I don’t know about answers, but it had a whole bunch of stuff I wish I’d never known about. “No, I tugged it along with me all over the country,” I said mainly to myself.
“I’ll bring you your duffle,” Jones volunteered and I sucked in a breath. Guess they’re not wasting any time. I sat up once he brought it to me and everyone got closer to take a look. Well everyone besides Angela. She stayed where she was and I was glad. I didn’t want her near me.
I pulled the heavy, brown leather bound book that was tucked away in the bottom of my bag. In gold embedding, Origin of the Nephilim, was written on the front. I opened it to the first pages.
“1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
Genesis 6:1-4
Jones stood over my shoulder reading, but I couldn’t continue. This was too trippy. I’ve never been the religious type, but I always felt I had a sense of faith and I knew this was derived directly from the bible. The idea that I’m something from the bible is a little too much.
“Skip a couple pages, we pretty much know how your kind came to be,” Jones said as he came around the other side of the sofa and sat next to me. I was trying to start them off on something basic, but I should have known they’d just want to skip to the good stuff.
I went to the middle of the book and flipped through it, skimming for something that could maybe help us now and wouldn’t open up another can of worms. Old pictures of what I think are angels and demons were drawn in and luckily no one asked me to stop and check them out. A lot of what was written, from what I could make out when I read through this a few weeks ago, was literally about our origin—that is until I came across a page titled, “Prophecy.”
“Bingo,” Jones said as he pointed to the top of the page before I could turn it, and tilted the book towards everyone else.
“There will be a time of much darkness and chaos, where The Wanderer—the marked one—will come out of hiding. He will show a blot face of a friend instead of foe, beguiling all with knowledge and longevity.
Do not be fooled. He is the first and will be the last. Destined to be the only one with true eternal life. For the marked one spends many millennia in exile, seeking greater power. Because of his immortality, he will succeed.
But with great darkness, comes even greater light. A fledgling Nephilim will emerge that changes the course of the marked one—depending on the path one chooses. With a power so great, not even the immortal Wanderer can prevail.
Sacrifices must be made for the greater good, and it will be the Nephilims decision whether to give everything or nothing at all.”
I couldn’t continue. A knot had formed in my throat and I felt nauseous. I hadn’t been eating so I didn’t know what my body could throw up, but it didn’t matter. I tossed the book to someone, I don’t remember who, and ran to the bathroom. With my head surrounded by the porcelain throne, I dry heaved but nothing came out.
I hadn’t been intentionally keeping secrets from them, but I wasn’t sure if everything I had read pertained to me. And if it did, it was just more questions to figure out then the ones we already had. I want to find Jeremiel; that was on the top of my list. Because once we found him, the sooner I’d be able to get the answers from this book. But I had to now worry about everybody else trying to figure it out too. The book specifies who it is talking about, and I’m the only fledgling Nephilim around so it seems sort of direct.
“Max?” the smell of cranberry followed her voice into the bathroom and I groaned. I can never get any privacy. “I swear, I’m not here to argue. Here, take a sip,” Angela said as she placed a glass of what looked like ginger ale next to me on the floor.
“There’s no voodoo in it that’ll make me jump your bones?” I croaked and reached for the drink anyway.
“Get real,” she murmured and I couldn’t resist the smile that played on my lips. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until there was no more ginger ale. “When’s the last time you ate?”
I sat back, pulled up my knees, and rested my forehead on them. I expelled a deep breath and really thought when the last time I’d had a meal was.
“I think it was a couple days ago at Ihop. It’s when we were attacked by some fallen angels and I never got to finish my omelet,” I said awkwardly.
“I swear, I’ll kill him. How have you been functioning?” She said and I could hear the tightness in her voice. Why was she pissed?
“I don’t know, Angela. Does it matter? Just go away,” I waved her off without even looking up. What did she care if I ate? If her father showed up and wanted to kill me, she’d help him. It wouldn’t be long before she signed my death warrant. I heard her sandals shuffle out of the bathroom, but within minutes she was back. The clack of a plate startled me and I looked up to see her staring me down. With her eyes, she pointed to the plate she had so graciously placed next to me.
“What?” I said.
“What do you mean what? Eat, you jerk. I promise it’s just a regular ham and cheese with none of my witchcraft or spit,” she said. A growl ripped out of my stomach and I dove for the sandwich. With one bite I’d eaten more than half of it. “Although I’m not too sure about the later,” she smirked, but it didn’t matter. I was already licking my fingers by the time I could even contemplate her spitting in my sandwich.
“Thanks,” I garbled and shooed her out of the bathroom. Just because she fed me, doesn’t mean I have to be nice. I got up and followed her out where everyone was still waiting.
My father and Jones were flipping through the pages with such excitement, I didn’t think they needed me around for it. And I didn’t want to know what they’ve found. I quietly went over to the love seat where Nikolai was now sitting—and he looked bored.
“I think the guardian was right, I should have stayed in Vegas. This is so boring,” he whined. “You’re a bunch of dramatic folks and I rather be laid up back home with a couple of blondes.” His head was resting on his hand and he looked like the poster child for some depression medication.
“Blondes?” I inquired.
