Spirit Fighter (Son of Angels, Jonah Stone) (8 page)

Jonah strolled home from the bus stop that sunny afternoon, eager for a snack and to catch up with his friend Tariq. They had spent the summer working on a fort in the woods that they called “Project X,” and it was almost finished. Eliza walked behind him with a couple of friends, and then plopped down on the curb, going over the results of their latest math test. Jeremiah had taken a different bus home with a boy from school.

He bounded through the door and threw his book bag in the corner, making a beeline for the refrigerator.

“Mom, I’m home!” he called out, opening the fridge door and searching for a snack. He looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then reached down for the half gallon of orange juice, popping the top off and chugging a few gulps, straight from the carton.

“Son . . .”

He quickly put the juice container down and wiped his face. He hadn’t even noticed his dad, who had just stood up from the sofa in the den.

“Dad? What are you doing home so—?”

Two people, a man and a woman in business suits, stood up behind Benjamin. The man looked like his muscles were about to explode through his jacket. The woman had fiery red hair and an intense gaze.

Henry, the Stone family’s guardian angel, stepped around to the side of the huge man. The man nodded at him and Jonah realized he could see Henry. That was weird.

“Jonah,” his dad stammered, like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. “These people are . . . well, they’re here to help with . . . they are investigators.” He was trying to compose himself, but wasn’t doing a great job of it. His eyes welled up with tears, even though he tried to hold them back.

“Investigators?” Jonah repeated. “Like . . . police? Dad, what’s wrong?”

Benjamin glanced at the woman, who nodded. He sighed loudly, pulling the glasses off his face. “Mom’s been taken. Someone kidnapped her.”

Jonah froze, trying to understand the words his father had just said.

“What do you mean, kidnapped?” he said, and then crossed his arms. “How do you know?”

The man in the suit cleared his throat. “Our best intelligence suggests that she was taken a few hours ago.”

Jonah shook his head. “She’s probably just out. Maybe for a run, or at the store or something. Right, Dad?” He looked at Benjamin, hoping he would agree. Instead, his father looked away.

Jonah stared at the two strangers. “Who are you? Are you really police? Where’s your patrol car? If it’s true, shouldn’t there be a dozen cops scouring this place by now? Where are they?” He squinted at them and then looked at Henry. If they could see Henry, then they definitely weren’t cops. “You aren’t police, are you?”

The woman looked up at her partner. “We might as well let him see who we are. After all, we are here to talk to him too.”

Suddenly, they began to transform. The suits faded away. In place of them, armor appeared across their torsos and legs. It was black and silver and looked like steel, covering most of their bodies.

Silvery wings sprouted from their shoulders, and the ones on the man looked like they’d engulf the entire room if he spread them out fully. On his left wrist he wore a silver band that looked like a regular wristwatch.

The female angel was smaller but just as impressive. Her hair was sunset orange, streaked with yellow and white. And her eyes blazed with fire.

Jonah shivered as he studied their faces. They were strong, fierce, but somehow kind, all at once. These were angels of war. Jonah would bet anything that they served under the archangel and battle-warrior Michael’s command. Henry had his wings on display too, but was still wearing jeans and a white T-shirt.

“Um . . .” Jonah couldn’t find the right words. “You’re . . . you’re . . .”

“Angels,” the female one said, smiling slightly. “I’m Taryn. And this is Marcus. It’s nice to meet you, Jonah.”

Jonah’s mouth hung open.

“I came home just a little while ago. I felt in my heart that something had happened to your mother,” Benjamin said, calmly at first, but his voice grew more and more strained as he went on. “Marcus and Taryn were waiting for me on the porch. They knew what happened—Eleanor was kidnapped. By . . . by Abaddon.” He sank onto the sofa and covered his face with his hands.

Henry moved to the sofa to comfort Jonah’s dad.

