The Divine Whisper (34 page)

What the fuck?
He wanted to yell. He wanted to tear the cabinets from the walls and demolish the room they stood in. Hopefully then she would see what he was feeling.

Breathe in… one.

Breathe out… two.

To hell with it.

“What the hell were you thinking!?!” he roared. “Can you even hear what you sound like?”

She winced and placed a hand on her stomach.
“I already told you what I was thinking, and yes… now that it’s said aloud, it does sound a little crazy.”

He heard her, but he was too busy concentrating on her movement.
He pointed to her stomach and asked, “What was that?”

“Nothing.” She quickly pulled her hand away.
“It was nothing.”

He didn’t say anything as he looked her over.
She just got off bed rest not too long ago, and then she had a night like she had. He thought back to her reaction. It was definitely a wince. “Shit!” He quickly moved toward her. When he was within arm’s reach, she flinched back but he didn’t hesitate to scoop her up into his arms. Looking into her surprised eyes, he scowled. “Don’t ever pull away from me again. I might have a temper to rival the best of them, but never against you. Do you understand?”

She immediately softened in his arms.
“Sorry. Old habits.”

“Never with me.
Never again.”

“Okay.”

He started to walk out of the kitchen with her in his arms, and went into the living room to lay her on the couch. When he didn’t feel Conner follow them, he hollered, “Get in here boy. I want you were I can see you.”

“Boy?” he scoffed as he walked into the room.
“I haven’t been a boy in over three centuries.”

He shot him a look that said, “Shut the hell up” before looking down at Nicole.
She had a confused expression on her face, and he thought it best to change the subject. “Was it a kick or a pain?” he asked as he kneeled next to the couch and placed a hand on her belly.

When she didn’t answer right away, he growled, “and don’t even think about lying to me.
You’ve done enough of that tonight to last a lifetime.”

“A pain,” she said quietly, but quickly added, “It just started tonight and it’s not that bad.”

“It probably started after the demon threw her to the ground,” Conner said as he was examining their DVD collection. He sounded so nonchalant, as if it was something that happened every day. To people like them it was, but not to Nicole.

It was all too much, he thought, and he didn’t know how much more he could take.
He had almost lost everything and what had he been doing? Watching TV and sitting on his ass, that’s what.

He stood and walked over to the fireplace.
He needed to be away from her in case his destructive nature kicked back in, but close enough to see her every reaction. “Now,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me everything.” He nodded towards Nicole. “You first.”

She took a deep breath, and started to explain how she drove into the city, and stopped at the park.
She then went on to explain how she waited and even called out for Conner.

There was a scoffing noise and he looked over to see that Conner was shaking his head with a look of irritation.

When Nicole said something about a man under a tree, Gemariah returned his focus to her.

She went on to describe her fear and how she tried to run away only to be stopped by another man.
Gemariah bit the inside of his cheek to stop the string of curses he wanted to let out. The pain helped to dim his anger. He lightened up when the coppery taste of blood reached his senses, but bit down even harder when she said that they were planning to take her.

“That’s when Conner threw something and killed the one walking behind me.”

Gemariah looked to Conner to see that he was cleaning under his nails with a point to one of his throwing stars.

“Yes!
One of those,” Nicole exclaimed and pointed to Conner’s hand.

When everyone stayed silent, Conner looked back and forth between them.
“Oh what? Am I finally in the conversation?” He stood up from the wall he was leaning on. “Are you all caught up? I wasn’t paying attention.”

“She had just gotten to the part where you killed someone,” Gemariah said with exasperation.

Conner shrugged. “What? I thought he was a demon. That was a little disappointing. Got him in the jugular. Usually when they catch fire, it burns off the blood. Now I have some disinfecting to do.”

Gemariah brought his head down to massage his forehead and hopefully deter the headache he felt coming on.

“That does it! What is going on?” Nicole burst out. “Nephilim, demons, fire combusting from wounds, arms burning away, yellow eyes, forked tongues, long claw like fingers—” she gestured towards Conner before adding, “—centuries old…”

Gemariah swung his head in the direction of Conner and growled in frustration.
“What the hell happened tonight?” he asked the same question he had before.

Conner held up his hands in surrender.
“Don’t look at me. I was just there to stop her from being taken. The second man was a demon. She probably saw those things from him.”

“Arms burning away?”

“Oh. Well there was that…” For the first time, the boy looked sheepish. “I hardly ever miss, but tonight I did. I got him in the arm, chopped it clean off.”

“Where is he now?”
Gemariah knew as well as any trained nephilim that an amputated limb wouldn’t send a demon back to hell. It had to be a mortal wound.

“Got away.”

“What?” Gemariah raised his voice and took a few steps toward Conner. “How could you let it get away?”

“Excuse me.
It was then that she decided to run.” He pointed a finger at Nicole. “It was either go after her or go after it. I chose to go after her to bring her back to you, and what do I get in return? Pepper sprayed and interrogated, that’s what! I’m not even going to go into what her bringing me out in the open and telling them my name has done to me. People of the lowest form know how to get a hold of me, and now I have to worry that former clients have turned head hunters. All of this because I was protecting her.”