“Yes, Maximillion. Girls. You were allowed to talk to them, right? Because your social skills with Angela are horrendous and if your guardians kept you away from the female persuasion, I’m kidnapping you and taking you to a strip club.”
“Over my dead body,” Angela said from the kitchen.
“That can be arranged, darling,” Nikolai sweetly called back. “Let me guess, you’re jealous? Then again, it must have been a crappy break up—I mean you killed his mom.”
“Does he ever stop talking?” My dad whispered to Jones.
“I didn’t kill Emily,” she said through clenched teeth. “And we were never involved…in that way.”
Excitement gleamed in Nikolai’s eyes. He sat up straight and craned his neck to be able to see her. “You two weren’t involved? I doubt that, all the moaning and groaning that was going on earlier today before he tried to incinerate you? Guys, I’m be old, but I’m not that old. I have kept up with the times.”
I didn’t want to, but I laughed so hard I cried. Maybe I was a little nervous at the direction this conversation was going, but I couldn’t stop.
“Wow, I knew I was funny, but I don’t believe I was joking,” Nikolai said as he patted my back once I started choking.
“Sorry,” I hiccupped. “We never dated, her and Jones did.”
He froze. “Wait. The guardians were fraternizing? Aren’t there rules in place for that?” Greed asked with fake concern.
“Cut the crap you two. You’ve had your fun, now can we get back on track?” My father said sternly.
“Yes, Sherlock, what can we do to help?” Nikolai asked. Oh boy, this wasn’t going to be good. Greed is too sarcastic for this group of overly serious people.
My father growled. “Why don’t you look through the book and point out what you may have knowledge of.”
“Fine,” he exhaled loudly. “Has anyone ever told you guys you’re like the Scooby gang? Always trying to solve mysteries.” He grabbed the book from my father and started scanning the pages. I peeked over and caught glimpses of the calligraphy and pictures until I saw something I recognized.
“Stop,” Jones whispered and snatched the book away—he flipped back a few pages Greed had passed. My stomach rolled over at what he might have been looking for. He pointed at a picture and it looked just like it. The gold band with the black engraving around the blue stone. It was the ring Mr. Delaney had given me the last day I went to school. He’d recognized it and I had no way out of this. I have no choice but to tell the truth. I ran my fingertips over the picture and felt a shiver run up my arm. The page was cold. Just like the stone had been.
“The Ring of Solomon?” Nikolai said beside me. “You recognize it?”
“I have it,” I said quietly.
The room was still and I tried to think of something to say. How big of a deal is this thing and mainly, who the hell is Mr. Delaney? I hadn’t mentioned it before because I didn’t have much information on this.
“Max, this is very important, where is the ring?” My father asked carefully.
“I…can’t remember. I can’t remember where I placed it,” I said and looked up to the four pair of eyes that were watching me intently. Especially Greed.
“Where did you get it from?” Jones asked and I ignored him. I’m not ready to give up my source yet, at least not until I find out what the deal is.
“What is it? I don’t see nothing in the book that explains what it is.”
“That’s because the Ring of Solomon isn’t supposed to exist. It’s a legend to most and only a few know what it actually is. I can only tell you what I know from campfire stories, but I don’t know if they’re true,” Nikolai said.
“I don’t know much either, but the ring was made by a very powerful alchemist—made of brass and iron. Behind the stone is the Seal of Solomon—two interlaced triangles. What many now know it as the Star of David. It is said that it was engraved by the Name of God and given to the king by God himself. But all that is speculation and I don’t know how much of it is true,” my father said.
“Okay, well what does it do? Is it dangerous?” To be honest, I don’t care how it was made, what I wanted to know was if my finger was going to fall off if I wore it too much or something outrageous like that.
“The legends say it was used by King Solomon for protection and knowledge. I don’t think it’s dangerous.” But Nikolai didn’t seem sure. “Where was the last time you saw it?”
I expelled a resigned breath and told them everything. I told them how Mr. Delaney had stopped me after school and how cryptic he was about knowing my purpose in life. How he handed me the ring because he wanted it to be somewhere safe and if I was worried I’d lose it, that I should wear it so I wouldn’t. I choked up a little afterwards when I mentioned that this all happened the day Abbadon came to the house and flipped my life upside down. Well, he flipped it more than it already was if that makes any sense. And after telling my whole story, I still hadn’t told them where it was, and no one asked.
22
My father ordered pizza and Jones and I dug in like starving children from a third world country. Pepperoni has never tasted as glorious as it did today and I had almost a whole pie to myself. It was night time and we were drained from being hunched over the Origin of the Nephilim all day long. But we were able to learn some pretty cool things about the history of the Nephilims. Nothing that would actually help us with our current problems but definitely things that were interesting.
Once we were all satiated and rubbing our bellies, Jones cut through the silence. “So we haven’t really talked about this whole Wanderer business. After Max got sick from reading the prophecy, we didn’t mention it, and this name comes up a lot in the Origins.” Everyone was avoiding eye contact. “Is the Wanderer, Abbadon?”
“No,” my father said with conviction. “Abbadon is the Angel of Destruction and has been around since the beginning of time, but he is not who they speak of.” There was a halt at the end as if he had more to say but changed his mind.
