"He knows."
"It certainly seems that way," I said, bracing myself as Jared weaved through the traffic. "Claire will lay low for a while like you said to. It will be fine."
"You heard him, Nina. He's been holding onto this for months. He's not going to let it go."
"Okay...so we figure it out. It's not the worst thing that could happen right now. You told me, and the world didn't come to an end."
"Yours did."
I winced. Jared feeling that way had never occurred to me. "That's not true," I said, shaking my head. I rested my hand on his. "Everything before that night was make-believe. This is what's real."
Jared pulled into the drive of my parent's home, and then waited for the garage door to open. "You don't work for the police department, Nina. The same one that Claire meticulously picked off a year ago."
"He just wants to know why he saw her in the desert, Jared. It has nothing to do with Graham."
Jared closed his eyes, exasperated. "Maybe not to Ryan, but for someone that can't pass his psych eval and is still in physical therapy, he was accepted into the the Providence P.D. without a hitch. It wouldn't be hard for someone to connect Ryan to you, and anyone who could pose a problem knows you are a direct connection to me, and Claire...and Graham. This is not an innocent oops, Nina. This is a potential threat."
"Everything is a potential threat to you people," I grumbled.
"You people? Since when are we not on the same side?" Jared said, taken aback. He shook his head, and then headed to the house without waiting.
I followed in silence, cursing myself. An hour before, we had set the date of our wedding. Now I was getting the cold shoulder.
Bex sat the top of the stairs, cleaning his fingernails with a large knife, nodding to us as we passed. He was less of the boy I knew, and more like his older sister. Even Lillian's unparalleled goodness couldn't prevent Bex from losing his innocence.
Jared rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll er...I'll see you in the morning. I've got some things to do."
"You're going to find Claire?"
"We need to talk."
"Okay," I nodded, wrapping my arms around him. He shifted, uncomfortable in my arms. "I didn't mean it. I suppose I'm just surprised at your reaction. He's not in love with me, anymore. I thought you'd be relieved."
I gripped his t-shirt in my fists, bracing for him to pull away. Instead, he paused in thought, considering my words. "That means Ryan being Claire's Taleh means something else, and we don't know what that is."
I sighed, irritated at his negativity. "Maybe it just means that they are supposed to be together. Like us."
Several emotions scrolled across Jared's face, finally settling on a mixture of relief and delight. He tightened his arms around my back. "You think so?"
"What other explanation is there?"
A wide grin spread across Jared's face. "It doesn't matter. I like that one."
Chapter Twelve
The One
"No way."
"Way."
"A cop?" Beth said, her voice raised an octave.
"One of Providence's finest," I replied.
She took a sip of coffee, and then shook her head. "I don't believe it. Chad hasn't said a word."
"Ryan hasn't told anyone."
"He told you."
My eyebrows shot up. An explanation consisting of Claire, explosions, and the ice blue eyes in Ryan's memory would take the conversation to an unfavorable end, so I kept it simple."Touche."
The bell above the coffee ship door chimed, and we both looked up, waiting for Kim.
"Where is she?" Beth asked, disappointed.
"Late." I knew she was with Jared, but I couldn't exactly share that with Beth. She was the last bit of normal I had left, and I wasn't going to share her with the crazy part of my life--even if that meant lying.
"Was Jared just pissed beyond belief?"
"Um...kind of. I guess. But not about that."
"What about, then?"
"That he pulled us over for no reason, I suppose." I lied again. For a moment I silently counted how many non-truths I had told her in the span of just a few minutes, and wondered how many more I would have to tell. Beth was my best friend, but it was for her own good. If there was a lesson to be learned in the chaos of my life, ignorance was bliss.
Beth and I chatted about upcoming papers to write, meetings at work, the upcoming Christmas party that Sasha had been obsessing over, and of course, Ryan.
"We'd better get going," Beth said, glancing at her watch.
"The wind is terrible today," I said, pulling on my coat, hat and scarf. The snow was falling in large chunks, and the street had already turned into a gray, slushy mess.
