Transcendent by Katelyn Detweiler Read Free Book Online Page A

straining to hear her much quieter voice. “Kyle Bennett? What the hell are you doing here?”
    Why had she answered to
Mina
? Why didn’t she say that she was
Noel
, that he somehow had the wrong person?
    â€œIt’s not like that,” he said, raising his hands up in surrender. “I’m not here to start trouble. Trust me, if there’s one thing I regret in my life, it’s the trouble I’ve already caused you. That’s the last thing I want right now.”
    â€œSo what
do
you want? I haven’t been back to Green Hill or seen your face in nearly eighteen years, and now you’ve somehow found me and are pounding the buzzer at my front door. Why? What could you possibly want from me now?”
    Green Hill
. He was from Green Hill? It was where my mom and dad had both grown up, a small town somewhere on the Philadelphia side of Pennsylvania. I didn’t know much about it; my parents didn’t talk about Green Hill often, and we’d never visited. My mom’s parents lived in Jersey now, my dad’s in Florida, so there wasn’t much cause. Mom’s sister, my aunt Gracie, was in Texas for grad school, and her only two friends from the Green Hill days—her only friends at all, really, other than the characters who filled her head—my “aunts” Izzy and Hannah, had moved away, too, after college. Green Hill had always sounded like a quaint, rustic old country village to me, like something from a folktale. Not a place that still existed for my parents, or for me.
    But it did still exist, clearly. This man was proof.
    â€œOh, Mina,” he said, his voice breaking as he clawed his hands through his hair. “Mina . . . My babies. We wereat Disney. When it happened. Parker, though, he . . .” Kyle sobbed, sagging forward until he fell down onto his knees. “We lost Parker right away. But Ella is still hanging on. Just barely at times, it seems, but my little angel isn’t giving up easy. My wife had some burns, too, but nothing life threatening. And I—I came out of it without a scratch. Not a single goddamn scratch. It’s not fair. Why couldn’t it have been me at least?” He lost it completely then, slamming his fists against the cement steps, a broken strand of
why, why, why
spilling out with his tears.
    My mom ducked her head down, concealing her face from me. There was a long pause before she spoke again. “I’m so sorry, Kyle. I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now.” She took a few tentative steps forward, slowly reaching one arm out to rest on his hunched shoulder. “I will keep Ella in my prayers.” She paused, waiting as his sobs slowed. “I don’t mean to be insensitive, but . . . I still don’t understand why you came to New York. I don’t understand why you came to
me
.”
    â€œBecause I know, Mina,” he said calmly, wiping at his tears as he raised his eyes to face her. “I know that you never lost the baby. I know that you came here to protect her.”
    My mom said nothing to this, made no movement. He lifted her hand from his shoulder and clasped it between his palms, shifting himself until he was bowed down before her. “God is punishing me, Mina. He’s punishing allof us, using the Judges to do the work. And I feel like these horrible things have happened to me because . . . because of how I treated you. Because I refused to believe in you. But I’m sorry now, Mina, I’m so sorry. I need you and your child. Don’t you see? You’re my only chance at the miracle I need to save my little Ella.”
    â€œI don’t . . .” my mom started, backing away. He clung to her hand, dragging his knees along the cement to follow her. “Kyle, this is insane. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I lost my child that day. Everybody knows that.”
    My mom