Requiem (23 page)

“
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.

The steam floated up from behind the shower
curtain and spilled over, filling the room with a thick, hazy
warmth in minutes. I stood under the water, as hot as I could stand
it, and tried to remember what Eli had said about being strong. I
couldn't cry. Frivolous emotion would help nothing. Still, a heavy,
portentous feeling settled over my entire body, weighing me down so
much that the tile below my feet seemed to dig into my skin.

The more we learned, the worse it was.
Preventing the prophecy was useless, because even if we succeeded,
Hell wouldn’t allow the possibility.

The shower knobs complained when I turned
them off, strangling the pipes. I towel-dried my hair, and then
wrapped my robe around me. When I pushed the door open, a ghostly
cloud of steam followed me as I walked across my bedroom floor.

I sat at my vanity, raking a comb through my
damp, messy hair. The sea of black birds at the church haunted my
thoughts, and the crunching sound their bodies made as Jared
carried me across the street replayed over and over in my mind.

“
Don’t forget about dinner
with Ryan tonight,” Bex said.

“
He won’t be here until
seven,” I said, glancing at the clock. I still had an hour
left.

The main entrance door slammed in the lower
level, and I heard not one, but two pairs of light footsteps
ascending the stairs.

Jared stopped in the doorway of my bedroom.
“Hey.”

“
Hey,” I said. I kept my
back to him, but met his eyes in the mirror.

Claire appeared beside him. “I heard.”

The overly ceremonious door bell chimed
throughout the house. Moments later, Agatha joined Jared and Claire
in the doorway of my room. “It’s a gentleman, Love. A Mr. Scott to
see you.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s early.” I stood,
tightening the belt of my robe, and then stormed through the path
Claire and Jared made for me as they pressed their backs to the
wall.

My bare feet tapped against the stairs as I
quickly made my way to the spot where Ryan stood.

“
You’re early,” I said,
crossing my arms.

Ryan smiled, his eyes scanning every corner
of the room. “I’m sorry. I’ll wait.”

“
Agatha?” I called. When
she didn’t answer, I gestured for Ryan to follow me. “I’ll show you
to the Great Room,” I said. Too late I remembered we had rearranged
the furniture for our sparring matches.

“
Redecorating?” Ryan asked,
shoving his hands in his pockets.

“
Something like that,” I
said. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Ryan nodded, and I jogged up the stairs.
Jared and his siblings stood in the center of my room when I
returned, seeming nervous and out of place.

“
It’s just Ryan,” I said.
Once the words came out of my mouth, Claire’s eyes widened, and she
shoved me aside, pushing my bedroom door shut.

Her finger touched her lips, and she waited,
keeping her hand against the door.

“
Nina?” Ryan called,
knocking twice.

“
Yes?” I said, shrugging to
Claire.

“
I couldn’t help but notice
the Lotus Exige you have parked out front. New car?”

Claire’s eyes squeezed shut, and then she
looked at me again, shaking her head.

“
Er…no…? I believe my
mother has company this evening. I’ll meet you downstairs,
okay?”

It was silent for a few moments, but then
Ryan knocked on the door again.

“
Yes?” I said, unable to
hide the irritation in my voice. I glanced back at Jared, hoping he
would give a sign as to what I should do.

“
Isn’t that the same car
Claire drove the night we first saw her at the pub?”

When Jared held out his arms and shrugged, I
sighed. “I…can’t remember, Ryan. Do you want me to get ready or
not?”

“
The thing is,” he said,
his voice just on the other side of the door, “I ran the plates,
and it’s registered to Claire Ryel.”

For the first time, Claire looked nervous.
She rubbed the back of her neck the way her brother rubbed his when
things between us were tense. It struck me as funny, and a smile
forced its way to the surface.

“
It’s not funny!” Claire
mouthed silently. When I covered my mouth with my hand, a smile
crept across her face as well.

“
Uh….” I said, turning once
again to Jared. He rolled his eyes, gesturing for us to somehow fix
the mess we’d made. “She was here. She was here earlier helping
me…er…pick out a dress.”

“
So she walked home?” Ryan
said from the hall.

“
No. No, she didn’t,” I
said, stalling.

Claire desperately pointed at Jared.

“
Jared took her home!” I
said.

Ryan puffed. “Okay, but the Escalade is
parked behind the Lotus.”

“
Shit!” I whispered,
interlocking my fingers on top of my head. “He…took her home on his
motorcycle.”

Claire gave me a thumb’s up, and I relaxed a
bit, hoping Ryan would accept my story.

