How did you find us, anyway?” Eliza said, having cooled a little.
“You’re welcome for saving your rear end, by the way,” answered Jonah. He couldn’t help getting in a little dig to his sister, even under these circumstances. “I got to the convent just after you left. The rooftop angels have a pretty good sense of what’s going on. It wasn’t hard to get them to point me in the right direction. And once I was in the hidden realm, it was easy to see where you guys were fighting.”
Several of the quarterlings sitting down were holding their heads in their hands. The confrontation with the beasts had shaken them up. Jonah was still feeling a little groggy himself.
“That was a weird feeling, wasn’t it?” David said to Jonah as he leaned over to comfort Carlo. “It wasn’t just like someone was reaching down into my chest. It was like they were digging around in my soul or something.”
Jonah nodded. “I saw these creatures at work back in Peacefield, when I was home.” He felt awkward as he said it, knowing he’d been there only because he left them behind. “An angel there showed me what they were doing. Trying to tug at hearts and souls, all under the direction of Abaddon, of course. It was an awful thing to watch. They are dangerous creatures. If they’d gotten to us, it would all be over.”
“Those bird-like creatures, as well as the lizards . . . I remember some places in the Old Testament that refer to both. Isaiah and Leviticus come to mind,” David said. He turned to watch the quarterlings sitting in front of him. “But what concerns me now is that I’m not sure all of us can make it to the yacht.”
Jonah knelt down in front of them, placing a hand on Lania’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take everyone injured back, David?”
David blinked at him. “I want to help find your brother, Jonah,” he said. But he looked back down at the quarterlings again. He sighed. “But maybe you’re right. Our friends here look like they could use the attention of the nuns.”
Eliza nodded. “I agree. Take them back and protect them on the way. The rest of us can handle this, can’t we, Jonah?”
He nodded, slapping his sister on the back. “That’s right. Now, time to go.”
“Bless them, Elohim,” David called out, eyes pointing upward in spontaneous prayer. “Be with them, guard their path, direct their steps, and ensure their victory. And mine as well.”
After they said their good-byes, Jonah, Eliza, Frederick, Andre, Julia, and Hai Ling moved down a dark alleyway together.
“I’m glad you are coming, Hai Ling,” Jonah said, unable to hide his surprise at her decision to forge ahead.
She shrugged and scratched the corner of her eye. “Whatever. I’ve kind of . . . grown attached to your little brother.” She glanced away, and Jonah wondered if it was so he wouldn’t see her tears.
Quickly, Eliza filled him in on the information they had gathered, repeating the story she had told for what felt like a hundred times to the police about Jeremiah’s capture, and then the Russian ambassador and the man she saw on television.
“I know it seems like a hunch,” she admitted, “but it was more than that. I felt like Elohim, somehow, was showing me that he was the same guy I saw take Jeremiah.”
“Sounds like it’s all we have to go on anyway,” said Jonah. “And if you think Elohim was leading you, how am I going to argue with that? So, lead the way, E.”
She eyed him cautiously, and he realized it would probably take some time before she would accept that he was back. He hoped they’d have time to really talk later. But for now, the plan was simple—find Jeremiah and get him back, unharmed.
“Do you think he’s really seeing her?” Jonah asked as they walked. “Seeing Mom?”
“Jonah, how is that possible? We both saw her die, didn’t we?”
He nodded. “Yeah. We did. It’s hard to get too mad at him about this, though. Maybe it’s his way of, you know, missing her.”
“Well, maybe someone’s tricking him,” she said, darkness in her eyes.
Jonah pressed his lips together. He’d already thought of that. “Let’s don’t assume the worst.”
“Be very careful, everyone,” Eliza said, keeping her eyes trained on the rooftops above. “We need to move as fast as we can and get to that yacht before anyone—or anything—else sees us.”
The wind was picking up, and the sun had completely set. It was cold, a blustery frozen winter night that sent chills up and down Jonah’s back. “Wish I’d remembered my coat,” he muttered, rubbing his bare arms with his hands. He was still wearing the T-shirt he had changed into after the game. After the bus accident, he had caught another bus, directly to New York, poring over Eliza’s text all the way there, hoping and praying he would arrive in time to help find their brother.
