Shadow Chaser

by Jerel Law

  SHADOW

  CHASER

  OTHER BOOKS IN

  THE SON OF ANGELS: JONAH STONE SERIES

  Spirit Fighter

  Fire Prophet

  © 2013 by Jerel Law

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Tommy Nelson. Tommy Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  Cover illustration by William Graf, © 2013 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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  Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations marked TNIV are from The Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version®. © 2001, 2005 by Biblica®. Used by permission of Biblica®. All rights reserved worldwide. “TNIV” and “Today’s New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica®. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Law, Jerel.

  Shadow chaser / Jerel Law.

  pages cm. — (Son of angels ; book 3)

  Summary: “Jonah’s story comes to resemble a modern-day Job as he’s faced with trials that affect his health, strength, relationships, and most-prized possessions. As he and the other quarterlings prepare for mid-term exams, their powers are tested once again in the most fierce battle against Abaddon’s forces yet. Will Jonah’s faith in Elohim continue to persevere as he fights Abaddon in his hardest battle yet?”— Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-4003-2199-5 (pbk.)

  [1. Angels—Fiction. 2. Good and evil—Fiction. 3. Faith—Fiction. 4. Christian life—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.L418365Sh 2013

  [Fic]—dc23

  2012046607

  Printed in the United States of America

  13 14 15 16 17 18 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For Christopher,

  who is generous, kind-hearted,

  and stronger than he yet knows.

  I believe in you.

  CONTENTS

  PART I: SHADOW AND LIGHT

  1. An Unwelcome Discovery

  2. Jonah’s Uncomfortable Urge

  3. Solitude

  4. A Special Guest

  5. Questions

  6. A Meeting of Shadows

  PART II: TESTS

  7. Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

  8. Believe It or Not

  9. Abigail’s Scarf

  10. An Unforeseen Opportunity

  11. Exams Begin

  12. Rooftop Encounter

  13. New Morning, New Possibilities

  14. A Shadow in the Hallway

  15. A New Enemy

  PART III: INTO THE SHADOWS

  16. Speed and Strength

  17. A Dangerous Plan

  18. A Moving Sidewalk

  19. The Thing Beyond the Mist

  20. Another Test

  21. The Final Stage

  22. The Jungle Comes Alive

  23. Campfire Conversation

  24. The Flagpole

  25. Shadows Cast

  26. Snowfall

  About the Author

  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

  and certain of what we do not see.

  Hebrews 11:1

  AN UNWELCOME

  DISCOVERY

  Jonah Stone was defending a New York street all by himself. Fallen angels, their wings withered and charred, swooped in, attacking him from all sides. There wasn’t anyone he could call for help. He was on his own. He tried to fight them, tried to turn away or run, but he couldn’t move and he couldn’t look away. He was surrounded. Everywhere he looked, there was another fallen angel crawling out of a manhole, leaping from a window above, or materializing out of thin air. He looked up but saw only a crush of dark feathers there too. There was no escape.

  Jonah struggled to move down the street. It was as if he were trying to pull his feet through thick sand. The harder he tried, the worse it became. His feet began to ache, a dull throb, like a feverish flu, moving up into his legs. His stomach, his arms, and all the way up his neck and into his head—everywhere he felt the aching, and it made it almost impossible for him to move.

  Just when he was sure they were going to kill him, Jonah woke up, the vision shattered. He blinked a few times, reminding himself that it was just a dream. His body wasn’t aching. He didn’t seem to have a fever. He’d been having vivid, frightening dreams ever since the prophet Abigail had revealed to him that he was a prophet too. He breathed in and out until he felt his heart rate begin to slow again.

  His eyes scanned his darkened bedroom in the convent. These rooms sure haven’t changed, he thought. The room held the same simple wooden furniture—two beds and two desks against the wall, a worn circular rug on top of the old hardwood floor, and a small window with a view of a brick wall. It wasn’t much, but it was comforting to be back in his familiar room after two weeks in Greece.

  Jonah looked around for his roommate, David, the only quarterling taller than him, but he wasn’t there. His bed was already neatly made, and he was probably down at breakfast. David and his sister, Ruth, were from Uganda, where their parents ran an orphanage for hundreds of kids. David knew as much about the Bible as anyone Jonah knew, including his sister Eliza.

  Jonah hadn’t known there were others like him, other than Eliza and his brother Jeremiah, until they’d rescued their kidnapped mother from underneath the dark New York City streets. After all, they were what they were because of her. She was a nephilim—her mother was a human and her father was a fallen angel. When they rescued her, they also found and rescued others like her.

  That was over a year ago now, though it felt more like a lifetime. Back when their eyes were just opening to the reality that there was so much more to life than what they could see, and that the darkness of the battle between Abaddon and Elohim was going on behind everything. The war between good and evil was invisible to humans, but very, very real. Fallen angels could be around any corner, ready to twist minds and hearts away from Elohim.

