Ryan gripped my shoulders, startling me. "It's not a dream this time, buddy. We need to move!"
Something dark and swift caught the corner of my eye. Not smoke, and not a shadow, but thicker than the night air.
"What the hell is that?" Ryan yelled, shooting once. The bullet ricocheted off the brick of the building.
"Watch out!" I screamed as the cloud rose above both of us, positioned to attack.
Ryan shoved me out of the way, and I landed hard on my knees and hands. His body flew backward, hitting the building on the other side of the alley, and he then fell the fifteen feet to the ground.
"Run, Nina!" Ryan said, stunned.
I scrambled to my feet, but before running off alone, I hesitated. Ryan was human, and I promised Claire to keep him safe. The blackness focused on me, and Ryan shot another round to return its attention to him.
"RUN!" he yelled, shooting again. The invisible enemy dragged him back into the building by one foot, and he held his gun in front of him, shooting at what he couldn't see.
Everything inside me wanted to stay, to try to help somehow, but I held the duffel bag close and dashed down the alley, into the street. Tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision, finally spilling over my cold cheeks.
Another alley was ahead, dark and forbidding, but it seemed the right way to go, so I kept running.
When my lungs couldn't take in enough air, I stopped, hunched over and puffing. Whatever it was that had Ryan couldn't be far behind, so I leaned against the back entrance of a building, working up enough courage to move. A bus stop was just a half block away.
"Take a step, Nina," I said to myself, willing courage to move my feet. "It's right there," I breathed, "Go!"
The door opened, causing me to lose my balance and fall back. Something grabbed me from behind, wrenching me inside with so much force that my hands, legs, and head all fell behind, jutting straight out in front me.
"Ssshhh!" Bex said, covering my screams with his hand.
More tears streamed down my face, and I threw my arms around his neck, sobbing with uncontrolled relief.
He held me at bay, searching my eyes. "Where is everyone else?"
I shook my head. "I don't...I don't know," I choked out.
"The book?"
I held up the duffel bag.
"Okay," he said, hugging me to him. "Okay, let's get you out of here."
He led me to his Ducati that was parked around the corner, and we sped off, fishtailing down the street. As Bex took roads that would lead us to Woonsocket, I fantasized that Jared, Claire, and Ryan would be at St. Anne's waiting for us.
I replayed what happened over in mind, wondering if I could have done something different, or if I should have tried to help Ryan. Risking his life--and ultimately Claire's life-- to steal a book that would save me was the epitome of selfishness...until I remembered that it would spare Jared as well. Even knowing that, I wasn't sure I'd made the right choice. Even if I was part of some kind of prophecy, our lives weren't anymore valuable than Ryan's or Claire's.
Father Francis held open the door, waving for us to come inside.
"Are they here?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
The priest closed the door, and then shook his head, sad. "Not yet. You have it?"
"I do. It's here," I said, opening the duffel bag. I handed the leather-bound book to Father Francis, and he held it gingerly, as if he were holding a bomb.
He retreated to the front of the cathedral, sitting on the first pew. "The Naissance de Demoniac of Shax the Duke," he whispered. He completed the sign of the cross, and then prayed over the book.
Bex closed his eyes, and then smiled. "They didn't like that."
Chapter Eighteen
The Mistake
It was my turn to pace.
Father Francis and Bex poured over the pages, searching for something to present to Jared upon his arrival. But it had been almost an hour, and we were still the only ones that had made it to the church.
Every parishioner that entered the large, wooden door was politely turned away by Father Francis. It was harder for me to be polite, because each time the door opened, my heart stopped.
After my hopes had been dashed for the sixth time, anger took over. An older woman pushed her way through the door, only to be startled by the sight of me charging down the aisle. "Can't you see the sign? The church is closed!"
The woman scrambled to reach the door handle to escape.
"We need a bigger sign," I said, crossing my arms.
"Patience, child," Father Francis said, approaching me with a look of understanding. "He will come."
"When?" I said emphatically. "He should be here by now. I feel like I'm going crazy."
