Page 7 of Incipient

“The Angels couldn’t risk allowing creatures as powerful and destructive as the four of us to roam the earth freely, so they spelled us to slumber until the day the seed was planted in the form of ason. The one true heir to the underworld. Only then could we wake, and only when the four of us joined together could we activate our full power.”

“I see,” he answered, his eyebrows still knitted together in a frenzy. “A form of insurance, I suppose.”

War nodded once.

“And your brothers? Where are they now?”

I decided to jump in and take this one. “Famine is with Trace recovering from a wound, Death is apparently on the way, and Pestilence is…well, dead.” I bite the inside of my cheek and tried not to fiddle with my fingernails as anxiety slithered under my skin like inky smoke. “It’s not my fault though. I mean, not really. It all happened way before I knew what they were really here for.”

William frowned and then pushed back in his chair. “I suppose I hold the blame for that,” he said apologetically, turning to War again. “I am the one that made the call, and for that I am sorry. Had we known…”

Another curt nod from War.

“So, where does that leave us now?” I asked, figuring it was best not to play the blame game. We could play it all day and we’d still be nowhere closer to figuring out our next move.

“Is there any way to bring your fallen brother back?” asked William, his eyes shuttered.

Meanwhile, I sat there doing my best to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. The way he so easily suggested reanimation as if necromancy wasn’t one of the forbidden arts…it absolutely floored me. Then again, if there was one thing I’d learned from my time in Hollow Hills, it was to expect the unexpected. Nothing should surprise me at this point.

“I’m not certain,” admitted War and then steeled his features. “But it’s possible your book has the answers we need.”

“My book?” asked William, playing coy.

“The Sang Noir,” clarified War. “Your Slayer mentioned it is in your possession. If there is a way to mend this, the book will have the answer.”

William’s eyes turned guarded as he pressed back into his chair again. “I will have my people look into it then.”

“Your people will not be able to read the scripture. It has been spelled. Only the Angels, myself and my brethren are capable of seeing past that spell.”

William’s gaze shifted to mine. “And Jemma.”

“Right.”Thanks for announcing that.

War turned to me, his gaze sweeping over me as though he were noticing me for the first time. “That’s…not possible.”

“Okay.” I shrugged and then muttered, “But I beg to differ being that I’ve already read it.”

“You can understand the text?” he asked again as though my having just said as much wasn’t enough confirmation.

“Yes. I can understand the text,” I repeated slowly this time. “I would have to in order to be able to read it, which I just said I did.”

He narrowed his eyes as though trying to get a better look at me. As though trying to see what was deep down inside me, under my skin and bone and muscle. Honestly, it was making mehellauncomfortable. “You can stop staring now, thanks. I don’t see what the big deal is anyway. So, I can read your special little book. Yay me. Can we move on to what we’re going to do about the whole Nikki-and-the-spawn-of-Satan situation?”

War turned back to William as though finally getting the message. “I need to have that book.”

Something flickered across William’s face and though I didn’t know him well enough to know all of his gestures, I could’ve sworn it looked like suspicion. “I can get you access to the book; however it will have to be in the presence of armed guards. I’m sure you can appreciate our need to proceed with caution here.”

If War was irritated with the obvious lack of trust, he wasn’t showing it. “That’s fine.”

“I’ll set that up right away and make arrangements to have your brother brought here as well,” said William as he picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear. “Jemma, you can turn in for the night. I’ll call you as soon as we know more.”

I nodded and stood up from my seat, relieved that someone else was going to do the worrying and planning for once.

War’s eyes were back on me then, doing that deciphering thing that made me want to squirm under his stare. “It was a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he extended his hand to me expectantly.

“Yeah, it was a real a blast,” I said and reached forward to shake it. The moment our skin connected, a massive clap of thunder exploded outside the window, nearly causing me to jump out of my skin.

My eyes darted to the window and then back to War whose own eyes were still fixed on me in a strange, penetrating way.

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