Requiem (16 page)

Sirens sounded in the distance.

“
We have to go,” Jared
said, gently escorting me to the passenger side of the
Escalade.

As he pulled away, I watched the flames and
glowing smoke until I couldn’t see them anymore, and then turned to
face forward. Jared placed his hand over mine, and then Bex put his
hand over ours.

“
It had to be Donovan,” Bex
said.

I shook my head. “No. Claire took care of
all the humans that might be a threat to us.”

“
Except Donovan,” Jared
said. His knuckles turned white against the steering
wheel.

Bex leaned back in the seat. “He’s the
closest human to Shax. Claire left him alive because he's the Taleh
of a Half-breed.”

“
What?” I said, looking to
Jared for confirmation.

He nodded. “Isaac. Very fast, very strong,
but emotional. He's been known to make mistakes, but he's still
dangerous.”

I blinked, processing what Jared had said.
“So to kill Donovan we’d have to kill a Hybrid.”

“
Not just any Hybrid,” Bex
said. “The son of Michael. An angel in the Holy Army. A warrior of
God. At His word, they would exterminate entire blood lines, entire
kingdoms.”

I laughed once. “You’re joking.”

“
No,” Jared said, pulling
the Escalade down a road leading us out of town. “Michael belongs
to a family of angels that embodies God's Wrath, and if harm came
to his son, that would be an act of war against Heaven. That is the
only reason Donovan is still alive.”

The Escalade bounced over the uneven gravel
road, and Jared came to a stop just outside a familiar chain-link
fence. We walked hand-in-hand to the Warehouse where I met Eli.
Jared pushed the button and we waited. Nothing.

“
I thought you said he
wouldn’t speak to you?” I asked.

Jared stood silent, patient, and calm.
Twenty long minutes passed, and then we were finally buzzed in. The
breath Jared had silently held, he released. “Thank you,” he
whispered.

Bex led the way through the dusty, cement
hall. My footsteps echoed throughout the capacious room the hall
opened up to, encased by a hundred dirty windows.

As before, we waited in the center.

Jared’s and Bex’s faces were marked by soot
from the fire. Their expressions were composed, waiting for Eli to
decide to show himself.

An hour passed, and still we waited. Jared
slid his arms from his jacket and hung it on my shoulders. I hadn’t
even noticed the cold, but once the added heat was around me, I
shivered.

“
Patience,” Jared said. His
words could have been directed at me or at Bex, I wasn’t
sure.

After another hour, the columns of glass
were ignited by the rising sun. Rays of white pierced through,
illuminating the elegantly floating dust motes in its path. Glowing
yellow squares infringed upon the shadows, and soon the entire
floor glowed and warmed with the glorious grace of morning
light.

“
Nina,” a voice called from
across the room. Eli walked toward us, his eyes focused only on me.
He was dressed in the same attire he wore the last time we met: The
crisp, white shirt, the jeans and sandals, and the spiky blonde
hair. He made a click noise with his tongue. “You aren’t getting
enough rest.”

“
But you knew that,” I
smiled sleepily.

One corner of his mouth turned up, but it
wasn’t quite a smile. “I’m sorry, Cupcake. I haven’t been much
help.”

“
Can you help us now?”
Jared asked.

“
We would love to, Jared.
We’ve been instructed not to,” Eli said. Compassion was in his
eyes, but not apology.

“
But…why?” Bex asked,
genuinely confused.

Jared watched Eli for a moment, and then
frowned. “They won’t intervene unless The Balance is
disturbed.”

Eli reached his hand to me, and I took it.
He pulled me into him gently. He towered over me, and I felt like a
child wrapped in his arms. Emotion overwhelmed me, and I let myself
tremble and weep unreservedly in the quiet sanctuary of his
embrace. Jared’s hand touched my shoulder; Bex’s smaller hand
touched my back. A sob that had been hiding somewhere deep within
me found its way to the surface.

It felt good to cry. I had just seen my
father for the first time since his death. The pressure and horror
of being the center of a story Hell took very seriously, and now
hearing that Heaven was unwilling to help, hope was dwindling.
Crying was a sweet release, and in Eli’s arms, it was natural, much
like a tearful moment in my father’s lap when I was hurt or
frightened.

