Uriel: The Inheritance (Airel Saga Book Five)

Chapter XVII

In the northeastern mountains of Turkey—Present Day

WHEN KREIOS AWOKE THE next day, he knew something was going to change forever. The winds were different. Not better or worse—just different. They brought with them the scent of something terrible. It was death, a thing Kreios knew how to wear when El allowed it.

Yes, everything would change today.

He made ready and soon sat on the ground before the hut of the man with the mark. An hour passed. He heard a stir inside, so he sat up a little straighter.

The man poked his head out from the flap of his front door. He did not visibly react to Kreios's presence. Maybe strange men had appeared to him before. The man's eyes were different from any Kreios had ever seen. They were all white, and the tiny pupils were not couched in irises, making them appear like pebbles pierced by deep blackness at the center. "Who are you?" the farmer asked.

"You know who I am, Cain."

The farmer emerged from his house and stood erect before the visitor. "You know that name?"

Kreios stood, easily doubling him for mass and size, standing at least two heads taller than Cain. "I do."

"Then you can only be the Angel of El." Cain bowed his head before Kreios. "What can I give to the Messenger of God?"

"Cain, the end draws close. The time has come for the father of murder under the sun to fulfill both his days and his call. El has a purpose for the mark you bear that you have not foreseen, though you have seen many years indeed."

Cain seemed pleased. He smiled and bowed again. "Only say the word, and I shall do what you command."

Kreios gestured to him. "Come with me to the nearest of the thin places—I seek to go where only you can take me."

Cain backed up a step and shook his head. "No. I will never go there, not ever again unless it is in death." Fear flooded his face, and Kreios began to glow. His tattoos burned bright and Cain quivered.

"You will take me now or you shall suffer for another thousand years, Cain. I am the taker of lives, and I shall forget you were ever born unless you do as I command."

Still Cain refused.

Kreios shrugged. "Very well. May you live long and be full of years. When I return to you in a thousand years, you will run to me with outstretched arms and beg me to allow you to do your duty." Turning, Kreios began to walk away. He was not surprised, though, when Cain called after him.

"Please, wait. Angel of El, I will go. Only swear to me that you will end my life once I take you to that place of torment."

Kreios stopped. He nodded without turning. "You will have rest from this life, this I swear."

Cain hobbled up to Kreios's side and they walked together into the forest. At the edge of the meadow, they disappeared.

***

Boise, Idaho—Present Day

AFTER A TOUGH DAY at school—one of those days that feel like nothing goes right and there's no explanation why—I went home, did my homework, streamed a couple of shows, and went to bed, falling asleep instantly.

I dreamed I was walking along a dusty trail. There were hoofprints and primitive wheel tracks in the powdery earth, and above me the sky looked unsettled, angry—rain was coming. I looked ahead and saw three black birds circling high, riding the updrafts.

As it usually happens in dreams, I didn't have to travel long to arrive. I was suddenly there, standing at the place where the birds were circling. I looked down.