Devil Unknown Read online

  The distant sounds of sirens filled the air. Nathan glanced over his shoulder for the lights, but the darkness held its secrets.

  He bent forward and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. He let the tears flow unchecked. He couldn’t believe the crushing love that swept over him for this woman. And she was dead.

  He was too late.

  He gazed up into the night sky and stared straight into the black, soulless eyes of a crow.

  Join us, Nephilim, son of Morax.

  He couldn’t take it anymore. Nathan screamed, a deep guttural sound that tore his throat apart. He released his hold on Rachel and gripped the driver’s door. With one pull, he ripped it off the truck and threw it at the crows circling above him.

  The bird swerved out of the way and settled on the truck roof. It hopped out of the Nathan’s arm reach.

  Not what you seem. More than anticipated. Join us, before he comes for you.

  “What are you?” Nathan yelled as he slammed his clenched fist on the roof. A large indent bowed beneath his hand. He couldn’t handle this anymore. His knees buckled beneath him. He turned his gaze from the crow to Rachel and hit the ground with a thud.

  Rachel. Dead.

  He covered his face with his hands as a deep retching sob shook his body.

  He should have saved her. Why didn’t she trust him enough to tell him where she was going?

  Because he didn’t deserve her trust. Why should she tell him where she was going? Not even Sue had done that.

  The night Sue died, he’d been at the church working on a sermon. They’d argued earlier in the day about a bill that had arrived. A bill Sue had no idea Nathan paid on a monthly basis.

  To Mount Joseph Private Hospital.

  Instead of telling Sue the truth about his mother after she accused him of not trusting her, he’d stormed out and refused to answer any of her calls or text messages. He stayed as long as he could at the church, hoping that Sue would have gone to bed before he got home.

  He hadn’t wanted to face the truth. Instead his fears were exposed.

  Sue left him. He knew it deep in his heart.

  The faint glow of lights drew his attention. Criss-cross beams shone down the ravine, illuminating the slippery slope.

  Help was here. But it was too late.

  “Down here.” Nathan scrambled to his feet and waved his arms until the flashlights blinded him with their brightness.

  He cast one last look at Rachel and memorized the deathly mask that replaced the life, the sparkle, the joy of a woman who deserved more than this. His heart broke as he whispered her name.

  Nathan recognized the paramedics as they made their way down the bank. He stepped back and out of the way as they bypassed him and focused on Rachel.

  He listened to them talk to one another, discuss a plan for getting her out of the truck and on their stretcher. Nathan helped as much as he could. He noticed the concerned glances sent his way but it didn’t matter. His stoic attitude was all he could handle. He knew he detached himself from reality. It was the only way he could survive right now.

  As he helped carry her up the slippery embankment, he caught the winged flight of the crows out of the corner of his eye. He refused to listen to their whispered beckoning.

  The thud of the ambulance door as it closed behind Rachel’s body was the final straw. His feet cemented into the ground as he lifted his face to the cloud filled sky. His scream echoed off of the rock face and taunted him.

  When he faced his truck, fiery anger filled him. He bent down and scooped up small rocks around his feet. One at a time he threw the stones at the murder of crows that covered his truck.

  “Get. Away. From. Me,” he ground out between clenched teeth. His chest heaved as the rocks bounced off of his truck without hitting a single bird.

  Journals hold the key.

  Nathan darted towards the truck and flailed his arms. The crows swept up in a swirl of cascading feathers and circled high above him.

  He yanked open his door and threw himself inside the cab. His nostrils flared as he struggled to calm his breathing. He needed to get a hold of himself and head home before he lost it for good.

  Nephilim. Son of Morax. Listen--

  Nathan jerked the key in the ignition and rammed his foot on the gas pedal.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Morax sat in the corner chair of the study and watched his son pull the battered box off the top shelf. He rubbed his hands and resisted the urge to snicker. He’d waited a long time for Nathan to open this box.

  All his plans had been made for this one moment.

  The grief etched on Nathan’s face did little to soften his heart. Grief was a human emotion meant as a crutch for the weak. His son was anything but.

  He made sure he’d seen to that. What was one death compared to the survival of a species?

  Morax leaned back and lifted his arms behind his head. With his legs crossed, he settled back to watch the beginning of Nathan’s transformation.

  There weren’t many Nephilim alive. The odds of one living to their fortieth year was miraculous. The enemy did everything possible to ensure they didn’t survive to the year of maturing.

  But Nathan was different. There was a special quality about his DNA that no other Nephilim had, because of Morax’ genius. He wasn’t called the president of Hell or the demonic god of science for nothing. Genetic mutations were his creations.

  Like his son.