Father Francis gently guided me back to my pew, patting my shoulder. "Faith is what you need."
"I used to have faith. It's hard when everyone tells you that your death is inevitable."
"Death is inevitable for us all," the priest said.
Bex looked up, his eyes narrowing.
"What?" I asked. "Is it Shax?"
"No," Bex said, his eyes fluttering. "They've been crowding us since we got here, but they're....," he opened his eyes, "all gone."
"But...why?" I said, incredulous. The theme of the night had been that Shax had let us get away with his precious book far too easily. Their retreat only set me on edge, wondering when he would decide to put up a real fight.
Suddenly the door opened, cracking against the wall. Bex stood up, pulling me with him, using his body as a shield.
"You got a bathroom, Father?" Kim asked.
Father Francis scurried down the aisle, shutting the door behind Kim. "Of course, child. Just through there," he gestured.
"Not funny," Bex said, frowning at her as she walked past.
"What?" Kim said, oblivious. "Just because you're being chased by hundreds of demons, a girl can't pee?"
Bex just shook his head, laughing once, absent of humor.
I collapsed into the pew, exhausted. "Something is wrong. They should be here by now."
Bex glanced at me, and then turned a page of the book, choosing to ignore my words.
"I should have helped him. Ryan was dragged to his death, and I just ran away," I said, feeling the sting of salty tears well up in my eyes.
"I'm trying to read," Bex grumbled.
A door slammed down the hall, and then Kim's loud footsteps announced her arrival before she came into view.
"Oh, geez. Are you crying?" she asked. "And where is everyone? They go out for ice cream or what?"
I dried my tear-stained cheeks with my sleeve. "Jared and Claire stayed behind to give me and Ryan time to get out. When we got to the alley, something took Ryan."
"Something?" Kim said, eyebrow raised. "Like what?"
"I don't know. I couldn't see it. It was kind of like a shadow...but it was more...," I trailed off, unable to find the appropriate word to describe it.
"Shadowy?" Kim said, unimpressed.
I rolled my eyes. "Not everything's a joke, Kim. Ryan's dead."
"No he's not," she replied, confident.
Her words peaked my attention. "Why do you say that? Have you heard something? Do you know where they are?"
Kim nodded to the door. "He looks like crap, but he's right there."
I turned, gripping the top of the pew. Ryan, Claire, and Jared all stood near the entrance, dirty, blood-stained, and badly beaten. Before I registered that I was moving, my legs were carrying me down the aisle at full speed, and I crashed into Jared's chest. He wrapped his arms around me tight, and sighed with relief.
"Easy," Jared smiled, returning my repeated kisses as best he could. He kept his weight on one leg, and his pants were torn.
"What happened?" I said, crouching down to get a better look.
"We won," Claire said with a tired smile.
Ryan limped slowly down the aisle, his arm around Claire. Blood trickled from the outside of his eyebrow, and he was favoring h
is bad shoulder. They settled into a pew behind Bex, and Father Francis scurried away, waving back at them.
"I'll get the first aid kit!" he called to them as he disappeared down a dark hallway.
Jared smiled down at me. "We did it."
I leaned up on the balls of my feet to touch his lips to mine. Jared's words were empty. Winning that small battle was only part of the war we had just started.
Jared led me down the aisle, sitting beside me in the pew behind Ryan and Claire.
Ryan leaned back, holding a folded piece of fabric against his eye. "Next time we get into it with Hell, I get dibs on Mr. Puff."
Claire smiled, licking her split lip. "Your effort was impressive, even if that thing did hang you in the air by your ankle...and use you to open two doors...and make you scream like a girl."
"I didn't scream like a girl," Ryan protested.
"Maybe I was just hoping you would," she grinned.
"Thanks," he said, reaching out to touch her dirty face. His thumb gently grazed her cheek. "Again."
Claire's eyes met his for a moment, and then she pulled away. "Just get used to it. You don't need to thank me every time I save your stupid ass."
Ryan nodded, and then relaxed against the pew.
