Spirit Fighter (Son of Angels, Jonah Stone) (12 page)

Jonah did the only thing he knew to do. He stepped forward, and before she could swing the cane down toward them, he grabbed it with his left hand. With his right, he latched onto her other arm and pushed her as hard as he could.

She flew back against the brick wall with force and fell to the ground, dazed. His strength had caught her off guard. Within seconds, though, she sprang back up, barking at them through her sharp teeth.

“Pretty strong for a young boy, aren’t you, sonny?” she cackled, throwing her head back violently. “I guess that’s what happens when your mother is one of
us
.” She smiled knowingly, nodding at them both.

“Our mother is
not
one of your kind,” Eliza said boldly. “And she never will be!”

The old woman laughed hysterically and then croaked at them in that dark, low voice. “Oh yes, my dear, she will. In fact, she practically already is.”

She came after them again, this time along the side of the wall, defying gravity as she scuttled across the bricks. But Eliza was ready for her. Her hands shot up, and a shield immediately formed around her and Jonah, just as the woman leapt at them. She hit the shield, screaming in pain, and bounced away onto the stone floor.

Jonah looked past her, down the tunnel and into the open subway station beyond. He knew the subway train would be leaving very soon, and they had to figure out a way to get on it. The old woman had picked herself up off the ground again, her smile now gone.

“Nice,” the fallen one said, “very nice indeed, Eliza.” Eliza jumped when she said her name, and the old woman began to pace in front of them. “Oh yes, we know your names. Jonah and Eliza Stone. And I believe you have a little brother, Jeremiah. Your mother, of course, we have already met.” Eliza still held her hands high, and at the mention of her little brother, she returned the woman’s glare with one of her own.

“The shield of faith, my young girl. Very impressive, very impressive indeed. Discovered your gifts all on your own, have you? You both have the hand of
Him
helping you, of course. That’s obvious. How incredibly . . . disgusting.” A drop of saliva dribbled onto her chin. By
Him
, Jonah knew she meant Elohim.

“You won’t be able to hurt us, or even keep us here,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. “You and all of your fallen friends are no match for Elohim.” At his name, the old woman shuddered, drawing back, hissing. But as she stood back up, she threw her hands toward the ceiling and produced a shield of her own, the color of crimson. It looked strong in the darkness of the tunnel.

With an evil grin, she began to advance toward them. Eliza continued to boldly hold her shield in place. Soon, though, the old lady was close enough that her shield touched Eliza’s.

“Ahh!” shouted Eliza, her knees buckling underneath her. She still held her hands high, but she was being forced backward. “Help, Jonah! I don’t know how long I can hold my arms up! Her shield is . . . sapping my energy.”

Eliza’s shield was holding so far, but Jonah saw that its light was growing dimmer, while the red shield of the fallen one seemed to grow even stronger.

“I’m getting . . . really tired,” Eliza said wearily.

Jonah grabbed her two arms and held them up, and momentarily the light began to shine brighter. “Come on, Eliza! You can do it! I’m here with you.” But as soon as the shield strengthened, the old woman reared back and threw her full force into hers. Eliza screamed, and her hands suddenly dropped to her side. With an explosion, the shield disappeared, and they were catapulted into the air and onto their backs.

The woman grabbed her cane and began to walk across the room with it, slowly, ready to bask in the glow of their defeat.

“You really didn’t think you would be any match for me, did you, now? You may have a few powers, but you certainly don’t know how to use them.” Her sweet-old-lady voice was back, and she looked as if she were no more harmful than any senior citizen enjoying a stroll with her grandchildren. “I’ve destroyed people much more skilled than you in my day.”

Jonah had hit his head and felt that at any minute he might pass out. His vision was blurred, and he could barely make her out, hobbling over toward him.

He closed his eyes, not sure if he was dreaming or awake. A voice somewhere inside of him began to pray,
Elohim, help us. We need You. Show me what to do
.

As quickly as the words were said, he felt a tingling in his feet. His eyes snapped open again, and he was wide-awake. He saw the fallen one taking her time walking over to them, gloating in her victory, but his eyes were drawn to his feet. They continued to tingle, and he sat up. His white sneakers were starting to bubble, like boiling water in a pot. Jonah could not believe what he was seeing. His shoes were changing, morphing, right on his feet. And where his shoes used to be were now a pair of ancient-looking, brown leather sandals. His feet suddenly felt light. Lighter than they ever had before.

Quickly Jonah stood up, a new energy flowing through him. He picked up Eliza, who was still moving slowly, and held her by his side.

“It’s time to go, E,” he whispered in her ear as he kept his eyes on the fallen angel. Just as the old woman was reaching her bony hand out to snare them, he began to run. Holding Eliza with him, his feet blazed around her and up the side of the tunnel, just as she had done a minute ago. He heard the woman scream and the clatter of her own feet, trying to get in front of them again, but she was no match for Jonah’s speed. They burst out and into the subway station area, a blast of light, leaving the echoing screams behind.

The subway doors had opened, and a crowd of people were pushing their way on. Jonah went straight for the closest open door. He slowed down and he and Eliza jumped inside together, just as the doors closed. Squirming past several people, they found two hard plastic seats and plopped themselves down.

Only then was Jonah able to look down at his feet. Eliza did too. But gone were the leather sandals. Back on his feet were his old white basketball shoes. He heard Mrs. Aldridge’s voice reading the words of the Scriptures again, and he jolted upright in his seat.

“There was something else Mrs. Aldridge said . . .” Jonah was shaking in his seat, but he pulled out the Bible again. “Put on the whole armor of God . . . having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace . . .”

“
Shod
means that you get shoes put on you, like a horse,” Eliza said. “There it is again—the verse coming to life.”