"I know, it sucks," Beth said. "Fall is non-existent here."
"Oh. Right. You don't get much snow in Oklahoma, do you?"
Beth laughed once in disbelief. "Yes we get snow. Sometimes a foot or so. It's just on top of an inch of ice."
"But...it's a southern state."
"So?" Beth said, waiting for more crazy to come out of my mouth.
"Never mind."
We walked to the Beemer together, trying to navigate the patches of snow that hadn't been cleared.
"Hi," a deep voice said, greeting us.
"Ryan!" Beth said, throwing her arms around our friend.
He was in plain clothes, leaning against my car nonchalantly. He didn't seem nervous or out of place at all, until Beth smacked him, hard, on the back of the head.
"Hey!" Ryan said, defending his head with his hands from another blow.
"What is wrong with you? Taking off on all of us like that, going off to war, and not letting us know you're okay, or that you're back in town? We've all been worried sick! Chad is gonna be pissed!
"Okay, okay!" Ryan said, bracing for another assault. "I'm sorry."
Beth relaxed. "If you haven't called him by the time I get home tonight, I'm telling him. And you are so going to get it."
"I'll call him. I'll call everyone, I've just been kinda...I don't know what to say."
"Say, 'I'm home.'" Beth crossed her arms, unimpressed with his wounded expression.
"Take it easy, Beth," I said. "He just needed to come back on his own terms."
"Exactly," Ryan nodded, thankful for my explanation. "I came to ask you to dinner. We have some talking to do."
"O...Okay," I said, surprised.
"Jared's not going to like that," Beth lilted.
"Where do I pick you up? Jared's place?"
"It sort of burned down," I said, shifting.
Ryan didn't flinch. "Okay, so where, then?"
"We're at Cynthia's for now."
Ryan's eyes were always the windows to his thoughts. That was one thing that his experiences hadn't taken away from him. He was planning something.
"Seven o'clock?" he asked.
"How about I meet you there?"
"Where?"
"I don't know. Wherever you're wanting to eat."
"I haven't decided, yet. I'll just pick you up."
I sighed in frustration. "See you at seven, then."
Ryan walked away like a robot accepting a command. He offered no smile, or any other expression, too preoccupied with his next move.
"That was weird," Beth said, pulling on the handle. "Open up, already, it's freaking freezing!"
"Oh, it's not that bad," I said, rolling my eyes and clicking the keyless entry.
Throughout the day, I waited for Jared's call. He hadn't come home that morning, passing on the message via Bex that he and Kim were in Woonsocket, just south of the Massachusetts line. Bex assured me that it was to speak with the priests of St. Anne's, and he wouldn't be engaging the enemy.
At lunch, I called Bex. "Why hasn't he called?"
"He'll call," Bex said, bored.
"Why did Kim go if they're just going to a church?"
"It's just a guess, but maybe she knows the contact their questioning."
I blew my bangs from my face,
frustrated. "You two are being very secretive these days."
Bex sighed. "Go be a co-ed, Nina. I'll talk to you later when you call to ask if Jared's called again."
I looked to Beth. "That little...he hung up on me."
"He's a teenager. You remember being a teenager?"
"Vaguely."
"He's got all these feelings, and emotions...and didn't you say he was home-schooled?"
"Yeah, but he's only thirteen. He's barely a teenager."
Beth stared at me. "You're joking, right?"
"No, why?"
"There is no way that kid is thirteen! He's a mammoth! He looks at least sixteen!"
"Nope. It runs in the family."
"You're going to give birth to a toddler. Think about that," Beth said, giggling to herself.
"We're not...," I trailed off. I waited, hoping Beth wouldn't take it further. Any such hopes were lost when her eyes widened.
"You're not what? Going to have kids?"
I shrugged, trying to play it off. "We haven't really talked about it, but it's not something either of us would die to experience. I'm an only child. Babies...kids...really aren't my thing."
"Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I just didn't know you felt that way. I bet Jared would be an amazing father."
"He would be," I nodded. Her words stung me, something I hadn't expected.
