by Edwina Fort
“Judah, you remember Lyon, don’t you? I believe he is the reason you’re not dead.”
Our gaze went to Judah…He exhaled and began speaking. “When I was sixteen, Father had set me up so that I ended up in one of those meat markets…”
We all looked at him surprised.
Judah nodded. “It’s so much I need to tell you guys…now is not the time. But I promise to fill you in on everything later. I know the kid doesn’t trust me…” His gaze went to Rome. “But that’s fine, he’ll learn to trust me in battle. Anyway…Father had set me up and I ended up on one of those hooks, destined to become food for the Nephilim.” He stood and snatched off his shirt, turning his back to us, moving his hair out the way so that we could see.
There was a big ugly scar at the top of his muscled back. I flinched…that must have been extremely painful. He put his shirt back on and sat. “It just so happened they had Lyon down a little deeper underground doing some kind of experiments on him. I know they took his DNA because I've seen clones of him…many. The demons like his clone because it's strong enough to hold their wretched spirits a lot longer than any of the other clones.”
His seething rage was back, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the woman that could make such a man feel love.
“Somehow, Lyon got free.” He continued. “I was on that hook dying, my blood was draining from my body…their children drink the blood as well. The next thing I know, he was lifting me off the hook. His stronger than anything you can imagine. He told me we had to get out because the place was getting ready to blow. I didn’t know who to trust, I was so afraid. So as soon as we made it out, I ran away from him as well. There was a car sitting out front waiting on him, I could tell he debated whether or not he wanted to come after me, but eventually, he jumped in. Seconds later, the whole nest went up in a blast.”
They continued to tell us all they knew about the army the Preacher was putting together. When they were done, the four of us just sat there all lost in our own thoughts. This thing was huge, way bigger than some strange men blowing up my farm.
They were talking about a literal war between good and evil and they said that we were destined to fight in it.
“I know we’ve laid a lot on you, but as you can see, we are losing valuable time. We’ve already noticed the shift in the weather patterns. These are warnings…warnings that are growing more insistent. I was there when the windows of the heavens opened. I witnessed Him destroy all life in forty-days. I know what His wrath looks like when unleashed…and no matter what the others may think, there is nothing that we can do to fight against it.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with unshed tears.
“Will you help me? Please?”
All four of us stared at him for a moment. I knew if the others were thinking like me, they wanted to tell him no. But then I remembered that weasel whose neck I had driven my knife in. He was no doubt one of their slaves, luring me into the pits of the earth to become food for the Nephilim. And I couldn’t help but think about the others I’d seen on the hooks in the hologram pictures.
These are the missing persons whose faces were being flashed on the news above ground, asking…if you’ve seen them.
There were children on the hooks…babies.
I couldn’t just do nothing. With resolve, I looked up at the Patriot.
“I’m in…”
Rome’s gaze came to me. “Are you sure?”
I shook my head. “No…But I’m going to do it nonetheless.”
He nodded before looking at the Patriot. “I’m in…”
The Oldman exhaled throwing up his hands. “What the hell? Got to play my part to keep the world as safe as I can for little Ayana and the rest of the little babies. I’m in…”
Our gazes fell to Jo, but he was looking at Judah. “I can’t control the Politician.”
“I’ll teach you how…”
Jo nodded before he turned to look at the Patriot. “I’m in…”
“Good…I’ll be in touch.” And then he, the witches, and the state-of-the-art office all disappeared. When my eyes blinked again…we were all sitting in the musty cave on five crates.
“I don’t think I will ever get used to that,” The Oldman muttered as he looked around the now empty cave.
"I know you were looking forward to going after the people who'd destroyed your homes," Judah spoke to us all. "But you're not ready. If what you seen in the simulation today caused your hearts to fail, then…" He shook his head.
“The reality will devastate you. What you saw today was incredibly mild to the real thing. Trust me when I tell you, I brought you here because I needed you to see what we're really up against…and now we can prepare."
He stood from his crate. "The Patriot can only be trusted to a certain extent and not an ounce more. To preserve his life and the life of his children, he will kill you.”
Jo raised his hand. “Wait, I thought his children were dead.”
“Their physical bodies, yes. But their miserable souls still roam the earth just like the others.”
“So, they’re demons?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, they are. The melekim love their own children. They can give a damn about the others, which is why it’s so many battles between them. They f***ing hate each other. The Patriot has agreed to fund us and use his authority to protect us…” He paused for just a moment.
“Just as long as we agree not to kill any of his children.”
Rome frowned. “What? How long do you think that is going to work?”
Judah shook his head. “For as long as it has to…Come on, let’s get out of here.”
On the chopper ride home, neither of us spoke. The way we saw the world had been completed shifted in one day. There were demons walking the earth… Demons that searched for human bodies to take over, just so they can feel, touch and taste again.
I’d always believed in them, but in a way like Jo joked about…bogeymen, ghosts, things of folklore. But they were very real and now I’d become a demon slayer.
