Until about five minutes ago, Rose wouldn't have thought that she'd be crossing the Great Sea to get to the South. To Gandhandi, the capital of the Hindu country, where Jericho and the others allegedly came from. And from what Rose knew, a place where demons ran rampant. Rose probably should have picked a more suitable place to lay low from Joanna’s sights. But then again, Rose didn't ever think that she'd be running away from Joanna, either. She cringed at the memory of Joanna's bare hands piercing through Father Benedict's chest, followed by the hundreds of bodies left mangled on the ground from Joanna's rampage. The New Catholics were now in absolute ruin. And as their guardian, Rose was supposed to not let something like that happen. Rose yelled through the top of her head, kicking the tail end of the ship she was on. Her injured leg gave away and she ended up on the floor, cursing. But the impact only made her angrier, and she felt white-hot flames erupt from her shoulders."Now
Rose couldn't look Jericho in the eye. She didn't know how to deal with the situation at all. She agreed to marry him, yes, but she also did manage to trip trying to get him to take his knee off the ground. Rose could still feel the sharp pain on her shin from hitting the floor. But she could also still feel the small rock on her finger. Somehow, it made her feel safe. She would be caught dead before she admitted that to anyone though. "Why are you acting weird?" Trick asked Rose innocently, his eyes falling down to the ring on her finger, "Something happened between you and Jericho or something?"Rose resisted the urge to glare at him, focusing instead on the food in front of her. They had just arrived at Gandhandhi and were now waiting for another one of their friends. Apparently, they left their homes in a mess when they ventured to Emunah, the New Catholics' capital, and they weren't ready to return yet. Ty grunted, "I didn't want to come back here." "Well, you don't get to hav
"What the hell were you thinking? Is this really our priority? Shouldn't we work on finding someplace else to stay? We can't stay here. I’m pretty sure Joanna knows where we are. We’ll be putting Crescent and the children in danger." Rose said, resting her head on the table in front of her. They were out on her room's terrace, looking out at the children playing in the yard. Kids couldn't seem to stop playing. Rose wondered what that felt like. "Rose, we need to have a place to stay if we intend on getting all three relics in the shortest possible time. We also need a place to hold a wedding, you know." Jericho replied, "And CeeCee and the children will be fine. We're not planning on staying here long. As soon as we have what we came for, we'll leave this place.""Do you even know anything about Catholic weddings? And by the way, thanks for not telling me that you'd ask Crescent to arrange this thing. I'm so looking forward to wearing a dress." Rose replied, her voice dripping with sa
Rose was thrown backward with a force that knocked her breath away. But she recovered fast, blasting fire at the stones that rapidly formed in front of her. Trick, who was right behind her, was quick too, already pulling up his magicked hands. Ty and Jericho, on the other hand, started chasing the man who had scampered away from the rubble, weaving their way expertly through the shocked figures of the marketplace goers. Rose glanced at Trick, who gave her a nod. "That bastard," Rose muttered under her breath as she gave chase to the man too, leaving the mess in Trick's hands. From what Rose knew of this man, he was fast and strong during his glory days. Ty and Jericho might have trouble pinning him down. But it looked like she had nothing to worry about, as Ty and Jericho already had the priest cornered in another alley. "What the hell was that?" Ty, in half-werewolf form, snarled at the thin, cowering man in front of him."Please...I--I'm sorry...I thought you were--" the priest st
Feron was still suspicious and had repeatedly asked why they came to Gandhandi to get married in the first place. Jericho seamlessly answered that they wanted to do it in his birthplace, after which Feron finally agreed to marry them. This should have relieved Rose. She didn't know what she would do if Jericho and her failed to get married and access the ritual's powers. Getting defeated by Joanna once was all she could bear. She couldn’t do that again. But Jericho revealing his true nature bothered her greatly. You're Nephilim, Feron had told her fiance. Nephilim were half-angel, half-human creatures whose impure souls left them sickly and dead by the time they reached puberty. Jericho was ill, that much Rose could see, but from the looks of him, Jericho might be in his early twenties already. If he were truly a Nephilim, he should be long gone. She didn’t know what could have given him a longer life than intended. But she was certain of one thing--he was definitely after the rit
Crescent, not knowing the whole story, had given Rose and Jericho her parents’ old bedroom for their wedding night. Needless to say, it was beyond awkward. Not for Jericho, though, as he immediately made himself comfortable on the queen-sized bed after taking a short shower. He studied his vibrating wedding ring, marveling at the magical hum that it emitted. Both Feron and Father Benedict had warned them about it, how wedding rings that undergo ritual magic released certain frequencies into the air for a couple of days. Father Benedict also told them that it was what they needed to access the first part of the Riddle of Life. Though theyy didn't yet know what it entailed. "Rose, come here," Jericho said absent-mindedly, pulling her towards him by the hand. His wet hair dripped down in cold drops onto the white pillow behind him, and Rose tried not to stare.Pulling her hand closer to his, Jericho clicked their rings together and the two metals attached like magnets, the vibration stro