They sat for a few minutes in silence, watching the lights of the tunnel pass by outside the subway car, flashing into the windows. Jonah wiggled his toes again, but they felt entirely normal. There was no other way to explain it. The words of the Bible passage were coming true.

Literally true.

“Your shield saved us again, Eliza,” Jonah said.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, crossing her arms and shivering, the reality of what had just happened starting to come over her. “But hers was stronger. I’m scared, Jonah. That was . . . absolutely awful.” She looked away from him, out the window of the subway train. “How are we going to do this?”

“Don’t you know we have angel blood in us?” Jonah said, hitting her on the arm. “The only reason we have made it this far is because Elohim is on our side. And if He is with us, there’s nothing that’s going to stop us.”

She turned back toward him and nodded, managing a smile.

Jonah leaned his head back and looked toward the window, not wanting her to see any doubt in his eyes. He watched the darkness pass by outside and spent the next few minutes quietly hoping he was right.

TWELVE
A D
ARK
A
LLEYWAY

T
he subway clacked along the track quickly, the cold white lights the only thing shining in the underground tunnel. There were men and women standing and sitting all around them in the car, some going home from a late night on the town, some getting ready for another fast-paced day of work in the Big Apple.

Slowly Eliza said under her breath, “You know, every one of them could be . . .
like her
.”

Like her. The sweet-grandmother-looking lady was the last person on the train they would have suspected to be one of the Fallen. But now they realized that anyone could be working for Abaddon.

“Yeah, you’re right. Any one of these people could be a fallen one. But you know what it also means?” he said, a new thought hitting him. “Any of them could also be an angel.”

He felt crazy, glancing around out of the corner of his eyes, wondering who was human and who wasn’t.

It was a twenty-minute ride to New York City, and no one seemed to be staring at them, no one looked ready to pounce at any moment. Maybe in a crowd they were actually safer than when they were alone.

“So what’s the plan when we get to New York?” Eliza asked, brushing brown wisps of hair off her face.

Jonah looked down at the MissionFinder 3000. It appeared to be just like any other old, silver watch. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching and then pushed the button on the side. The orange screen glowed, but gave no new information.

“It says the same thing. We’re supposed to go to New York City.” He shrugged. “I guess we’ll get more instructions when we get there.”

They continued to hunch down in their seats, talking quietly with each other, wanting to do nothing to draw attention to themselves. Soon, a crackling voice came over the loudspeaker.

“World Trade Center Station. Next stop, World Trade Center Station.”

They stepped out into the dimly lit station. Jonah looked at his watch again as people jostled by them. 4:21 a.m.

“We’re here now,” said Eliza, looking over his shoulder. “Let’s see if it says anything more specific.”

He pushed the button again. The orange screen flashed on, but this time two black letters filled the screen, blinking.

“HR,” Jonah said slowly, showing it to Eliza. “HR? What does that mean?”

“Push the button again,” she said. He did, and the old watch screen returned. Jonah tried pressing it again, but this time nothing happened.

“Hey, what’s wrong with this thing?” He shook his arm and tried again. It was no use. The screen stayed the same.

“HR . . . HR . . . HR . . .” Eliza turned the letters over in her brain. “Is that some kind of message? A secret code? Did Marcus say anything about that?”

Jonah thought hard. “I can’t remember anything.”

“Well, he must have said something,” she said, growing frustrated. “Think hard, Jonah.”

“I’m trying! And I’m telling you, they didn’t mention anything about HR or any kind of secret code. It just said we’d get more specifics when we got here.”

They were stumped.

Eliza paced around him in the terminal. “What are we supposed to do now?”

He could think of nothing else to do. “I say we just . . . walk.”

Since she had no better ideas, they left the lobby and exited onto a noisy street full of taxicabs and a growing number of pedestrians.

“I guess we’ll figure it out, right?” Eliza said, trying to sound confident as she huddled down in her hoodie.

“Right.”

Jonah’s legs were beginning to feel like cold noodles, but he pushed forward and tried to ignore them. With each step, though, the fact that they had no plan was hitting him in the face.
“Show up in New York City and figure it out from there”
felt brave back in Peacefield. Now it just seemed plain stupid.

They walked east, looking for a sign, a gut feeling, anything that might point them in the right direction. The farther they walked, the more the busy streets began to thin out. Suddenly, Eliza stopped, staring up at a traffic light. Jonah quickly realized she wasn’t looking at the light itself, but at what was on top of it.

Across the steel bar that held the stoplights up at the busy intersection of Wall Street and Water Street sat two angels.

“Look at that,” Jonah said, as they both stared at the stunning creatures. Eliza nodded slowly, her mouth open, mesmerized. One was male, the other female, and they sat high above the traffic. Their massive wings filled the air behind them, shimmering with a white light and rustling in the breeze.

Jonah looked around at the people passing them by. Apparently no one could see the angels but them. According to Henry, humans could not see an angel unless the angel wanted them to. But watching these people move so hurriedly up and down the street, he wondered if they would stop to look even if they
could
see them.

“Look, Jonah!” said Eliza. “They’re waving!”

Not only that, but like an Olympic gymnast, the male angel whirled around the bar over and over again and then let go, propelling himself into the air, so high that Jonah quickly lost sight of him. After a few seconds, Eliza said, “Look!” and they saw him zooming down, headfirst, toward the street below. At the last second, he reached out and grabbed the steel bar again, flipped around it one more time, and landed back beside his counterpart. He bowed dramatically, winking at them. His friend rolled her eyes but laughed at him, and they waved at Jonah and Eliza again.

“Wow,” Eliza whispered. “They’re beautiful.”

The angels hopped down to the other side of the street, across from them, and beckoned them to come over. Jonah and Eliza looked at each other, Eliza nodded eagerly, and they waited to cross the street. When the light had turned red and the cars speeding by them stopped, they made their way across.