Unafraid Read Free Page A

here, and Michael had never properly thanked him. Sadly, he suspected he would never get the chance.
    Walking back toward the heart of campus, Michael thought about the other adults in his life and silently remarked that they were truly a disappointing group. He didn’t care if he ever saw his father again. His grandparents allowed their own limitations to prevent them from ever having a fulfilling relationship with their grandson. And then there was his mother. He understood Grace’s actions and her motives now, he knew that she had fled London to get away from Vaughan in order to prevent him from turning Michael into one of Them, but it still didn’t change the fact that she had kept all her secrets to herself and as a result Michael only got to know his mother after she died. They had closure, but they were never close.
    Stop thinking about the past, Michael, he thought. Stop imagining what you might do in the future and pay attention to the present. He took his own advice and looked up to find Ronan staring down at him from their dorm room window. Michael was so overcome with a collection of emotions—joy, pride, love—that it took him several moments to feel the rain. Unlike in his dream or premonition or whatever it was, these were just a few drops falling from the summer clouds onto the earth, onto his and Ronan’s faces, making them glisten the way they did the night they first met. How his life had changed so drastically, so magnificently since that night. Maybe it was time to bury all those thoughts and feelings that had plagued him; maybe it was time to let go of the past; maybe it was time to grow up.
    â€œHappy birthday, love,” Ronan said sweetly. One drop of rain fell from Ronan’s lips and didn’t stop falling until it landed on Michael’s. “Why don’t you get up here so I can give you your gift right proper?”
    Half a second later the boys were tumbling onto their bed, their bodies damp with rainwater and anticipation, their quickened breaths and the fumbling of the sheets almost drowning out the sounds of the summer rain shower outside. Almost. No matter how hard Michael tried, no matter how much in love he and Ronan were, the world, for better and for worse, would always be waiting for them.
    â€œWhat was that?” Michael asked, looking out the window over Ronan’s bare shoulder.
    â€œWhat was what? ”
    â€œI thought I heard a noise,” Michael clarified. “Sounded like a bird flew by.”
    Pushing Michael’s body deeper into the pillows and the mattress, Ronan laughed. “That meadowlark of yours needs to find his own boyfriend. You’re taken.”
    â€œGuess he wanted to wish me a happy birthday too.”
    Words quickly gave way to kisses and all thoughts of the lark were forgotten.
    Â 
    It was good that the boys had something to keep them occupied, because if they had inspected the situation further they might have discovered that, while the noise was indeed the sound of wings flapping in the wind, it wasn’t created by the lark.
    It was David.
    His feathered wings, black as sin, created a sinister silhouette against the pale blue sky as he soared over Double A to test out his newly acquired ability.
    And, of course, to spy on the unsuspecting couple.

chapter 2
    Even with his eyes closed Michael knew he was being watched. It was a glorious feeling. The sound, however, was not.
    â€œHappy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.”
    Another one of Ronan’s flaws revealed—he couldn’t sing. His Irish brogue, so melodic when speaking, somehow lost all of its musicality when he tried to sing. Still it was touching to hear words that were so heartfelt and meant only for his ears, touching and, unfortunately, embarrassing as well. Ronan’s attempt at crooning made Michael remember that he had completely forgotten Ronan’s seventeenth birthday a few months ago. True to his word, Ronan