Requiem (34 page)

“
Run, Nina!” Kim screamed,
the horror on her face telling me in moments I would be crushed and
torn apart by the Hell so closely pursuing my flesh.

Their screeches were almost on top of me
when Kim's long arms reached out, encompassing my body as she
brought me to the ground. The wailing of the minions experiencing
what Kim was capable of was deafening, but the individual howling
resounding farther away was most definitely the sound of Shax
losing his fight with Jared and Bex.

And then it was quiet.

Chapter
Nineteen

Waiting

I peeked out from under Kim's arms, seeing
Jared and Bex slowly making their way down the aisle. Kim helped me
to stand, and Jared wasted no time pulling me into his arms. His
hands were trembling, and he was uncharacteristically shaken.

“
Are you okay?” Jared
asked, evaluating every inch of me for any signs of
trauma.

“
No, I'm fine,” I said,
shivering as the adrenaline soaked back into my system.

Bex carried Ryan in his arms, leaping and
maneuvering around the ruins of St. Anne's to the entrance.

With the inordinate level of noise from just
moments before, the night seemed eerily quiet. The crumbling
concrete, wood and sheet rock grated against each other under my
feet with every step. Those tiniest sounds echoed, even though the
church seemed to be torn open and vulnerable, a contrast to the
silence outside.

“
We're going,” Claire said,
her voice distant and emotionless.

“
Right behind you,” Jared
said. He lead me quickly out of St. Anne's by the hand.

I turned to take one last look at the
rubble, and saw Kim help Father Francis to his feet. She threw his
arm over her shoulders, hobbling along herself beside him as they
followed us to the Escalade.

Time passed in slow motion. Although
everyone was desperate to get Ryan to the hospital, the distance to
Jared's SUV seemed like miles, and getting everyone, bruised and
bleeding, settled into their seats was a slow, frustrating
process.

Claire rode with Ryan in the hatch, holding
his head in her lap as he was nearly sprawled out. She seemed lost
as she held pressure on his wounds, watching his face intently.

Bex sat in the back seat with Kim and the
priest, but his focus was on Claire. He reached back, gripping his
sister's shoulder. Bex's expression was heartbreaking, as the
worries in his mind played out across his face.

“
The closest hospital,
Father,” Jared said.

“
Landmark Medical Center.
Two minutes away. Stay on this street, and then turn left on Cass
Avenue.”

Jared blew through the stoplight, and then
weaved in and out of traffic, making a hard right turn into the
hospital's ambulance bay.

“
We need help here!” Jared
yelled, jumping out of the driver's side.

I ran to the back, watching Jared open the
hatch. Bex helped the priest into the Emergency Room, and Claire
let Jared place Ryan on a gurney.

Jared was gentle, as if it
were Claire he were holding. A small cry escaped my throat, drawing
Jared's attention away for just a moment. His eyes were dark, and
suddenly I felt an overwhelming sense of déjà
vu
—but more of
an out-of-body experience. Watching Jared and Claire hover over
Ryan's limp body was like seeing my last trip to the hospital from
a different, more real perspective. It was cruel for both of them
to have to suffer through it again.

Ryan was pale, but he had stopped coughing
up blood. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

He managed a weak smile for Claire. “How
about a kiss...just in case?”

Claire tenderly touched his forehead. “I'll
tell you what, Cowboy. You come out of this alive, and I'll kiss
you.”

“
You promise?” he
said.

“
I promise,” Claire said,
letting go of his hand.

In the emergency department's waiting room,
Jared sat on the sofa next to me, Kim kept to herself, alone in a
chair, and Claire stood with Bex in the corner. No one spoke,
further discussion was unnecessary. We were waiting for someone to
tell us if they had saved Ryan, or if Claire would die.

Claire kept her eyes closed, concentrating
on everything she felt from Ryan. Her clothes were ripped and
filthy, and her platinum pony tail had given up holding her hair in
place hours ago. Once in a while she would twitch, and I wondered
if she could sense when they used the scalpel, or if it was
difficult while he was under anesthesia to sense anything at all.
Jared would have answered my questions, but it was hardly the
time.

