Milayna by Michelle Pickett Page A

really. You don’t need to worry about me. Go take care of Mom’s flowers.
    “Yeah, they tore down all her clematis. She loves that stuff.” He looked at me, his stance tense. “Listen, Milayna, the hobgoblins aren’t very dangerous, although if they catch you alone, they can be. From now on, you aren’t allowed to be alone. You need to be with another demi-angel or angel. Give notice at the bakery—”
    My eyes widened. “What? Why? I like working at the bakery!”
    My dad rubbed his forehead. “There’s no way to protect you there. You’d be alone. That’s unacceptable.”
    I stared at him for a second with my mouth open. Finally, planting one fist on my hip, I glared at him. “I’ve worked there for a year, Dad. I like it. I’m good at it, and they’re really nice to me! It’s not fair to make me quit because of this.” My voice rose with each word.
    “And what if you had a vision while you were working? The bottom line is, you can’t be alone until your birth time.” He took off his glasses, tossed them on the kitchen counter, and pinched the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb.
    “My birthday.”
    He puffed out his cheeks and blew out a breath. “No, your birth time. The exact moment you took your first breath. Until then, none of you are safe. Especially you.”

 

    Five weeks, four days until my birthday
    “I heard you had visitors last night.” Muriel glanced at me and tapped her fingernail on the table.
    “Yeah, thanks a whole bunch for warning me about the red pipsqueaks.”
    Muriel cringed. “Um, yeah, sorry about that. I was on my way over when I smelled the slight scent of sulfur, but Chay got there first. I knew he could handle it better than I could. It must have been pretty scary, huh?”
    “Yeah.” I looked down and picked at my fingernail polish. “It was scary.”
    “I’m sorry. But it all turned out okay, right?” She pulled me into a quick hug.
    “Right as rain, like Grams says. So, Chay actually spoke to you?” I whispered with a teasing grin. We were in calculus class waiting for our teacher to pass out our torture—the weekly exam.
    When I said Chay’s name, he turned and glanced over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. His lips pursed into a straight line. He stared at me, and I looked back at him.
    “No. Why?” Muriel’s chair squeaked across the tile when she shifted it.
    “Why what?” I asked, distracted by Chay’s stare.
    “Why’d you think Chay and I talked?”
    “You knew what happened when he came over last night.”
    “Well, I know about the hobgoblins. But that’s all. So start talking about what happened after that.” She leaned toward me and smacked her palm in front of me on the table. “Hey!” I jumped and looked at her. “Do you think you can tear your eyes off him long enough to talk to me?”
    I turned in my seat so I was facing her. “He said he smelled sulfur and came over to check things out. After the goblins were gone,” I whispered, “he sat on the deck until my dad got home, and then he jumped the back fence and went to his house. I bet he didn’t say more than a handful of words the entire time he was there.”
    “Oh.”
    “Gee,” I gave a quick laugh, “I’m sorry my gossip isn’t raunchy enough for you.”
    “I should have known it’d be all business with him. He doesn’t talk much, other than when it’s necessary, and it’s very seldom necessary unless something,” she lowered her voice so much that I almost had to read her lips, “otherworldly is happening.”
    “He’s mysterious,” I said with a wicked grin and arched brow, twiddling my fingers in front of Muriel’s eyes. She knocked my hand away, and I laughed. “Do you have a thing for the new hottie DA?”
    “Nope. Dark and brooding isn’t for me.”
    I wasn’t sure why I was relieved to hear that. I certainly didn’t have a thing for Chay. What did I care who he did or didn’t date? Jake was my passionate love affair. Of course,