  Last year, Jonah, Eliza, and Jeremiah had met not only the other nephilims’ children, but also had begun Angel School together. Jonah still cringed when he thought about what could have happened to them all if Abaddon’s recent attack on the school had been successful. Thanks to the prophet Abigail, the angels, and most of all, Elohim, they had managed to push back the evil.

  His friend David had been beside him every step of the way, helping and encouraging him, especially with the realization that Jonah, too, was a prophet.

  Jonah grabbed a towel, shampoo, and soap and walked down the hallway to the boys’ bathroom to shower. There were three shower stalls and a sink with a mirror over it. When he emerged from the shower, he stood in front of his reflection and did a double take.

  “What in the world is that?” he whispered, touching his face. There was a red spot just above his left eyebrow. He touched it and immediately wished he hadn’t.

  “Owww!” It was a giant zit and it hurt. He studied it in the mirror from all angles. “Well, this is just great,” he muttered. He tried to pull his shock of hair down far enough to cover it, but it didn’t help.

  Jonah tried to shrug it off as he headed down the steps and into the dini
ng hall. Most of the other quarterlings, with the exception of Frederick, noticeably absent, were already sitting at the long wooden table in the middle of the room, talking loudly and eating breakfast. Jonah walked over to the buffet line, grabbed a plate, and filled it with everything that caught his eye.

  “Morning, guys,” he said, sitting down between David and Andre and across from Rupert and Carlo. Jeremiah was down beside Eliza and the rest of the girls, and, as usual, he had everyone around him in giggles.

  “Good morning, Jonah.” David smiled, taking a huge bite of biscuit.

  Andre simply nodded, barely looking up from his enormously stacked plate. It truly was awe-inspiring to see the Russian eat.

  “Good day, Jonah,” said Rupert, glancing up at him. “Hey, what is that on your forehead?” He pointed his knife toward Jonah’s face as he asked the question.

  Jonah pulled at his hair a little, trying to make it drop farther onto his face. “What are you talking about? And hey, how about getting that knife out of my face?”

  “Oh, sorry,” Rupert said, lowering his knife but continuing to stare. “It’s just . . . that’s quite the spot you have there, Jonah.”

  David turned and studied Jonah’s face too. “Wow. That’s enormous!”

  Andre glanced over, and when he saw it, even he stopped eating. Carlo’s eyes widened, and he touched his own forehead sympathetically.

  “Stop it, okay?” Jonah said, beginning to panic at the sight of four sets of eyeballs pointed at his forehead. “You guys are creeping me out. Haven’t you ever had a pimple before?”

  “Yes,” Carlo said, swallowing a bite of pancake. “But not like that.”

  “Yeah,” David agreed. “I’ve just never seen one so big. It’s like Mount Kilimanjaro.”

  Jonah rolled his eyes and stuffed a bite of egg in his mouth so he didn’t say something he might regret. His friends finally, mercifully, changed the subject to who their favorite soccer player was.

  That night, just before nine o’clock, thirteen kids disappeared from sight in front of the door of the convent. All of the quarterlings had entered the hidden realm. The hidden realm, a place that humans could sense only within their hearts and souls, was a place the quarterlings could actually see and enter into. In the hidden realm, they were invisible as they walked several blocks to the New York Public Library.

  The early November air was chilly. Jonah led the way, trying to keep them in the shadows as much as possible, even though the people they passed couldn’t see them. He didn’t want to walk through anyone—that was for sure. It was not only weird; it was shocking—literally—for everyone involved.

  Mainly, though, they needed to be cautious when it came to the nonhuman elements they might encounter on the street. The city streets were always teeming with fallen angels. They had been safer when their hideout at the convent had been a secret, but the Fallen had discovered their location during their last battle. This made Jonah even more thankful for the angelic guard flying above them and the angels who walked in front of and behind them.

  Jeremiah was at the front of the line and was kicking at the heels of the angel walking in front of him, trying to trip him. The winged creature kept glaring back at him as if he were angry, but Jonah saw him wink. It was hard to get mad at Jeremiah.

  “You need to stop that,” Eliza said, coming up behind her little brother. “What if you tripped him and caused a commotion? That much noise could attract some of the Fallen, for sure.”

  Jeremiah grinned up at her and kicked the angel’s ankle one more time.

  Eliza raised her hand and was about to punch him in the arm, but Jonah grabbed her wrist.

  “Enough, guys,” he said. He eyed his mischievous younger brother. “Eliza’s right, Jeremiah. Settle down out here. This isn’t the place to goof around.”

  The side door to the library had been left open, as usual. Jonah glanced around to make sure no one was watching and then slid the door open, motioning for everyone to go through quickly as he held it.

  But as soon as he shut the door, he heard a scream and a dog barking. He turned, and directly in front of them, a German shepherd had cornered Hai Ling against the wall. The security guard holding the dog’s leash was staring at the Chinese girl.

  JONAH’S

  UNCOMFORTABLE URGE

  Hai Ling squealed nervously, frozen in place, as the security dog barked loudly and the security guard squinted at her. Jonah was sure the security guard couldn’t actually see Hai Ling. There was no way—unless she was no longer in the hidden realm.