  Morax leaned forward as Nathan pulled out the journal his mother wrote all those years ago. A journal full of research on the Nephilim, on fallen angels, on the women who succumbed to the seduction of angels.

  Everything was for this one moment.

  In order for the rest of his plans to be put into action, Morax needed Nathan destroyed. The death of his wife and now the weak woman he was foolishly falling in love with guaranteed the demise of any pastoral longings his son might still retain.

  Morax shook his head. He’d been the laughing stock of the council when they’d learned his son was a minister of the Most High God. Anger welled inside him at the memory.

  They wouldn’t be laughing now, not when his son became the savior of their species.

  It all depended on the journal and the ripped page Morax held in his hands. The page containing all the answers to the questions his son would soon have.

  A sickening smile grew as he watched the horror of knowledge spread across his Nathan’s face.

  This was just the beginning.

  Want to know more?

  Turn the page for an excerpt from Nephilim Arise coming December 2011.

  Nephilim Arise

  Sitting alone, cold and weary, Nathan struggled with accepting the reality he'd only caught glimpses of. His fingers gripped the steering wheel until his white knuckles ached. Long hours had passed since Nathan first parked his Jeep across from the deserted building. He exhaled into the cold vehicle and stared, mesmerized at the white fog that circled in front of him before dissipating into nothing.

  A beaten box sat beside him on the other seat. The lid, propped open for easy access, had slid down into the little space between the seat and the passenger door. Nathan didn’t care. All that mattered were the puzzle pieces inside.

  Three crows stood watch on the front porch of the house he watched. They stared at him, their unblinking eyes unnerving him, taunting him to take the first step.

  On the long drive to this house, Nathan came to the realization he was crazy. There was no other answer that made sense. He'd long feared the disease was hereditary, now he knew so. There was no other explanation.

  His mother could see demons. He could hear them. Like mother like son.

  A faint light flashed through the sliver between the wood boards nailed to the windows. The third time in the past hour, tenth time since he'd sat there watching, waiting.

  This house drew him, called to him. Visions of this place filled his dreams. After the nightmare of the crows circling over Rachel's truc
k had come true, there was no way he was ignoring this one. Maybe, just maybe, if he'd paid attention before, Rachel would be alive.

  Guilt ate at him. It was all his fault.

  If only he'd known, both Rachel and Sue would be alive.

  Nathan picked up a journal laying in his lap. It was all in here. Every deep, dark secret his mother had kept from him. All the lies he considered truth mocked him. He'd lived a lie his whole life and the only one to blame was himself.

  Not his mother. Not his wife. Not God or Satan, the one who created him.

  The only fault was himself.

  Images of Rachel's funeral played over his mind. The somber atmosphere over those who mourned the death of an innocent, an innocent whose only desire was to save the lives of others. Nathan didn't deserve her love. He realized that as her body was lowered into the ground and handfuls of dirt were dropped over her casket. He stood there, watching guard until dusk had fallen and he was alone. A part of him died that night, buried deep in the ground. As he walked back to his vehicle he realized something.

  The man he knew--the pastor who wanted to believe that God, in all his infinite wisdom, had a plan--no longer existed.

  Nephilim. Arise.

  Nathan breathed the frigid air into his lungs as he threw the journal in his hand back into the opened box. The man he knew gave way to the man he was today. Cold. Empty. Determined. He was tired of playing games he didn't know the rules for. Enough was enough.

  If the crows wanted to dance, he'd be the one to pick the tune. He'd be the one controlling the strings, playing the puppet master.

  They wanted the Nephilim. What they would get was him. Nathan Hanlin.

  The light flashed again.

  Nathan flung open the driver’s door and unfolded his body from the vehicle. Blood circulated and tiny pinpricks of needles covered his skin. He relished the pain, craved it.

  Come to us Nephilim, son of Morax. Join us.

  Nathan crossed the street, his steps determined.

  He had sworn to never come back to this house. Too many secrets, too much heartbreak. He made a promise he could no longer keep. Sorry, Mom.

  Some promises are meant to be broken. Some secrets needed to be exposed.

  Whatever was inside, whoever was inside was about to get a rude awakening.

  Nathan had come home.

  Did you enjoy Bandit Creek?

  Be sure to visit Bandit Creek Books for more information on the series.

  Don’t miss:

  Lost by Vivi Anna

  Siren’s Song by D. L Snow

  Penny Candy by Jade Buchanan

  Hard Candy by Jade Buchanan

  Coming November 15, 2011:

  Death in Bandit Creek by Amy Jo Fleming

  Thank you for reading my Bandit Creek Thriller.

  I loved writing this story and can’t wait for you to read Nephilim Arise.

  For more information about my other stories please visit my website at

  http://www.steenaholmes.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Nephilim Arise

  Bandit Creek Books