“And, according to Kuur, the only way to get a soul out is to open the pendant and say the person’s name, but only the one who put them in there in the first place can release them. If that’s the case, we are seriously screwed. Not to mention the fact that we don’t know any of their names.”
I cursed the sadistic priest who’d condemned all those people to a hell dimension in the 1400s. What would they be like now? Would they even still be there? Would there be anything left of their sanity to salvage? I had no idea what six hundred years in a hell dimension would do to one’s psyche, but it couldn’t be good.
“You know, I was thinking about my in-laws.” I strolled closer, craving his heat. And his scent. And the power that continuously hummed through him like an infinite source of energy. “You know, from your supernatural side? By being married to you, I am Satan’s daughter-in-law, Jehovah’s sister-in-law, and Jesus’s aunt by marriage. We’re like the ultimate nuclear family. Oh, and do you know what a god eater is? Apparently I showed something to ADA Nick Parker, something prophetical, and he called me a god eater.”
I turned away from him, breaking the spell he was trying to cast.
“Also, hell is going to freeze over, so that’s apparently a real thing.”
“They didn’t deserve me.”
I whirled around. He’d finally dropped his gaze. “Who didn’t deserve you?”
“The Loehrs.”
I stepped closer, confused. The Loehrs were his birth parents. His human birth parents. He’d chosen them out of all the people in the world to be a part of. And now they were Beep’s guardians, caring for her and loving her like nobody else could.
“Reyes, they’re good people. They’re going to take care of Beep as if she were —”
“Exactly. Good. They didn’t deserve me. Bad. The Fosters did them a favor.”
As his words sank in, I began to understand his misgivings about my taking the case. “So, you think that what they did was okay?”
“I think they did the right thing.”
“The right thing?” I put my hand on his chest. “Is that what this is all about?”
He didn’t answer yet again. His jaw flexed under the weight of his stress.
“I think they have the ability to see into the supernatural realm. Not totally, but just enough to —”
“Know evil when they see it?”
He stuffed his hands in his pocket. “No. I just think that’s how they target their victims. You’ve talked to them, I take it? To Mr. Foster, too?”
“Yes. I went to his office this morning.”
“They’ll adore you,” he said. “Like they do Shawn.”
“Shawn? Why? What does he…?”
He’d turned away from me. His profile with its perfect angles and sensual curves almost glowed in the warm light of a yellow moon. It cast shadows where his lashes fanned across his cheeks. The effect was stunning.
“What’s so different about Shawn? I didn’t notice anything unusual besides the pureness of his aura.”
“Because you never look beyond what meets the eye. You rely too much on reading their emotions.”
“It’s worked pretty good for me so far. And looking beyond? You mean like when I shift onto the other plane?” I took his silence as a yes. “Okay, so if I’d looked harder, what would I have seen?”
“The opposite of me.”
Fine. He was being Cryptic Man, which meant he was nowhere near comfortable talking about it. “Opposite. Like dark versus light?”
He finally met my gaze again. “He is Nephilim.”
“Nephilim? You mean…” My jaw dropped open, and I sat there, stunned speechless, for about an hour. That a Nephilim – part human, part angel – was even possible. That it could actually happen. “They’re real?”
“He is descended from the union of a Grigori and a human.”
“Does he know that?”
“I doubt it.”
“Holy cow.” I walked back to the brook. “This is big. This is like discovering Noah’s ark. Or the Holy Grail. Or a crashed UFO.”
“There are more than you might think.”
I spun back to him. “There are more? How do I not know these things?”
“You should come here again.” A whisper of a grin played on his mouth.
“We should get back.”
“In that case, you’ll definitely have to come here.”
I walked back to him and let him wrap me in his arms.
“Hold on tight,” he said, humor in the warning.
“Wait. Would you really have dropped me this morning?”
He bent closer to whisper in my ear. “Right on your ass.”
Before I could reply, the celestial world slammed into us. Whipping and howling and coursing. And then it was gone, and we were in Reyes’s office.
I swayed as I got my bearings, then glared up at him.
“That’s awful,” I continued, picking up where we left off and wishing I had that kind of control over my destination. “You’re supposed to care for me and protect me and make me tacos.”
“Please.” He sat behind his desk, leaned back, and watched me. Again. “The day you need anyone’s protection is the day… well, the day hell freezes over. I don’t think dear old Dad is going to take that lying down. I should probably have your back. But until then…”
Fine. I’d go along with it. “Any idea when I’m scheduled to transform his dimension into Ice Capades: Hell on Ice?”