The Patriot thought that he could somehow delay God’s wrath, but I thought back to what the Preacher told me…
“The young prince will find you and for a moment, you and he will have normal. Cherish those days because they won’t last. Perilous times are coming and everything we once knew will be destroyed in one hour.”
I reached over and took Rome’s hand, he turned to look at me and smiled reassuringly. And you know what? That smile brought peace to my heart.
The young prince had found me… And he and I will have our normal. I was going to make sure to enjoy it…
Because perilous times were coming…and life as we know it will be destroyed in one hour.
The Epilogue
Nahkti
5 Months Later…
I held Ayana in my arms and danced to one of the local band’s renditions of Happy. As a matter of fact, she’d been my dance partner for the last few songs because my husband had disappeared shortly after Jo and Journey and Al and Abby said I do.
Oh y’all…they’d had the most beautiful double wedding I’d ever witnessed. Actually, it was the only double wedding I’d witnessed, but I know the others couldn’t hold a flame to theirs. Journey wanted to wait until she had the baby to get married so that she could look good in her dress.
She’d given birth to a healthy baby boy named Ephrayim two months ago. We all spoiled him, especially me. Anyway, she’d wanted to wait and now she looked like a fairy princess in her white gown.
Abby had decided to go with a more relaxed look. Her gown didn’t billow around her like Journey’s did, it lay on her beautiful body perfectly. Albert was beside himself when she walked down the aisle. I cried the whole time. Of course, Rome talked about me and called me a crybaby, but I couldn’t help it.
It was so romantic the way Albert and Jo looked at their brides. You could see their love for each other clearly in their eyes.
&
nbsp; Yeah, I cried… I don’t know, I’ve been doing a lot of crying lately.
“Have you seen my brother?” Rob asked as he nearly stuffed a whole piece of cake into his mouth.
Y’all already know the boy was high as a kite. I chuckled, I don’t even know where he is getting his weed from, we lived in the Canadian Mountains. It was no telling, knowing him, he’d probably found some crazy mountain man who grew Canada weed with snowflakes on top.
"He disappeared shortly after they said I do. You know he's probably with Judah at headquarters. The two of them are practically attached at the hip."
It’s true…
Surprisingly, the recluse has taken to Rome. The two of them always had their heads together frowning at something on one of Rome’s computer monitors. Over the last five months, my husband has turned his computer lab at headquarters into his own space. It now resembled the setup he had in Chicago, including the plush computer chair made for a king.
I blushed thinking about what he did to me in that chair last night…
Mmmm…
"Good, if he with dude that mean that big nigga won't be all in my business," Rob grumbled as he loaded his plate up with the brisket sliders.
I laughed at him. “You better watch it, you can’t run forever, he going to catch you one day.”
The he we were talking about was Judah. Rob and his mischievous ways had become a thorn in his side. The other evening, just as the sun was setting, Rome and I were sitting on our back porch watching Luna graze in front of the new barn.
She’d been acting a little strange lately, so I had the local vet come out to give her a once over. Come to find out, Freedom had left us a little gift that will be introduced to the world in about another seven months.
Anyway, we were sitting out there making plans for the new colt when Rob bolted past us into the house. Neither Rome nor I batted an eye at that because it wasn’t the first time. Shortly after he ran past us, Judah’s Hummer came skidding to a halt in the driveway.
“What did he do this time?” Rome asked as Judah got out his truck.
“That little bastard is smoking his drugs in back of my house again!”
Judah’s house sat on the peak of the mountain. The view from the back of his house was breathtaking. It called to the artist in Rob, it was one of his favorite places to paint and smoke apparently. He’s driving Judah nuts because he just doesn’t sit quietly and paint, he helps himself to Judah’s things… Like the beer he keeps in the fridge in his garage.
And I’d like to say it stopped there, but I’d be lying. When Rob gets the munchies, he helps himself to Judah’s snacks as well. Sometimes he even smuggled me some things because the healthy eating Nazi was back.
Y’all will never guess it, but our boss eats more trash than I used to. When I asked Rob why he was bugging Judah, knowing he likes to be left to himself, Rob’s only response is…Somebody needs to.
Judah’s been threatening to bring him on to the team, forcing him to clean himself up. I think Rob wants to be on the team, Rome has trained him to fight and shoot. However, he can’t let go of the weed long enough to train with us.
And the training…
Nossa! The training…
It was tough, but nobody said being a demon slayer was going to be easy.
“Uh oh…y’all getting ready to get called away," Rob said bringing me back to the present.
I helped Ayana drink some punch from a plastic cup. “What are you talking about?”
He tilted his head toward the entrance to Jo and Journey’s back yard where the reception was being held. Standing there talking to Jo, who looked so handsome in his tux, was one of Judah’s men. And sure enough, a few seconds later, Jo was walking toward me.
“Come on, baby girl, your auntie have to go to work. Let’s go get some more cake.” Rob told Ayana before he took her out of my arms.
“She’s had enough cake…She’s going to be sick,” I told him.
“You hear that, baby?” He asked her in a squeaky little voice. “Tee-Tee Nak hating. We gon’ remember that next time she come downstairs begging me for red Kool-Aid.”
