Page 4 of Night Fall (The Quantico Files 1)

Monty raised an eyebrow. “What if an angel and demon get together?”

Alex shook her head. “Can’t happen. According to the teachings, angels are repelled by demons and vice versa.”

“Well, that could explain a few relationships I’ve had,” Monty said under his breath.

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Logan grinned at him.

“You say this woman raised you?” Jeff asked.

“Yes. I lost both my parents when I was young. As far as I know, this aunt is my only living relative.”

“What did she say you were?” Logan asked. “An angel or a demon?”

Alex’s slight smile quivered before she said, “We never talked about that. I’m not sure what my aunt thought. Nor do I care.”

Logan flushed with anger. How could a child grow up like that and be ... normal? “Well, you fight the darkness every day. That makes you an angel in my book.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he was instantly embarrassed. Alex smiled at him, making him feel a little better.

“Thank you, but our UNSUB isn’t following your book,” she said. “He obviously has a copy of the book my aunt quoted to me.”

Jeff nodded. “So our UNSUB is sending us messages from some book. But what is he trying to tell us?”

“We need to use your knowledge to get ahead of him, Alex,” Monty said. “Looks like we have a secret weapon. You can help us find him.”

“I doubt he’s going to make it easy,” Alex said. “Show me the message from this last murder.”

Once again, Jeff brought up an image. “This is from where they just found the fourth body in Independence.”

This time Alex frowned. “‘A 13:12. I am the Destroyer.’”

“What does it mean?” Jeff asked.

“This book claims that, at some point, the demons and angels will engage in all-out war and that the Destroyer, one of the chief demons, will wipe out one third of the world’s population. It’s a prophecy.”

“Something similar is in the Bible’s book of Revelation,” Logan said. “Something about four angels being unleashed and a third of mankind perishing.”

“That does sound similar. This verse is found in the book of Abaddon,” Alex said.

“The destroyer,” Logan repeated softly.

“You know that Abaddon means destroyer?”

“Yeah. Again, Revelation. It mentions an angel named Abaddon.” He sighed. “I’m not that knowledgeable about end-time prophecies. Sorry, I only remember a few things from reading about it in the past.”

“Do you see any other similarities between your aunt’s book and the Bible?” Jeff asked.

“I don’t know much about the Bible, but I doubt it. This book says the end is already decided. People are either angels or demons. They have no choice, and they will never be anything else.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “After being brought up by someone who kept trying to ram this stuff down my throat, I don’t have much interest in any kind of religion. But from what I’ve heard about Christians, they believe people can change. They can decide their own fate, isn’t that right?”

Logan nodded. “If you mean we can choose the forgiveness Christ offers and become new, then yes. It’s referred to as ‘being saved.’”

“Then the difference between The Book and the Bible is like night and day.”

“You just call it the book,” Jeff said. “But what’s its title?”

“That’s it. It’s considered so sacred that no one can be trusted with its true name, so they just call it The Book—both words said as if they’re capitalized. Followers—the angels—call themselves the Circle, and they’re the only people allowed to read it.”

“Okay, so what is our UNSUB trying to tell us?” Jeff asked, his voice tight with concern.

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