Requiem (22 page)

“
He told you.”

My eyebrows shot up. An explanation
consisting of Claire, explosions, and the ice blue eyes in Ryan’s
memory would take the conversation to an unfavorable end, so I kept
it simple.“Touché.”

The bell above the coffee ship door chimed,
and we both looked up, waiting for Kim.

“
Where is she?” Beth asked,
disappointed.

“
Late.” I knew she was with
Jared, but I couldn’t exactly share that with Beth. She was the
last bit of normal I had left, and I wasn’t going to share her with
the crazy part of my life—even if that meant lying.

“
Was Jared just pissed
beyond belief?”

“
Um…kind of. I guess. But
not about that.”

“
What about,
then?”

“
That he pulled us over for
no reason, I suppose.” I lied again. For a moment I silently
counted how many non-truths I had told her in the span of just a
few minutes, and wondered how many more I would have to tell. Beth
was my best friend, but it was for her own good. If there was a
lesson to be learned in the chaos of my life, ignorance
was
bliss.

Beth and I chatted about upcoming papers to
write, meetings at work, the upcoming Christmas party that Sasha
had been obsessing over, and of course, Ryan.

“
We’d better get going,”
Beth said, glancing at her watch.

“
The wind is terrible
today,” I said, pulling on my coat, hat and scarf. The snow was
falling in large chunks, and the street had already turned into a
gray, slushy mess.

“
I know, it sucks,” Beth
said. “Fall is non-existent here.”

“
Oh. Right. You don’t get
much snow in Oklahoma, do you?”

Beth laughed once in disbelief. “Yes we get
snow. Sometimes a foot or so. It’s just on top of an inch of
ice.”

“
But…it’s a southern
state.”

“
So?” Beth said, waiting
for more crazy to come out of my mouth.

“
Never mind.”

We walked to the Beemer together, trying to
navigate the patches of snow that hadn’t been cleared.

“
Hi,” a deep voice said,
greeting us.

“
Ryan!” Beth said, throwing
her arms around our friend.

He was in plain clothes, leaning against my
car nonchalantly. He didn’t seem nervous or out of place at all,
until Beth smacked him, hard, on the back of the head.

“
Hey!” Ryan said, defending
his head with his hands from another blow.

“
What is wrong with you?
Taking off on all of us like that, going off to
war
, and not letting us know you’re
okay, or that you’re back in town? We’ve all been worried sick!
Chad is gonna be
pissed
!

“
Okay, okay!” Ryan said,
bracing for another assault. “I’m sorry.”

Beth relaxed. “If you
haven’t called him by the time I get home tonight, I’m telling him.
And you are
so
going to get it.”

“
I’ll call him. I’ll call
everyone, I’ve just been kinda…I don’t know what to
say.”

“
Say, ‘I’m home.’” Beth
crossed her arms, unimpressed with his wounded
expression.

“
Take it easy, Beth,” I
said. “He just needed to come back on his own terms.”

“
Exactly,” Ryan nodded,
thankful for my explanation. “I came to ask you to dinner. We have
some talking to do.”

“
O…Okay,” I said,
surprised.

“
Jared’s not going to like
that,” Beth lilted.

“
Where do I pick you up?
Jared’s place?”

“
It sort of burned down,” I
said, shifting.

Ryan didn’t flinch. “Okay, so where,
then?”

“
We’re at Cynthia’s for
now.”

Ryan’s eyes were always the windows to his
thoughts. That was one thing that his experiences hadn’t taken away
from him. He was planning something.

“
Seven o’clock?” he
asked.

“
How about I meet you
there?”

“
Where?”

“
I don’t know. Wherever
you’re wanting to eat.”

“
I haven’t decided, yet.
I’ll just pick you up.”

I sighed in frustration. “See you at seven,
then.”

Ryan walked away like a robot accepting a
command. He offered no smile, or any other expression, too
preoccupied with his next move.

