Page 32 of Destined for Eternity
“I have a special assignment for you,” Jeriel informed him. “I’ll tell you more at the compound, but for now I need you to gather the others and have them ready for me to speak to them when I arrive.”
Bartol would have liked to tell the archangel to go to Hell, but whether he liked it or not, he worked for the man now. “I’ll take care of it.”
He flashed away.
As soon as he arrived on the training field, he headed toward the instructor offices. Lucas would be able to track and gather all his students much faster. Bartol found the nephilim sitting at his desk, frowning at a sheet of paper he held.
“Jeriel has returned. He wants everyone gathered as quickly as possible.”
Lucas set the paper down, jaw tightening. “And so it begins.”
Most nephilim didn’t care for the angels and their directives, but the man before Bartol hated them more than most. He’d suffered greatly by them over the centuries. It didn’t help that he’d been raised by his fallen father, who’d been particularly cruel to him. He’d held a grudge ever since, even if he’d gotten better at hiding it in recent years.
“I’ll call them,” Lucas said, grabbing his cell phone. “If you can find the nerou present in the compound, I would appreciate it. We’ll meet in the field.”
Bartol wanted to refuse out of habit, but even he knew it was getting old to turn down simple requests just because he wanted to avoid people whenever possible. It wouldn’t kill him to gather the nerou, and he had gotten more used to them in recent days. “Certainly.”
He headed toward the dining facility first and found the three who had been with him at the river. A dozen others were there as well, eating their lunch. Not everyone had participated in training so they wouldn’t be on top of each other during the demon hunting exercises. Except for the first few days, the nerou rotated so just half trained each day. They had other classes to take when they weren’t out in the field.
“Finish your meals quickly and head outside,” Bartol ordered.
Groans and mutters of frustration chorused around the room.
He left the dining facility and went to the dorms. Several more nerou were milling about in there, and he directed them to the training field. By the time he’d gathered all the nerou around the compound, he’d found almost half of them. The rest were pulling up in vehicles or being flashed back by Raguel. Nearly all of them were seated on the grass when Jeriel appeared before them.
He didn’t have his cowboy hat on, and he’d changed into a traditional archangel white robe. Clearly, he meant business with this meeting. Bartol had been alive for more than eighteen hundred years and only since leaving Purgatory had he ever seen angels become this involved in the affairs of Earth. They’d always governed nephilim—and even the fae—when there were troubles, but now they were becoming more active. He found it unsettling. It was much better when they were out of sight and out of mind.
“I am the archangel Jeriel for those who have not met me yet,” he began, addressing all fifty of the nerou as well as the half-dozen nephilim trainers standing behind them. “As the humans would say, I will now be your boss.”
Olivia raised her hand. “What does that mean?”
“Your assignments, what you do, how you do it…will be dictated by me.”
Ivan frowned. “We’ve already been told where we’ll be posted and what our duties will be. What are you adding to that?”
“I will monitor you closely to ensure you do as you are told and provide direction and assistance when necessary.” He gave them a grave look. “Our jobs won’t be easy, but they will be necessary.”
Another nerou spoke up, “We graduate in less than two weeks. Is anything changing with that?”
“No.” Jeriel shook his head. “Though I will head the ceremony for you.”
“We will have an official ceremony?” Olivia asked, surprised.
“Of course. The duty that lies before you is sacred. It will be your job to protect the humans of Earth and keep the supernaturals from harming them. None other than angels have had this responsibility before now. You should be proud you’ve been entrusted with such a position, and the ceremony will remind you of the gravity of that. Every nerou training facility will have one, staggered on different days so that I will be present for each.”
“We’re going to be stationed all over the world,” Ivan said, crossing his arms. “How will we communicate with you?”
He had a point. There were approximately two hundred nerou between the four training compounds who would be posted at locations across the planet. Even for an archangel, that was a lot of ground to cover and monitor.
“For one, I will provide communication stones so that you can call on me when necessary or I may call upon you—think of them like cell phones with more reliable reception. I also have several angel assistants who you may see if I cannot come directly.” He waved his arm and three men appeared. “Take a good look at them so you’ll recognize them in the future.”
Jeriel went on to answer more questions. He let them know the Alaska facility would be his headquarters, but he could be anywhere on the planet in a moment should there be an emergency. They also wondered about pay and how they’d survive. The archangel assured them they’d be provided means so that they could set up homes and acquire transportation. No one knew where Heaven got its money, but some speculated there were angels playing the stock market.
After Jeriel finished speaking with the nerou, he called Bartol and Raguel into one of the nephilim offices. He moved to stand behind the desk. “I know you are still training, but you must put it on hold for a few days.”
“Why?” Bartol asked.
“Problems have arisen in Los Angeles that require your immediate attention.”
