Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” said Ciaran, sitting on the floor with his legs bent at the knees. “Angels have returned to their own realm, and the city of sin and lights is obviously Vegas. Those details right there warned the clerics of when you’d need to be found and just where you would be.”
Naomi nodded, handing the phone back to Khloë. “I get now why they think that I – well, my Antichrist child—will lead a demonic army. They mistranslated the part that says ‘a demon they call a legion’.”
“The prophecy isn’t referring to an army, it’s referring to a single person,” said Ciaran, following her train of thought. “Probably Luka. Because it stands to reason that if he finds out about the monkhood coming at you, he will want it stamped out—and you’d definitely want a hand in that, so you’d work together.”
Beck twisted his mouth. “There really is truth in the prophecy after all, then.”
Tobe looked at Naomi, his expression none too happy. “Can’t say I like that Belinsky might end up involved in all this, but I like this bullshit with the clerics a lot less. Their determination to end you will be as much—if not more—about the prediction that the kid they believe you’ll birth will lead to the eradication of their precious order.”
“Yes, they’re seeking to protect themselves,” said Tia. “As for ‘he who would lead them to darkness’, that’s obviously the dark practitioner.”
“He won’t have liked the part of the prophecy that predicts his death,” Jolene noted. “He’ll know that the first descendants of Nephilim spouted genuine premonitions; he’ll be sure to heed this one just to be on the safe side. I have no doubt that he fully supports the clerics in targeting Naomi.”
“Them coming at me is, ironically, what put them on my radar.” Naomi raised her shoulders. “I wouldn’t have even looked their way if they hadn’t.”
Jolene sighed. “Sometimes it seems like prophecies cause what they predict will happen. If the seer hadn’t written that, no cleric would ever have thought to come after you.”
Tia turned to Naomi. “Are you going to tell Luka about all this? I mean, the prophecy mentions him.”
Naomi balked at the idea of dragging him into this crap. Besides . . . “We don’t know for certain that he’s the legion in question. Though, yes, I’ll concede that he very probably is. He’s the only one of his kind who considers me under his protection.”
“It makes sense that he’d try to remove a threat to you,” Alfie agreed. “Do you even know any other legions?”
“No.” His kind were relatively rare. “I’d rather not involve him in this unless I have no choice. It isn’t as if I can be one hundred percent honest with him about the situation. I’d have to withhold some details and fudge others. Luka is extremely astute; he’d sense that he didn’t have the full story.” And he wasn’t likely to overlook that. As such, he and Naomi would likely end up arguing—and possibly even walking away from each other. She wasn’t ready for the latter yet.
“Okay, I get why you’d hesitate to bring him into it,” said Ciaran. “But if he is the legion in that prophecy—and even you agree that he most likely is—he’s going to find out about it sooner or later.”
Naomi lifted a finger. “Not necessarily. Like Jolene said, such predictions seem to cause what they state will happen. If I told him now, it would be because of what that ancient paragraph says, not because I want to tell him. I’d be fulfilling a part of the prophecy all by myself.”
Ciaran inclined his head. “True.”
Jolene smoothed a wrinkle out of her blouse. “We can hope that we manage to obliterate the Lemures and their helper without Luka’s aid. If there does come a point where he has to be told about it, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, let’s focus on locating the Lemures and identifying the dark practitioner who’s pulling their strings.”
“How do we do that?” asked Beck.
No one spoke for a long moment.
“Our only real chance might be to catch a live cleric and be very careful how we go about questioning him so we don’t trigger his brain to shut down,” said Naomi.
Considering that, Jolene dipped her chin. “Some will make a try for you soon enough. We need to have a plan of action for how to handle it when they do. Because you won’t be handling them alone next time—sorry to break into your fun, but this situation calls for a little delicacy.”
“Agreed,” said Naomi, though her entity was disappointed. “Let’s get started on that plan.”
“We’ll need coffee for that,” declared Tia, rising from her seat. “Who wants drinks?” After orders were called out, she said, “Come on, Nome, you can give your old mom a hand.”