“She’s not a pawn in some kind of sick twisted game. She’s a human who deserves to live life the way she wants.”
“Human,” Alex chuckled. “Boy, you really are in the dark, aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” Dylan snapped.
“You know, for someone she claims to love, she sure has kept a lot from you.”
Dylan’s wrists were raw from the ropes digging into his skin, but he could feel the ropes beginning to loosen so he struggled through the pain. He needed to get out of here and warn Jenna about Alex.
“You’re crazy, you know that? You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Alex circled Dylan. “You know, I think it’s about time I told you a little story.”
“I don’t want to hear a story. Why don’t you let me go and we’ll see who the bigger man is.”
Alex braced his hands on the chair. “Shut up and listen when I’m talking to you,” he spat in Dylan’s face. “This is a story you definitely want to hear. It’s a tale about an angel named Thomas who fell in love with a human woman named Erin. It was a forbidden love that led to the conception of a child, a child that God deemed to be an abomination. You see this child wasn’t the only half-breed conceived between an angel and a human, there were others. God gave these children the name of Nephilim and decreed they not be allowed to live.”
Dylan stopped struggling. He heard his father talk of these kids before, but he thought it was something the church had made up. He never really considered they could actually exist. He listened to the rest of what Alex had to say.
“God feared these children for one reason. At the age of seventeen, they would develop abilities that almost mirrored those of their fathers. The vast majority of Nephilim children born were males that God would put through what he called trials. If the male passed, God would let him live, but only if he agreed to fight as one of Heavens warriors on earth when God called upon him. The children were trained by angels to control their powers and learn how to use them. The ones that failed these trials were deemed untrustworthy and killed.” Alex’s eyes caught and held Dylan’s. “Now, here’s the part you’re going to want to pay close attention to,” he told him, and then broke eye contact. “In all of the history of Nephilim children there have only been two females born. When the first one turned seventeen and her abilities surfaced, she was almost three times as powerful as any male. She was so powerful that her abilities exactly mirrored those of real Angels. God decided it was too dangerous to allow her to live because if she ever turned against him and sided with Lucifer the results would be catastrophic. When they came to kill her, she escaped into the forest. The angels tracked and soon found her and took her life, but not before she destroyed half the forest in mere seconds with a flick of her wrist.
Alex turned and stared at Dylan. “Can you guess who the second female is?” he asked.
“Jenna?” Dylan whispered hoping he was wrong.
“That’s right, it’s Jenna. And, whatever side she chooses to fight on will surely win the war that is inevitable against heaven and hell. I already located her and fooled her into believing I was a Nephilim just like her and cast a cloaking spell on her and her mom so the angels couldn’t locate her.”
Dylan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Could it be true? Could Jenna really be one of these Nephilim children? He shook the thought from his head, none of that mattered now. She was still the girl he’d fallen in love with and he had to get to her and warn her about what was happening. He needed to hear the truth from Jenna about who she really was.
Alex continued to pace back and forth with a smirk on his face that Dylan wanted nothing more than to smack off him. He couldn’t see how Alex thought any of this was funny. They were playing with an innocent girl’s life. He suddenly felt the urge to protect her at all costs, even if it meant giving his own life in the process.
“I’ll never understand how she could pick you… a mere human, over me, one of her own kind,” Alex mumbled. “I mean just think about it. Together we could be unstoppable.” Alex grabbed a handful of Dylan’s hair and yanked his head back. “But no, she had to go and fall in love with you, a mere mortal. I still can’t figure that one out. Just what is it about you she can’t resist?”
“Is that what this is all about?” Dylan snapped as Alex released his hair. “That she chose me over you? Get over it man, she’s made her choice.” Dylan struggled to free himself once again as Alex circled the chair taunting him.
“Don’t you get it?” Alex snarled. “It’s what it’s always been about. That’s why I was sent to rescue her from that compound. She was supposed to fall in love with me. That way I could convince her to do whatever we wanted.”
“We? Who else is involved in this?”
“Yes, we. You see, when I rescued Jenna from the compound she assumed I was just like her, half human and half angel. Truth is, I’m not. My mother was a human, but my father was a demon, not an angel, which makes me a Cambion. I let her and her mother believe what they wanted because it meant they trusted me. I found it easier to manipulate them that way. That is, until her mother realized what I was. She was going to tell Jenna, so I had no choice but to kill her. I couldn’t take the chance of Jenna finding out who I really was. I was too far along in the plan to let her get away.”
Dylan was stunned. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t care that she’d lied to him about her parents being in China. He was sure she had her reasons for that, but when she found out it was Alex who had killed her mother she would be devastated. He needed to find a way out of his bindings to make sure Alex never got near Jenna again. The ropes dug deeper into his already torn flesh as he struggled, but he didn’t care. As Alex turned his back to him, he scooted his chair up against a pole and started to rub the ropes up and down hoping they would break.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Alex growled as he grabbed the chair and pushed it away from the pole with such force it slid into the middle of the room nearly tipping over. “I’m not done with you yet.” Alex backhanded Dylan hard slicing his cheek open.