"What? You're lying. Father Benedict would never do something like that." Rose frowned. Her eyes still trained in horror at the mark on Jericho's skin. "Of course he wouldn’t," Jericho replied, smiling sadly, "I asked him for this mark." Rose gasped, unable to reply. Jericho sighed and she could tell he was gearing up for an explanation. "You know I'm Nephilim. At the time, I was desperate, looking for a way to prolong my life. When Father Benedict contacted me about the marriage ritual, I thought my problems were over. But then I hit my limit. That made me consider the mark, despite Father Benedict's warning of what it might do to me." Rose remained silent, studying Jericho's eyes. He looked calm as he recalled the story, as if he'd already put the fact of his mortality behind him. Rose wanted to ask him what it was exactly that made him desperate enough to live to get such a mark, but she felt like it was too personal to ask. Jericho's gaze turned more and more intense by the se
"My blood will be your blood, in this heap of gold." Trick read the golden ink written on the parchment, a knot forming in his brow. "Not quite a riddle, huh? Anyone has any idea what this means?" "No," Ty replied, "We were thinking we'd count on you, since, you know, you're the nerd of this group." "Hey," Trick chastised him mildly. "My blood will be your blood..." Rose repeated thoughtfully, "We need to only decide if we should approach it literally or figuratively right?" "But there is no figurative meaning to it, I don't think," Jericho said. He looked a little better than he was a while ago, but he still leaned heavily on his chair. He had also stopped holding Rose's hand, which made her feel both disappointed and relieved at the same time. "Not that we can think of, yes." Trick agreed, "And if we were to take this literally, mixing your blood would mean..." Trick didn't need to finish his sentence as all of them knew what he was about to say. A blush crept up Rose's c
The pain will cut away memories of old. Those were the words revealed on the parchment paper when the chalice exploded. The letters black red and burning before their eyes, and the chalice, despite the blast, sitting there undamaged and glinting from the sunlight pouring into their windows. Rose, Jericho, and Trick sat on the table for the rest of the day, wondering what the words meant. But they came up with nothing, and before they knew it, Jericho had announced his exhaustion and pulled Rose into their bedroom with him. So, now Rose was lying on the floor where she slept the night before, still fighting the blush that crept up her cheeks at Jericho's insistence that they share the same room again. "Is it really more comfortable?" Jericho asked her softly from where he was laying on the bed."What?" Rose started. By the drained expression on his face earlier, she thought he had already fallen asleep. "The floor, Rose," Jericho said in mock impatience, "Is it more comfortable tha
It was a close call getting out of the Gandhandhi Museum. Ty got hurt but he downplayed it whilst they were getting away. It wasn't in Rose'se nature to worry, but then she didn't have any friends before. Even as she started feeling like she could have that sort of relationship with these guys, she didn't even really know what that word meant. Nor was she inclined to admit it. "He'll be alright, Rose," Trick said, sweat beading his brow as he administered healing magic to Ty's wounded backside. The werewolf grunted in pain. "I know." Rose blinked, embarrassed at Trick witnessing her worried frown. "You better hurry up. We need to figure out what we need to do with the chalice. Joanna's onto us, so the sooner we proceed with the ritual, the better." Rose cringed at her words. She just wanted to pretend that she wasn't that worried about Ty, but now she sounded like she was more concerned about the ritual than the werewolf's pain. Thankfully, Trick did not seem to notice, his whole
Rose knew about traveling. It was when a person's substance switched from one dimension to another. Father Benedict had told her about it and said that she had it within her abilities if she would care to train for it. But Rose didn't feel like she needed it. She probably should have, she now realized. It would've saved her from the immense nausea that she felt when Jericho pulled her from the museum to a beach in the middle of nowhere. She didn't even know that her husband could do something like that. But then again, she didn’t really know him, except for the fact that he somehow managed to plant butterflies in her stomach with his teasing smile. Rose wasn't too fond of her husband at the moment, though. Not at all. "Jericho? What the hell? Just because we're married doesn't mean that you can do something like that, you know." she complained, swallowing the bile that rose in her throat. “Good, so I got the right guy. It was hard figuring out which of the three boys you came wi