Jonah hadn’t called Eliza on the way, deciding that he’d rather talk to her in person first. But he had decided to call his dad, about an hour before the bus was set to arrive. They really talked for what felt like the first time all year. Jonah told his dad everything. He knew it was a lot for his father to take at once, but he had to know. Jonah figured his dad would be in New York soon.
“It should be two more blocks this way,” said Frederick, studying the map on his phone. “We’re almost at the waterfront.” He glanced over at Jonah walking beside him. “You left so fast last year. I never really got to say it . . . but I’m sorry about your mom. I truly am.”
Jonah nodded at Frederick, and he was surprised that he could barely remember what the South African boy had been like two years before when they’d met. He’d been so arrogant, but he’d changed a lot since then. The old Frederick was still in there, somewhere, and occasionally got out, but change was happening. Elohim was really working in Frederick’s life.
“Thanks,” Jonah answered. “It’s been a hard year for everybody.”
“We’re not going to let the same thing happen to your brother,” he added.
The words hung in the air as they crept down the barely lit street. Jonah had tried to push the thought out of his mind—the one that reminded him that there was a very good chance that they wouldn’t find Jeremiah.
“I think the water is just ahead,” Jonah said. They could make out a bridge lit up, and they could see the red brake lights of cars moving slowly across the East River. Wind whipped off the water, funneling down their block, and Jonah grimaced as it hit his face.
Eliza stopped before they rounded the corner. “The yacht is supposed to be docked just down this street,” she said, pointing behind her. “We’re in the hidden realm, so we ought to be able to sneak on board without too much trouble. That will be the easy part.”
Frederick chuckled. “Yeah, we know. The hard part is not getting seen by any of the nonhuman bad guys.”
But she was hopeful. “When we find him, we ought to be able to just walk right off with him. No one will know.”
“How do you think they’re holding him, though?” Hai Ling asked, a frown on her face. “Shouldn’t he just be able to walk away anyway? I mean, just enter the hidden realm and escape.”
“Yes, I was actually kind of wondering the same thing,” said Julia.
Eliza tugged at her lip. “I don’t know, and I have to admit, I’ve had those thoughts too. But the last I checked, none of us can walk out of an unlocked door, can we? We can’t walk through walls. It’s possible he’s stuck somewhere. Anyway, it’s time to go see. Just be on your guard.”
They stepped around the corner, and ahead, docked on a long pier, was an enormous ship. It was mostly black and spanned almost the entire length of the pier. Blue lights ran the length of it, giving off a strange glow.
“That’s a big boat,” said Frederick, whistling. “I’ve seen some large ones in South Africa before. But nothing close to that.”
“It looks bigger than a football field,” Jonah said. He turned to Eliza. “That’s going to be a lot of rooms to search.”
She walked faster, buoyed by the actual sight of the ambassador’s vessel. “The faster we get there, the quicker we can find him and get out of here.”
I sure hope she’s right, Jonah said. He wanted to grab Jeremiah, maybe give him a shake or two for running off on his own, and then speed back to the safety of the convent as quickly as possible.
He studied the boat as they approached. There was a long ramp that connected the yacht to the dock, and people in fancy clothes were all walking up onto the boat that way.
“There are people getting on,” Andre observed. “Looks like a lot of them.”
“And there are a lot of black limousines parked out in front,” Jonah said, pointing down the street. Several were pulling up, and a few had dropped off their passengers and were leaving. “They’re all dressed up. It looks like we’re not going to be the only ones on this ship tonight.”
As they drew closer, and the boat became more visible with its upper deck lit up with music blaring, Jonah only felt a deeper darkness. The cold wind whipped, but the chill he felt had nothing to do with that. Something swept over him that almost made him stop.
“Did you guys feel that?” he asked tentatively.
“Yes,” said Julia, shivering beside him and stopping in the middle of the street. “I feel . . . a sadness. It’s hard to describe. There is something very, very bad on that boat.”
“Yeah, I did too,” said Andre.
