldn’t possibly be a rapist or a murderer, could he? She looked at him as they walked and he looked back, grinning again, like he could read her thoughts and found her internal conversations to be hilarious.
    She realized that he was still holding her hand as they walked along, but she didn’t try to shake it off this time. It felt wonderfully warm and seemed to give her a strange energy. She barely even noticed the silence as they walked, unspeaking. The quiet would normally bother her, causing her to babble on with meaningless small talk. For once, she didn’t.
    After several minutes, when the silence was finally broken, it was Gabriel who said, “Why do you believe that you are not special?”
    Surprised by the question, Taylor replied defensively, “How do you know that I…I mean, I don’t think I’m not…Why do you ask that?” She knew there was a bit of an edge to