“Move over, brat,” Maury ordered.
The boy slid over.
Benicio also slid over, to allow Jeremy to sit next to him. He wrinkled his nose at the smell.
“You’re pretty slick, aren’t you?” Jeremy asked.
Before Benicio could answer, their waitress was back. “Bon matin,” she announced, then frowned, her nose twitching. “Good morning,” she said less cheerfully. “Coffee?”
“Nothing right now,” Maury said. “We just need to talk to our friends for a minute.”
The waitress left.
Benicio looked at Maury. The man’s good eye was glazed, as though he were sick or stoned, and his skin was very pale. The guy wasn’t doing very well.
“Why are you here?” Benicio whispered.
“We’re just following orders,” Jeremy said. “Like you should have done. We wouldn’t need to be here if you weren’t such a fuckup.”
“What does the church want with this boy? He’s done nothing wrong.”
“We don’t care about the kid,” Maury mumbled. His words slurred slightly as though he had trouble speaking. “What the church does is the church’s business.”
“You can’t believe that. You can’t just do what they say and not worry about the consequences.”
“Just watch us.” Jeremy grinned. “That happens to be one of our specialties.”
“You’re animals.”
“Watch your temper, priest boy. You don’t want God getting mad at you.”
“Don’t talk to me about God. You two know nothing about God.”
“Don’t be so damn righteous,” Maury retorted. “We know more than you’ve ever known. We’re God’s bastard children. It’s your damn God that’s made us suffer our whole lives.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re Nephilim,” Jeremy said. “Half angel, half man.”
Benicio’s surprise was obvious. “Why would you say that?”
“Say what?”
“Why would you say you’re Nephilim?”
“Because we are,” Maury said.
Benicio glanced at Matthew. He felt as if the whole world was going mad. First there was the suggestion that Matthew was Nephilim, and now these men. “The Nephilim are a legend — a myth.”
“It’s not a fuckin’ legend. We’re the proof right here. God has forsaken us and our bodies have rotted away since the moment we were born. Only the church has fought to save us.”
“And so we do the odd job for them,” Jeremy finished.
Benicio shook his head. “They’ve done it again.”
“Done what?” Jeremy demanded.
“You aren’t forsaken by God. You aren’t Nephilim. There’s no such thing.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Maury sneered. A line of spit dripped from his mouth and clung to his shirt.
“The church used the myth of Nephilim to ostracize many groups of people over the years. There’s no such thing as Nephilim. Angels never had sex with women.”
“Our bodies are fuckin’ falling apart!” Maury yelled. “Look at my goddamn eye.” He pulled the patch up to reveal the deformity beneath.
Benicio looked concerned. “Listen to me. The church must have found you at a young age, right? Likely it was a church mission that found you in a third-world country. Probably somewhere in Africa. They raised you in secrecy and treated you with special medicine. Am I close?”
“The cardinal found us in the U.S.,” Jeremy said, smirking.
“Right after our parents came home from Africa,” Maury added.
The smile left Jeremy’s face.
Benicio took a deep breath. “You aren’t forsaken. You guys have leprosy. It’s treatable. You don’t have to live like this. You don’t have to be slaves to the church.”
“Bullshit,” Jeremy said.
“God never forsakes anyone,” Benicio continued. “You can get help. Real help.”
Maury opened his mouth then closed it. His head drooped toward the table.
“Maury,” Jeremy said. “What’s wrong?”
“Got to go,” Maury whispered. “Got to go.” He slid out of the booth and tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t support him. He stumbled, then crashed into a neighboring table, bringing all the dishes down with him. The two women at the table screeched, and staff came quickly to Maury’s side. Most of the patrons turned to watch but didn’t immediately move.
Jeremy moved to his brother’s side. “Maury?” he cried. “What’s going on?” He rolled his brother over. A reddish-brown stain spread across his shirt. “Maury?”
“Let’s go,” Benicio whispered to Matthew. He and the boy moved quickly to the doors and stepped outside.
Benicio glanced back to see if Jeremy was following them. The commotion continued inside the restaurant and he couldn’t see Jeremy. He turned to the boy. Matthew was standing silently next to him.
“Let’s go, Matt,” he said, and they ran toward the far end of the parking lot.