as Cameron, only dark. Stunningly sensual like a Brazilian supermodel. But he looked exhausted as well. His hair needed a trim, and his jaw—sculpted and strong—needed a shave.
He stood in his requisite white T-shirt and jeans with his arms crossed over his chest and a grin lifting one corner of his incredible mouth. His coffee-colored eyes shimmered as he looked at me. “He’ll come around if he knows what’s good for him,” he said.
“Yeah?” I asked, stepping toward him. I didn’t want to get too gooey in front of my grandparents, but this was Jared Kovach. The love of my life. And the Angel of Death, but still.
“You going to offer me one of those?” he asked.
“What? A hug?”
He reached out and ran the backs of his fingers over my hand. His touch was like electricity. It sent a jolt of pleasure rocketing through me, weakened my knees, accelerated my heart. Without any further ado, I jumped into his arms. He caught me like I knew he would—because he was super strong and could do things like that—and held me tight.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“Lorelei, you don’t ever have to apologize to me.”
“But I just left and I’ve made things worse.”
Still holding me a foot off the ground, he leaned back and questioned me with a gaze. Granddad had his hand on Jared’s back in a gesture of affirmation, while Grandma smiled over Jared’s shoulder at me.
“Something happened,” I said, hating to break the news so soon after our long-awaited greeting, but they needed to know. “Something changed.”
Granddad nodded. “What do you say we get to the car and talk there?”
“Okay. Oh, I almost forgot!” Jared let me slide down his body to the ground and I savored the feel of him before turning to our newest team member. “This is Kenya.”
She stepped forward, her usual brusque confidence all but gone. She nodded a greeting.
“We know who you are, honey,” Grandma said. “Your mother called, told us you’d be joining us. We’re thrilled to have such an adventurer on our side.”
As they shook hands, I asked, “Adventurer? What do you mean, adventurer?”
Granddad chuckled and shook her hand as well. “She didn’t tell you?” he asked.
“No.” I glared at her accusingly. We’d just spent twelve hours on airplanes and in airports. She could have mentioned something about being an adventurer. Not that I had any idea what that meant exactly.
“I’m so honored to meet you,” she said to him. But when Jared held out his hand for his turn, her expression changed from reverence to doubt. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was afraid of him. To her credit, she held her ground and took his hand into hers. Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Your Grace,” she said, clearly knowing who, and what, Jared was.
Because Jared was an archangel, a prince of heaven, many of our members insisted on addressing him as “Your Grace.” It wasn’t something he encouraged, but nobody listened when he discouraged it, so he just went along with the majority.
“Kenya. Nice to meet you.”
She pulled away as quickly as she could without being blatantly rude and cleared her throat.
“Don’t worry,” Jared said, leaning in to her. “If I were here for you, I wouldn’t shake your hand first.”
Sadly, we all burst out laughing, the tension was so taut, and I was worried poor Kenya would faint dead away. She did turn a lovely shade of green when he mentioned his job. So that was nice.
My grandparents had brought the church van, so we all fit quite nicely. We sat in the airport parking lot. Jared sat beside me in the middle seat. He held my hand, seeming to know I’d need the support as I explained what had happened.
“I was bombarded with visions yesterday. Everything changed. One minute I’m having visions about a fender bender here or a broken nail there, and the next—” I swallowed hard and Jared squeezed. “—the next, I’m seeing the end of the world.”
Granddad lowered his head in thought as Grandma shot him a worried look.
“It’s going to be like a storm. Like when Mom and Dad disappeared,” I said to them. “Low thunder clouds. A deafening wind. Rain. And darkness. A darkness that seems endless, like a fog or smoke that has the will to go where it wants. To do what it wants.”
“Demons?” Glitch asked.
“I think some are demons and some are spirits like we saw before. They will take over the earth. They’ll kill