Legacy of the Watchers Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Nancy Madore

  “I bet you’re right,” she replied. They were all quiet for a moment. Nadia was thinking of the night she was kidnapped.

  “Why’d you take me there?” she suddenly asked. They all just looked at her. “Why the desert? And what was that shiny metal thing outside? I thought it was a space ship when I first saw it.”

  Clive and Gordon looked at Will.

  “Might as well tell her,” said Clive. “She couldn’t find that spot again if her life depended on it. Besides, I’m starting to think she might actually be innocent!”

  Nadia gave him a look that told him how little she cared what he thought.

  “The metal dome is where we keep djinn,” said Will.

  “We can’t kill them,” explained Gordon. “So we have to bind them to a talisman, which in most cases comes in the form of a ring. The talisman traps them forever, unless someone releases them or if the talisman is destroyed. Since the talisman is metal the only way it can be destroyed is through sublimation, which is a kind of evaporation that takes place under very high temperatures. If that happens, the djinn is released back out into the world. That’s why we store them in the fire-proof dome.”

  “Plus, you never know when you might need them again,” said Clive. “For information.”

  “But…couldn’t someone discover the dome, just sitting there like that?” Nadia asked.

  “Normally it isn’t just ‘sitting there like that,’” said Will. “We keep it underground, buried beneath the desert sand.”

  “It’s controlled by an automatic device that makes it go up or down,” said Gordon. “We had it…ready when we brought you in that night.”

  “So…once you put the djinn in the dome, what were you planning to do with the rest of me?” she couldn’t help wondering.

  There was another awkward pause. “The dome comes fully equipped with an incinerator,” Clive said in the same tone an advertiser describes a product’s advantages.

  Nadia gasped. “You were going to kill me? You’re authorized to kill? Just exactly who are you guys, anyway?”

  “No, we weren’t going to kill you, but it wouldn’t have been you anyway,” said Clive. “Your soul would have already been smothered by the djinn. You’d be a soulless lump. Trust me. I’ve seen it. It makes someone with advanced Alzheimer’s look like Sherlock Holmes.”

  Both Gordon and Will objected at the same time. “Clive!” exclaimed Will, while Gordon wondered aloud—“Why? Why is he allowed to talk?”

  “Most victims of djinn die shortly after the djinn is expelled,” explained Will. “We just let nature take its course. Those that…persist are taken back home for their families to deal with.”

  “Either way, they aren’t talking,” said Clive.

  “So essentially, you bring them here to get rid of the bodies,” she summarized. When they didn’t deny it, she continued—“I mean, you could expel the djinn anywhere, but that might leave evidence. They could struggle, like I did. With forensics and all…”

  “You made your point,” said Clive. “We like to get the whole package out as quickly and cleanly as possible. So?”

  “Not to mention that many places are too populated for an extraction to go unnoticed,” added Gordon. “I’ve seen the earth shake!”

  “But why there?” Nadia persisted. “You just decided to dig a hole in the middle of the desert one day? Don’t you have to have a permit or something?”

  “You might say it’s kind of a home base for us,” said Clive.

  “Where is it, exactly?” she asked.

  “You don’t need to know that,” said Clive.

  “Okay,” she said agreeably. “So who are you? I think I’ve earned the right to know that much. I did, after all, solve your case for you.”

  “She fills in a few details and suddenly she solved the case,” said Clive.

  “Remember before, when we mentioned the Essenes?” Will asked.

  Nadia thought for a minute. They’d covered a lot of ground in the last few days. “You mean the Jewish monks who saved the ancient writings?”

  “That’s them,” said Clive. “Now take out the Jew—and especially the monk—and you’ve got yourself a Raphaelian.”

  “A what?” asked Nadia. She couldn’t help laughing, in spite of everything.

  “Raphaelian,” he repeated with much more attitude this time. “What? You never heard of Raphael, the angel that kicked Azazyl’s Nephilim-breeding ass?”

