by G. K. DeRosa
We crept back into the dark room, my pulse quickening with every step. Our intertwined fingers sparked with electricity. This was wrong. So wrong. Declan’s mom was asleep only a few feet away. I should not be engaging in a heavy make-out session with her son.
Declan lowered me onto the bed, and the mattress let out a sharp squeak. I swear my heart stopped.
Sammarah jolted out of bed, the whites of her eyes almost glowing in the dim room.
Declan jumped up, and I tucked into a ball pretending to be asleep.
“They’re watching. They’re always watching us.” Sammarah’s eerie voice broke through the dense silence.
Declan sat down beside her, clasping her small hands in his. “Mom, everything’s okay. There’s no one here but us.”
I sat up as a rock sank to the bottom of my stomach. I couldn’t help but remember the last time her crazy rants turned out to be a valid warning.
As if reading my mind, Declan’s head tilted up and I could almost feel him strain his ears. Listening for an impending attack. The tense pinch of his lips abated, and he nodded in confirmation.
I relaxed.
Sammarah rocked back and forth, her knees tucked into her chest. “They’ll find me. They always do. If not today, then soon.”
Declan wrapped his arms around her, and the shattered look on his face nearly broke me. “You’re safe, Mom. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
The door swung open. Duke barked, and I gasped. Geez, Liv. Get a grip.
Azazel walked in, his mismatched eyes trained on Sammarah. “What’s wrong?”
Declan shrugged, shaking his head. “She gets these episodes. I don’t know why or how to stop them. The angel light doesn’t help.”
I glanced down and noticed the warm glow emanating around their clasped hands. She still rocked back and forth repeating the ominous warning.
A chill skittered up my spine. “Are we sure she’s not onto something? She was right last time.”
Azazel knelt down in front of Sammarah and cupped her cheeks. “What is it, dear?”
“They’re coming. They know we’re here.” Her glazed eyes wandered the room until they settled on me. “They can’t find out about her. We must protect her at all costs.”
My hand flew to my chest. “Me?”
Azazel shushed her, drawing her into his arms. Declan bristled beside his mom but eventually relinquished her hold to his uncle. “Everything’s going to be fine, Sam. Just rest.” He lowered her back onto the bed and swept his hand over her eyes, murmuring. When he straightened a moment later, her eyes were closed.
What was that?
He motioned to Declan and me, and we followed him out of the room.
“I thought you didn’t have any angel powers?” The words jumped out of my mouth as soon as we reached the living room.
Azazel’s head cocked to the side, and he sneered at Declan. “I see you’ve informed your friend about my colorful past.”
Declan’s eyes cast down to the floor. “Not everything,” he muttered.
His uncle turned to me with a sardonic smile. “I don’t. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t mastered other mystical arts.”
I opened my mouth to ask more but then snapped it shut. I didn’t want to know. If magic existed, I assumed dark magic did as well, and that was something I did not need to get into right now.
Azazel moved to the window and peered through the crack in the shutters. Faint rays of light seeped through. “I didn’t want to worry your mother, but I have seen an occasional nephilim soldier around these parts. It can’t be coincidence. Nathanael is keeping tabs on me.”
“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Declan snarled.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
“We should go.” Declan grabbed the Book of Salvation from the coffee table, but his uncle slapped it out of his hands. A couple pages of loose-leaf paper slid out and fell to the floor.
A wicked grin flashed across Azazel’s face. “Don’t you want to know what I found out first?”
Chapter 8
My knee bounced up and down as Azazel flipped through the pages of the ancient tome. Declan sat at my side, his thigh grazing mine. Tension radiated off him like a nuclear bomb.
“And?”
“I’m getting there,” he huffed as he organized the additional pages of notes. “Hidden deep within this veritable encyclopedia of divinity, I believe I have found the answers you need.”
I sat forward, shifting uncomfortably.
“The crest emblazoned on the cover is not only the emblem of the divina sanguine, it’s also a map of sorts.” He spread the pages out across the table. They reminded me of Sammarah’s notes—frantic scrawled writing and completely incomprehensible.
I looked closer. One figure did look familiar. He’d broken apart the four quadrants of the divine sigil and magnified it. One held a heart, the next a book, then a sword and finally the shield.
He pointed at the images. “The heart signifies the divine bloodline. The book—”
“The Book of Salvation,” Declan interjected.
“Precisely. The sword is the next item you must recover in order to find the shield of light.”
“Okay, and how do we do that?” I was waiting for the treasure map and the “x” that marked the spot.
“Look closely.” He pointed at the drawing of the quadrant with the sword.
A series of perplexing squiggles lined the bottom. It was so faint on the original, I couldn’t imagine how he’d even seen it.
“It’s a clue,” breathed Declan, his eyes glued to the strange writing.
Azazel picked up another sheet of paper and placed it on top of the pile. “This is a loose translation. It was the best I could do in such a limited time.”
He who quests for the divine,
Must be more than pure of heart and of sacred bloodline.
To unearth the blade of honor,
Follow the conduit of the wicked upon her.
Traverse the path the holy see,
To discover whom the righteous is to be.
