Elissa stood frozen, unable to tear her gaze away from the pastor.
His words lodged in her mind, settling like a heavy weight. She tried to push them away, to find a logical explanation, but deep inside, something clenched in a strange, terrifying certainty.
She felt it.
— What do you mean? — her voice was hoarse, weak.
The pastor tilted his head slightly, studying her, as if the answer was already there, but he was waiting for her to realize it herself.
— Have you never wondered why your blood is so… irresistible?
Raphael tensed.
— What are you saying?
The pastor stepped closer, slowly, and Elissa felt her heart clench painfully.
— Your meeting was no accident.
Raphael’s fists tightened.
— You’re saying her blood…
— Does not belong to humans, — the pastor finished.
Elissa’s head snapped up.
— No. That’s… that’s impossible.
— Is it? — his voice was low, almost gentle. — Have you never felt that you were different from the rest?
Her breath hitched.
She had. Always.
Memories flashed before her eyes.
Her strange dreams.
Her ability to feel others’ emotions as if they were her own.
The way Gabriel looked at her, as if he knew something more.
The way Raphael…
Raphael.
She turned to him sharply, and in his gaze, she saw the same realization.
— Your blood calls to him, — the pastor took another step. — Because it is not purely human.
Elissa’s fingers instinctively brushed against her wrist.
— Then… what am I?
The pastor leaned in.
— The one who carries their legacy.
A ringing filled her ears.
— Whose legacy?
The pastor smiled.
— The angels’.
Raphael exhaled sharply, and Elissa staggered.
— No, — she whispered.
But at that moment, her skin burned.
She gasped, clutching her wrist, where a mark had begun to surface.
A sigil.
And in that instant, Raphael, as if pulled by an unseen force, stepped forward and seized her hand.
The moment their fingers touched, something exploded.
The entire church was engulfed in blinding light.
Elissa barely heard the pastor whisper:
— Now you know.