The tension in the room was unbearable, but
the waiting was worse.

I watched the faces of the people walking
by. Some noticed our rag-tag group, some didn't. Glancing around
the room, passers-by would no doubt wonder if we'd been in some
sort of large accident. The news of the wreckage that was once St.
Anne's would soon spread, and I worried that the hospital would be
crawling with police officer's soon.

The random thought occurred to me that those
staring had no idea the pretty platinum blonde they couldn't help
but notice could be dead in the next forty-eight hours. Claire was
the strongest, most amazing woman I had ever met, and she looked so
helpless in that moment—so hopeless.

Finally, she broke the silence. “That's it,”
she snapped, stomping her way to the door.

Bex stopped her. “Whoa...where do you think
you're going?”

Claire shoved at her brother, fighting to
get free. “I can help him. I have to do something; I can't just sit
here!”

Bex grabbed her face, cupping her cherubic
cheeks in his hands. “They won't let you in there, and if force
your way in, you'll just distract them from what they should be
concentrating on.”

Claire slammed the side of her fist into
Bex's chest. “Let me go!”

Bex maneuvered his hands to get a better
grip on Claire's arms, but she stopped struggling. Her eyes grew
wide with fear.

“
He's fading. They're
losing him,” she said, her voice sad and frightened.

Claire's body bent backwards, stiff and
unnatural.

I stood, cupping my hands over my mouth.
“What's happening?” I cried.

Jared stood with me, restraining me with his
hands on my shoulders as Bex cradled his sister, and then helped
her to the ground.

Claire relaxed, and then stiffened
again.

“
Help her! She's having a
seizure!” I said.

Jared turned my head, refusing to let me
witness Claire's body writhing on the floor. “No, she's not.
They're shocking him with a defibrillator.”

“
What?” I said, pulling
away from him.

Claire lay in Bex's arms, limp. “He's
dying,” she whispered, a single tear falling from the corner of her
eye, down her temple, into her ear. Her eyes were nearly vacant,
fixed on the ceiling.

“
No,” Bex said. He closed
his eyes. “Don't take her,” he said softly. “Please don't take her,
too.”

A sob escaped my throat, and I buried my
face in Jared's chest. “They can't do this to us,” I said. I pushed
away from him, then, raising my fists to the ceiling in a rage.
“You can't do this to us! We are the good guys, and this is what we
get? How dare you! How! Dare! You!”

“
Nina,” Jared
said.

“
It's not fair!” I
screamed.

Jared enveloped me in his arms and kissed my
hair. His fingers pressed into my skin, and I suddenly felt guilty,
knowing Jared was suffering the agony of losing his baby sister,
and then feeling my sorrow as well.

“
I'm sorry,” I said,
holding him tightly. I took a breath, and focused on numbing all of
my emotions.

“
Don't do that,” Jared
said, sensing my efforts. “You don't have to do that,” he
whispered.

“
I don't want you to hurt
anymore than you already are,” I said, tears spilling down my
cheeks.

“
Claire?” Bex said in a
strange tone.

I closed my eyes, terrified to peek out from
Jared's arms to see Claire's lifeless body. There was still so much
I didn't know about Hybrids and the curse. Jared had prayed for
Gabriel to take him quickly; maybe Samuel had taken mercy on her,
and couldn't bear to see her suffer.

“
Nina,” Jared said, nudging
me. “Look.”

Claire sat straight up, looking herself
over, and then to the doorway. She didn't speak, she just waited.
Finally, a nurse walked in, slightly confused by the spectacle on
the floor.

“
Er...we just stabilized
Ryan. We had to remove his spleen to stop the bleeding, but he's a
fighter. I'll come back when we know more.”

