Chapter 43

Bastian glanced at Crissy, as backup went, she wouldn’t have been his first choice, but the Gemini’s seemed to be okay with her, so he’d brought her with him to talk to Ava. How was he supposed to go about asking her about gods? He had no clue.

He stopped outside the garage, the door was only partially open and after the invisible barrier last time, he was cautious that he might hit a wall he couldn’t see or worse. With the Gemini women, it could always be worse. He feared the many things his imagination pictured them doing.

Crissy squatted down and looked under the door. “Hi.” A few seconds later, she stood up and the door opened slowly.

Ava stood there, she gave what could have loosely been a smile at Crissy briefly, and then she turned to Bastian. “She’s not…”

“He wants to talk to you,” Crissy blurted out.

Ava cocked one eyebrow at him and then motioned to enter the space. “About what?” She barely looked at him and then went over to the bench filled with tools and picked something up.

He watched her bend down and do something to her bike. “What do you know about gods and...” He didn’t know how to word it. “All that.”

She paused and glanced over her shoulder at him. “All that? What are you asking? Do I know any gods?”

He opened his mouth and then closed it and shrugged.

Ava smiled. “Not that I know of.” She went back to what she was doing, “as for all that, there are a lot of us that fit into that category.” She stood up and turned to look at him again.

Bastian cocked his head to the side. “Us?”

Ava motioned to herself. “Bodies with divine DNA mixed in.”

“You’re saying you're part god.” He frowned. “Goddess?”

She laughed, “No.” Rolling her eyes, she walked over and picked up a wrench. “They wouldn’t dirty themselves by sleeping with a mere mortal.” She went over and squatted down beside her bike, glancing at him over her shoulder. “Angels,” she said like it answered all the questions.

“Angels? You’re saying that you are part angel?” He’d never really given any thought—that angels were real—then again until recently he had thought the gods weren’t either.

Crissy jumped up from the step. “Avenging angel. A.V.A., Ava. The pieces all fit.”

Ava looked at her and smirked.

Bastian looked from Crissy to Ava. “That’s what your name is?”

She shrugged. “It’s what I’m called. My mother didn’t stick around in this world long enough to name me, and dear old dad was long gone before I came out of her womb.” She turned back to the bike.

Bastian opened his mouth and then closed it. Her mother was an angel. How did that even happen? He blinked; he’d ponder the logistics of it later. “Are you able to contact anyone from...” He waved his hand around, refusing to say heaven out loud.

Ava stood up. “Oh, sure, I dial Mom up every Sunday and we have a long chat about my life and being an abomination all the time.” She gave him a disgusted look. “No. I’ve had zero communication from heaven, and before you ask, hell either.”

"Then how do you know…” The words he was about to speak seized in his throat when she glared at him.

Lowering her chin, he watched her eyes brighten, almost glowing, and then behind her wings—actual feathered appendages lifted from behind her. They weren’t white or black, or any real color, they were more opaque than anything.

“Oh my gosh. That is so amazing.” Crissy hopped off the steps. “Can you fly?”

Ava pinned him to the spot with a look, and then the wings were gone. She smirked at Crissy and shook her head. “No. I’m grounded.” She sent him an ‘anything else?’ look and then squatted down by the bike again.

Bastian blew out a breath and stood there. His mind was blank. He had not seen that coming.

“I guess your idea is a dead end.” Ava glanced at him over her shoulder.

“Everything is a dead end,” he muttered.

“Maybe it’s meant to.” She stood up again and looked at him. “Some things are meant to play out, soul sucker, not be chased down.”

“And some—” He looked from her to Crissy. “—are meant to be figured out.”

Ava smirked at him and then bowed. “Carry on, prince.”

Bastian felt thoroughly dismissed when her expression no longer showed any emotion, and that angry aura was surrounding her again. He inclined his head and backed up a few steps, not turning his back to her until he was outside her space.

Crissy smiled at Ava and then followed him out. “She’s an angel.” She sounded so excited.

Bastian didn’t speak until there was more space between them and the angry angel. “An avenging one, or did you miss that part?” Although with the crumbs she dropped about her parents, he’d be perpetually angry too.

Crissy shook her head. “No, but she has wings.”

Bastian blew out a breath. “I’m sure we don’t want to know what her flightless wings can do.”

She frowned. “I want to know.”

He stopped and glanced down the street. “If you find out, let me know, but I’m positive I don’t want to be there for a first-hand look.”

She gave him a puzzled look. “Okay. I have to go.” She nodded and then disappeared.

Blowing out a breath, he looked back down the alley. That hadn’t helped. Well, other than finding out that angels existed. He still needed to find a god, a fairy, and several answers.