Miracle (boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I was carried like a football into the Enoch's Peak enforcement station, under the arm of a big, pissy guy who announced our presence the moment he stepped through the doors.

"Special delivery, ladies and Nephilim!" He hauled me up by the back of my jacket and the waistband of my jeans, slamming me onto my feet before the front desk. "Look what I found wandering the road on my way back into town." He kept hold of my collar as every head in the station turned toward us.

"God Almighty, Jed," gasped the Elioud behind the desk, "is that the missing Eljo?"

"That's right."

People started hurrying into the lobby to stare at me. For my part, I was just trying to stay upright without leaning on my captor too much. I was dizzy, and my stomach was empty and queasy at the same time. I hadn't been able to eat or sleep for days. There was a heavy ache in my body that had settled deep in my pelvis, like I should already be six feet under. Those things felt unimportant, though, because Ezra was all that mattered.

"Where did you find him?"

"What was he doing out there?"

"Wait, is this the one Ezrael Mekas was hiding?"

My woozy senses were overwhelmed with an onslaught of data, not just the barrage of questions, but also a shimmer of arousal that I hadn't been expecting. It was similar to what I felt in the Swan's presence, and it fogged up my head as I tried to make sense of it.

I realized that there were four women in the room, all of whom were Elioud. All of whom were shocked by my presence, and probably had elevated heart rates. While the feeling wasn't self-escalating, or even half as powerful as when I was near the Swan, it was still pretty awkward. I didn't even like girls that way.

"Wow, he's really tiny, isn't he? You couldn't tell from the pictures."

"Great job bringing him in, Jedaiel, this is incredible."

I'm sure he had no intention of telling them that when he first stuffed me into his car, he wasn't planning on bringing me here at all. I'd said I was turning myself in, asked him to take me to the Nephilim police. He had laughed at first.

"Why should I? There are people who would pay out the nose for something like you."

"I'll pray to the council and tell them you're kidnapping me." It was a bit of a bluff, because until a couple minutes ago I hadn't even known the guy's name. Also, I wasn't sure how much the council would care, as long as it wasn't drawing human attention.

But I guess it was a convincing threat, because here we were.

"I want to talk to the council," I said. Now that I was far enough from the Swan's house to avoid suspicion, I was ready to let them know I was here. I sent a thought to Absalom, and tried to think of the other two Nephilim council members at the same time.

Uh, hi. This is Connor Hayes. The Eljo? I've turned myself in to the enforcement station this morning, I have something to say to you. Then I thought I'd better add, Please. This prayer thing was weird, but handy. I didn't need to ask to use their phone.

One of the Nephilim enforcement officers, a blond guy in a black uniform, scoffed. "Not gonna happen. The council won't hear from an Eljo."

"They've already heard me," I retorted, "so that's obviously not true."

Jedaiel lifted me by my jacket until my feet were almost off the floor. "Little worm, who do you think you're talking to? Mind your tone."

"Hand him over, Jed," said one of the uniformed Elioud. She held a set of manacles, just like the ones they had on Ezra. "We can take it from here."