Not what you seem. More than anticipated. Join us, before he comes for you.
“What are you?” Nathan yelled as he slammed his clenched fist on the roof. A large indent bowed beneath his hand. He couldn’t handle this anymore. His knees buckled beneath him. He turned his gaze from the crow to Rachel and hit the ground with a thud.
Rachel. Dead.
He covered his face with his hands as a deep retching sob shook his body.
He should have saved her. Why didn’t she trust him enough to tell him where she was going?
Because he didn’t deserve her trust. Why should she tell him where she was going? Not even Sue had done that.
The night Sue died, he’d been at the church working on a sermon. They’d argued earlier in the day about a bill that had arrived. A bill Sue had no idea Nathan paid on a monthly basis.
To Mount Joseph Private Hospital.
Instead of telling Sue the truth about his mother after she accused him of not trusting her, he’d stormed out and refused to answer any of her calls or text messages. He stayed as long as he could at the church, hoping that Sue would have gone to bed before he got home.
He hadn’t wanted to face the truth. Instead his fears were exposed.
Sue left him. He knew it deep in his heart.
The faint glow of lights drew his attention. Criss-cross beams shone down the ravine, illuminating the slippery slope.
Help was here. But it was too late.
“Down here.” Nathan scrambled to his feet and waved his arms until the flashlights blinded him with their brightness.
He cast one last look at Rachel and memorized the deathly mask that replaced the life, the sparkle, the joy of a woman who deserved more than this. His heart broke as he whispered her name.
Nathan recognized the paramedics as they made their way down the bank. He stepped back and out of the way as they bypassed him and focused on Rachel.
He noticed the concerned glances sent his way but it didn’t matter. His stoic attitude was all he could handle. He knew he detached himself from reality. It was the only way he could survive right now.
As he helped carry her up the slippery embankment, he caught the winged flight of the crows out of the corner of his eye. He refused to listen to their whispered beckoning.
The thud of the ambulance door as it closed behind Rachel’s body was the final straw. His feet cemented into the ground as he lifted his face to the cloud filled sky. His scream echoed off of the rock face and taunted him.
When he faced his truck, fiery anger filled him. He bent down and scooped up small rocks around his feet. One at a time he threw the stones at the murder of crows that covered his truck.
“Get. Away. From. Me,” he ground out between clenched teeth. His chest heaved as the rocks bounced off of his truck without hitting a single bird.
Journals hold the key.
Nathan darted towards the truck and flailed his arms. The crows swept up in a swirl of cascading feathers and circled high above him.
He yanked open his door and threw himself inside the cab. His nostrils flared as he struggled to calm his breathing. He needed to get a hold of himself and head home before he lost it for good.
Nephilim. Son of Morax. Listen--
Nathan jerked the key in the ignition and rammed his foot on the gas pedal.
*****
The glare of headlights blinded him as he sped home. He barely caught the outline of a woman’s silhouette before he jammed on the breaks.
Throwing his vehicle into park, Nathan jumped out and slammed the door.
“Damn it woman, don’t you know I could have hit you!”
“You wouldn’t have.” Eva wiped the rain off her face and stared at him. “I’m so sorry Nathan—”
“No!” He shouted. He turned on his heels, wishing he could turn his back on everything and everyone. He couldn’t go through this again. Not again.
“It’s not your fault.” Eva’s hand gripped his arm and stopped him.
He shrugged it off. “Like hell it isn’t. She should never have come out here on her own. She didn’t trust me enough to go with her. I could have saved her!” The flood burst and tears streamed down his face.
Eva shook her head. “No, you couldn’t have.” She reached out to him and rested the palm of her hand against his face. Her thumb gently stroked his skin.
“There’s nothing you could have done Nathan. She wasn’t for you. She was never meant for you.” Her voice, a silken whisper, surrounded his soul, soothing away the anger that consumed him.
“What do you mean?” Nathan stared deep into Eva’s eyes and found himself lost. Visions of his life with her, with Eva, flashed before him.
“You are more than what you think you are. So much more. Those crows, they speak to you because they need you. They can help, Nathan. They can help you understand what is happening to you. What will happen to you…”
“What will…what are you talking about?”
Her lips curled into a half smile before she raised her other hand and rested a finger against his lips.
“Find that journal. Then you’ll understand. I promise.” She stepped backwards, her gaze never leaving hers, until she stood beside her motorcycle. “I’m always here, Nathan. Always. I’ll never give up on you.”
He waited until she sped away on her motorcycle before turned away and sat back in his truck. He pounded the steering wheel in frustration.
I’ll never give up on you. What did she mean by that?
There was nothing he could do for Rachel. She was gone. So was his chance at redemption. There was no turning back now. Nothing left for him to return to.
He knew exactly what journal the damn crow and Eva meant.
It was time to delve into the past and find some answers. No matter what hell it led him to.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Morax sat in the corner chair of the study and watched his son pull the battered box off the top shelf. He rubbed his hands and resisted the urge to snicker. He’d waited a long time for his son to open this box.
All his plans had been made for this one moment.
The grief etched on Nathan’s face did little to soften his heart. Grief was a human emotion meant as a crutch for the weak. His son was anything but.
He made sure he’d seen to that. What was one death compared to the survival of a species?
Morax leaned back and lifted his arms behind his head. With his legs crossed, he settled back to watch the beginning of Nathan’s transformation.
There weren’t many Nephilim alive. The odds of one living to their fortieth year was miraculous. The enemy did everything possible to ensure they didn’t survive to the year of maturing.
But Nathan was different. There was a special quality about his DNA that no other Nephilim had, because of Morax’ genius. He wasn’t called the president of Hell or the demonic god of science for nothing. Genetic mutations were his creations.
Like his son. Like Eva. Created for each other to rule where no fallen angel had dared.
Morax leaned forward as Nathan pulled out the journal his mother wrote all those years ago. A journal full of research on the Nephilim, on fallen angels, on the women who succumbed to the seduction of angels.
Everything was for this one moment.
In order for the rest of his plans to be put into action, Morax had needed Nathan destroyed. The death of his wife and now the weak woman he was foolishly falling in love with guaranteed the demise of any pastoral longings his son might still retain.
He’d been mistaken to rely on Eva to lead Nathan in the right direction. Despite being a creature of his creation, he should have known not to trust her. Not when her heart was involved. She had two years to prepare Nathan for what was to come. Two years wasted when his son could have been training, learning. Preparing to rule.
Morax shook his head. He’d been the laughing stock of the council when they’d learned his son was a minister of the Most High God. Anger welled inside h
im at the memory.
They wouldn’t be laughing now, not when his son became the savior of their species.
It all depended on the journal and the ripped page Morax held in his hands. The page containing all the answers to the questions his son would soon have.
A sickening smile grew as he watched the horror of knowledge spread across his Nathan’s face.
This was just the beginning…
Sexy As Sin Page 7