Dylan cringed as blood oozed from his cut onto his shirt. He could feel the hole in his cheek, but he couldn’t let it affect him. This wasn’t about him. It was about keeping this monster away from Jenna. He used all his strength and pulled hard on the ropes finally breaking free from them. He jumped out of the chair and charged at Alex catching him off guard and throwing him into a cement wall.
“I won’t let you hurt her!” Dylan screamed as they collided with the wall. “How could you do that to her? You claim to love her, but then you kill her mother. I hate to tell you; that’s not love, that’s betrayal!”
Alex shoved Dylan off him and threw him across the room. “You might want to clean your ears out. I never said I loved her. My kind doesn’t have emotions. That’s why it’s so easy to kill. All I said was I needed to get her to trust me so I could turn her when the time came. But, I can see now that with you in the picture that’s not going to be possible.”
Dylan pushed the pain out of his head and stood up. “No matter what you do to me she’ll never trust you.”
Alex smirked. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong. After I kill you, I’ll convince her it’s her fault. I’ll tell her I warned her not to get involved with you, that your blood is on her hands. She’ll fall for it, just like she did when I told her the person who killed her mother was after her. She was devastated. This will be the finale blow and she’ll realize I’m the only one she can trust. She’ll do whatever I ask of her after your death.”
Dylan lunged at Alex again, sending them smashing into a beam. “I won’t let you do that to her.” Dylan slammed his fist into Alex’s face.
Alex laughed and shoved Dylan backwards with so much force that he flew across the room and landed so hard on a wooden desk that it buckled under his weight.
“So, you want to play hard ball do you?” Alex snarled then charged at Dylan.
Alex laughed as he stood up as if nothing had even happened and looked down at Dylan. “Did you really think that would hurt me?” he questioned as he circled Dylan. “It takes a lot more than that to hurt my kind.”
Dylan screamed as Alex’s foot slammed down on his arm breaking the bone through his flesh. The last thing Dylan remembered before the darkness took over was Alex’s hideous laugh, and the pain that exploded at the base of his skull as Alex’s foot made contact with his head.
JENNA let go of Arlene’s leg and stumbled backwards. She pulled her legs up, wrapped her arms around them and laid her head on her knees. As she rocked back and forth she tried to not think of what just happened. She had just killed someone, and even though it was only a demon it still felt like she was dying herself. Not to mention the pain she was sure Arlene had felt even though the demon possessed her.
She slowly lifted her head and looked at Arlene who was still unconscious. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
She reached behind her and grabbed a pillow off the bed, then slowly crawled over to Arlene and placed it under her head. She steadied her shaking hands and placed a finger on Arlene’s throat to check for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt it beating strong.
“I’m sorry I hurt you, but it was the only way I knew of to get that demon out of you,” she told Arlene as she tried to make her comfortable on the floor. She wasn’t sure how long she would be unconscious and there was no way she could carry her to the bed, so this was the best she could do.
She stood up and looked around the room trying to figure out what to do next. She knew Alex had Dylan, but where? She reached into her pocket and pulled out the letter her father had written her. She took a deep breath and opened it. She had no choice. She had to use it. Dylan’s life depended on it. After she summoned the angel, she would find a way to make him help her.
The spell called for three white candles, three drops of her blood and a special circle that had to be drawn on the floor. Knowing that Arlene had candles on her dresser she ran there first, making sure to grab the matches that lay beside them. She hurried back to her room and grabbed the marker and letter opener out of her desk then began to draw the circle on the floor. She knew Arlene would be mad when she saw it, but she had no other choice. Inside the circle, she copied the three intertwined circles off the letter her father had drawn. Jenna then placed the three candles around the circle. She cringed as she punctured the tip of her finger with the letter opener. She then stepped into the middle of the circle and after lighting each candle squeezed a droplet of her blood on top the candle. When she was finished, she stood up, took a step back and began to recite the verses on the page.
“I summon thee great Angel of the Lord. I summon thee in my time of need. I summon thee appear to me.”
Jenna repeated the verses three times, and then stepped back and waited. It wasn’t long before the candles flickered and then went out. Jenna gasped as a tall man with blond hair and the bluest eyes that seemed almost transparent appeared in the circle. On his jacket was a red cross over his heart.
“Dad?” she asked as the man turned his attention to her.
“No, Jenna, I’m not your father. We couldn’t allow him to come. He is still being punished for his transgressions against our kind. My name is Samuel. I was sent here by God to help you instead. We have been watching you very closely, and are aware of what is going on.”
Jenna watched as Samuel looked around her room, his gaze stopping on Arlene who was still unconscious on the floor.
“She was possessed. I somehow managed to get the demon out of her, but I don’t know how I did it,” she mumbled afraid of what Samuel might think.
Samuel stepped out of the circle, walked over to Arlene and knelt down beside her. He picked her arm up and inspected the burn. “What happened?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I was trying to control my ability to summon fire and when she touched me it burnt her.”
