Swallowing the lump in his throat, and pushing back the urge to walk out of the room, he just nodded. He was out of line again, and he knew it. Clearing his throat, he decided to start again. “You’re right. I have to ask, though. If she’s so sick, why haven’t you tried to find out what’s wrong?”
Malachi broke eye contact. There was obviously something more going on there. After what looked like a small internal struggle, Malachi responded. “I’ve tried a couple times, but I can’t get through.”
Gemariah sprung to his feet. “What do you mean, you can’t get through? Is she a champion?”
He prayed she wasn’t. Champions always seemed to die young since they’re sent from heaven with the sole purpose of fighting the spread of evil. To prevent corruption, they were made with a sort of barrier against evil powers. Unfortunately, the barrier also deflects powers of good as well. Champions are usually sent to protect a specific person, but are drawn to help anyone in need.
Plus, they were always a rare find. Except recently, the entire team had gotten to know one in particular. Being one of Trinity’s students, they all believed Hugh was sent to protect her. There was even a night where he was the one and only reason she was still with all of them, and it had almost taken his life. Miraculously, he pulled through, and became an honorary family member ever since.
“I don’t think so. This felt different,” he stated, bringing Gemariah’s thoughts back to the conversation. Malachi looked as if he was struggling with the correct words. “When I tried to heal Hugh, it was as if he was repelling my abilities. When I tried with Nicole, I couldn’t find a way in. It was as if my spirit was skimming the surface, but couldn’t get through to connect with hers.”
Gemariah was not comfortable with this new information, which surprised him because he didn’t care about the girl, or what she was going through. He decided to change the topic before he got too involved.
“So, tell me more about the mission this morning.”
Malachi looked grateful for the subject change. “The mark is a fifteen year old girl named Katelyn Roberts. She’s what you would call the ringleader of a group of girls that have been dominating the school. They terrorize the staff, as well as the students.”
Gemariah couldn’t help but looking bemused. “Malachi, they have kids like that in every school.”
“That’s what I told Trinity, but what she told me after, made me think that it was something more. You know Trinity can see what we see now?” At his nod, Malachi continued. “Trinity confronted the girl after an altercation and with Roberts’ increased irritation, Trinity got a better look at her. According to her, she was very jittery, had clammy skin, her teeth became sharper, and get this… red tinted eyes.”
Gemariah nodded. “Yep, that sounds like a possession alright.”
“That’s not all.” Malachi waited until he had Gemariah’s full attention. “Trinity said that the red in her eyes vanished for a split second and the girl’s face softened. It only lasted a second before the color was back and she was sneering at Trinity again.”
“She’s fighting it.” Gemariah nodded in appreciation. He always admired the ones that resisted. He then started to laugh. “You’re going to have a hell of a time. Teenagers are always a bitch to turn back. Good luck, man.”
Malachi grinned. “I have to be at a training seminar in an hour. It’s mandatory for us big wigs, or I wouldn’t be going.” His look became more serious. “I don’t like the fact of Trinity being around this, and I’m not there.”
“She’ll be fine,” he said nonchalantly. “So who’s the lucky twosome that gets to take down a demon that’s probably just as stubborn as the hormonal teenager?”
Before Malachi could answer, Tori strolled through the door, carrying her bow case and an arsenal of blades. She didn’t say anything, only stared.
Tori, for lack of a better word, was a badass. From her hair to her clothes, everything portrayed an image that said, “Don’t fuck with me.” A while back, as a way to mock the threat of temptation always bearing down on them, she got a tattoo of a serpent wrapped around her body with an apple in its mouth. She never did anything to hide the tattoo, and instead wore it as a banner.
She hardly ever talked, just got the job done and went home. Once in a while, they all got to see her let go, but it was a very rare occasion.
“Tori… and you.”
Malachi’s words had him floored. Swinging his head back around, he glared at his friend and raised his voice. “What? Why me?”
“Get over it, Slick. You lost your opportunity to object when you blew off the meeting this morning,” Tori spat. She never did bullshit around, did she?
“I didn’t blow off anything! But I don’t have to explain myself to you, when it’s none of your business.” Having already gotten his fair share of grief from Malachi, he didn’t need it from someone else as well.
“Enough, you two!” Malachi spoke up when it looked as if Tori was going to say more. “Gemariah, everyone else is busy. Yes, this landed on you because you weren’t here. It sucks, but that’s life.”
Tori sighed as if bored by it all. “Are we done here?” Hiking a thumb over her shoulder, she spoke to Gemariah. “Go get your crap, so we can head out.”
“Let’s get one thing straight. You don’t get to harp at me for things you have no idea about, and you sure as shit don’t get to order me around. Are we clear?”
She chuckled. “Come on… you’re starting to sound like Gideon.” When she saw that he was not in a joking mood, she sobered and said through clenched teeth, “Crystal clear.”
He marched past her, to his area in the storage room. His movements were jerky as he grabbed a few smaller weapons to tuck into his coat. As he slipped his ax into its holder at his hip, he started to play back his conversation with Tori in his head. Maybe I had been a little harsh, even borderline dickish, he thought.