Jonah looked at the yacht, and then back at Julia. “There’s an evil there. I can feel it.” He took a few steps to stand beside her. But what were they going to do, just leave? They couldn’t abandon the search—not if there was a chance Jeremiah was on that boat. “We have to do this, Julia. For Jeremiah, remember? Elohim is with us. Even in the darkness.”
She shivered again, studying the lights on the coastline across the water for a few seconds. Finally, she nodded, turning into the wind again.
“It won’t take us long,” said Eliza, “and then we’ll be off this boat and back home again.”
Jonah stepped ahead, trying to at least appear brave in front of the rest. But he was shuddering inside, as much as any of the others. It was a coldness, and one he’d felt before.
They scanned the top of the boat and all along the streets for signs of fallen angels, but, so far, they’d seen none. As they approached, though, Frederick pointed high.
“Up there, at the top!” he whispered. “Four fallen angels, on guard!” He pulled them down behind a garbage bin.
Jonah watched the fallen ones pace back and forth up above. They were watching the people board the boat. There was a security check at the front of the ramp where two officers were using scanners and checking purses.
“There must be some famous people here,” said Andre. “They look fancy, and they’re all getting scanned.”
They watched for another minute before Eliza spoke. “We have to get on this boat,” she muttered. “There seems to be only one way on. Here’s what we’re going to have to do . . .”
After they’d huddled for a minute more, with Jonah keeping a careful eye above, they waited until he gave the signal. He watched the guards pacing slowly, trying to find a moment when they were all turned away.
“Okay, go!” he said, and the six of them scurried out and into the street. The line of people boarding was right there, and they each quickly found a place in between a couple, spreading themselves out in the line and just trying to mix in with the crowd.
“Keep your heads down. Whatever you do, don’t look up, and you should blend right in!” Eliza had told them.
Jonah was almost at the end, sandwiched behind a couple who were both very short and very wide, and in front of another couple who both had the tanned faces and chiseled features of supermodels.
Why did I decide to get behind the short people? He kicked himself for finding this spot, but he didn’t want to risk changing and giving the fallen angels above another reason to look.
I guess if they saw us, we’ll be hearing from them soon.
But as the line progressed forward, he realized they apparently hadn’t been seen yet. Andre appeared to be having the toughest time of it as the largest of the quarterlings. He peered back at Jonah a couple of times, looking as if he were trying to hold his breath, as he had wedged himself closely between two very talkative couples.
If he ended up touching them . . .
Jonah quietly prayed that they would all be able to make it through the line without shocking any of the guests with an accidental touch.
He shuffled along, trying to keep his eyes on the wooden pier beneath his feet.
“What an opportunity,” the supermodel woman behind him murmured. “I can’t believe we’re getting to do this, James. Everyone who is anyone in politics is going to be on this little boat.” She trilled with laughter at her joke.
Jonah heard James, the other supermodel, lean in. “You-know-who is in town, dear. You never know. Rumor is, he might be making an appearance as well.”
This caused her giddy laugh to rise even louder, and Jonah wondered whom it was they were referring to. But the way they were speaking, he thought he had a good guess.
The short, portly woman in front of him turned and looked directly at him. He panicked for a second before reminding himself that there was no way she could see him. She wore an enormous strand of jewels around her neck, and he was close enough to see the caked-on makeup over her eyes and along her cheeks.
“Darling,” she drooled, “have you never met the POTUS before? What a pity.”
Jonah was all of a sudden stuck in the middle of a conversation.
“POTUS?” The supermodel was clearly confused.
The short man turned around, smiling at her, and eyeing her up and down. He took her hand in his, reaching right around Jonah, so that he had to stretch himself like a pretzel to avoid getting touched. “You know, the president of the United States. POTUS. He’s a personal friend of ours. I’d be happy to introduce you if he does indeed arrive.” He nodded to James. “And your friend, of course.”
Jonah was having a hard time keeping his eyes on all four people surrounding him, to make sure no one reached out and put their hand through him or leaned in a little too close.
Apparently, though, someone up ahead hadn’t been so lucky because a woman screamed.
Jonah looked ahead, like everyone else in the line, trying to figure out what was going on. Andre stepped out of the line, his face bright red. The woman standing behind him was shaking her head and holding her chest.
“Something shocked me!” she was saying. “Who did that?”