I looked up to the ceiling, stunned.
“Um...I'm sorry. Th-Thank you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, a black figure
appeared next to me. I jumped and recoiled, grabbing at Jared until
I realized who it was.

“
Samuel,” Jared
breathed.

I frowned, and Samuel smiled in response.
“You are unhappy with me, young Grey.”

“
You haven't been much
help,” I said, too angry to hold back.

He smiled, his white teeth a stark contrast
to his rich, dark skin. “It appears to me that the situation is
under control,” he said, making his way to Claire. He leaned down,
touching the top of her head with his massive hand. “Ryan will be
fine, I'm told.”

Claire smiled, another tear falling from her
eye. “Thank you, Sam.”

Bex and Claire embraced each other with raw
relief. For the first time I heard Claire giggle. Her wet eyes were
bright, and the sound of her laughter chimed in the air, reminding
me of Lillian. Bex laughed along with her, wiping the tears from
his eyes as they celebrated together.

Jared squeezed me to his side, and Kim's
mouth widened to a large grin. It was as if we could all breathe
again.

“
He's going to make it?” I
said. The question was redundant, but I had to hear it
again.

Samuel nodded once. “Yes,” he said,
confident.

He returned to my side, and I wondered if
any of the passers-by could see him. No one seemed to notice the
half-dressed giant in the room.

“
We still need your help,”
I said. “We've read the book. We've all came close to death more
than once trying to get our hands on it to find a loophole. Jared
didn't find anything.”

Samuel looked to Jared, who shook his head
with a frustrated expression.

“
I think you already know
the answer,” Samuel said.

Jared sighed. “I was kind of hoping that
would be a last resort.”

Samuel touched Jared's shoulder. “It's a
means to an end, isn't it?”

With his last words, Samuel blinked from the
space he had once occupied. Jared sat in the chair, pulling me into
his lap, lost in thought.

Bex helped Claire to her feet, and then
walked her to the sofa. “He's right. It's what you should have done
all along.”

“
Stop,” Jared
said.

The nurse returned, this time with a smile.
“He's in recovery, now. He's doing well.”

“
When can I see him?”
Claire asked.

“
Soon,” the nurse said,
offering a comforting smile before leaving the way she
came.

Claire collapsed against the back of her
seat. “That was close.”

“
Too close,” Bex said,
hugging her against his side.

“
What is Samuel right
about?” I asked.

Bex glanced at Jared, waiting for his
brother to answer. When he didn't, Bex began, “We just started a
war. The only way to win is to convince Heaven to fight with
us.”

I shook my head. “But we've tried. They
won't help.”

One side of Bex's mouth turned up. “They
will if you give them something to fight for. They won't let Hell
destroy the baby once it's born. We just have to protect you until
it gets here.”

“
What baby?” I
said.

Jared peeked at me from under his brow. “The
baby you're carrying.”

Everyone in the room stared at me, waiting
for my reaction.

“
Me?” I said, touching my
palm to my chest. “But I'm not pregnant. We haven't....”

“
Ew...ew...stop,” Claire
said, shaking her head.

“
Just once,” Jared said,
looking up at me sheepishly.

I remembered the night I begged Jared to
help me forget about the chaos surrounding us; the night he said it
wasn't a good time to tempt fate. I didn't realize at the time he
had spoken literally.

“
How long have you known?”
I said, taken aback.

“
The following morning. I
knew something was different...it took me a week or so to pin point
exactly what.”

“
I'm....”

“
With child,” Bex said.
“Expecting. Bun in the oven. Knocked up.”

“
Hey,” Jared said,
disapproving of Bex's last choice of words.

“
Pregnant,” Claire said,
her eyes bright.

Kim sighed. “You totally ruined my Spring
Break. Just saying.”

I took internal stock of my
body, waiting to feel different, but it never happened. “No. I
mean...I don't
feel
pregnant.”

Kim raised her hands, letting them fall with
a slap on her thighs. “Seriously. How are we going to travel to
Jerusalem with Preggo over here?”