Eli released me, and tenderly grasped a lock
of my hair. “You have grieved for your former life, Nina Grey. It
is time to rise up as the woman you are: Strong, determined,” he
smiled, “and stubborn.” He walked away from us, looking at the sky
through the windows. “Humans see life as so precious when it’s
fleeting. Add in the defensive instincts of a mother, and you’re
nearly unstoppable, even in your fragile shell. It’s more inspiring
each time I see it.”

“
You know she’s not
pregnant,” Jared said.

“
Yet,” Eli said, turning
with a knowing smile. “Let us visit again when the time is right.
At the time when you have no more questions to ask but
one.”

“
What question is that?” I
asked, but he was gone. “Damn it.”

“
We need to get Nina back,”
Jared said.

“
Back to where, Jared? Did
you forget your house is toast?” Bex said.

I shook my head, still in disbelief. Jared
enveloped me in his arms, warmer and even more inviting than
Eli’s.

“
You have three choices,
Nina: Cynthia’s, Lillian’s, or Kim’s.”

“
Kim’s?” I sneered. “Even
if I did still consider her my friend, I have no desire to live in
the dorms again.”

Jared grimaced. “She’s the safest, option,
Nina, and yes, she’s still your friend.”

“
Why is she the safest?” I
asked.

Bex grinned. “They don’t mess with her.
She’s like bug spray.”

I smiled. “She would hate that if she heard
you.”

Bex pulled a gun from the back of his jeans
and scratched his head with the barrel. “Okay. Where to, then?”

“
I still have things at
Cynthia’s. We’ll go there,” I said, taking in a deep breath.
Luckily, Cynthia was consistently busy with charities, so she would
be out and about more often than not.

“
You’ll
go there,” Jared said.

My mouth fell open. “I’m not going anywhere
without you. You told me once you couldn’t go back to that, again.
What happened to that?”

“
It’s not my first choice,
I assure you,” he said, an uncomfortable grin twisting his
mouth.

“
It’s my house, Jared.
You’re coming,” I said. I looked at Bex, then. “And there’s a room
for you, too.”

“
I have a room, thanks,”
Bex said.

“
Nina,” Jared
began.

I held up my hand. “If you make me go to
that house alone, I will spend all of my time in Jack’s office.
I'll move my bed in there. I swear to God.”

Jared had once told me that Jack's office
was the only room in my parents' home that wasn't wired with
microphones or cameras. Jared could still hear me, of course, but
having to guess what I was doing drove him crazy.

Jared smiled. “Don’t swear at Him. We need
Him on our side.”

I frowned. “You know what I mean.”

He sighed. “Cynthia’s it is, then.”

Chapter Nine

Killing the
Messenger

Nothing goes as planned. People say goodbye.
Buildings burn, and the impossibility of moving back in with
Cynthia Grey after the age of eighteen can actually happen.

As I stood before the colossal home my
father left to me after his death, I felt a bit nauseous at the
prospect of walking its halls everyday again. Some of my best and
worst memories happened within those walls: Jack chasing me down
the halls, cooking my first meal, my father dying before my eyes,
and everything I thought he was slipping away as I read a hidden
file on the second floor.

But it was still home.

The gravel crunched beneath my feet as Jared
walked me up the steps to the front door. The sun had hidden behind
the thick clouds that were quickly moving in, and the air smelled
like a mixture of winter and spring.

I took a deep breath and let it out as the
wind blew the blonde strands of my hair against my cheek. “I’m
going to get unpacked and organized. I have to go into Titan before
they think I’ve defected.”

Jared tossed the keys to Bex. “Update Mom
and Claire. I need you back here at six thirty.”

Bex nodded once. “You got it.”

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled
the air as we walked in, and Cynthia's heals signaled her approach.
She stopped suddenly in the foyer.

“
Oh! You startled me.
Really, Nina, you could at least call if you’re going to visit so
early.”

“
We’re not visiting. We’re
moving in,” I said, making my way up the stairs.

