“What do you want?” I asked, looking around for a weapon. Churches were so lacking in that area. I fought the paralyzing effects of fear as I inched back.
“I just wanted to see you. In person. Not through someone else’s eyes.”
In that instant, I realized who stood in the shadows. Vincent. The new guy. The descendant. He’d seen me through Isaac’s eyes.
“Killing you has become quite the challenge. vzyl First the truck. Then that useless football kid. Then the chess nerd whose aim is shit.”
I took another step back, wondering where everyone was.
“What do you mean, the truck?”
“You’re Lorelei. You’re in every prophecy ever written about this new war. Hell, Nostradamus himself prophesied about the last descendant of the first witch, the girl who saves the world. This was going to be the end of humanity as we know it. But you, the prophet, are supposed to do something completely stupid and figure out how to stop it before it even starts. You don’t honestly think you were supposed to die before that time came, do you?”
I stopped and gaped into the darkness. “You … you sent that truck?”
“Gosh, you’re quick.”
I heard a swishing sound and he was in front of me. I tried to back away but he caught me around the neck and pulled me forward until our faces were mere inches apart. His sandy brown hair hung messy over his brow and he still wore that same tweed coat, long and loose.
“No wonder you make good grades.” Turning my face to inspect it, he said, “Did you know that in
Germanic mythology, Lorelei was a siren who lured men to their destruction?” He ran his thumb along my jaw. “Fitting, don’t you think? Though I’ve never heard of an archangel being brought to his knees by a human girl.” With a hoarse laugh, he shoved me away from him. I tripped and stumbled to the ground. “I thought you’d be prettier.”
I looked at what I’d tripped on and almost screamed. It was an arm. Delores’s arm. She lay sprawled between two pews. I couldn’t see her face, but I’d tripped on her arm and she didn’t move an inch.
“The truck thing was a big disappointment,” Vincent continued, unmindful of Delores. “All that work.
Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that timing down? Having that kid shove you into the street at exactly the same time that truck sped through town? That took crazy planning. And then the freaking Angel of Death shows up?” He scoffed. “What are the odds?”
“Did you kill her?”
He finally looked at Delores. “Unless her head has the natural ability to turn counterclockwise three hundred sixty degrees, then probably yes.”
My hands shot to my mouth. What was it with supernatural beings and the breaking of necks? “What did you do to Jared?”
“Jared? Ah, yes, Azrael.” Vincent was enjoying this cat and mouse play. Jumping on a pew, he sat on the back and looked down at me as I lay sprawled in the aisle, inching away from him. “Did you know that the most powerful psychotropic in existence is the blood of an archangel?” When I didn’t say anything, he continued. “No? That’s understandable. Not many people do. But lo and behold, Riley’s
Switch just happened to have one. How else do you think we were able to control so many students at your high school?”
He seemed to pause for an answer, but I couldn’t imagine he actually wanted one.
“Convincing a high school student to try to kill a perfectly innocent girl is not as easy as it might sound.
But with the blood of an arch—” He spread his arms wide and looked toward the heavens. “—all things are possible.” Laughing at his own joke, he hopped to the ground and straddled me, looking down from his tremendous height to intimidate. “Let’s face it, shortstop, blasphemy is fun.”
I bristled at the use of my nickname and continued to inch away, holding out hope someone would show up. Someone with an Uzi and lots of ammo. How could it end now? Just when my grandfather Mac had convinced me I was the right girl for the job? What would happen with the war?
“And yet,” he said, shaking his head in astonishment, “here you are. Just goes to show, if you want to do something right, you’ve got to do it yourself.”
I shook my head too, still unable to believe he could hurt Jared. “But Jared’s strong and really fast.”
He leaned toward me. “Yeah, well, so is a .50-caliber at a hundred yards.”
“You shot him?” I asked, appalled.
“Lot of good it did us.” He turned away and hopped back onto the pew. Stepping lightly onto the back, he walked it like one would a balance beam: one foot in front of the other, his arms out. He was like a kid. Like a really big kid who was psychotic and hard on the furniture.
He glanced over his shoulder. “What would have ripped another man to shreds simply wounded him, but he was out long enough for us to harvest his blood and do a small but effective binding spell to block out his light. We were hoping he would do the job for us, that he would take both you and the nephilim out.” He spun and maneuvered his way back along the pew. “But when the nephilim actually got the better of Azrael—
“You’re controlling the kids from high school with Jared’s blood.”
“That I am.” He fished in his pocket and brought out a metal vial. Lifting it for me to get a better look, he said, “Tell you what: I’ll give you a taste right before I kill you.” The smile that crept across his face was the most evil thing I’d ever seen. He jumped down and kneeled close. “You’ll die happy, I promise you that.”
Even knowing how futile the effort would be, I scurried away from him and ran. If nothing else, it would make him laugh and give me valuable seconds to get away. My bare feet padded across the tiled church and I burst out the side door. I could hardly believe I’d made it that far, but when I hit the outside, a frigid blast of wind hit me and my feet crunched across freshly fallen snow. Feeling like I’d just dived into a lake of ice, I sucked in a sharp breath. It took about two seconds for me to feel the pain from the frozen ground, but adrenaline pushed me forward.
Though the sun had managed to make it over the horizon, it was still lazing low in the distance, making my trek through the trees dark and dangerous.
At first, I headed for the safety of home. Then I thought about Delores and probably Mr. Walsh as well.
Maybe even Harlan. If I led this guy to my house, what would happen to Grandma and Granddad? I quickly turned south into the trees and toward the canyon. The ground, frozen and unforgiving, cut into my feet with every step, the snow excruciating, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins kept me running at full speed ahead.
I looked back but didn’t see Vincent. Did something happen? Did someone show up at the church? I stopped and waited, my lungs burning as I gasped for air. Then I saw a figure walking toward me.
Casually, like he was taking a stroll in a garden. And he wore a smile on his face.
With feet numb now, I turned and ran up the mountainside some more. I had no idea why. I had no plan other than to lead Vincent away from my family and friends. Maybe I’d be enough. Maybe he’d stop with me.
He caught up to me a few minutes later. I had a feeling he appreciated my running so far. It would be harder for them to find my body. But I had to stop. I’d come to the canyon, a deep drop that ended below with a shallow river and lots of body-breaking rocks.
“There you are,” he said, laughing. “You little minx. Never figured you’d get this far.” He strolled a few feet from me as I looked down the canyon wall, frozen, shivering, and paralyzed with fear.
I wish I had gotten to know Mac better. I wish I could have seen Jared one more time. And thanked
Cameron. And hugged my grandparents. And kissed Brooke and Glitch. Surely they knew how I felt about them. Surely they would understand.
“Thanks for running, by the way.” He brushed some snow off his shoulder. “Couldn’t kill a prophet in the church. Hallowed ground and all. Bad for the karma.”
I turned toward him, tears blurring my vision and freezing on my skin.
“By all rights, I should be able to just kill you right here and now. I’m a descendant. I’m stronger than most humans. Faster.”
I inched away from the edge of the canyon. If he was going to kill me, he was not going to do it by throwing