Marcus stood perfectly still, his arms folded across his chest. “Reverend Stone, you have done the right thing. There is no point in calling the human police. They cannot do anything to help under these circumstances. For years we have kept close tabs on Eleanor Stone, closer than you have realized. She has always been a person of . . . interest to us. As a nephilim, an exceptionally powerful creature, we wanted to monitor her . . . safety,” he said. He seemed to be picking his words carefully.

“Oh, don’t beat around the bush, Marcus! I know what you think,” Benjamin suddenly shot back. “I know how you all feel about the nephilim. You think they are uncontrollable, dangerous, and prone to great evil! And yet Eleanor and I have always led peaceful lives.”

Jonah saw indignation burn hotly in Marcus’s eyes. “Only because that is what I have seen, Reverend Stone.
With my own eyes
. They have a great weakness. They can easily be manipul—”

Jonah’s father stood up. “I will not have Eleanor disrespected in her own house by you or anyone else, even if you are under Michael’s authority! She is kindhearted, self-controlled, and I daresay loves Elohim as much as anyone in this room! You are referring to things that happened thousands of years ago and have nothing to do with her.” He and Marcus locked eyes and said nothing, smoldering silence shaking the room.

Taryn stepped forward, her wings expanding slightly. “Both of you. That is enough,” she said, eyeing Marcus. “We are here to share our intelligence with you and to assure you, Benjamin, that Elohim has a plan. Even in all of this. Our sources have indicated that her kidnappers did not kill her but are taking her somewhere. They have a purpose in mind. Which means they will keep her alive.”

Marcus relaxed slightly and said, “Taryn is right. Abaddon must not want her dead.”

“And at this point,” Taryn continued, “that is a good thing.”

“
At this point?
” Jonah asked. “What does that mean?”

Taryn looked at him for a few seconds, as if she were measuring him up somehow. “I simply mean that the best time to retrieve her is now.”

Jonah couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Is this some kind of weird daydream?
No, he was really here, and there were three angels talking with his dad in the living room.
Mom’s been kidnapped
. Angry tears began to form in his eyes.
Abaddon and his fallen ones took my mother
.

Taryn glanced at Marcus quickly before she spoke again. “There’s something else. Our sources tell us that there were apparently others who were taken today as well.”

“Others?” Jonah’s dad said, confused. “You mean, other . . . ?”

“Nephilim,” she said. “We have been monitoring not only Eleanor but others as well. Across the world.”

“How many others?”

“Seven,” said Taryn. “Eleanor makes eight.”

Benjamin sighed. “I thought she was the only one.” He had taken his seat back on the sofa. “What does this mean?”

“It is quite possible that there is a larger plan at work here. That the fallen ones are up to something . . . big. These are certainly more than just random kidnappings,” Taryn answered.

“Why would the Fallen want to kidnap eight nephilim at the same time?” Jonah asked.

Silence.

“If you must know,” Marcus finally said, “we believe this was his plan from the beginning. That he intended to do this all along.”

“All along?” Jonah’s father repeated, looking confused.

“Yes,” Marcus said quietly. “Ever since he planted them here.”

The room was silent again, until finally Benjamin spoke quietly. “You said . . .
planted
?”

Marcus nodded.

“You mean to tell me that the nephilim, their existence on earth . . . my wife’s existence . . . has all been part of some
plan
Abaddon has?” The disbelief was clear now in Benjamin’s voice. “That Abaddon sent his own fallen angels to find human women and have children through them? You can’t be serious!”

Taryn spoke up. “It is not that far-fetched, Reverend Stone. We are confident that this is part of his plan, which has yet to unfold fully. We intend to make sure that it never does.” Her confidence helped Jonah breathe a little slower. She spoke more softly now. “And by the way, of course we do not wish to imply that Eleanor Stone is an evil person. Clearly, Elohim has done much through and around her.”

“But you said yourself,” replied Benjamin, brushing off the compliment, “that the nephilim have a capacity for great evil in our world. Exactly what kind of evil are you talking about?”