  “Molly!” The guard tugged at his dog’s leash, but she wasn’t budging or quieting down. “What’s gotten into you, girl? There’s nothing there!”

  Jonah sighed with relief. He couldn’t see Hai Ling. But Hai Ling was still frozen against the wall, her eyes wide as she stared at the dog’s sharp teeth.

  “Hai Ling,” Jonah said calmly. “The guard can’t see you, and the dog can’t hurt you. He just senses your presence. You know how dogs are, remember?”

  But she didn’t respond. She was too afraid to hear him.

  Jonah walked over and stood beside her in front of the crazed dog. “See? He can’t do anything to hurt you. Come on back over here with the rest of us.” He reached down, grabbed her hand, and led her back over to the group. That did the trick. Shaking, but all right, Hai Ling blushed with embarrassment.

  “Okay,” she mumbled. “Sorry. I’m okay. Let’s just go. Stop staring at me, will you?”

  They walked past the guard and the dog, which was now sniffing the floor where Hai Ling had stood.

  Jonah loved walking into the library. It wasn’t like anything they had back in Peacefield. The super-high ceilings were painted in intricate detail to look like the sky. Portraits and statues lined the walls as they made their way around the corner and up a grand marble staircase.

  Camilla stood at the doorway of the main reading room, welcoming them with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. It was their first night of Angel School since they had been forced to leave two weeks earlier.

  “Welcome back!” she said as they filed in. “From all the way around the world, we are once again here together. Come in, come in.”

  As usual, the enormous room was empty. Wooden desks with reading lamps sat in clumps throughout the room, which was bigger than a football field.

  Three other angels stood in the middle of the floor.

  “Marcus! Taryn! Samuel!” Eliza shouted, running over to greet them. She gave Taryn a hug. Taryn stroked her hair and smiled.

  “It’s good to see you again too, dear Eliza.” The warrior angel smiled, her red hair brushing against Eliza’s face.

  “We haven’t seen you since . . . since . . .” Eliza stopped. The image of them being defeated by fallen angels during their last battle was still fresh.

  Jonah stepped forward, high-fiving Marcus. “We knew you weren’t dead or anything—not that you could die—but we missed you.”

  “Believe me, friends, those fallen will come to regret the day they tried to destroy us,” Marcus said. He was smiling, but he still managed to look determined.

  He winked at Jonah, then turned to chat with Andre, who was waiting eagerly to show Marcus how much his strength had improved. Jonah looked around and watched as his friends greeted their favorite teachers. He felt incredibly blessed to have them all on his team.

  “Samuel, I’ve missed you and our class discussions,” said David, slightly bowing to the thin-necked angel holding an old Bible in his hands.

  Samuel bowed lower. “And I have missed your tremendous insight, young David. I’ve missed every one of you.”

  “So where is everybody?” The voice came from behind them as a young preacher with a goatee and long dark hair rounded the corner. “It’s time to get this thing started again.”

  “Quarterlings,” said Camilla. “Why don’t you greet Reverend Bashir yourselves?”

  They nodded, then bowed together, praying for Elohim to
allow them to exit the hidden realm. They suddenly appeared in front of the Pakistani pastor.

  “Wow! It’s like watching popcorn pop!” he said, taking them all in. “I never get tired of that. How are all of my friends? It’s been too long.”

  They rushed to greet him, with Hai Ling leading the way, suddenly all giggles and smiles around their handsome, human instructor.

  “Okay, students,” Camilla said, calling their attention back toward her. “You can go ahead and reenter the hidden realm now. There is no need to risk being seen by anyone else. Of course, as usual, you will reappear when studying the spiritual arts with our dear friend here.” The students reentered the hidden realm as she continued. “Tonight, Angel School is back in session!”

  The quarterlings clapped. Jonah found himself getting more and more excited. He wanted to grow in his skills as part angel, but he also wanted to find out as much as he could about what it meant to be a prophet. He was hoping to find some assistance from the instructors.

  “You will remember that during your previous school session, you were matched up with others who possess similar gifts to your own,” she said. “We will continue with these same groups. But you have advanced in your learning, and now there will be additional things to discover. You are no longer beginners on this journey. You are expected to apply everything you have learned, both from the classroom and in battle.”

  Camilla prayed for Elohim’s blessing on their Angel School session and that He would help the quarterlings understand and use their gifts. But mostly she prayed for His presence to be felt and remembered among them, and for His protection. With one eye cracked, Jonah peeked up at Camilla as she prayed, her hands raised in the air. The familiar tendrils of light, only visible in the hidden realm, were there, twirling from her shoulders and head, rising up through the library ceiling as her prayer circled its way to Elohim.

  As she continued to pray, though, Jonah began to feel something in his stomach. It started as an uneasiness—a gurgling, even—that made him place his hand there. Maybe it was something I ate for dinner, he thought, and it just isn’t sitting well. But the sensation seemed to grow into something that encompassed more than his stomach alone.