Demon Hunters: Book 1 Faith [editing]

Chapter 13

They spent the evening reviewing everything they knew about Jack Donovan. Zacharias mapped the location of his known associates on large maps of Missouri and Illinois that he had posted across two different walls in one of the rooms of their farm house. Stacks of files and papers covered all the available desk and table space in the room. The printer kept running as Muriel found various pieces of information throughout the web and by hacking into different e-mail servers. Zoe assembled the folders, placing them in stacks by relevance and location. The Central West High School stack only had a handful of files. Zoe hoped to be done with her excursion into teen life by the end of the week.

The house was spacious and fully furnished with rustic wilderness-themed wooden furniture, a major improvement from their last living quarters. Zacharias had taken a liking to one of the wicker rocking chairs located on the enclosed patio at the back of the house, and Muriel often sat cross-legged on a large rug located in front of the fireplace in the den and meditated in front of the fire. Zoe found herself either practicing with her sword in the living room or retreating to her bedroom on the second floor.

"Okay, I think we have just about everything we need for tomorrow's meeting," Zacharias said. "Let's call it a night."

They both nodded. In their human bodies, angels needed to sleep sometime but not nearly as often as real human. In fact, angel could go on for days without sleeping.

Muriel handed Zoe a folder. "This is everything we know right now about Brenda Roland. It might be a long shot, but it's worth a quick investigation." Brenda Roland was the cheerleading sponsor.

"Got it. I'll just follow Riley around."

"Good idea."

Zoe retreated to her bedroom and opened the window, letting the autumn breeze flow across her face. Her wings expanded out, filling the room. She shook them, white feathers rippling like waves. Nothing worse than feeling boxed in. She needed to get free.

Zacharias wouldn't approve, but right now she didn't care. She slipped out the window and took to flight.

Zoe soared just above the dark waters of the Mississippi, feeling its cool liquid flow around her fingertips. She folded her wings in around her body and bulleted down the river, gyrating into circles and pulling up strong currents. She arched her back and jetted into the night sky, leaving the city lights far behind her.

How close could she get to heaven? If she pierced through the billowy clouds, if she shot through the outermost layer of the atmosphere, would she get there?

She drove herself higher into the sky, feeling the wild winds flutter her feathers. Freedom! Oh, sweet freedom!

Alas, she stopped, closed her eyes, spread out her wings wide, and fell back to the Earth.

Her feet landed softly on the railroad tracks of the Eads bridge that overlooked the Gateway Arch. She retracted her wings and sat down. The rustling river reminded her of the passing of time.

Everything moves forward, especially in the Earth dimension. That's the order of things. They all knew this, but refused say it out loud--that the scion with the power to stop time could also disrupt this fragile order. Zoe didn't want to think about this. Instead, she concentrated on the rolling river below her.

**I want to thank  AyushiPandey for her useful advice here.**