The afternoon was long. Bex hadn't called with news of Jared, and the wait was making me grumpy. Jared always called, unless he was in trouble, and because he knew that I knew that, he should call. A lot.
After my last class, my feet couldn't move fast enough to the Beemer. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed, the same time searching my purse for keys.
"He hasn't called," Bex answered.
"Something's wrong. Have you talked to Claire?"
"Yes. Nothing's wrong; he's just busy."
"Then he would have called!" I said. Just as I slammed the phone shut, the Beemer and Bex came into view.
"Get in, we're going to Woonsocket."
Bex laughed without humor. "No, we're not. Jared said to take you to Titan, and then home. We're to wait for him there."
"Well, I don't work for Jared, nor am I trying to earn the big brother approval, so get in the car or move."
Bex did neither. "I have orders, Nina."
He wasn't as easy to persuade as Jared, because he wasn't worried about making me angry. I had to try a different approach. He might look like a man, but he was still a thirteen year old boy.
"Bex Gabriel Ryel, if you move a finger to keep me here, so help me, I will call your mother and tell her you used your Hybridness to restrain me against my will!"
His stoic expression wavered as he considered the consequences. "Fine," he said, his entire body relaxing. "Get in the car, I'll drive."
I pushed up on the balls of my feet to kiss his cheek. "Thanks, Bexster!"
His face screwed into disgust as he wiped the place where my lips touched his cheek. "Yuck!"
With Bex driving his typical speed, the trip took less than twenty minutes. He sat in silence; pouting, and no doubt planning the excuses he would offer Jared.
When we arrived, I gasped. St. Anne's was a work of art, looming with both authority and elegance over the quiet town. As beautiful as was the outside, the interior was breathtaking.
Meticulously detailed murals of angels and saints adorned the walls and ceilings, with a larger one as the focal point. The painting was of Jesus, his arms outstretched, surrounded in light, and rows of angels, who basked in his glory. The entire room was inspirational, and a strange feeling came over me as I walked down the center aisle.
Row after row of wooden pews bordered our way to the alter anchored at front of the church, where Jared and Kim stood with a priest.
Jared's expression wasn't surprised or confused. He glanced once in my direction, and then continued his conversation. Jared's clear disregard only served to exacerbate my growing impatience with him.
"Excuse me, Father," I said, interrupting him. I pulled Jared a few steps away, purposefully glaring at Kim as I did so.
"I can't do this right now, Nina, I'm working."
"I thought I was your job? You know it worries me to death when you don't call. Do you do it on purpose?"
"Nina, calm down."
"I couldn't concentrate in my classes, checked my phone every five seconds, hoping you would at least send a one word text...something! It would take just a moment of your time to set my mind at ease. You spend half of your life incessantly protecting me from everything, and the other making me crazy!"
"Child...." the Father began. The Priests' words had a hidden accent behind them, possibly British, diluted by years of service in America. His plea was cut short when each of the hundreds of candles glowing around us were extinguished in succession, from one side of the stage to the other.
The priest watched me warily, and Jared took my hand. "This is her, Father Francis. She is the one."
The priest held his trembling hands to his mouth, and then reached out to me. He grabbed my free hand with both of his, and held it tightly. "The Mother," he whispered, his eyes scanning my face with adoration.
Bex lifted his chin. His eyes closed, but not before his lashes flickered as his eyes rolled back into his head. He took a deep breath, as if he were feeling the air around us, reaching with invisible tentacles to a different plane. "Jared," he whispered.
A loud, repetitious banging echoed throughout the cathedral, and Father Francis dropped my hand, rushing to the large doors of the entrance.
"You should stop him," Kim said to Jared.
"Father, wait," Jared called. He grabbed my hand, following quickly behind the priest.
The banging persisted, so loudly that I released Jared's hand to cover my ears. The large doors vibrated with each blow.
"Make it stop," I said, closing my eyes.
Kim and Bex were at my side, and Kim touched my shoulder before taking a few steps forward.
The banging grew louder, and the door threatened to give way to the hammering from outside.
