Beneath (Heven and Hell #3.5) Read Online Free

I went over to the ledge anyway, veiling my wings as a precaution, and peered down into the ravine.
     
    He wasn’t there.
     
    No one was there and so I stepped off the edge and floated down, my feet landing on a rock that the active stream splashed up over. I smiled when the icy droplets hit my toes. I knelt down, letting my fingertips trail in the water.
     
    “Where are you rushing off to today?” I asked. Of course it didn’t answer, but a small swell of water lapped up over my palm and I smiled.
     
    A branch snapped on the other side of the stream and I looked up sharply, half expecting to see a snarling black monster with red eyes.
     
    It wasn’t a monster.
     
    He was standing just inside the trees, wearing the same pair of jeans from before and a gray T-shirt. This time his hair wasn’t confined and it fell around his jaw and neck in dark, mysterious waves. I stood, smoothing out the white dress I wore as we stared at each other for long moments.
     
    I felt as if there was some kind of invisible string that stretched between our bodies and it was humming, trying to tug us closer together.
     
    Then he lifted his hand in a wave and the feeling of the string disappeared. As I waved, he moved forward, nimbly navigating some large rocks scattered through the stream until he landed on the same side of the water as me.
     
    I turned toward him as he came closer, a smile on his face. He still hadn’t shaved and his tooth was still chipped. I tried to tell myself that these things were clear evidence that proved he wasn’t nearly as beautiful as Sinead, but the case was lost. The pure fact of it was that he was beautiful.
     
    Imperfectly perfect.
     
    “I wondered if you would come back,” he said in that less-than-smooth voice.
     
    “You did?”
     
    He nodded. “I’ve come here every day for the past two weeks, hoping you’d be here too.”
     
    I didn’t know what to say to that. Why would he do that? “But why?” I asked, before I could stop myself.
     
    He laughed. “You left an impression on me.”
     
    “Aren’t you fishing today?” I asked, looking for his pole.
     
    He shook his head. “How do you hide them?” he asked.
     
    “Hide what?” I responded, the change of topic confusing me.
     
    “Your wings.”
     
    I glanced behind me without thinking to make sure that the veil I put on them had actually worked. My wings were hidden.
     
    “My wings?” I asked like I had no clue what he meant.
     
    “I saw them last time. Then they disappeared. I thought I’d been seeing things, but just now, you floated down from up there.” He motioned to the top of the ravine. “I didn’t see your wings, but I know they must be there.”
     
    “You’re not afraid?”
     
    He shook his head. “I could never be afraid of such a beautiful creature. Are you an angel?”
     
    “Yes,” I told him. We weren’t supposed to interact with humans. We weren’t assigned to, but we weren’t supposed to lie either. “Please don’t tell anyone you saw me here.”
     
    He nodded. “What’s your name?”
     
    “Gemma,” I said and then I heard Sinead calling for me. “I have to go.”
     
    “Wait,” he said, reaching out to grasp my hand. I looked down at where he held me and I watched, fascinated, as his thumb rubbed over the back of my hand. The texture of his skin was thrilling. “My name is Callum.”
     
    “Callum,” I said, trying it out on my tongue.
     
    “It sounds like a song when you say it.”
     
    “I have to go,” I said again, knowing Sinead would be worried if he couldn’t find me right away.
     
    Callum released me, and I flew up to the top of the ravine. Before trying to find Sinead, I looked over my shoulder. He was still there, looking up at me.
     
    Something felt funny in my stomach and so I rushed off, already wondering when I would be able to see him again.
     
    * * *
     
    I waited to ask any questions until we made it past Airis, through the InBetween, and were