“Do you know who the Wanderer is?” I asked my father but couldn’t resist watching Greed. He was quiet…too quiet and his eyes were diverted toward a very interesting piece of lint on his lap.
“Unfortunately, no. I have a theory as to who he might be, but I’m not sure and I don’t want to throw any crazy thoughts out on the table yet. What’s running through my mind doesn’t seem possible but after learning about the Ring of Solomon—I guess anything is possible,” my dad said. He removed his glasses and wiped them clean with the bottom of his untucked shirt.
“So what now?” Angela asked from across the dining table.
“That’s the million dollar question. What should we do…Abbadon is still on the loose and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to give up that easily,” Jones said.
“And don’t forget we have to find Jeremiel,” I cut in.
“Son, I think we need to stay on track and let the archangels look for Jeremiel.”
I scoffed. “The archangels? I’m surprised you still consider them an ally since they left us to hang and dry when Abbadon came to our home. If anything, Samuel is at the top of my list of suspects.” I shook my head. “No, we look for Jeremiel. Abbadon can come for me whenever he wants and we’ll kick his ass just like we did in Vegas.”
My father’s eyes widened. “You did what?” I guess Jones hadn’t told him everything. “What the hell happened in Vegas?” This wasn’t going to be a pretty conversation. But what’s that saying? What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas? Yeah, well that’s a load of crap if your father is Xavier Taylor.
After much yelling and finger pointing, our adventures of the past week was told in full detail to my father and, unfortunately, Angela. Nikolai was also listening and putting his two cents in where it wasn’t needed. It was pretty comical if I’m to be honest and hopefully, many years down the road, this will all be just a funny story we retell during holidays.
It was getting close to midnight and we were all tired from today’s events. My father and Angela were staying at her home, while the rest of us stayed at Jones’ cramped apartment. And when I say cramped, I meant, Nikolai and I were stuck sleeping in the living room because Jones only has one bedroom and wouldn’t give up his bed. And because Nikolai is so darn spoiled, he called dibs on the sofa, which left me to curl up on the love seat. Discomfort and all, no one wanted to stay at Angela’s.
“Are you asleep?” Nikolai whispered loudly.
I rolled my eyes. “Well now I’m not, what’s up?”
“What’s the deal with you and the chick guardian? I get that Abbadon is her father and all but I don’t see how your mother’s death was her fault,” he said. Why was everyone defending her?
“Don’t let those green eyes fool you, man. She’s the devil reincarnate,” I said and turned to my other side so my back was to him.
“She’s smoking, don’t get me wrong, but she’s no Devil, Max. She’s hurting just as much, if not more, than you are.”
“Oh, please. What did she tell you to make you team Angela?” I heard him ruffle around on the sofa before responding.
“Nothing but I can tell, Max. That girl might be in love with you, just as much as you are with her. And don’t tell me you’re not, because you are. The fact that you’re too pissed off at the world to realize it, is the problem. Together, you both have some scorching hot chemistry and you’re lucky to have that—not many people do,”
he said wistfully.
“What, no love interest for Greed?” I said half-jokingly.
“Why you insist on calling me Greed, is beyond me. Stick with Nikolai or Niko. And to answer your question, no, I don’t believe in all that love nonsense for myself. I like stupid blondes with fake boobs who go away in the morning.”
“If you don’t believe in it, why mention it?”
“Because I don’t want love, nor do I go looking for it. But I’ve lived for a very long time, Max. And It’s not every day you meet another immortal that you can spend the rest of your life with,” he said and I could hear a touch of sadness in his voice. It sounded like there might have been someone in his life and I’m guessing she had been human. But I didn’t want to pry. I may have only met Nikolai recently—like this week—but I already sort of knew him. He’s extremely sarcastic with every aspect of his life but knows when he needs to be serious. Mainly—he’s a private person and will tell you things about himself when he’s ready to.
“Well, Angela’s not that girl,” I said, but it came out like a question. I hated the fact that I didn’t even sound confident in my own response, but it was the best I could do at that moment.
“Look, I’m really not one to talk, but I suggest you put up the white flag and try to patch things up with her. You look good together,” he said and without waiting for a response, he fell asleep.
Persistent pounds on the door woke me up from a blissful sleep. Well, the last two hours were blissful. My mom was still haunting me in my dreams, but at least now I was talking back and not shriveling away in the darkness with fear. I lifted my head and Jones shuffled across the living room to the door. He must have not been worried about who it was because he still had his eyes closed. I reached over to Niko and tapped his head so he’d wake up. He groaned into the pillow he was drooling on.
“It’s too early for this!” he said as he pulled the covers over his head.
“It’s almost noon,” my father grunted and carried some plastic bags into the kitchen. Angela followed behind him. She was back in her usual attire of ripped jeans and combat boots. A red flannel long sleeve shirt was tied around her waist. “I’ll get started on lunch, but I need you to figure out where you might have left the Ring of Solomon, Max. I thought a lot about this last night and it could be a lead to finding Abbadon.”
Greed (Sins of the Fallen Book 2) Page 12