“Bruh, why you trying to mess up a good thing,” I called after him. He held his head back and laughed.
“We’ve been summoned,” Jo muttered grabbing himself a cup of punch.
“What!? No…it’s your wedding day!”
He chuckled as he turned to look at his beautiful bride who danced with the Oldman.
“You know he doesn’t care.”
“That’s bullsh*t! You know what? Your brother needs a woman. He is all hard stone and tough leather. He needs some softness in his world.”
“Well, until he gets it, he’ll continue to be the tough leather across our backs. Get the Oldman… I’ll drive.”
Neither Journey nor Abby was happy with the fact that their husbands were leaving in the middle of their reception and I don’t blame them. This was ridiculous!
I had made up my mind that I was getting ready to tell Judah about himself. Rob was right…somebody needed to.
However, as soon as we walked into the computer lab at headquarters, I knew something was wrong. Judah’s frown was more fierce than usual and Rome was concentrating a little too hard on whatever he was looking at on his computer screen.
Jo exhaled and undid his bowtie…The Oldman followed suit. All three of us slid into a chair and waited.
Judah’s angry gaze fell on Jo. “Your brother is in trouble.”
“Let me guess…Naphtali?”
Judah nodded. “Yesterday, his adopted parents were murdered. The police report claims it was a boating accident, but of course, we know different.”
“Do you think it’s the same people that’s after us?” Al asked.
Judah nodded. “They’re trying to clean up all their loose ends. Naphtali doesn’t know his parents purchased him. He believes he was adopted when he was a little baby.”
“What’s happened to him?” I asked.
Judah exhaled. “We believe he’s been captured and taken to one of the nests. However, we don’t believe it’s the nest of the one that is after us. Either our enemy is testing us to see what we are capable of or they’re setting up a rival family to fall.”
“What happened to his alter? Why did the Bully allow him to be taken?” Jo asked.
“I believe he went willingly,” Rome responded as his hands flew across the keyboard.
A very pretty brown-skinned woman, who wore a pair of red glasses appeared on the big monitor in front of him.
She wasn’t supermodel pretty. There were no hard angles and sleek lines about her. She was soft and round like a baby doll… Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t fat…not even close. She was a little thing really. She was just round and cuddly…cute.
Yeah, …she was cute.
“Her name is Free Spirit Robinson.”
We all stared at Rome, waiting for him to tell us he was joking.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Quite…” His hands went to work on the keyboard again and an older version of Free Spirit Robinson showed up on the smaller monitor next to the big one.
“May I introduce you to Flower Robinson…Free’s mom and the only black hippie in Detroit. She died in 1993 of a drug overdose, leaving a twelve-year-old Free to go live with her estranged father and his wife, who had twin girls prior to her marriage to Free’s father.”
“Free came up missing from Vegas yesterday.” Judah continued. “We believe the New York branch of the Cartel was responsible for that. However, when the enemy got wind of this, we believe they used it as an opportunity to capture Naphtali by making him believe they had her and getting him to walk willingly to his death, thinking he was coming to save her. With the death of his parents occurring on the same day, it’s possible he’s just not thinking straight.”
“Why would the Cartel kidnap Free?” I asked.
&
nbsp; “Sit back, my love and allow me to introduce you to the Bully,” Rome said before a real grimy beat began to play from the speakers in the ceiling.
Judah folded his arms across his massive chest and shook his head. Jo exhaled. “Man, why do you have to be so extra all the time?”
Okay, on a side note, although Rome and Judah had grown quite close, Rome and Jo’s relationship hadn’t improved much. They still argued amongst each other every opportunity they got. And most times, it provided entertainment for us all.
A week before Journey had the baby, Rome and Jo had been arguing something fierce during training. I couldn’t even remember what for, but they were going at each other. So of course, Jo started teasing Rome about his little Dirty Dancing routine that he’d caught us doing.
By the time we all got back to Abby and Al’s place, who’d invited us over for dinner, Jo’s teasing had worked my husband’s nerves really good. Rome looked at Journey, who was helping her mom set the table.
“Hey lil sis…have you guys settled on a name for the baby yet?” To everyone on the outside looking in, his question seemed innocent enough.
But Jo, knowing how clever Rome was narrowed his eyes at him.
“We have a few names we’re considering.” Journey told him, not aware of the battle that was raging around her.
“Remember when you were little and you said if you ever had a boy, you were going to name him Velvet because most people didn’t realize how masculine the word was?”
The look that came over Jo’s face damn near made me choke on the water I was drinking.
“Yeahhhh…” Journey said remembering it. “Velvet is a very masculine name. Thanks for reminding me of that. It would be the perfect name for our son.”
“What?! Wait!” Jo called after her as she walked back into the kitchen. His gaze flew back to Rome, who now wore a devious smile on his face.
“You little conniving mutha f---”
“What you say, Jo?” Abby called from the kitchen.
Jo’s head popped up. “Huh? Oh…nothing, mom.” He turned back to Rome with narrow eyes.
