“I’m…not…finished with…her yet,” Claire breathed.
Bex had been laughing uncontrollably 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 still human. Until we know for sure how your body will 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 yelled.
“No way!” I called 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. “Well, that’s just great, Jared. Unfortunately for my uncle, it’s too little, too late.”
“What happened?” Jared said, equally alarmed. Bex, Claire and Ryan gathered around.
Ryan grabbed Kim’s arm, but she pulled 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 killed.” She turned and walked toward her car.
“Sunday, Kim,” Jared said, calling 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 shelling.”
“Shelling?” I asked.
“They’re taking human form,” Jared said.
Ryan nodded. “Like possession.”
Claire frowned. “No, like shelling. 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 recollection or aftershock.”
Jared rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s starting.”
“It sure as hell is,” Claire said, heading quickly toward her Lotus.
“It’s a good thing I was quitting to go back to school, anyway,” Ryan said, following 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 small, 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 fuller 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 Hell.