feel. I didn’t touch another girl until after I’d heard about Anna and Kope. Still, though. I never wanted Anna to know, and it makes me feel like a filthy bastard when I think about it.
Flustered, I call to Blake to come outside. I failed to make Anna lose her cool. Point to her. I’m glad when he joins us, because together we’re able to tease Anna. Tag team effort. It’s brilliant, and I sit smug when we finally get her to blush, flushed with frustration.
“I don’t appreciate when people are fake with me.” She says this pointedly to me, and I frown. Is that what she thinks? “If you guys will sit down and shut up for a minute, I’ll tell you what I came here to say, and then I’m out of here. You two can find someone else to make fun of.”
I think she’s bluffing about leaving, to make us feel bad, but I sit up straighter at the mention of her news.
“Remember that nun, Sister Ruth, who I was supposed to see on the road trip?” I nod. The one who passed away. “Well, she came to me as a spirit. It turns out that she was an angelic Nephilim. She descended from the guardian angel of the Apostle Paul. It’s his Sword of Righteousness that she gave me.”
My mouth is agape and so is Blake’s.
“She found me so she could tell me a prophecy. The prophecy foretells that the demons will be wiped from earth forever, led by a Neph of both light and dark.”
My heart is a bass drum in my chest. A Neph of light and dark . . .
“You,” I whisper. Her eyes catch mine and hold them as she nods.
All I can do is stare as my mind reels. Anna is the center of a prophecy dating back to biblical times. I shouldn’t be surprised—I knew she was different, but this is huge. Dangerous.
“Tell us the entire prophecy,” I say.
Anna swallows, and rattles it off. “‘In the days when demons roam the earth and humanity despairs, will come a great test. A Nephilim pure of heart shall rise above and cast all demons from earth, sending home to heaven those righteous lost angels with whom forgiveness is shown, and sending those lost forever to the depths of hell where they shall remain with their dark master until the end of days.’”
“Damn,” Blake whispers. “You memorized all that?”
“I had to.” She rushes on, telling us about traveling she did to gain Neph allies after learning about the prophecy last year. She met Zania, daughter of Sonellion, in Syria. Anna says that Z was a hard sell, having led a brutal life with the Duke of Hatred. Her job has been to stir hatred and distrust of women in the Middle East. Apparently she’s gained an addiction for alcohol along the way. Anna thinks she’ll come around to our cause when the time comes.
Next she met Flynn, son of Mammon, in Australia. He’s a redheaded MMA prizefighter whose lifelong match has been fighting his nature of greed. He was more than willing to go against the Dukes.
I feel a pinch of jealousy that I wasn’t chosen to go with her on these missions, but I understand the safety of having Kopano. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m glad she didn’t go alone, and I know there’s no way I could’ve gone without Father somehow finding out.
Bits and pieces of the puzzle of the past year begin to fall into place, painting an important picture as we ask questions and piece it all together.
“We’re just building the list of allies right now,” Anna says. “We can’t rush it. I think when it’s time to act, there’ll be some sort of catalyst to let us know.”
She sounds wise and unafraid, and I marvel at how she’s carried this burden for the past year, growing stronger instead of bowing under the weight. Of course Anna would be given some monumental task. This is more amazing and terrifying than I could have ever expected. This . . .
Anna abruptly stands.
“Where are you going?” Blake asks her.
She pretends to brush something off her shorts. “Home. I said what I came to say. It was . . . good to see you guys.”
That’s it? After dropping that bomb on us, she’s going to run off? I stare at her from where I sit, but she won’t look at me.