The Soul of an Angel: Gay Urban Fantasy (Supernatural Affairs Book 5) by F.N. Manning

Author:F.N. Manning [Manning, F.N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

9.

Demons, Metaphorically and Otherwise

Nathan

Nobody else was in bed next to me when I woke up.

We had fallen asleep on the bed Frost had set up on the roof. I opened my eyes in his apartment, presumably in his bedroom since this wasn't the guest room he'd made up for me.

The bed wasn't empty. Lying atop the other pillow was a lighter.

Did Frost smoke? Did he think I smoked? The lighter was a metallic gold color, scratched and worn down. I gazed at it for an eternity.

It seemed like Frost left the lighter there for me, even if I had no idea why. I took it even though part of me wanted to lash out and throw it out the window.

I pulled myself out of bed and began getting dressed so I could leave. Staying at the apartment without Frost felt wrong. I had a feeling he wasn’t coming back anytime soon.

“Well…” I spoke to the otherwise empty apartment. “Goodbye then.”

Waking up by myself in the cold light of day, it was so clear. Last night wasn’t about finally giving into the feelings between us. It was a goodbye. Some moments I’d interpreted differently in the past began smacking me in the face with the obvious truth.

“There isn’t time.”

“Huh? We have all night.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”

Or the longing in his gaze when he told me, “I wish I could give you more. I can’t even promise you tomorrow.”

Yeah, all the clues were there. I just didn’t put them together until it was too late. "All I’ve ever had is time and now there isn’t enough.”

Frost had been working up the nerve to return to his family for a while. I wasn’t sure whether to be devastated or furious. Leaving and staying gone wasn’t ever easy. Not when dealing with people, or angels, like that. I wished I could have done something. I wished—

“Paper or plastic?”

"Huh?" I stared at an increasingly annoyed bag boy, not understanding.

"Paper. Or. Plastic?" He spit out. Definitely something he’d been repeating for a while now.

"Uh, dealer's choice," I mumbled, embarrassed. I ended up leaving a much-deserved tip for him.

My arms were full of groceries when I returned to my apartment, unlocked my front door, and got inside. I froze in the doorway, the bags in my hands suddenly feeling a hundred pounds heavier when looking at the mess in my living room.

Trash and clutter everywhere. I hadn’t left the apartment like this.

The scene reminded me of a bunch of kids getting free run of the place and trashing it while the adult was away. Struggling for an explanation, my mind went there first. That somehow some of my students found a spare key and invited themselves over. But school hadn’t started yet, so I hadn’t even seen any of my returning students. It wasn’t like I gave any of them a key as that would be wildly inappropriate.

I should have left and called the police. But I was on autopilot while trying to piece together some reasonable explanation.

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