  Nadia almost choked on a Dorito. “What’s he, like a superhero or something?” she asked.

  “Hell yeah!” exclaimed Clive.

  “Raphael led the angels in the war against the Watchers,” explained Gordon. “The Essenes took the ball from there.”

  “You never read the Book of Enoch?” asked Clive. “No? How about the book of Joshua, in the Bible?”

  “I’m afraid not,” said Nadia.

  “The book of Joshua gives an historical account of how the Jews conquered Canaan all those years ago,” said Gordon. “If you’ll remember, they had escaped Egyptian slavery and were wandering the desert for forty years in search of the Promised Land.”

  “You’re talking about the story of Moses,” said Nadia.

  “That’s right,” said Clive. “You know, the one where Charlton Heston’s hair gets all freaky-deaky, like yours sometimes does, and Yul Brynner’s got that cool braid coming out of the middle of his head and shit.”

  “And Ann Baxter,” Gordon added with meaning.

  “You know that’s right,” said Clive.

  “Moooses,” drawled Gordon seductively.

  “Ha ha!” exclaimed Clive. “That’s my bitch!”

  “Um…excuse me,” Nadia interjected. “I hate to break up this little…whatever that just was, but what does all this have to do with…?”

  “Sorry,” said Gordon. “Where were we? Oh, yeah…the Jews wanted Canaan—but they were too afraid to try and take it because the spies they sent out told them it was overrun with giants. Anakians, they called them. They were the descendants of Anak.”

  “Which tells us that the Nephilim of Kiriath Arba survived the flood,” said Will. “And now, after hearing Lilith’s story, we know how they did it.”

  “That’s where the Essenes come in,” said Gordon. “The Bible, naturally, gives God all the credit, but what actually happened was—with or without God’s help, as the case may be—the Essenes gave the Jews the secret for killing the giants, making it possible for them to take over the land of Canaan and, in the process, making the Jews the most feared people throughout the land. No one could figure out how they did it. Everyone thought it had to be a miracle.”

  “So how did they do it?” Nadia asked.

  “They found the books,” said Will. “The Essenes found Azazyl’s books, and they figured out how to immobilize these giants by calling out their souls.”

  “If you read between the lines in Joshua’s version of what happened, it’s obvious,” said Gordon.

  “Check out Joshua, chapter six, verse fifteen,” said Clive. “And I quote…it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early and compassed the city seven times…” Nadia was impressed to see that he had the scripture memorized. He recited it with pride, almost as if he’d written it himself. “Verse sixteen,” he continued. “And it came to pass on the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, ‘shout, for the Lord hath given you the city.’”

  “The Jews circled the city, blowing trumpets to cover the sound of their chanting as they called out the Nephilim’s souls,” said Gordon.

  “Verse twenty,” continued Clive. “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man before him, and they took the city.”

  “The giants were the ‘wall’ guarding the city,” said Gordon. “When they fell, th
e city was left wide open. The Jews shouted something that was covered up by the blowing of the trumpets, and the giants fell.”

  “And that was how the Essenes went from being quiet, sexless little monks to the djinn-chasing, Nephilim ass-kicking Raphaelians you see before you today!” concluded Clive.

  Nadia laughed, but she was impressed, and told him so.

  “You should be,” said Clive.

  “But I still don’t see how you have the authority to…I mean…Raphaelians? Really?” she was finding this very hard to accept. “That’s like the police calling Superman for help.”

  “You can’t argue results!” exclaimed Clive.

  “The Department of Defense has many different branches,” explained Will. “Each branch has their divisions. And those divisions have their divisions. We are affiliated with a division of one of those divisions.”

  “Now you’re starting to sound like that pharmaceutical company you were giving me such a hard time about,” said Nadia.

  “Yeah, but we know what we’re trying to hide,” said Clive.