“
Nina,” Ryan said. “Could I
talk to Claire for a minute? Just…just for one minute.” The door
handle moved, and Claire’s hand instantly gripped around it,
refusing to let it budge a millimeter more.

“
She’s not here, Ryan. I
told you.”

“
Then open the
door.”

“
I’m not
dressed.”

“
I’ve seen you that way
before.”

Jared frowned, and I laughed once. “It’s
different, now.”

“
Claire?” Ryan said. “Can I
talk to you? Please? I won’t take up much of your time, I swear. I
just need to, uh…wow,” he chuckled, “I feel really stupid right
now.”

“
You should, since she’s
not here,” I said.

“
Claire. Please?” he
asked.

Claire leaned her forehead silently against
the door. She bit her lip and sighed. “Go away, Ryan.”

“
Claire?” Ryan said, his
voice excited. “Please open the door.”

“
Nina told me what you
said. It’s sweet, but…,” she cringed, “you’re crazy.”

“
I know what I saw,” Ryan
said, his tone notably less enthusiastic than before. “I know you
were there.”

“
Right. I was in
Afghanistan or wherever, sniping Al Qaeda, and carrying you over my
back for miles. Sounds like me,” she snapped.

“
I just want to see you,”
Ryan said. “I need to see you to be sure.”

Jared shook his head, and Claire’s
expression grew impatient. “Beat it, Ryan,” she said.

After a short pause, Ryan hit the door with
the side of his fist. “I’m not leaving until I see you!”

“
What are you going to do?”
Claire yelled, taking a step away from the door. “Wave your shiny
badge around and impress us to death?”

“
Open the door!” Ryan
demanded.

“
No!” Claire
said.

“
Fine!” he replied. “But
I’m not giving up on you.”

He stomped down the stairs and slammed the
door.

Chapter
Thirteen

Lesson

“
I need the keys to your
bike,” Claire said, holding out her hand to Bex.

He frowned. “Why?”

“
Because I have to follow
him, and he knows my freaking car! Give me your keys!” she said,
jerking her hand toward Bex, impatient.

In one swift movement, Bex handed his
motorcycle keys to his big, little sister. She wheeled around,
sprinting down the stairs.

“
Don’t forget the helmet,”
he called after her.

“
Shove it!” she yelled
before slamming the door.

I walked to my vanity, sitting hard onto the
delicate pink cushion of the bench. “This is bad.”

Jared took slow steps to stand beside me.
“Ryan is the least of our worries.”

“
That makes me feel much
better,” I said.

Bex left us alone to sit on the stairs, and
Jared pulled me from the bench to sit beside him on the bed. He
didn’t speak for a long time, lightly brushing the skin of my arm,
from wrist to elbow, with his fingertips.

“
Do you understand what
could happen?” he said softly, his eyes still focused on my
arm.

After a short pause, I took a breath.
“Yes.”

He meant my death. Dying at the hands of the
most inhumane, cruel beings on three planes wasn’t peaceful, in my
sleep as I had planned, but it was an end. I wondered what would
take place in that moment, and what ways Jared would suffer in the
days following my death.

His eyes were dark, the skin around them
tight, but tired. The helpless feeling surrounding us was
suffocating.

“
I know what Father Francis
said,” Jared said, his voice breaking. “But, I can’t believe that.
I have to see the book for myself to be sure. There has to be a
reason our father’s wanted it so badly. Gabe must have known there
was a way to stop it.

“
Stay with me,” I
said.

“
I can’t,” he
replied.

“
Just for a while. Just
until I fall asleep?”

Jared met my eyes, and I could see that he
would let me win.

We lay together above the sheets, silent and
thoughtful. I imagined Jared was carefully plotting a way around
Donovan and Isaac in his mind, praying for a conclusion. Shax had
stayed one step ahead of Jared—even Kim, his secret weapon—and he
was frustrated.

Jared’s arms tensed. Bex’s light footsteps
rushed down the stairs, and the door opened. After a few moments,
another set, heavier, returned with him, and Kim appeared in the
doorway, out of breath and wide-eyed.

Jared sprung from the bed, pulling on his
jacket. “Stay with her, Bex.”

“
I should go,” Bex
said.

Knowing they were going to try to capture
the book, I jumped from the bed, pulling on a pair of sneakers. “He
should go. I’ll go, too, and if anything happens, Bex can
help.”

Jared frowned while he made his decision.
“Nina….”

“
We don’t have time for a
lecture,” I said. “You know you have a better chance if Bex is
there.”