Turning to leave, he stopped to take a deep breath and get his emotions back in check. After a couple minutes, he felt calm enough to slip his laid-back persona back into place, before making his way towards the car.
He always tried not to care too much about one thing. That way, when things went wrong, he was less likely to succumb to the darkness he always had to fight back. It was the same for any nephilim. The slightest thing could be their undoing. It was why he chose to just not care.
Tori was waiting in the car when he got to the garage. Of course, she had taken the driver’s seat, but that wasn’t surprising. Tori was the best driver he had ever seen, and had even gotten them all out of tight situations a time or two. Cars were her thing, just as cooking was his. No one argued about her driving anywhere, because they never knew if that was the day her skills would save their life… again.
When he got in, she barely gave him time to shut the door, before taking off. They exited the garage, and the sun nearly blinded him with how bright the day was. As if the sun wasn’t enough, it had recently snowed, and the glare was intensifying the light.
“I hate days like this. It’s so deceiving. You would think that with it shining so bright, it wouldn’t be as blistering cold out as it is right now.” It felt like winter had snuck up on them, and then showed her fury for not being as perceptive as they should have been. This week alone, temperatures had dropped to the single digits with below zero wind-chill.
He glanced over at Tori, and saw that her face was like stone, and stuck in a scowling position.
“I’m serious. There is a high risk that my balls are going to freeze off.”
There was no answer; not even a move to acknowledge that she heard him. Damn, she was still pissed. He had better make it right, and quick.
Gemariah sighed. “Okay, what’s it going to take?”
He saw her cheek move, and knew she had bit the inside of her mouth to prevent from smiling.
“Out with it, Woman. Cookies again? Chocolate, peanut butter, what?” The woman’s sweet tooth would someday be her downfall. If a
person could make a decent dessert, they could get away with anything. It worked well for him. He was always screwing up or saying something stupid; at least he could bake to make up for it all.
She looked as if she was contemplating his question, before getting a sly look on her face. She knew what she was doing. “I’m thinking those strawberry cheesecake bites would be nice.” Of course she would, he thought. She couldn’t have made it a little easier on him?
“Really? You don’t think you’re pushing it a little?”
Shaking her head, she smiled in his direction. “Nope. Not at all.”
They both laughed, and Gemariah settled more comfortably into the seat. “Fine, you win.”
There was a comfortable silence for the next few minutes, until Tori spoke up. “So, what’s the plan when we get there?”
Gemariah had his hand resting on the head of his ax, and was idly pulling the edge of the bit under his fingernail. “Well, first we need to isolate the girl.”
“Obviously,” Tori answered as if it was ridiculous of him to even mention it.
“I only brought it up, because I’m not sure how this can happen while she’s at school. There are people everywhere.” He reached over to change the radio station, and got his hand smacked away before he could get there. “Wouldn’t it be more practical to do this at her house or after school somewhere?”
She looked over her shoulder to check for traffic beside them. Once she was done switching lanes, she finally answered. “If you were at the meeting this morning, you would know the answer to that.”
“Well, I wasn’t, so enlighten me.” He couldn’t keep the irritation out of his voice.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. I was just stating facts.” She grinned, and quickly looked in his direction. “Or better yet… keep going. I saw this amazing looking dessert that included nuts and layers of pastry. It looked absolutely delicious.”
“Baklava?” He couldn’t suppress the shock in his voice as he said the word. To hide his reaction, he quickly coughed and cleared his throat.
“That’s it. How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.” He could make Baklava, and had on many occasions, but the thought of working with the phyllo doe always made him shudder. “My apologies. What was said in the meeting this morning?”
Tori smiled as if she had just won a battle of wits. “Well, we decided that the school was a more controlled environment.”
“With all those people?” He jumped in as soon as she stopped talking.
“Are you going to let me finish?”
“I thought you were done.”
“I stopped to take a breath… that’s all.” When he said nothing more, she went on. “Someone would notice if something out of the ordinary was happening at the mark’s house, but somewhere that has more people, not everyone is paying attention to what’s going on around them.”
“What about in between school and her home?”
Tori was already shaking her head before he finished. “It’s too unpredictable. We don’t know exactly what she does in that time.”
Gemariah was about to pull out his hair in frustration. “Exactly! Then why are we acting right away and not observing her routine for a few days?”
Tori scoffed at the idea. “You’re kidding, right? There is a possible demon hanging out around Trinity. Do you not see the significance here?”
Of course. He needed to get his head back in the game, because he had missed that key point. The situation had just gone from bad to really fucking bad.
Not too long ago, their world was turned upside down when Malachi confronted and battled his great-grandfather, Azazel. In all the chaos beforehand, Azazel had Trinity killed while Malachi was helpless to do anything.