  “We’re with one of the divisions that fight terrorism,” explained Gordon. “They have lots of different divisions working different angles to achieve the same goal. They don’t care how it gets done, so long as it gets done.”

  “Every threat has to be examined, no matter how improbable it might seem,” said Will. “Everything from alien sightings to psychic readings. Or, in our case, djinn.”

  “So you’re a division of the Department of Defense,” said Nadia.

  “No, we are affiliated with a division of a division of a branch of the Department of Defense,” said Clive. “Jeesh! If you would just listen!”

  “We’re a private organization,” said Gordon. “We contract our services out to the United States and other governments as needed.”

  “The Raphaelians is just our code name,” said Clive

  “It keeps our official name and mission statement from being exposed,” said Gordon.

  “And from attracting attention during budget cuts,” added Clive.

  “And this dome in the middle of the desert?” she asked. “Does this division of the DOD know what you’re storing there?”

  “Depends who you ask,” said Clive.

  “What if the wrong person finds out about this?” she asked. “What if someone decides to check out this dome for themselves?”

  “We’ve taken measures to prevent that,” said Will.

  “They use that reasoning in bad science fiction movies,” said Nadia. “‘Let’s keep the danger around and hope the bad guys don’t find it!’”

  “What do you think we should do, Nancy Drew?” asked Clive.

  “I don’t know…incorporate the metal talismans into a bridge, or some other structure where it can never be discovered or destroyed. Or bury it at the bottom of the ocean. I’m sure you could think of something.”

  “They have knowledge we might need,” said Gordon. “They might be able to help us find other djinn or prevent other disasters.”

  “Like Hannibal Lecter?” Nadia asked. “Really, do you think the benefit is worth the risk?”

  “Yes, we do,” said Clive. “Moving on…”

  Will got up and opened the overhead compartment. “We should really get some rest,” he said. “We’ve still got several hours in the air.” He took out pillows and blankets, tossing a few to Clive and Gordon, but hand delivering them to Nadia. In a surprisingly intimate gesture he gently placed a pillow beneath her head and meticulously arranged the blanket, tucking it under her chin. She looked up at him expectantly, a small smile playing about her lips.

  But he simply turned and walked back to the other end of the plane.

  Chapter 48

  Nadia woke up with a start. Lilith was there! Her soul shimmered menacingly in the cockpit, her long, dark hair blowing all around her.

  Nadia looked around for Will and the others, but they were gone. Lilith approached with a strange gleam in her large, doe-like eyes. Her sharp teeth were fully exposed, and for an instant it seemed as if she was about to eat Nadia. But only for an instant. They both knew what she really wanted.

  Nadia tried to get up, but she was once again chained to the seat. Lilith, meanwhile, kept inching nearer until she was hovering directly over Nadia, so close that she was almost touching her. Her beautiful eyes held Nadia’s in a hypnotic trance. Slowly, so slowly that Nadia hardly realized it was happening, Lilith began encroaching on her, so that Nadia could feel her now too. It was like being pressed—and pulled—both at the same time. It was like being trapped in a too-small space while more people continued to pour in. It seemed as if the air was being extracted from Nadia’s lungs. She felt as if she was being crushed. Or buried alive.

  Hurry! She thought. Kill me then, but let me out of here!

  “Hey!” Nadia opened her eyes to find Will gently shaking her. She looked around wildly. Lilith was gone. Gordon and Clive appeared to be sleeping. There were no chains tying her to the seat.

  Will was peering at her with concern.

  “Did I wake you?” she whispered.

  “Nope. I was just sitting here, thinking,” he whispered back.

  “Still trying to figure out where Lilith is?” she asked, remembering what Gordon told her about him being a control freak. When he didn’t reply she said—“You just missed her.”

  “Is that what you were dreaming about?”

  “Yes.” She shuddered, not wanting to elaborate. “How do they get inside a person?”

