Beautiful Beings by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online

drawing?”
    “I’m really not that good.”
    “I’m not a critic,” I teased.
    “Give me a few more minutes to finish it.”
    I sat nearby, watching him with awe and envy.  How wonderful it must be to have such a peaceful pastime.  “Are you taking any art classes?”
    “Naw, my parents thought it was a waste of time.  They’d rather see me devoted to physics and science.”
    “Like them, I assume.”
    “You assume correctly.  My dad’s a physicist working on something or other in Germany and Mom’s right there with him, making sure his every move is jotted down for the great book that is supposed to come out of this.”
    “If your parents are in Germany, why are you going to school here?”
    He seemed annoyed with the question, his brow furrowing as his pencil took it out on the sheet of paper.  “They’re in Germany for a month, then it’s on to Lisbon, then somewhere in Holland, or is it Finland?  Anyway, they travel around a lot and I apparently need a stable home life.”
    “I didn’t mean to touch on such a sensitive subject.”
    Shaking his head, he glanced at me. “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to bite you for it.” 
    Again, a long and uncomfortable silence settled in for a moment. Only when I saw his jaw relax did I venture again.  “You like St. James?”
    “It’s all right.  I mean they’re a little rigid, what with their uniforms, uptight teachers and snooty kids, but I manage to hold my own.” He pulled up the collar of his leather jacket and sneered.
    “A bit of a non-conformist, I see,” I said with an amused giggle.
    Mischief glistened in his aquamarine eyes as he glanced at me.  “I take it you understand where I’m coming from.”
    “Pretty much. I never enjoyed following the parade.  I’ve always been off on my own, doing my thing… my way.”
    “My kind of girl.”
    I smiled, wondering if it was an idle compliment or a true glimpse of what he thought of me. Before an embarrassing blush divulged my thoughts, I changed the subject.  “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you told me last week.”
    “The dream about you?”
    “Yeah.  Was it really me?”
    Pressing his lips together, he shrugged.  “Not really sure.  It was a girl, that I know, and there was an incredible ray of light coming from her.  There really isn’t more to tell.”  He hesitated a moment and turned a pensive gaze to me.  “Of the dream itself, I remember little, but the feeling I had when I awoke… an urgent need to find her, to find that light.  It’s still with me and I can’t shake it.  That’s why it was so weird when you came up to me.”
    He set his pencil down and turned the pad to me. 
    “Oh,” I said with a loud guffaw.
    “Is my drawing that bad?” he teased.
    “Of course not.”  I took the pad from him and examined the sketch.  The angel was perfect, the flow of its heavenly gown, the arch of its extending wings. And the serenity of its expression, but that serene expression was transposed onto my face.
    As so often portrayed, the angel was nimble, frail, and ethereal with a fragile, childlike beauty, far from any angel I’d ever encounter.  Sam had been huge in stature, his facial expression never veering very far from the fierce warrior scowl he wore so well.  He’d been anything but frail.  And Lothario… he was the essence of masculine beauty, the epitome of strength, power and agility.
    No doubt my new guardian would be just as impressive, perhaps even more so.
    “Isn’t it funny the conception people have of angels?  The little cherub face, the gossamer gowns, the dainty wings.”  I eyed the naïve sketch with amusement.
    “Don’t forget the halo.”
    I chuckled.  “Oh, yes, and the halo.”
    “Such a contrast to the strength, power and agility required to be a true angel.”
    I shot him a quick glance as he said aloud the very words that’d just crossed my mind.
    “After all, their duty is to keep us mortals safe, right?”  He