Seek high and seek low,
And thou shall uncover that which all desire to know.
My eyes bounced back and forth between the scribbled words and Declan’s troubled face. What the heck did that even mean?
“The weirdest thing is that the text changes as the decades pass. I assume it’s to account for modern civilization and the inevitable changes that accompany it.” He turned the book toward us. The foreign words were written in a shimmery fluid text.
“What in the world?” Were my eyes playing tricks on me or did those letters just move?
“And even when translated it rhymes.” Azazel chuckled. “The old ones certainly had a sense of humor.”
I didn’t find anything about this funny. This was some sort of crazy riddle you had to use insane troll logic to decipher.
“Do you know what it means?” Declan turned to his uncle.
“No clue.” He shrugged, his multi-colored irises dancing. “But I bet your mother does.”
As if on cue, Sammarah appeared around the corner. “They’re here.”
A deafening crash split the tense air, and all eyes spun to the balcony window. One of the shutters was wrenched off its hinges, revealing a magnificently terrifying angel.
Or nephilim was more likely based on the golden armor strapped to his perfect body.
Duke barked like mad, his hackles standing on end.
Declan cursed and yelled, “Get down!”
We hit the ground a second before the sliding glass door shattered and shards of glass rained down.
Out of the corner of my eye, the blue glow of Declan’s sword lit up his palm. He leapt up and lunged at the nephilim as he descended into the living room. I army-crawled across the floor to Sammarah who was huddled next to the couch. Azazel was nowhere in sight, and someone had to take care of the poor confused woman.
The clash of ange
lic swords clanged across the space, the harsh sound making my teeth chatter. I reached Sammarah and sucked in a breath. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, biting on her lip. “What happened?” Her dark eyes were clear again, the earlier, less-than-sane version now hidden deep beneath the surface. Thank goodness. “You’re hurt.”
She pointed to my knees. Tiny streams of blood covered my legs. I hadn’t even noticed it. I checked for glass, but none had gotten stuck in my flesh. “I’m okay.” I glanced up at her. “You were right again. The angels were watching us. Whatever is in that book, they don’t want us to find.”
“Was Azazel able to translate it?”
“Yes.” I gave her my best reassuring smile given the current predicament. “Now we just have to get out of here and somewhere safe.”
I had to say it. I couldn’t just keep my mouth shut.
Another nephilim swooped into the chaotic living room, setting her icy blue gaze on us. Glorious golden locks grazed her shoulders, bouncing as she hurtled toward us. It struck me as odd that this was the first female nephilim I’d seen. I didn’t have much time to think on it as she barreled toward us like a banshee.
Duke barked and growled, but the nephilim didn’t spare him a second glance. The beautiful angel raised her sword in a deadly arc. I pushed Sammarah behind me and grabbed the only thing I could reach—a pillow off the couch. The flaming sword descended, and a scream caught in my throat.
A shot rang out, followed by a second, a third and an entire barrage of bullets filled the air. The female nephilim lurched back. I inhaled sharply and swung my head around to find Azazel with a rifle at his shoulder.
“Go now!” He pulled us both off the floor and darted to the coffee table, grabbing the book and shoving it in my trembling hands.
“Declan!” I shouted.
The clash of swords still resonated behind me. I turned to see Declan and the male nephilim caught in a mid-air battle. The female soldier was sprawled out on the floor, dark blood seeping from multiple bullet wounds. She was dazed, but far from incapacitated.
Azazel swung my duffel bag over my shoulder and handed the other to Sammarah. “You must go now. I’ll keep them busy.”
My feet refused to move. “We can’t go without Declan.”
“He’ll catch up with you. Go now.” He shoved us toward the door, and I couldn’t help but notice the tortured expression across Azazel’s face. He ran his hand over Sammarah’s cheek, his mismatched eyes burning with raw emotion. “Go!”
I forced myself not to turn back again. Azazel was right. Declan would be fine. We needed to get Sammarah and the book out of there. They had to be protected at all costs. I yanked my gun out of my backpack and held it muzzle-down at my hip.
“Duke, let’s go!”
We raced through the dark corridor, my heart growing heavier with each step. How did I suddenly become the protector of the two most valuable things on earth?
Darting down five floors, my breaths came in hard, fast spurts. My legs burned, but we couldn’t slow our pace. There was no telling if more angels would come.
We reached the exit, and I ground my heels into the floor. “Wait.” I slowly opened the door and pushed aside the squeaky shutters. Each squeal made my heart quiver. I peered down both sides of the road and up to the sky. Nothing. I strained my hearing for the familiar sound of flapping wings, but none came.
I nodded at Sammarah, and we sprinted down the street. Every few seconds I checked the sky, but as the parking garage came to view, it was all clear. Nothing but murky clouds surrounded us.
When we reached the car, I let out a sharp breath. Sammarah leaned against the vehicle, panting heavily. “We gotta keep moving,” I said as I opened the back door for Duke and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Declan?” she huffed as she slouched into the passenger’s seat.
“He’ll come. I know he will.” I jabbed my finger at the ignition and swallowed down the pit of dread in my throat. I jerked the gearshift into reverse and slammed my foot on the gas.