  “There are a number of different ways for them to get in,” he said. “The longer they’ve been doing it, the better they get at it. And it depends on where the djinn is, too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you already know about the dark place,” he said. “It takes a Book of the Dead to get them out of there. But for a djinn that’s already here, on earth, they might start out in that parallel universe Azazyl mentioned. They wander the earth without really experiencing it. They can sense us and we can sometimes sense them. All they want is to get through the barrier that separates us. They’ll do anything to get through.”

  “Give me an example,” she said.

  “Some use spells. Others use mind control, especially if the person on this side is weak. And…some are a little more creative.”

  “Tell me,” she insisted.

  “The Book of Solomon tells the story of a young boy who has an encounter with a djinn. The boy could feel the djinn following him. He told Solomon that the djinn was slowly stealing his life by sucking it out through his thumb each night.”

  Nadia just looked at him. “That’s…a strange story.”

  Will smiled. “The missing part of the story—the part that Solomon left out—is that just prior to this incident the boy had cut his thumb. This djinn sensed the boy’s living blood flowing out of him, and it answered some need within him…the need to live.” They were both still whispering, giving the conversation an intimate quality in spite of the disturbing topic. “By sucking the boy’s thumb he was attempting to breach the barrier between the parallel worlds and enter the body of the boy.”

  “Like a vampire,” said Nadia, narrowing her eyes at him.

  “Yes,” he admitted, almost as if he hated to. “I know it sounds strange, but you’d be surprised how many mysteries are explained by the djinn. Ghosts, demon possession, and yes, even vampires. The concept of monsters originated with the Emim, who were also djinn. Almost every scary legend originates with the djinn.”

  Nadia tried to absorb this. “Wait…how do you know the boy in Solomon’s story cut his thumb if that wasn’t part of the story?” Her eyes grew wider. “You caught the djinn?”

  “Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “His name is Ornias. He’s one of the djinn Solomon conjured to help build his temple.” Nadia sighed heavily. Just when she thought she might be able to accept what they were saying they added one more thing to set her back to doubting again.


  Will had raised the armrest when they first started whispering so he could lean in closer. That closeness now made for an awkward silence. His eyes seemed to be melting into Nadia and she could feel his desire—yet he didn’t make a move.

  “You…don’t have to worry about me,” she stammered in the same, low voice. She felt warm under his gaze—so warm she couldn’t tell if she was blushing or not. “I don’t get attached either.” He seemed surprised by her comment. “I mean…I don’t believe in love. Or at least not the romantic notions people have about it.” She felt she was making the situation even more awkward but she couldn’t seem to stop talking. She shrugged and tried to laugh it off. “I mean, true love, right? It’s as elusive as your djinn.”

  Will smiled. “But our djinn are not as elusive as you might think,” he whispered, moving in even closer. She was starting to feel trapped. And those eyes! She tried to move back but realized she was already pressed as far as she could get into her seat.

  Nadia tried to catch her breath. Was he going to kiss her or not?

  His lips were so close that they were almost touching hers. “Are you going to kiss me or not?” he whispered.

  Something inside her snapped. Recklessly, she clasped her hands on Will’s shoulders and pressed her lips to his. But in another surprise move, Will pulled back, effectively halting the kiss. Nadia looked up at him in surprise. He smiled. When he leaned in to kiss her his pace was slow, his lips patient and gentle as they spread light, feathery kisses over hers, caressing them and coaxing them to open. Meanwhile, one hand slowly made its way down her lower back while the other hand worked its way through her thick curls. He ran his tongue over her lips, ever so lightly, just kind of tasting her at first—or teasing her—but before she realized how it happened he was devouring her in an all-encompassing kiss. He jerked her closer with the hand on her lower back and tightened his grip on her hair, though he was careful not to hurt her. Everything he did—every touch—inflamed her. She shuddered violently as the floor seemed to fall out from beneath her feet.

  “Are we descending?” a sleepy voice asked. It took her a minute to recognize Clive’s voice.