Divine Blue [Book One]

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Taylor's anticipation for the event that would change both hers and Adrienne's lives was growing. There was not an exact day or time hammered out in the prophecy, only a reasonable estimate of the range of time in which it would take place. Every move that Taylor made, while Adrienne was in her midst, wasn't without some fear that danger could be lurking around the corner.

Taylor had been training harder than ever with Sarai and Samuel. After defeating the demon in the box the first time, it was much easier for Taylor to devise various ways to defeat him again. She had begun using her powers as an extension of her own limbs, reaching out and physically confronting the creature. According to Sarai, this was a novel way in order to battle with demons and one that she hoped would aid Taylor in her bout with Izael.

Izael was callous and powerful. Sarai had described in detail what Izael was capable of and had accomplished on his conquests over humans in the past. Since the introduction of mortal angels, Izael had not participated in any human killings. Izael's success in the past had been dependent upon the fact that pure angels couldn't afford to occupy the world disguised as individuals and couldn't afford to lose any of its current population guarding souls to dedicate to destroying demons. Sarai had indicated to Taylor that it was likely Izael was 'underground' gathering information about mortal angels as, one by one, demons were being maimed and killed by mortal angels. His desire was to strengthen his own defenses in order to guarantee their survival and growth.

With a few centuries of data collection under his belt, Izael was returning to the battlefield. This didn't do much to curb Taylor's growing anxiety. Just because he had been out of the game for a number of centuries, it didn't mean that he hadn't become stronger. He now knew many of the weaknesses of mortal angels like Taylor.

The Christmas holiday was just days away and today was their last day of school, their last midterm for the semester. The students were buzzing with excitement knowing they only had a half day left. As soon as the last bell had sounded throughout the halls, Taylor rushed to meet her friends at the front of the school. She leaped through the double doors and found Adrienne by herself.

"Hey," Taylor said to her, walking up to her and smiling.

"Hey, Tay. How did your last test go?" Adrienne asked her.

"It went well, as far as I can tell. Mrs. Edwards made it super easy."

"Yeah, I think she just likes to make them easy so she looks good."

"Probably. Where's everyone else at? I'm usually the last one out the door."

"They already left. I was waiting for you," Adrienne said to her, smiling.

"That's awfully sweet of you. Where did they go?" Taylor asked her.

"They decided to go out to eat. I told them to go ahead. You can go, too, if you want, but I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me. I need to go to the mall and get some stuff for my parents off their list of Christmas gifts for the family. We could grab some lunch there and hang out?"

"I would love to go with you. Sounds fun."

"The fun part is the scavenger hunt that is my parents' Christmas list. They always come up with the most outrageous stuff to get everyone," Adrienne said, laughing, as she and Taylor began walking over to the parking lot.

Taylor walked up to the passenger side of Adrienne's car. A flood of memories washed over her standing on this side of the car. She opened the door and climbed inside. Oh my God. Adrienne sat down in the driver's seat and closed the car door. She put the key into the ignition and her antique car purred to life. Adrienne looked over at Taylor.