Heather Terrell - Eternity (v5)

How was I supposed to behave?

“You look really ready for a latte,” Ruth pronounced, sounding very normal.

“I am really ready for one,” I said, attempting to match her light tone.

As we got into her car, I thought how pretty she looked under those wire-rimmed glasses. I smiled a little thinking about how shocked our classmates had been when Ruth unleashed her inner runway model at the fal dance. Only to tuck that beauty away again for school on Monday.

Loyal, whip-smart, but incredibly reserved, Ruth loathed any unnecessary attention. She saved up her animation and lovely smiles for a select few, and most of Til inghast High School didn’t make that cut. I just hoped that the frank conversation I planned for our coffee break wouldn’t wipe the pretty grin right off her face.

I tried to mask my nervousness as we rode to the Daily Grind, and to bolster my courage by remembering the words of Michael’s first letter that day. We chatted away, mostly about a benign argument she had had with her new boyfriend, Jamie, about his chronic lateness. The conversation continued as we ordered our coffees and settled into two brown club chairs that sat side by side. As I feigned interest, I lifted my latte to my mouth for a sip. Suddenly, I noticed that my hand was shaking. I put the cup down on the table; I didn’t want Ruth to see and wonder why. Not quite yet, anyway.

Once she finished, I waited until the Daily Grind buzzed with noise. Then I scanned the room to make sure no one was paying us the slightest attention. Leaning over the arm of my chair, I slipped a piece of paper into her lap.

I prayed that the information divulged within wouldn’t shatter her world. More fervently, I prayed that, after she read the contents of the letter, she wouldn’t decide Michael and I were crazy and alert my parents to the disclosure—in an effort to “help” us with our delusions, of course. That would undermine everything that Michael and I were trying to accomplish.

Either way, it was a gamble Michael and I had to take. We had no other options.

Ruth stared down at the letter sitting in her lap, and said, “What’s this?”

“Just read it, Ruth. Please.”

Laughing, she said, “So we’re passing notes now? What are we, in the third grade?”

I bit my lip and motioned for her to read the letter that Michael and I had so painstakingly crafted. Hesitantly, she picked it up and unfolded it. I held my breath as she did. In the letter, we told her everything we knew. We begged her to help us better understand who we were and what the end days were. We couldn’t undertake the research ourselves; if anyone was looking for us or watching us, they would realize that we knew .

Even though Ruth had been my best friend for nearly ten years, I real y didn’t know how she would respond to our plea for help researching the nature of the Nephilim and the looming apocalypse. How could I possibly predict her reaction to the claim that I was an angel of some sort? That our world teetered on the edge of annihilation?

Ruth cleared her throat, and whispered, “So you do remember?”

I was flabbergasted. Nothing in her behavior had given me the slightest hint that she remembered anything. “You do too?”

Ruth leaned toward me. In a voice so low that I could barely hear it, she said, “I remember watching you and Michael fly. And I remember taking you to the train station a few days ago. Today is the first day I’ve seen you since. I’ve been so worried about you and Michael, but who could I ask?

Certainly not your parents.”

Relief coursed through me. I reached over to hug her, and said, “Thank God.”

Ruth squeezed me back, and whispered, “I thought you had forgotten what you could do, or that I knew about your and Michael’s . . . abilities. Or that you didn’t want to talk about it for some reason. So when you pretended you were sick earlier today, I kind of backed away from you.”

“Now you know why I haven’t mentioned it.” I tried to apologize. I felt her nod against my shoulder.

“So you’l help us?” I whispered.

“Yes, El ie. I’l do the research that you and Michael need.”

“You understand that there are risks? Huge risks?”

“Of course. That seems very clear.” Even though her voice sounded firm and strong, I wondered if she real y comprehended the dangers. How could she, unless she’d stared evil in the face as Michael and I had?

I started to cry. “Thank you, Ruth. Thank you so much for helping me and Michael.”

“El ie, I’d do anything for you. You know that. But, I’m not just doing this for you and Michael.”

“No?”

“I am doing this for everyone, El ie. Because if I understand your letter correctly, everyone is at risk. And the entire world is at stake.”

Copyright

Fallen Angel

Copyright © 2011 by Heather Terrell

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Terrell, Heather.

Fallen angel / Heather Terrell. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: When sixteen-year-old Ellie meets up with a boy from her past, she discovers that the two of them share inexplicable powers and that they are somehow involved in an ancient conflict among fallen angels that forces them to choose sides, with terrible repercussions.

ISBN 978-0-06-196570-8

[1. Supernatural—Fiction. 2. Angels—Fiction. 3. Good and evil—Fiction. 4. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 5. High schools—Fiction. 6. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.T274Fal 2011

[Fic]—dc22

2010013688

CIP

AC

First Edition

EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780062039668

11 12 13 14 15 LP/BV 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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