"Make it stop!" I yelled over the noise.
"Father," Kim said, gently moving him to the side. She reached out with both hands, laying her palms flat against each door.
I grabbed Jared's arm, then a quiet settled upon us; seeming more ominous than the banging.
Father Francis pushed open the doors, and we all stood in horror of the sight before us.
"Lord in Heaven," Father Francis said, making a quick the sign of the cross.
"They...." I began, unable to finish.
"Crows. Nice touch," Kim said.
Hundreds of lifeless, black birds littered the steps and sidewalk. The doors were covered in bloody splotches.
"Mommy!" A small girl screamed and pointed as her mother rushed her to their parked car across the street.
Pedestrians stopped and stared at the unbelievable sight, pointing to the church, and to the small, horrified group hovering in the doorway.
"Let us get inside," Father Francis said, shooing us backward into the church. He pulled the doors shut, shaking his head. "This was a warning. They know what she is, and they're aren't happy she's here."
"Merovingian?" I said, a sudden feeling of desperation evident in my voice.
The priest's face twisted in disgust. "Merovingian. Bah," he grunted, shaking his head. "Nephilim," he said, his voice returning to its soft tone. He touched each side of my face gently. His skin was tired and wilted, making it nearly impossible to see the kindness in his eyes...but it was there.
"Tell me," I said, a weak smile grazing my lips.
"You are the woman clothed with the sun," Father Francis said, in awe.
I looked to Jared. His expression was pained, but he offered no explanation.
"What...," I shook my head, "Pardon me, Father, but what the hell does that mean?"
He took my hand, and gestured for me to sit in the nearest pew. He sat with me, my
hand in both of his. Kim, Bex, and Jared all took a seat as well, scattered around us.
"In Revelations, the Bible speaks of a woman. Clothed in the sun, with the moon at her feet, and she is with child in arduous times. She brings forth a man child who is to rule all nations. It speaks of the Holy Mother."
"Okay. But, what does that have to do with me?" I said, frustrated and confused.
"A woman of the same description is also the center of a prophecy of the Naissance de Demoniac. The main prophecy speaks of a woman, clothed in the sun, the moon at her feet, the crown of ten stars on her head--a daughter of the Nephilim. She brings forth a son of God."
"I know. The child disturbs the balance, blah, blah, blah." I looked to Jared. "You had to come to Woonsocket to hear something we already know?"
Jared leaned his elbows onto the ridge of the pew, touching my hair with his thumb. "Father Francis is a scholar. He has studied the writings of the Naissance de Demoniac. I came here to ask for help."
"If he knows what it says, we don't need the book," I said, excited. "Can't you just tell us what we need to know?"
Father Francis squeezed my hand. "These prophecies are not in the stars, or in the dreams of old men. Our world is a story that has already been written. The human-born angel will disturb the delicate balance of Heaven and Hell. It will be a new angel, not created in the dawn of time as all the others." He smiled, bit it didn't give me peace the way he had surely meant for it to. "Demons fear the unknown as humans do. Possibly even more so, because of the limited truth they do not know."
"So we can't stop it," I said.
"But that won't stop Hell from trying," the priest said, his voice grave.
"I can't stay here. I have to go," I said, jumping to my feet. I ran out the front door, stopping when I felt the carcasses of birds under my feet. My hands flew to my eyes, overwhelmed.
"It's okay," Jared whispered in my ear, sweeping me into his arms. He carried me across the street, and then carefully set me in the passenger seat of the Beemer. His warm hand brushed the bangs from my face. "Get her home, Bex."
Bex nodded, turned the ignition, and slammed the shifter into gear. It took us half the drive time to reach Cynthia's that it took to get to St. Anne's.
Bex parked in the garage, and helped me up the stairs to my room. His normally playful, innocent eyes offered sympathy and concern well beyond his years.
"We'll figure this out, Nina. We're not going to let anything happen to you. You know that."
"I don't want anything to happen to you," I said softly. I patted his shoulder, and then walked into the bathroom, removing my clothes slowly, feeling numb.