I watched Claire for a moment, as she desperately attempted to feign indifference. I could recall that expression well; Jared used it many times in the beginning. Unfortunately for Claire, Ryan was far more confident than I was stubborn, and he was certain she would come around.
My eyes settled on Jared's beautiful, dirty face. His eyes were tired, but bright blue, excited and amazed that we had the book and our lives. Seeing his expression only made it more real that he didn't expect any of us to make it to the church alive. A fact that, to me, was more unsettling than relief.
"Did you find anything?" Jared asked Bex.
Bex handed Jared the book. "Not yet. It keeps talking about the birth, the birth, over and over. How it disturbs the balance and how Hell will stop it and prevail."
Jared flipped through the pages, increasingly frustrated with each one. "Every prophecy has a loop hole. That is why the Nephilim were created, to try and stop the bloodline from King David to Jesus." He slammed the book shut. "What did Father Francis say?"
Bex's eyes shifted toward me for just a moment, and then he shook his head, looking down. "He doesn't see anything, either. But we've only looked at it once. We could have missed something."
"You know my vote," Claire said.
"Which is...?" Ryan said. His eyes remained closed.
Kim stood and stretched. "Jared, I know you want to find something, but we had a deal."
"I know," Jared growled.
I touched his arm. "What is Kim talking about?"
Jared didn't look up from the pages. "The promise I made her. If she helped us get back the book, then we would go with her to Jerusalem...to return it to the Holy Sepulchre. To set her family free."
I couldn't argue, but Jared had just begun to look it over. Kim was being uncharacteristically impatient.
"What's the rush?" I asked.
Kim waited for Jared to answer, but when he stayed focused on the book, she sighed. "Shax holds my family responsible. He'll retaliate."
Claire laughed once. "He'll do that, anyway, when you return it and it's out of his reach. Your family's held him off this long. You can wait a few hours, Kim."
"You don't get it," Kim said.
"Just let him read the damn book," Ryan groaned.
Questions formed in my mind, and I swallowed, always hesitant to get the answer. No matter what she might say, at that point I couldn't afford not to understand anything. The days of keeping me in the dark were over. "What doesn't Claire get, Kim?"
After a short pause, Kim took a breath. "I'm not there," she said in a low tone. I've always been twenty minutes away; Shax knew that. He could have sent an entire legion to my father's house, and within minutes I would be there, and they would have to leave. We need to get on a plane, return the book, and then I need to get home before Shax realizes what we've done. Right now he just thinks you're looking for a loophole to the prophecy. He has no idea he's about to lose the book forever."
Claire put her elbow on the back edge of the pew, and rested her head on her hand. "You don't think Jared finding a loophole to the prophecy is more concerning to Shax than losing the book?"
"No," Kim said, matter-of-factly.
"And why's that?" Claire snapped back.
Quiet overcame the group, until Jared closed the book with a clap. "Because there is no loophole."
I smiled hopefully. "Stop it, Jared. You haven't even read the whole thing, yet."
"I just did," he said, his eyes focused on the black seal that branded the cover. "They aren't going to stop until they prevent the birth of our child."
Kim sat beside me, lowering her chin. "This entire cat-and-mouse Jared's been engaged in has been a game to Shax. The fact that Ryan is still alive should tell you...he's just toying with all of us."
I shook my head. "If that were true, why the dreams? Why did Jack and Gabe push us to get the book?"
Jared stood. "Because they knew that is exactly what I would do, and the dreams were their way of helping us complete a fool's errand alive."
"No," I said, standing next to him. "I don't believe that. If that were true, they would tell me to stay away from the book, not how to get it. Gabe wouldn't have helped my father if it was pointless."
"Maybe you're right," Jared said. "Maybe we need a little more time with it."
"Jared?" Bex said.
Kim held up her hand in frustration. "Shax is a Duke of Hell, Jared. You pretty much walked into his house and slapped him, and he let you just walk out? Do you really think that's how it works?"
Ryan pulled the fabric from his eye, revealing a deep, bloody gash. "We didn't just walk out, Kim, trust me. They put up a fight. I've never seen anything like that in my life, and I hope I never do again."