Cynthia rushed to the first step, looking up
at us. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Jared turned to face her. “Donovan set
explosives in the loft. Everything except what’s in our bags is
gone.”

Cynthia paused for a moment, a common tactic
of hers to calm her voice before she spoke when she was angry or
taken off-guard. “Well. I’m glad Nina’s safe. How long will you be
staying?”

“
Indefinitely,” I
said.

I had reached the top before she spoke
again.

“
You’re filthy,” she
snapped, her heels clicking to the kitchen.

I smiled. She was always snippy when she
didn’t want to show emotion—the soft sort.

Trying to find a professional ensemble from
my high school wardrobe was nothing short of frustrating. It was
then that it hit me that all of my belongings were gone. Everything
Jared and I had purchased together, the bed we shared...the
downstairs tub. Different items in the loft flickered through my
mind. It was strange how each of them, however insignificant they
used to seem, were attached to a memory.

Tears pooled in my eyes and escaped down my
cheek. I wiped them away and groaned. “I have nothing to wear! What
was I thinking buying this crap?” I yelled. “Not a single pair of
pumps matches anything in my closet!”

Jared sat on the end of bed, letting me
express my anger and frustration with an understanding expression.
After the rage-fueled tirade to find the right pair of shoes, I
rode with Jared to Titan Mercantile.

We didn't speak for most of the trip. Jared
kept his eyes on the road, no doubt formulating a plan for the next
step in finding the book. I was too tired to initiate conversation,
or to try to find out piece by piece what plan of action he was
considering.

“
See you soon,” Jared
smiled.

I kissed his cheek, and then stepped out
onto the curb, looking back once more before pushing through the
entrance doors.

Beth waited me for me in my office, already
organizing my call list in order of importance.

“
And don’t forget the
conference with the Japanese firm at nine,” she said, her head
down.

“
I’ve told you a million
times, Beth. Yawatahama. It’s not that hard if you
practice.”

Beth raised her hands in frustration and
then dropped them, letting the papers in her hands slap her thighs.
“I sound ridiculous,” she said. “Sasha laughs at me every time I
try.”

“
Oh, to hell with Sasha.
Ask her to say something German. She sounds like a bloated
mule.”

Beth laughed out loud, surprised at my mood.
“You’re not sleeping again, are you?”

Two quick knocks, and then Grant opened my
office door wide, keeping his hand on the knob. “The prodigal
daughter returns! How was your trip?”

“
Great, Grant. I’m busy,
what do you need?” I said, putting the phone to my ear.

His expression screwed, his nose wrinkling
in disgust. “The Bainbridge group will be here in twenty minutes,
Nina. Why didn’t you just wear pajamas?”

From collarbone to scalp, the burn of
infuriation ignited my face in what I was sure was a beautiful
shade of tomato red. My outstretched arm, with a rigid, pointed
finger at the end, silently warned Grant to leave.

“
Back away slowly, Mr.
Bristol. No sudden movements,” Beth said.

Grant nodded, stepping backward until he was
out of sight.

Beth placed a small bag on my desk.
“Foundation, blush, mascara and gloss. Get it on. I’ll meet you
downstairs in fifteen.”

She closed the door softly
behind her, and I took a deep breath.
Just
get through the day
, I thought.

My cell phone rang once. “Not now, Jared,” I
said aloud, knowing he could hear. The second ring cut short.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I opened the compact from Beth’s bag, and
looked at myself in the mirror. “Holy Banshee, Nina! Get yourself
together!” I said to myself.

Sasha stood next to the coffeemaker in the
meeting room. “Miss Grey,” she said handing me a fresh, steaming
mug.

“
Thanks,” I said, frowning
with confusion at her polar disposition. Wondering what she was up
to was not on my agenda for the morning, not to mention I didn’t
have the time or patience for it. That wouldn’t stop me from
finding out, however.

The meeting went smoothly, and then I
returned to my office, opening the door long enough for Beth to
follow me through. I turned to see Grant and Sasha just behind her,
but I shut the door. “Not now,” I said flatly.