For a solar-powered vehicle, the little car had pep. We raced out of the garage and onto the streets in seconds. I searched the sky, but still no angels or Declan. I stared at the neon green highway sign as indecision whirled in my belly. Declan could fly. He would easily catch up to us. He knew we were going north, and we wouldn’t be hard to track.
Sammarah’s hand landed on my arm, and she gave me an encouraging smile. “He’ll find us.”
I nodded, snagging my lip between my teeth to keep it from trembling. We had to keep going. I stepped on the gas and headed toward the highway.
Chapter 9
It was the longest hour of my life. Thick silence filled the car, leaving me to my darkest thoughts. What if the nephilim had killed Declan? Worse even, what if he’d been captured? Sharp pain lanced across my chest at the thought of never seeing him again.
My fingers tightened around the steering wheel, my knuckles white from the strain. Sammarah hadn’t said a word since we left Chicago, and I imagined the same gloomy thoughts swirled in her mind. She’d left behind her son and her lover.
Duke, on the other hand, slept peacefully across the back seat. Not for the first time, I found myself jealous of his simple life.
What if Declan never came back? Was it up to Sammarah and me to save the world alone? Anxiety twisted my stomach in knots. I wasn’t sure I could handle that. I couldn’t do this without Declan.
The loud flutter of gigantic wings sent my eyes to the sky, and my heart up my throat. I rolled my window down and craned my neck out. Nothing but gray cloudy skies.
“Did you hear that?” Was I going crazy now?
Sammarah’s dark chocolate eyes widened as she scanned the rear windshield. “Yes. I heard it.”
A loud thud on the roof of the car almost sent me into cardiac arrest. “What was that?” I screeched and slammed on the brakes.
The car skidded to a halt and an upside down head and sprawling white wings blanketed the windshield. I screamed so loud I was surprised I didn’t shatter the glass.
Once the panic passed, I focused on the dark hair and swoon-worthy grin.
I wrenched the car door open and stepped out into the middle of the highway. Declan was back on his feet, his magnificent wings folded behind him.
“You are such a jerk! You scared the crap out of me.” I launched myself at him, pummeling my fists into his firm chest.
He chuckled, adding fire to the fury building inside me. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d know it was me.” He grabbed my fists and pulled me closer.
“Don’t!” I tried to squirm away, but my body melded right into his the moment his arms wrapped around me.
He tilted my chin up. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
“I thought you were dead. Again,” I muttered, my lip quivering. Man, I needed to get myself together.
He tightened his hold around me, his warm breath running through my hair. I nuzzled into his chest, his scent a soothing balm to my frazzled nerves. He kissed the top of my head, and I nearly melted at the sweet gesture. Tipping my head back to look at him, his lips captured mine.
Sammarah cleared her throat, and I backed out of Declan’s embrace, heat rising up my neck. She got up on her tiptoes and pulled her son into a hug. “I knew you’d find us.”
“Sorry I took so long. Those nephilim were strong, and we made a pretty big mess of Uncle Azazel’s apartment. I felt obligated to clean up a little.”
Sammarah pinched his cheek and shot him a smile. “That’s my good boy.”
“So now what? They’re going to report back to the tower that we have the book?”
Declan’s eyes darkened. “That won’t be a problem.”
It took me a second for his words to sink in. Oh—more dead nephilim.
“Come on.” He opened the car door. “We should keep moving. Just because we took care of those two doesn’t mean there won’t be more coming.”
Just great.
Asher had been the closest thing I’d ever had to a boyfriend, and he didn’t really count. Luckily, I’d missed out on all the awkward dating stuff with parents. I bit my tongue the second the thought crossed my mind. I’d give anything to have my parents back. Even if that meant dealing with them and boys.
What would they think of Declan?
My mom always thought Asher and I would get together one day. My chest tightened as images of his emerald-green eyes consumed my vision. I wanted to remember the old Asher, not the one I found at the angel tower.
“Liv, you coming?” Declan held the passenger’s side door open.
I pushed my best friend’s image to a dark corner of my mind and hurried to the other side of the car.
Declan pressed the ignition button and turned back to his mom. “So where to, oh wise one? Tell me you’ve deciphered that cryptic riddle.”
A big smile split her lips. “I’m going to need a little more time to determine the specific site, but I can tell you the general direction.”
“Okay and what’s that?” He fastened his seatbelt and adjusted the seat back.
“The divine quests took place in the Middle Ages in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. I’m sure you’re both aware of the quest for the Holy Grail?” We both nodded, and she continued. “There were many religious artifacts sought during that time. The sword of honor was one of them. No one knew its true power or its connection to the shield, but its existence came to light none the less.”
“So someone found it?” I asked.
She shook her head. “It, along with the Holy Grail, disappeared until the nineteenth century. Then legends sprang up that it had survived the holy wars. According to the myths, it made it to the New World.”
“And where exactly would that be?” Declan arched a brow.
“Why in the greatest city on earth, of course.” Sammarah’s eyes sparkled and she sat back, humming a tune. I couldn’t be sure, but I was fairly certain it was an old Frank Sinatra number.