"My blood will be your blood, in this heap of gold." Trick read the golden ink written on the parchment, a knot forming in his brow. "Not quite a riddle, huh? Anyone has any idea what this means?" "No," Ty replied, "We were thinking we'd count on you, since, you know, you're the nerd of this group." "Hey," Trick chastised him mildly. "My blood will be your blood..." Rose repeated thoughtfully, "We need to only decide if we should approach it literally or figuratively right?" "But there is no figurative meaning to it, I don't think," Jericho said. He looked a little better than he was a while ago, but he still leaned heavily on his chair. He had also stopped holding Rose's hand, which made her feel both disappointed and relieved at the same time. "Not that we can think of, yes." Trick agreed, "And if we were to take this literally, mixing your blood would mean..." Trick didn't need to finish his sentence as all of them knew what he was about to say. A blush crept up Rose's c
"What? You're lying. Father Benedict would never do something like that." Rose frowned. Her eyes still trained in horror at the mark on Jericho's skin. "Of course he wouldn’t," Jericho replied, smiling sadly, "I asked him for this mark." Rose gasped, unable to reply. Jericho sighed and she could tell he was gearing up for an explanation. "You know I'm Nephilim. At the time, I was desperate, looking for a way to prolong my life. When Father Benedict contacted me about the marriage ritual, I thought my problems were over. But then I hit my limit. That made me consider the mark, despite Father Benedict's warning of what it might do to me." Rose remained silent, studying Jericho's eyes. He looked calm as he recalled the story, as if he'd already put the fact of his mortality behind him. Rose wanted to ask him what it was exactly that made him desperate enough to live to get such a mark, but she felt like it was too personal to ask. Jericho's gaze turned more and more intense by the se
Crescent, not knowing the whole story, had given Rose and Jericho her parents’ old bedroom for their wedding night. Needless to say, it was beyond awkward. Not for Jericho, though, as he immediately made himself comfortable on the queen-sized bed after taking a short shower. He studied his vibrating wedding ring, marveling at the magical hum that it emitted. Both Feron and Father Benedict had warned them about it, how wedding rings that undergo ritual magic released certain frequencies into the air for a couple of days. Father Benedict also told them that it was what they needed to access the first part of the Riddle of Life. Though theyy didn't yet know what it entailed. "Rose, come here," Jericho said absent-mindedly, pulling her towards him by the hand. His wet hair dripped down in cold drops onto the white pillow behind him, and Rose tried not to stare.Pulling her hand closer to his, Jericho clicked their rings together and the two metals attached like magnets, the vibration stro
Feron was still suspicious and had repeatedly asked why they came to Gandhandi to get married in the first place. Jericho seamlessly answered that they wanted to do it in his birthplace, after which Feron finally agreed to marry them. This should have relieved Rose. She didn't know what she would do if Jericho and her failed to get married and access the ritual's powers. Getting defeated by Joanna once was all she could bear. She couldn’t do that again. But Jericho revealing his true nature bothered her greatly. You're Nephilim, Feron had told her fiance. Nephilim were half-angel, half-human creatures whose impure souls left them sickly and dead by the time they reached puberty. Jericho was ill, that much Rose could see, but from the looks of him, Jericho might be in his early twenties already. If he were truly a Nephilim, he should be long gone. She didn’t know what could have given him a longer life than intended. But she was certain of one thing--he was definitely after the rit
Rose was thrown backward with a force that knocked her breath away. But she recovered fast, blasting fire at the stones that rapidly formed in front of her. Trick, who was right behind her, was quick too, already pulling up his magicked hands. Ty and Jericho, on the other hand, started chasing the man who had scampered away from the rubble, weaving their way expertly through the shocked figures of the marketplace goers. Rose glanced at Trick, who gave her a nod. "That bastard," Rose muttered under her breath as she gave chase to the man too, leaving the mess in Trick's hands. From what Rose knew of this man, he was fast and strong during his glory days. Ty and Jericho might have trouble pinning him down. But it looked like she had nothing to worry about, as Ty and Jericho already had the priest cornered in another alley. "What the hell was that?" Ty, in half-werewolf form, snarled at the thin, cowering man in front of him."Please...I--I'm sorry...I thought you were--" the priest st
"What the hell were you thinking? Is this really our priority? Shouldn't we work on finding someplace else to stay? We can't stay here. I’m pretty sure Joanna knows where we are. We’ll be putting Crescent and the children in danger." Rose said, resting her head on the table in front of her. They were out on her room's terrace, looking out at the children playing in the yard. Kids couldn't seem to stop playing. Rose wondered what that felt like. "Rose, we need to have a place to stay if we intend on getting all three relics in the shortest possible time. We also need a place to hold a wedding, you know." Jericho replied, "And CeeCee and the children will be fine. We're not planning on staying here long. As soon as we have what we came for, we'll leave this place.""Do you even know anything about Catholic weddings? And by the way, thanks for not telling me that you'd ask Crescent to arrange this thing. I'm so looking forward to wearing a dress." Rose replied, her voice dripping with sa