Claire was unhappy. She tried repeatedly to push, shove, throw, and punch me into the mud, but I either blocked her or put her there instead.
After half an hour, her platinum hair was tangled and brown, and we were both filthy and panting. She more than I, but coming into contact with someone covered in muck made it impossible to emerge unsoiled, and Claire was definitely a ful -contact adversary.
“Enough,” Jared said, walking out to meet us. He wiped a chunk of mud from Claire’s face. “You’ve made your point.”
“I’m…not…finished with…her yet,” Claire breathed.
Bex had been laughing uncontrol ably since the first time Claire found herself in the mud, but with one glare from his sister, the laughter silenced.
“Okay,” I said, breathing hard. “Now you?”
“No.”
“No?” I said.
“Chicken!” Ryan said.
Jared frowned. “We’ve seen what we need to see, and I don’t want you to get overly tired. You may have angel blood running through your veins, but you’re stil human. Until we know for sure how your body wil handle the stress, I don’t want to push it too far.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I can throw punches at you anytime.”
Jared laughed, and then put his arm around me as we walked to the Escalade. He was thoroughly enjoying my new Yes, Dear attitude. The truth was I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to our baby.
Ryan took off his coat and draped it around Claire’s shoulders, and then used his hand to scrape the rest of the mud from her face. She was never happy to lose a fight, but the excitement we all felt for this new development was evident in her eyes. “I want a rematch after Bean is born!”
she yel ed.
“No way!” I cal ed back. I looked to Jared. “She’s not serious?”
Jared tried to subdue a smile. “Of course not.” His attention was diverted from the path to the road. Kim’s Sentra barreled toward us.
The Sentra stopped abruptly, and Kim emerged, slamming the door behind her.
Jared raised his hands. “I know you’re impatient, Kim. We’re leaving next week, okay?”
When she was close enough, I gasped. Her clothes were covered in blood. “Wel , that’s just great, Jared. Unfortunately for my uncle, it’s too little, too late.”
“What happened?” Jared said, equal y alarmed. Bex, Claire and Ryan gathered around.
Ryan grabbed Kim’s arm, but she pul ed away. “Oh my God, Kim. Are you okay?” he said.
Kim didn’t look away from Jared. Her eyes glossed over. “I told you. I told you we needed to get it back.”
“I’m so sorry, Kim,” Jared said.
“Sorry won’t bring him back. I helped you, and when it was my turn, you dragged your feet until someone I loved was kill ed.” She turned and walked toward her car.
“Sunday, Kim,” Jared said, cal ing after her. “We leave Sunday.”
Kim’s arm shot into the air and her middle finger pointed toward the heavens. A moment later, she was gone.
“Poor Kim,” Ryan said. “What do you think happened?”
Claire crossed her arms, watching the Sentra disappear into the distance. “They’re sending a message. If it were demons in true form they wouldn’t have been able to get to him. They must be shel ing.”
“Shel ing?” I asked.
“They’re taking human form,” Jared said.
Ryan nodded. “Like possession.”
Claire frowned. “No, like shel ing. They take over the body for a short amount of time to achieve a purpose. It doesn’t leave the body weakened, and the human has no recol ection or aftershock.”
Jared rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s starting.”
“It sure as hel is,” Claire said, heading quickly toward her Lotus.
“It’s a good thing I was quitting to go back to school, anyway,” Ryan said, fol owing Claire. “If I would have asked for more time off to go to Jerusalem, they would have fired me, anyway.”
Claire put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “They were going to fire you anyway.”
Ryan’s head jerked in her direction. “Huh?”
“Because you suck.”
Ryan shrugged off her hand, and then used all of his might to shove her. She didn’t budge, only turning long enough to offer a smal , amused smile.
“I don’t suck. You suck,” Ryan grumbled, climbing into her car.
Chapter Eleven
Last Minute Forgiveness
So much to do. So much, so much. Repetitive grumbling hissed from my lips as I rushed around the house. A week wasn’t long enough to get my life in order. I scrambled around the house, up and down the stairs, trying to maneuver around my growing stomach. It became rounder and ful er every day. As I packed, Agatha worked overtime trying to finish the laundry, and Jared was constantly up and down the stairs, fetching clothes and medical supplies. It wasn’t until he phoned in a favor to a friend for bags of saline, IV tubing and needles, and anticoagulant that I realized I wouldn’t have my baby in a hospital—not even at home. Bean would be born in a dark, timeworn cavern under the city of Jerusalem, away from modern medicine, but just beyond the reach of Hel .
Seven days didn’t seem like enough time, but knowing that demons were shel ing, it was also too long. Anyone we happened upon could try to kil us. Any human was a threat. Beth, Chad, even Ryan or my mother. The thought of my mother as a demon made my blood run cold. She was already frightening enough as a human.