"Jared," Bex said again.
Jared frowned at Bex, and then returned his attention to Kim. "Nina is your friend. Are you telling me you're not willing to wait for us to figure this out before we take it somewhere that we can never get it back?"
"She is my friend, but this is my family we're talking about. We've been dealing with this for lifetimes. It's time to end it. It's time the Pollocks are free of it."
Jared looked down at the book in his hands, and then back to Kim, his expression stern. "I understand your plight, but you're not getting this back until I'm satisfied there's nothing in it that can help Nina," Jared said, shoving it under his arm.
Kim took a step forward. "We had a deal."
"I haven't forgotten that," Jared answered.
Father Francis came in with the first aid kit, taking quick steps. "I'm afraid it wasn't where I thought it would be...." he said, trailing off.
"Jared!" Bex yelled. "They're coming!"
"Oh my God," Kim whispered, her eyes slowly rising to the ceiling.
A deafening boom surrounded St. Anne's. Every window burst inward, covering the ground with shards of colored glass. Jared took me to the floor, covering me with his body.
Even after the explosion, it sounded as if a tornado was hovering above the church.
"Not in the House of the Lord!" Father Francis yelled over the noise, his arms extended to the sky.
The priest was lifted high in the air by an invisible assailant, his legs kicking until he was blown back, smashing into the beautiful mural high above the stage. Pieces of the painting came down with him when he fell to the floor.
Bex rolled into the aisle, and then took off toward the priest, so fast his body was a blur. He took Father Francis, limp and lifeless, into his arms.
The wind rushing through the broken windows blew Bex's platinum hair wildly as he felt for a pulse on the priest's neck.
"He's alive!" Bex called.
Another explosion shook the building, and pieces of the ceiling fel
l in large chunks onto the pews, sending sheet rock and plaster into the air.
"We have to move!" Jared yelled, pulling me to my feet.
The large wooden door blew open, forcing another strong pulse of wind across the room. Had Jared not kept his arms around me, I would have fallen over.
I held my hand to my face to shield it from the blast. When I lowered it, Shax was standing in the doorway.
He wore an all-black suit, shirt and tie, matching his cold, obsidian eyes. A small smirk was on his face. He was finally ready to fight.
Jared stood his ground, positioned in front of me. Claire stood on the other side, guarding her Taleh.
Shax looked to each side of the church in dramatic fashion. "Where is your Samuel now, Jared?"
"He's around," Jared said, his body rigid.
"I'm afraid you've made yet another mistake, and Heaven won't intervene this time."
Two shadows that had been lurking behind Shax came into view under the dim light of the church. Isaac and Donovan stood on each side of their demonic master, their expressions anxious and ready. They had come to murder us all.
Jared shifted. "Isaac, listen to me. You don't have to do this."
"Shut up," Donovan said.
"I don't want you to die," Jared continued, "but if he comes near her, I'll kill him."
Isaac smiled. "Not if I kill her, first. And I will."
"You're outnumbered," Claire said, her small yet frightening voice somehow carrying across the room.
Shax grinned, and the long, clawed hands and feet of the night filtered into the room, covering the walls and ceiling. I looked above me, seeing grotesquely malformed bodies of demonic minions scale the crumbling rafters.
The smell of burnt flesh and sulfur was overwhelming, and I could feel bile rise in my throat. Shax's servants weren't screeching this time, but making strange, excited cooing and whistling noises, waiting for the order to attack.
"Give me the book," Shax hissed.
"No," Jared said, tossing the leather bound pages to Kim.
"I dare you to come and get it, though," Kim smiled.
Shax slowly turned his head to Isaac, and then Isaac's smirk turned into a satisfied grin. He pushed the far pew with both hands, slamming it into the pew before it, creating a domino effect. As the heavy benches toppled over and blew forward with the speed of a freight train, Jared and Claire reacted, jumping to the other side with Ryan and I in tow.
Kim simply side-stepped to the center aisle, remaining calm as thousands of pounds of wood narrowly missed her body.