Page 64 of Rekindled Prophecy

“Please, stop this now and I’ll do whatever it is you need.” Tears ran down her face as she waited for his response to her desperate plea.

With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, he bellowed, “Cease!”

On command, every demon stopped in its tracks. Never hadshe witnessed such absolute control as Olivier wielded over his minions. Never. It was like watching an army of robots when the off switch flipped. Malphas would be envious.

“Bring them to me.” His sinister tone, despite the elegant accent, sent a new wave of fear shuddering through her.

Neither Jasper nor the remaining hunters came willingly. They fought and struggled, but in vain. Bloody but alive, they were brought before Olivier. The humans were clearly terrified. Jasper was just pissed. Even as blood gushed down his handsome face from a cut above his eye, he glared down the fallen archangel as if he were nothing more than a low-level demon rat.

Greylyn almost laughed when he spit a mouthful of saliva and blood onto Olivier’s fancy dress shoes.

“Hello,” the archangel hissed. “Now what shall I do with you? The one and only Jasper Moreau. It’s a pleasure.”

With his fist raised to throw a deadly blow straight to Jasper’s face, Greylyn jumped in front of Olivier to stop him. The way he smiled at her caused new waves of nausea to assault her body. He had gotten the reaction he wanted from her.

She uttered one word, “Unharmed.”

With more than a hint of annoyance, he finally spat out, “Fine!”

A sharp snap of his fingers resounded in the air. Jasper and the others fell to the ground unconscious as if they were simply rag dolls. “That should take care of them for a while. Long enough for us to conduct our business anyway.” With one last glance back at his army, he snarled, “Hands off.” Again, he took her arm and led her around the little park in front of the apartment building.

“So, what exactly is it that you need from me?” She no longer tried to quell the tremor in her voice. The effort was pointless anyway.

“Darling Greylyn. Sofia and the other occupants of this decaying hulk of a building are in fear for their lives merely because, after Kelly’s visit a few months ago, we knew that you would eventually end up here.”

“Wow! Didn’t realize I was so popular that you had your personal paparazzi following me as well.” The reference to Kael went unacknowledged.

“To entice you back – an invitation, as it were – I noticeably increased the number of soldiers and ratcheted up the threat.”

He paused and turned to face her, with a sneer blemishing his otherwise perfect features. “My dear, the lives of those in the building are nothing to me. Kelly and her child are none of my concern.” He paused as if in consideration of his last words. “Well, not really. They are secondary players, but players nonetheless if you do not cooperate. Everyone can walk away from this freely if the price is right.”

Afraid to ask but knowing she had to, she heard herself in a near whisper say, “And what exactly is the right price?”

Olivier patted her hand sending searing pain up her arm. “I knew you would be reasonable.” He was well assured of himself. To save lives, Greylyn would do anything. He must have known that from the beginning.

With a lump in her throat, she was barely able to ask, “Why me?”

“Ah, yes. The ever-useless question of ‘why’. It doesn’t matter, but if you insist.” He took on the posture and tone of a snobby college professor as if lecturing a particularly trying group of students. His arms crossed over his thick chest as his eyes rolled upward. “Before you were made into a guardian angel, you were human. Well, sort of human. Your heritage is much more profound than that of a mere mortal. This guardian angel business is beneath your talents andbloodline.”

The way he saidbloodlineso condescendingly raised the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck. What could he mean?

“So, Kelly and the child were a diversion to get to me? Why all the theatrics then? You could’ve just sent me an invitation in the mail or something,” she said.

Olivier threw his head back and let out a loud, guttural laugh that sent shivers down her spine and out to her extremities.

“Well, my dear. The answer to your question is not quite so simple. It is bothyesandno. Yes, you are the primary target. Yes, using Kelly and her unborn child was a means to get to you, but … No, that was not the only reason. You see, they are my fallback if you fail to accomplish your mission.”

That knot in her stomach grew as she realized they were in jeopardy because of her, no matter what she did right now.

“We’ve been waiting for a time when another would be born to fulfill a prophecy I’m intrigued by. The person had to be from the right bloodline and all sorts of other factors had to line up, making it nearly impossible.” Clearly, this fact aggravated him as his eyes narrowed to small slits. “With only one Nephilim bloodline still in existence, the odds were against us.”

Did he just say Nephilim? That word kept popping up, along with prophecy.

Trying to digest all this information, she racked her brain to recall what Kael had said about them. He was tasked to protect Kelly because they thought she was Nephilim.

Olivier continued, “Not every descendent possesses the talents and power needed for this particular task. So, we waited and watched. Kelly was brought to our attention as a possibility. She has the inner fire just below the surface so it’s harder to detect. And unimaginable gifts if she’d just access that part of her being.” He shook out his long platinum mane. “The child … well, he’s extraordinary beyond even my expectations. But …” he looked deep into Greylyn’s eyes before he concluded, “there’s no substitute for the original.”

Stunned silent, her breath caught in her throat, Olivier’s words shot through her mind. Nephilim. Prophecy. What did this have to do with her?

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