Marcus moved to the window, his back toward Benjamin. “Do you know why Elohim flooded this world?”

“Because of the sin of mankind,” Benjamin answered. “It had grown so atrocious that He brought an end to the world. Only Noah and his family survived.”

“Yes,” Marcus said. “Dark days in the kingdom. Very dark. But, Reverend Stone, do you know who the ringleaders of human wickedness were in those days before the flood?”

Benjamin was quiet.

“Nephilim,” Marcus said, unable to hide the disgust in his voice. “They were there, leading mankind astray. Influencing them. Using their abilities to incite great violence and sin in men and women, against each other.
Against Elohim
.”

Benjamin rose up from the sofa again.

“My Eleanor is not like that!” he yelled, approaching Marcus. “She is not like they were! You don’t know anything about her!”

“What
you
don’t know is that some of the greatest, most-feared warriors and leaders this world has ever known were nephilim,” the angel said, glaring at him. “Attila the Hun. Genghis Khan. Joseph Stalin.”

Benjamin’s mouth dropped. “All of them were . . . ?”

Marcus nodded. “Imagine eight Genghis Khans united under Abaddon’s thumb.”

Taryn stepped in between them now.

“We pray that you are right about Eleanor, Benjamin,” she said, her hand against his chest. “But for now, let’s just focus on the task at hand. Time is running short.”

Benjamin backed off, his eyes drifting to the window. “Just one more question,” he said quietly. “What does Elohim have to say about all of this?”

Jonah had been wondering the same thing.

“As you know, Reverend, He is personal, and yet mysterious. Even to angels.” Marcus offered a hint of a smile for the first time. “But one thing you can always be sure of: He sees, He knows, and He is watching. There is nothing that surprises Him. And He will speak, and act, when He deems it necessary. We have our orders from Him. That is enough.”

“So what exactly are we going to do?” Jonah asked.

Benjamin turned around to face Marcus, Taryn, and Henry. “I’m going to get her back.” He stared defiantly at Marcus, waiting for him to respond.

“No, you aren’t,” Marcus said quietly, locking his eyes with Benjamin, then glancing past him to Jonah. “And neither are we.”

Benjamin’s eyes narrowed and his forehead wrinkled.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean? We can’t just leave her to Abaddon!”

“That task has been assigned to Jonah and Eliza,” Taryn said evenly. “We are simply here to deliver the orders.”

Benjamin moved between the angels and Jonah.

“Im-impossible!” he stammered. “I won’t allow it! Are you two insane? Do you know what you are saying? You want to send two children out against the Fallen? Against Abaddon himself?”

“We understand how you must feel,” said Taryn. “And I know this will be a difficult test for you as well. But our orders—”

“Our orders are clear,” Marcus interrupted, “as hard as they may be to hear. The mission is theirs, and theirs alone. They may be children, but angel blood courses through their veins. It is the will of Elohim.”

Benjamin started to speak again, but suddenly it seemed as though the fight had gone out of him.
It is the will of Elohim
. Jonah knew how much those words must weigh for his father. Benjamin leaned over, snatched his glasses off his face, and put both hands on his knees.

“Eliza too?” he finally whispered. “She doesn’t even know who she is yet . . .”

Taryn moved closer to him, compassion in her eyes. “It is time that she knew.”

Jonah’s mind was spinning. How were they supposed to rescue their mother from the forces of darkness? They were just kids. But the words of the angel echoed inside his head.
It is the will of Elohim
. God was trusting him with a mission. He’d been chosen. And his mother needed his help. Jonah felt himself stand a little taller. He stepped forward and put a hand on his dad’s shoulder.

“Dad . . .”

His father placed his hand on top of Jonah’s, looked back up at Marcus and Taryn with tears in his eyes, and whispered, “I just can’t lose Eleanor and two of my children in the same day.”

“I know why you feel that way,” Taryn said gently. “But they will go with the favor of Elohim. We must trust Him.”