“It’s your angelic side. You must have inherited the ability to be able to force a demon out of a human’s body. A full Angel would have been able to do it with one touch without burning the body. This must have happened because you’re a Nephilim. But, I can’t be positive. To be honest we’re not sure what kind of abilities you’ll develop.” Samuel touched Arlene’s forehead and the burns disappeared. “She’ll be fine now,” he said as he stood up and faced Jenna.
“Thank you,” Jenna said relieved that when Arlene woke up she wouldn’t be in any pain.
“Don’t thank me just yet,” Samuel replied. “I know why you have summoned me here. You must understand that we can’t interfere in what’s happening. If the boy dies, then that’s what his fate is meant to be.”
“His name is Dylan!” Jenna snapped. “And, how can you say it’s his fate? He wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for me. I was created by one of your angels, which makes me, in a sense, one of you. If it weren’t for me moving here, Dylan wouldn’t have chosen the path he did. The path a half-angel led him down.” Jenna glared at Samuel. “So, he didn’t choose his own path, I chose it for him, which means you have to help him to make things right.”
Samuel didn’t move or even say a word when Jenna was done. He just stood there as if he was contemplating what he had been told.
“Well, don’t just stand there. Are you going to help me find him, or am I going to have to tear this town apart to do it myself?” Jenna exclaimed.
“You know we can’t let you do that,” Samuel finally said.
“Then help me,” Jenna begged. “He’s an innocent person in this war between heaven and hell. It’s not his fault.”
“Fine,” Samuel said. “But in order for us to help him, you need to do something for us.”
“Anything,” Jenna promised, her mind refusing to register the impact this favor may have on her in the future. Right now, it didn’t matter anyway; this was the only way she could ensure Dylan’s safety. And she would do anything to save him.
“You see, Jenna. We have been watching you for some time now. The demons think they have you masked from us, but the moment your mother was killed that spell was lifted. We have decided to watch and study you to see what a female Nephilim will be capable of. Some of us don’t agree with this. We think it’s too much of a risk to let you live. But, God has spoken, and we will obey him.
“For a while we were worried you would choose the wrong path, but when you met the young man you call Dylan we saw that we were wrong. You love him, that is clear and it’s that love that has guided you to us. Where we believe you will stay, that is as long as you have Dylan in your life. So, we will help you, and after Dylan is safe we will allow you to live your life as you please. We will no longer pursue you. But, only on the condition that if we ever need a favor from you in the future you agree to help us, no questions asked.”
“Fine, whatever it takes,” Jenna replied without even thinking.
Samuel smiled. “Good. Now, in order for me to locate him I’ll need something of his.”
Jenna grew frantic. She didn’t have anything of Dylan’s to use. Her mind replayed every moment she had spent with him trying to recall if he had given her anything. She looked at Samuel as her shoulders slumped.
“I don’t have anything of his,” she whispered.
“I can’t locate him without something that belonged to him. I’m sorry.”
“Wait!” Jenna exclaimed as she realized she did in fact have something that belonged to Dylan. “Will his blood work?” she ask
ed cautiously.
“You have his blood?”
“Yes. I fell in the barn and my hand landed in it. I wiped it off on my pants. Will that do?”
Jenna bit the inside of her lip, hoping Samuel would be able to use it.
“Yes, it should. But, Jenna, I must inform you that I can only take you to where he is. I can’t interfere with what happens between Alex and yourself after that. But, I can give you this.” Samuel handed her a silver knife with strange symbols etched into it. He then touched Jenna’s forehead with his finger. The directions on how to use the knife seeped into her mind. “Do you understand how to use it?” he asked. “It will be an advantage over Alex.”
“I understand,” Jenna replied. “And, I understand why you can’t help, but I won’t agree to your terms until you agree to at least get Dylan to safety. I can handle Alex on my own.”
“That seems fair,” Samuel replied.
As long as Samuel got Dylan to safety Jenna didn’t care what happened to her. “Okay, so how do we do this?” she asked.
“After I touch the blood I’ll be able to locate him. Be prepared because I’ll transport you there right away. I’ll stay here until you call for me to help Dylan.”
“Jenna took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” Jenna watched as Samuel touched the blood on her pants. His lips moved but no words emerged. She suddenly felt dizzy as if she was going to faint. Then her head cleared and she was standing in a warehouse.
JENNA gasped when she spotted Dylan’s motionless body lying on the cold cement floor across the room. In an instant, she was at his side cradling him in her arms.
“Please don’t leave me,” she begged as she wiped the blood off his battered and bruised face. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to get involved. I thought I could protect you.”
Jenna’s pulse quickened as she noticed Dylan’s mangled arm. “I won’t let him get away with this,” she promised. “Hold on, baby, I’m going to get you out of here.” Jenna gently laid Dylan back on the floor and stood up; anger pulsating through her body as she thought about what he must have gone through.
Revelations (The Revelations Series Book 1) Page 21