“Why?”
Gemariah stepped even closer and lightly shoved the other man in the chest. “Why do you even care so much?”

He didn’t push back or get in Gemariah’s face.
In fact, he did the opposite and took a step back. Shaking his head, he sneered up at Gemariah. “If you have to ask that, you’re dumber that I pegged you for.” Without another word, he side stepped Gemariah and walked to the front door. Quickly, he opened it and left. The door slammed shut so hard that Gemariah wasn’t surprised if it splintered the frame.

“So it’s all real?”

Nicole’s panicked voice brought his attention back to her, and he sighed.

With a new sense of resolve, he squared his shoulders and walked over towards the coffee table and pulled it in front of the couch.
When he sat down, it put him at eye level with her.

“This is not how I wanted you to find out.”

“No! This is where you tell me that my imagination is running away with me and we both laugh it off.”

He could, but eventually it would come up again, and sooner or later she needed to know.
He needed her to agree to the change before the twins came or the chances she would make it through the birth were slim.

When he looked at her, he knew regret showed on his face, but there was no other way.
The way she viewed the world was about to change drastically.

“Do you remember that story I told you about… the one with the fallen angels, their children, and the flood?”

“The one you told me after you saw Shane’s painting? Vaguely, yes”

“Well, Shane actually turned out to be a Seer.
He can just see the past so far, but with training he’ll be able to have more control over what he sees. He’s been found a good home to help him with that.”

When she just looked at him, he went on.
“Anyways, the story that I told you was all true. The children that survived the flood, the angel strike, all of it. Because of the increased humanity, the offspring… the nephilim… had enough control over their dark sides to choose to fight for the light and against evil.”

Yes, his answer sounded right out of a textbook, and by the confused look she was giving him, she thought so to.

With a groan, he tried again.
“Basically, demons exist. They can take the form of anyone and possess people with dark enough souls. The descendants of fallen angels are still walking around today, and do their best to send all of them back to where they came from. I know all this…” He forged on with a now or never mentality. “I know this because I am one… a nephilim, not a demon.”

He was rambling.
He didn’t think that he had ever rambled before in his life, but he also never had to explain what he was to anyone before.

Her face was unreadable.

“Say something,” he urged.

Even after his prompting, she still stayed quiet.
She licked her lips and finally turned to look at him. “Umm… I think I’m going to go.” She slowly swung her legs over the end of the couch and started to slide forward. “Not for forever, just for a little while.” She was talking slowly, as if waiting for him to strike out. “Maybe you should see someone in the meantime,” she continued, “like a professional.”

She didn’t believe him, and that wasn’t unexpected, but he still stopped her from getting off the couch by putting his hands on her shoulders to urge her back.
“Wait! What if I can prove it? Well, technically
I
can’t, but I can have someone come here that can, and that you trust.”

The last word was said with so much distaste that he couldn’t hide it.
She had showed such utter lack of trust in him in just one night. It would have been nice if she could have believed him, if only just a little.

“Who?”

“Trinity.”

“Trinity?” She paused to think before smiling.
“Oh, I get it. This is a big joke. Somehow you found out my plans for the night and put this elaborate hoax together. Good one.”

He decided not to waste any more time in getting Trinity over there.
Hopefully, she would rush once she found out what it was for.

Trinity, I need you.

Not this again, I thought you were done testing me.

She jokingly projected, referring to the first time they met.

Why are you saying that you need Trinity?

Perfect!
Now he had both voices in his head. He put his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut to block out the pressure.

It’s not what you think… either of you.
It’s Nicole.

Why, is everything alright?

Her answer was quick.

No, Nicole had a rough night.
I’m trying to tell her the truth, about everything, but she doesn’t believe me.

You seem surprised.
After everything you’ve put her through, do you blame her for thinking that you’re lying?

I didn’t contact you to get a lecture.
Are you coming or not?

When she didn’t answer right away, he felt his temper flare.

If you don’t, I’ll just get Malachi over here.

You know I’m coming.
Give me ten minutes.

He raised his head after their quick conversation and looked back to Nicole.
“No, it’s not a joke.”

“Okay, I’ll humor you.”
She crossed her arms and leaned back against the couch. “Call her and get her over here. This I gotta see.”

When he didn’t move, she raised her brows expectantly.
“Well, aren’t you going to call?”

“I kind of, already did.”

“When?”

Groaning, he lowered his head so he could rub the back of his neck.
“Wow, this is all going to come out at once, isn’t it?”

Before she could say anything else, he went on.
“When you’re close to another Nephilim, not close as in proximity, but close as in a friend, you can communicate telepathically.”

“So you’re saying that you spoke to Trinity using your mind?” She started casually looking around the room, probably deciphering her easiest escape route.

“Ahh!
I know this all sounds crazy,” he said, slowly raising his voice, “but all I want you to do is try; try to listen, try to believe in me this once.”

“I really am.”
She looked so sincere, but centuries of reading the emotions of people told him otherwise.

“Just give me ten minutes.
That’s all I’m asking.”

She thought silently for a minute before giving a slight nod.

The next minutes spent in silence were more than awkward, and Gemariah sighed in relief when he heard a car pull into his driveway.
He could tell that the sound made Nicole slightly uncomfortable.