“I need to know,” I said, touching his cheek with my fingertips.
Jared seemed just as horrified as I was. In the beginning, he had tortured himself over bringing me into his world, stealing away my mundane life forever. Now it was I that regretted involving him in my life—we were both spiraling into a nightmare that didn't seem to end.
Jared sighed. “Merovingians. You’re a Merovingian, Nina. A very long time ago, your family ruled with divine power, under the belief that they are direct descendants of Jesus Christ.”
“Jesus didn’t have children,” I scoffed.
“They myth is that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, and their children are the ancestors of the Merovingian blood line. It’s known in less human circles that the story was perpetuated to keep the Merovingians in power. There are people even today that believe it.”
“So you’re saying it’s not true? That's a relief. I'm at least somewhat less of a freak.”
Jared looked away, cautiously choosing his next words. “Have you heard of the Nephilim, Nina?”
I shook my head, dreading where his story would go.
“Okay,” he said, “Have you heard of the story of David and Goliath?”
“Yeah,” I sniffed, “The skinny kid that threw a rock at a giant’s head and killed him.”
“Goliath was not one of a kind. He had family, people…Antediluvian Giants. Some called them Anakim, other refer to them as Nephilim. They had many tribes, and their remains have been found, measuring anywhere from nine and a half feet to fourteen feet. Some have two full rows of teeth. They were different; not completely human. The Holy Bible acknowledges their origin in Genesis: ‘That the sons of God saw the daughters of men were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also after, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children unto them.’”
“Sons of God? Like the ones Cynthia was talking about?” I asked.
“Yes. Angels.”
“Do you know the whole Bible by heart?” I asked, attempting to detour the frightening thought swirling in my mind.
“Most of it,” he said, a corner of his mouth slightly turning up. It vanished as quickly as it appeared. “God wiped out the Nephilim with the great flood because their blood was contaminated. He needed a direct line from Adam to Abraham, because that is the blood line that was prophesied to bring the Messiah. Noah was his way to decontaminate the blood line, and assure the prophecy would come about.”
“My brain hurts,” I complained, rubbing my head.
Jared kissed my hair, wrapping his arms around me. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?” he whispered softly. “Jack didn’t want children because he knew he carried Nephilim blood, and the Merovingians are part of the prophecy in the Naissance de Demoniac. He knew when I fell in love with you, that you and I would meet all of the requirements.”
“What requirements?” My voice was muffled from pushing my face into his chest.
“A prophecy requires certain elements to come together in order to come to fruition, Nina. A descendant of the Nephilim procreating with a Hybrid…it’s the perfect storm. Remember when Eli told us that only seven other human/hybrid cases had happened since the dawn of time? How many of those humans do you think were Merovingian? Jack knew you were the woman in the book because he knew what he was...and what I was. Once he knew I was in love with you, he made the decision to steal Shax’s book to try to find a way to protect you.”
“From what?” I cringed. I kept asking questions I didn’t want the answers to.
He lifted my chin to face him. “That’s why we need the book. I need to find out what interest they might have in a child we might have. I don’t know if they want it to happen, or they will fight to prevent it. It depends on what that scenario means for Hell.”
“Wait…,” I said, my mind finally focusing enough to form coherent thoughts, “you said the Nephilim were wiped out in the big flood. So how can I be related to them?”
Jared raised his eyebrows once, sighing. “That was a tactic used to keep Jesus’ blood line pure. That doesn’t mean fallen angels taking human women didn’t happen after that.”
“Oh,” I said, deflated. “I’m five-feet-four, Jared. How is it even possible I could have even an ounce of giant blood in me?”
Jared chuckled. “You’re Irish, too. Makes me wonder how you’re Merovingian. They were leaders of the Franks…early German and French.”
“Well, now I know Jack was wrong. I couldn’t be French. The language is lost on me.”
Jared’s face turned grave. “We should take this seriously, Nina. We’re in the middle of a war. If I could leave you, that would be one thing, but I can’t.”
My mouth flew open. “Why would you even say that?”