“
That was weird,” Beth
said, pulling on the handle. “Open up, already, it’s freaking
freezing!”

“
Oh, it’s not that bad,” I
said, rolling my eyes and clicking the keyless entry.

Throughout the day, I waited for Jared’s
call. He hadn’t come home that morning, passing on the message via
Bex that he and Kim were in Woonsocket, just south of the
Massachusetts line. Bex assured me that it was to speak with the
priests of St. Anne’s, and he wouldn’t be engaging the enemy.

At lunch, I called Bex. “Why hasn’t he
called?”

“
He’ll call,” Bex said,
bored.

“
Why did Kim go if they’re
just going to a church?”

“
It’s just a guess, but
maybe she knows the contact their questioning.”

I blew my bangs from my face, frustrated.
“You two are being very secretive these days.”

Bex sighed. “Go be a co-ed, Nina. I’ll talk
to you later when you call to ask if Jared’s called again.”

I looked to Beth. “That little…he hung up on
me.”

“
He’s a teenager. You
remember being a teenager?”

“
Vaguely.”

“
He’s got all these
feelings, and emotions…and didn’t you say he was
home-schooled?”

“
Yeah, but he’s only
thirteen. He’s barely a teenager.”

Beth stared at me. “You’re joking,
right?”

“
No, why?”

“
There is no way that kid
is thirteen! He’s a mammoth! He looks at least sixteen!”

“
Nope. It runs in the
family.”

“
You’re going to give birth
to a toddler. Think about that,” Beth said, giggling to
herself.

“
We’re not…,” I trailed
off. I waited, hoping Beth wouldn’t take it further. Any such hopes
were lost when her eyes widened.

“
You’re not what? Going to
have kids?”

I shrugged, trying to play it off. “We
haven’t really talked about it, but it’s not something either of us
would die to experience. I’m an only child. Babies…kids…really
aren’t my thing.”

“
Well, there’s nothing
wrong with that. I just didn’t know you felt that way. I bet Jared
would be an amazing father.”

“
He would be,” I nodded.
Her words stung me, something I hadn't expected.

The afternoon was long. Bex hadn’t called
with news of Jared, and the wait was making me grumpy. Jared always
called, unless he was in trouble, and because he knew that I knew
that, he should call. A lot.

After my last class, my feet couldn’t move
fast enough to the Beemer. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed,
the same time searching my purse for keys.

“
He hasn’t called,” Bex
answered.

“
Something’s wrong. Have
you talked to Claire?”

“
Yes. Nothing’s wrong; he’s
just busy.”

“
Then he would have
called!” I said. Just as I slammed the phone shut, the Beemer and
Bex came into view.

“
Get in, we’re going to
Woonsocket.”

Bex laughed without humor. “No, we’re not.
Jared said to take you to Titan, and then home. We’re to wait for
him there.”

“
Well, I don’t work for
Jared, nor am I trying to earn the big brother approval, so get in
the car or move.”

Bex did neither. “I have orders, Nina.”

He wasn’t as easy to persuade as Jared,
because he wasn’t worried about making me angry. I had to try a
different approach. He might look like a man, but he was still a
thirteen year old boy.

“
Bex Gabriel Ryel, if you
move a finger to keep me here, so help me, I will call your mother
and tell her you used your Hybridness to restrain me against my
will!”

His stoic expression wavered as he
considered the consequences. “Fine,” he said, his entire body
relaxing. “Get in the car, I’ll drive.”

I pushed up on the balls of my feet to kiss
his cheek. “Thanks, Bexster!”

His face screwed into disgust as he wiped
the place where my lips touched his cheek. “Yuck!”

With Bex driving his typical speed, the trip
took less than twenty minutes. He sat in silence; pouting, and no
doubt planning the excuses he would offer Jared.

When we arrived, I gasped. St. Anne’s was a
work of art, looming with both authority and elegance over the
quiet town. As beautiful as was the outside, the interior was
breathtaking.

