Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
But even though I know it’s true, when he confirms, “Yes. Jeremy killed them,” it destroys me.
My hand goes to my mouth, and tears well in my eyes. “They were trying to save me,” I whisper and drop my hand. “Death has become me. You can’t take me to your garrison.”
He cups my face and tilts my gaze to his. “No. You didn’t do this. Jeremy did this. I told you he wasn’t responding to our normal techniques. He would not die. He is not what I thought he was, or he’d be dead and they’d be alive.”
“What is he then?”
“I don’t know. Not yet, but I will. But you, Ember Thorne, need to learn right now that death is a part of life. Our job is to save as many as we can. Blame and guilt will destroy you, and it might even lead to more death. The only way to make this right is to kill him. And you have my vow. I will kill him.”
Nothing has ever felt so right, I think, swiping at the dampness on my cheeks, rejecting them. They are the last tears I will shed.
Ever.
Killing Jeremy is all that matters now.
The Sacred Book of Nephilim
Birds of a feather flock together, but watch for the serpent in disguise.
Chapter twelve
It’s Micah who retrieves my long-forgotten blanket and wraps it around me, covering my exposed bra and skin.
“Thank you,” I say, aware of the intimacy between us that stretches well beyond our short acquaintance, but it’s somehow comfortable and familiar in some inexplicable way. And familiar feels good right now. “And thank you,” I add, “for saving me instead of killing me.”
He stares down at me for several heavy beats before he says, “I used you for bait, Ember. You should know that when you’re thanking me. As a bonus, if you were someone concealing your allegiance to Jeremy in some way, I was certain you’d break cover in the heat of our attack. In which case, I would have killed you.”
I run my hand through my wet hair. “Okay, that was a lot to take in. Why did you tell me that?”
“It hasn’t hit you yet, but you’re going to have to cope with the realization that you’ve lived a life filled with deception. I don’t want to be a part of that.”
I’m stunned by this directness. “That’s honorable.”
“That’s survival. You’ll understand that sooner than later.” The truck begins to bump about on uneven terrain, and he catches my elbow and walks me to the side where we’d settled in earlier. We end up sitting side-by-side with only the small heater between us, but it’s impossible to get comfortable while we’re jostled about. “Where is this garrison we’re going to?” I ask, shifting from the spot on my backside that seems to have a screw or something digging into me.
“Denver,” he says. “Close.”
I give up on the screw, accepting that nothing is ever going to be comfortable again, and the truth is, that might be how I like it. “And it’s okay for me to be there?”
“If I say it’s okay, it’s okay.”
My brow furrows. If he says it’s okay, it’s okay? That sounds great, until they all try to end me. “Who are all of these people at the garrison?”
“A mix of Seers and Eagles. Eagles are humans who have long been in service to aid in the protection of humanity. It was an Eagle who brushed paths with you at the courthouse and identified you as a Seer. He alerted me of your existence. I actually found you first, and you led me to Jeremy.”
“Then everyone at the garrison thinks I was with Jeremy.” It’s not a question.
“No. My followers have been told otherwise. And my word is trusted and respected.”
“There’s no way they will trust me right now.”
“If I trust you, they will trust you.”
“That’s illogical. Jeremy has to die before they’ll trust me. You have to see that. Can you take me somewhere private? A hotel maybe? Anywhere but among those who have reason to hate me.”
“There are safeguards at the garrison that keep Jeremy out, or any demon for that matter.”
“Your men died saving me. Do your followers at the garrison know that?”
“Not your fault, Ember, and put that in your mind on repeat. I don’t blame you. They won’t blame you. You clearly do not have control over your assets and it’s obvious Jeremy was planning on stealing them the minute you turned twenty-seven.”
I rotate to lean on the wall, hugging myself against the ridiculousness of all of this but still find myself asking, “How would Jeremy take my assets?”
“It doesn’t matter how,” he says. “He’s never getting the chance.”
I decide that means the answer is by way of Jeremy possessing me or killing me, and he doesn’t want to say it. “Are we sure he won’t get the chance?”