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Father Francis glanced at the leather-bound pages and sighed "Very wel " He adjusted his round spectacles, and glanced above hi to the house of the Lord again"

Jared nodded "You have ht in an extra chair, and he and Jared opened the book Immediately the room turned cold, and I wrapped my arms around my middle The others kneere here, and that we had the book The ele different passages When Father Francis would get an idea, the pages would be flipped to one prophecy, pro else

The pages would flip the other way They argued and agreed; each idea led them only to more frustration

Minutes turned to hours; stil they went over each point of the prophecy until it sounded low lit up the edges of the s, and I realized it was the ht in Woonsocket, and my eyes didn’t even feel heavy

For the first ti in ry?" He said it as if he’d just re there," I said, resting my chin on my fist

He threw the book across the rooround with a thud Despite its age, not a page loosened

I stood and walked to the slass and turned on the tap My body was just starting to feel the beginnings of fatigue, and the tension in the roo James Bible sat on the counter The spine orn to nearly nothing, and the pages hung at an angle; the book so spent it could no longer hold itself square I flipped open the cover, and then pushed several pages withto eat," Jared said

I turned to the priest "What does your Bible say about this?"

Father Francis thought for a moment "Wel , it does have its own version of the end days It talks about the woman with child"

"I’veplace If you can’t find the answers in the Bible of Hel , shouldn’t you look in Heaven’s?"

The priest shrugged "I suppose so" He walked over to the counter and picked up the book "It’s worth a try A third of the Bible is prophecy"

I offered Jared lass, and he took a sip When he handed it back to me, he kissed my cheek The twoHeaven’s Bible

Father Francis flipped the pages "Let’s start with anything that discusses women with child in the end days"

Jared nodded, and waited for the priest to find the first passage They discussed tru wax-sealed envelopes the way celebrities do at award shows--and a dragon and a woman with child I tried to tune that part out, because the sound of it terrifiedprophecy to the back of my mind Because of what I had seen the last two years, I knew prophecies were very real possibilities My only defense against the instinct to run screa was simply not to hear The priest discussed literal and sys that made my head spin I wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion, the fact that I was purposely trying not to pay attention, or that their discussion real y was sinant, tired, and irritable

"It would be nice if you touldn’t talk about rumbled

Jared’s eyes turned soft, and he reached forto hurry, but we need to be thorough This is our last chance"

"Why is that?" I asked

"Kim needs to return the book to Jerusaleh"

I nodded Traveling to Jerusalem had crossed my mind many times Shax and the rest of his minions would not make it easy for us to return his book to the one place he can’t go The Sepulchre was above the tomb of Jesus; the creatures of Hel were forbidden Even infinite, divine patience refused to tolerate desecration of the Sepulchre The war could start the moetting on the plane We had no idea ould happen That was the worst part

Father Francis looked up froes His eyes were unfocused as he slipped deeper into thought "There is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text cal ed the Fourth Esdras The archangel Uriel describes s about the end of days"

Jared frowned "I knohat you’re about to say, and I know Uriel Gabriel is the loudest adversary of Hybrids Uriel is the second"

"Nevertheless, his prophecy has some merit He says--"

Jared cut him off "Father…"

My curiosity and sense of self-preservation outweighed everything else "Tel hed, and the priest continued, "He specifical y nant woive birth to monsters’"

Jared rol ed his eyes "Uriel thinks I’m a monster"

I hesitated "What…what kind of lanced at Jared, and then back at me "He makes many prophecies si of Sorrows’ Jesus also states, ‘Woe to those who are pregnant or nursing babies in those days’"

"That doesn’t ," Jared said

"You need to listen," I said "Maybe you’re unable to figure this out because you refuse to hear the truth Maybe this is out of our hands"

Jared’s brows pul ed in "Those prophecies state an abundance of Hybrid births If so, ould hear about it

Besides, Bean isn’t a Hybrid"

Father Francis pushed up his glasses, clearly intrigued "You know this for a fact?"

"Yes The only child capable of this kind of reaction fro the Balance, wil be more than a Hybrid"

"Your child isn’t human?"

I wrappedBean protectively "You make the baby sound like an abomination"

"Isn’t it?" Father Francis said

Jared stood "No It’s a child Our child" He took ive me," Father Francis said He stood before us "I didn’ttihts I just don’t see how it’s possible"

"Nina is a descendant of the Nephilim," Jared said, matter-of-factly

The priest was confused "But, this is what you are Nephiliels, born of human women"

Jared shook his head "I am the son of an Arch The Nephilim bred the likes of Goliath Giants not els roamed the earth They had…rebel ed"

The priest’s eyes greide, and I felt ? That I’m a descendant of de thousands of years ago, Nina Many things were different back then"

"Rebel ious angels were cast out, Jared"

Jared cupped es, Nina They drank the blood of their dead I don’t personalize it