Meticulously detailed murals of angels and
saints adorned the walls and ceilings, with a larger one as the
focal point. The painting was of Jesus, his arms outstretched,
surrounded in light, and rows of angels, who basked in his glory.
The entire room was inspirational, and a strange feeling came over
me as I walked down the center aisle.

Row after row of wooden pews bordered our
way to the alter anchored at front of the church, where Jared and
Kim stood with a priest.

Jared’s expression wasn’t surprised or
confused. He glanced once in my direction, and then continued his
conversation. Jared’s clear disregard only served to exacerbate my
growing impatience with him.

“
Excuse me, Father,” I
said, interrupting him. I pulled Jared a few steps away,
purposefully glaring at Kim as I did so.

“
I can’t do this right now,
Nina, I’m working.”

“
I thought
I
was your job? You know
it worries me to death when you don’t call. Do you do it on
purpose?”

“
Nina, calm
down.”

“
I couldn’t concentrate in
my classes, checked my phone every five seconds, hoping you would
at least send a one word text…something! It would take just a
moment of your time to set my mind at ease. You spend half of your
life incessantly protecting me from everything, and the other
making me
crazy
!”

“
Child….” the Father began.
The Priests’ words had a hidden accent behind them, possibly
British, diluted by years of service in America. His plea was cut
short when each of the hundreds of candles glowing around us were
extinguished in succession, from one side of the stage to the
other.

The priest watched me warily, and Jared took
my hand. “This is her, Father Francis. She is the one.”

The priest held his trembling hands to his
mouth, and then reached out to me. He grabbed my free hand with
both of his, and held it tightly. “The Mother,” he whispered, his
eyes scanning my face with adoration.

Bex lifted his chin. His eyes closed, but
not before his lashes flickered as his eyes rolled back into his
head. He took a deep breath, as if he were feeling the air around
us, reaching with invisible tentacles to a different plane.
“Jared,” he whispered.

A loud, repetitious banging echoed
throughout the cathedral, and Father Francis dropped my hand,
rushing to the large doors of the entrance.

“
You should stop him,” Kim
said to Jared.

“
Father, wait,” Jared
called. He grabbed my hand, following quickly behind the
priest.

The banging persisted, so loudly that I
released Jared’s hand to cover my ears. The large doors vibrated
with each blow.

“
Make it stop,” I said,
closing my eyes.

Kim and Bex were at my side, and Kim touched
my shoulder before taking a few steps forward.

The banging grew louder, and the door
threatened to give way to the hammering from outside.

“
Make it stop!” I yelled
over the noise.

“
Father,” Kim said, gently
moving him to the side. She reached out with both hands, laying her
palms flat against each door.

I grabbed Jared’s arm, then a quiet settled
upon us; seeming more ominous than the banging.

Father Francis pushed open the doors, and we
all stood in horror of the sight before us.

“
Lord in Heaven,” Father
Francis said, making a quick the sign of the cross.

“
They….” I began, unable to
finish.

“
Crows. Nice touch,” Kim
said.

Hundreds of lifeless, black birds littered
the steps and sidewalk. The doors were covered in bloody
splotches.

“
Mommy!” A small girl
screamed and pointed as her mother rushed her to their parked car
across the street.

Pedestrians stopped and stared at the
unbelievable sight, pointing to the church, and to the small,
horrified group hovering in the doorway.

“
Let us get inside,” Father
Francis said, shooing us backward into the church. He pulled the
doors shut, shaking his head. “This was a warning. They know what
she is, and they’re aren’t happy she’s here.”

“
Merovingian?” I said, a
sudden feeling of desperation evident in my voice.

The priest’s face twisted
in disgust. “Merovingian.
Bah
,” he grunted, shaking his head.
“Nephilim,” he said, his voice returning to its soft tone. He
touched each side of my face gently. His skin was tired and wilted,
making it nearly impossible to see the kindness in his eyes…but it
was there.