When it was all over, Azazel was gone, but so was Trinity. That’s what they all thought anyways… Apparently, unknown to any of them, they all had one soul mate that could be turned into a nephilim, bound to them forever. Trinity was Malachi’s, and they had already mistakenly started the turning process before she was killed. That was the only reason she was able to be brought back.
Of course, to be brought back, there was a catch. The turned nephilim was an exact equal to their partner. Feelings, thoughts, pleasure, pain… everything was shared. It also included death. The only way to kill a turned nephilim was to kill their counterpart.
It was for that reason, why everyone was worried about discovery. If the high profile players for Darkness figured out how to make more nephilim, and that they were virtually indestructible, everyone would be in for a world of shit. That was why they were trying to keep Trinity separated from everything. If there was a demon planted in the school, it was safe to say that there was already some speculation going around.
To him, it sounded like too much of a responsibility. To change a soul mate and be forever bound to them… He would pass.
Thinking of Trinity, he had a new resolve and with determination, he mentally started running through the layout of the school. He had gotten to know it well from the time he was assigned to watch over Trinity. “Okay, so what’s our best option for getting her alone?”
“I’d say, the best way is to head to the office, show our badges, and ask for them to call her down.”
“You don’t think they’ll be somewhat leery of handing over a minor to officials without their parents present?” Gemariah could already see how that scenario would play out.
Tori looked at him expectantly with eyebrows raised. “Maybe there’s something we can do to make them feel a different way. Better yet, what you can do.”
He thought about it and figured it could work, but that didn’t mean he was comfortable with it.
Every nephilim inherits certain powers from their celestial bloodline. They all have numerous abilities, but one stands out above all others. For him, it was the ability to control other’s emotions with a single touch as well as being hyper sensitive to what others were feeling.
All too well, he remembered the time before he learned how to build a mental barrier. They were extremely hard years, and he still didn’t know how he came out in one piece.
He had used his abilities on many different missions, but he could never shake the nagging feeling of deceit with each person that was unaware of what he was doing.
“Fine. She gets to the office, then what?”
Tori thought for a minute, before shrugging. “We’ll just ask if there’s someplace private we can go to talk with her. Demon’s that possess children are usually weak, so we should be able to evict it easy enough.”
He was quiet for a moment while he thought about their current assignment. “Does it ever surprise you that demons are able to possess children?”
“Not really. A demon can only stay in someone that’s too weak to fight them off or has a mean spirit to begin with.” She shrugged to show her indifference. “This one could go either way. It could be that she’s weak, but I’m betting on the latter; teenage girls can be real bitches sometimes.” She looked over and winked at him before continuing. “Trust me, I once was one.”
Gemariah absorbed her words, and closed his eyes to start running through the plan in his head, trying to figure out any details they might have missed. It was Tori’s next words that brought his thoughts to a halt.
“We could always bring Trinity in to help us. She could be a good asset, if you th—”
“No.” He didn’t let her finish talking, and his tone left no room for argument. This was something that was non-negotiable. “Malachi would flay me alive if anything happened to her on my watch. Knowing her, she would do something stupid and get herself in trouble.”
“You two are so protective of her. There will be a time when Malachi and you will have to cut the cord and let her contribute. She can’t die unless Malachi does, so what’s the problem?”
“Just because she can’t die, doesn’t mean she can’t get hurt.” Tori was right about one thing, he thought. He was protective over her, but
it was because Trinity and he had grown so close. At first it had been because she was so close with Malachi. After a while, they had gotten to know each other and had formed a bond all of their own.
He wasn’t alone in it either. Gideon had also become overprotective, except Gemariah believed that it was more over guilt than anything else. At a time where Gideon should have been protecting her, he left and she had been attacked. Since then, he had been doing whatever he could to make up for it.
“Everyone gets hurt sometimes, Gemariah.”
“Not if I can help it, Victoria,” he shot back. Ignoring her glare over using her full name, he looked out the side window when they started to pull into the school parking lot.
Tori drove slowly, as not to draw attention to them. Finally finding a parking space not far from the front doors, she pulled in and shut off the car. “You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He reached over and opened his door. Stretching out of the car, he observed his surroundings for anything unusual. When nothing caught his eye, he shut the door, and started walking to the front door, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm.
“Whoa, Buddy,” Tori exclaimed. “Don’t you think it may raise questions if you walk in there with an ax at your hip? This is a small town, and has minimal security, but I still don’t think they would like a weapon of that magnitude in their school.”
He looked at both of them up and down. She was dressed in black leather pants and a tighter than necessary top and he was in normal clothes, but being a six foot eight inch man never helped him blend in. His ax was the least of their worries. “What about your bow?”
In response, she moved the bag she was holding in front of her, to show him how she was getting it in. “Women carry all sorts of purses and bags, big or small.”
“Clever.” It really was, but that still didn’t help him get his ax inside. “I guess I’ll have to leave it. You’ll be the only one that can send him back, if it gets out of hand.”
She nodded in agreement, and started to walk. After leaving the weapon in the car, he hurried and fell into place at her side.
The Divine Whisper Page 4
