Shadowhunter (Nephilim Quest Book 1) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  - What If You Slept

  - Whispers

  Chapter One - 1. In the Shadow of War

  Chapter Two - 2. Kitty Is Gone

  Chapter Three - 3. Shadow on the Trail

  Chapter Four - 4. Grandma's Gift

  Chapter Five - 5. Kitty's Letter

  Chapter Six - 6. Going Forth by Day

  Chapter Seven - 7. Amongst the Books

  Chapter Eight - 8. The Hidden Message

  Chapter Nine - 9. Shadow in the Garden

  Chapter Ten - 10. The Book's Secret

  Chapter Eleven - 11. The Story of the Wax Crocodile

  Chapter Twelve - 12. Eyes of Blue at the Bookstore

  Chapter Thirteen - 13. The Dream

  Chapter Fourteen - 14. The Librarian

  Chapter Fifteen - 15. The Professor

  15. The Professor

  Chapter Sixteen - 16. Timeless Realms

  Chapter Seventeen - 17. A Safe Place

  Chapter Eighteen - 18. Diana

  Chapter Nineteen - 19. The Strange Language

  Chapter Twenty - 20. Shadow Council

  Chapter Twenty-One - 21. Pale Stranger

  Chapter Twenty-Two - 22. A Gift for Mr. Donnelly

  Chapter Twenty-Three - 23. Breakfast With Daniel

  Chapter Twenty-Four - 24. The World Behind the Gate

  Chapter Twenty-Five - 25. The Opening of the Way

  Chapter Twenty-Six - 26. Wings

  Chapter Twenty-Seven - 27. Shadow on the Scent

  Chapter Twenty-Eight - 28. Grandma and the Book of Watchers

  Chapter Twenty-Nine - 29. Scent

  Chapter Thirty - 30. Gatekeepers

  Chapter Thirty-One - 31. Translating the Notebook

  Chapter Thirty-Two - 32. Leaving the Village

  Chapter Thirty-Three - 33. New Age Shop

  Chapter Thirty-Four - 34. Hunters and Guardians

  Chapter Thirty-Five - 35. Merit's Notebook

  Chapter Thirty-Six - 36. Tracked Down

  Chapter Thirty-Seven - 37. Hunting Shadow

  Chapter Thirty-Eight - 38. Letters to the Moon

  Chapter Thirty-Nine - 39. A Lily for Remembrance

  Chapter Forty - 40. Weavers

  Chapter Forty-One - 41. Mr. Donnelly Has a Close Encounter

  Chapter Forty-Two - 42. The Nunnery

  Chapter Forty-Three - 43. Meeting Angel

  Chapter Forty-Four - 44. Goddess

  Chapter Forty-Five - 45. Song of the River

  Chapter Forty-Six - 46. The Place of the Neteru

  Chapter Forty-Seven - 47. Truth Will Out

  Chapter Forty-Eight - 48. My Past

  Chapter Forty-Nine - 49. The Decision

  Chapter Fifty - 50. The Book of Messengers

  Chapter Fifty-One - 51. The Prophecy

  Chapter Fifty-Two - 52. The Change

  Chapter Fifty-Three - 53. Beautiful Evelyn Harper

  Chapter Fifty-Four - 54. Saving Elijah

  Chapter Fifty-Five - 55. Cursed by a God

  Chapter Fifty-Six - 56. Silver Angel

  Chapter Fifty-Seven - 57. Cain and Angel

  Chapter Fifty-Eight - 58. Hades

  Chapter Fifty-Nine - 59. Shadows at the Gate

  Chapter Sixty - 60. Mr. Donnelly's Past

  Chapter Sixty-One - 61. Nephilim Searching

  Chapter Sixty-Two - 62. The Clue

  Chapter Sixty-Three - 63. Meeting Kitty

  Chapter Sixty-Four - 64. Kiss in the Desert

  Chapter Sixty-Five - 65. Killing Swans

  Chapter Sixty-Six - 66. The Pyramids

  Chapter Sixty-Seven - 67. Angel and Daniel

  Chapter Sixty-Eight - 68. Angel Child

  Chapter Sixty-Nine - 69. Divination

  Chapter Seventy - 70. Council of Nephilim

  Chapter Seventy-One - 71. His Mother Is Re

  Chapter Seventy-Two - 72. Deal With a Goddess

  Chapter Seventy-Three - 73. The Team

  Chapter Seventy-Four - 74. Destination Revealed

  Chapter Seventy-Five - 75. Longing

  Chapter Seventy-Six - 76. Dreamscape

  Chapter Seventy-Seven - 77. Kidnapped

  Chapter Seventy-Eight - 78. "You Will Heal Him"

  Chapter Seventy-Nine - 79. Promises

  Chapter Eighty - 80. Healing

  Chapter Eighty-One - 81. Visiting Home

  Chapter Eighty-Two - 82. Transformation

  Chapter Eighty-Three - 83. Desert

  Chapter Eighty-Four - 84. Elijah and Merit

  Chapter Eighty-Five - 85. Mr. Donnelly's Surprise

  Chapter Eighty-Six - 86. In League With the Shadows

  Chapter Eighty-Seven - 87. The Diary

  Chapter Eighty-Eight - 88. Together in Blood

  Chapter Eighty-Nine - 89. The Attack

  Chapter Ninety - 90. Traitor

  Chapter Ninety-One - 91. Floating

  Leena Maria

  NEPHILIM QUEST 1: SHADOWHUNTER

  by

  Copyright 2016 Leena Maria

  What If You Slept

  What if you slept?

  And what if, in your sleep, you dreamed?

  And what if, in your dream, you went to heaven

  and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower?

  And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hand? Ah, what then ?

  - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  Whispers

  Whispers.

  They were with me already when my mother cradled me as a newborn. They were there when I learned to stand and walk and started exploring the world on my own. They were there when people looked at me and I could see surprise and fear in their eyes.

  "Do not mind, my lovely," mother whispered to me when I understood I was different from others."Yours is a gift that has to stay in the shadows."

  And so I stayed there, at the edge of the shadow world, the one they called Shuet, the Shadow. I hid from the sunlight and night became my friend. And I learned to talk with the shades and the stars and the whispers of the night and they taught me their deep secrets.

  CHAPTER ONE

  1. In the Shadow of War

  She ran for the shelter, clutching the baby in her arms.

  "Soon, sweetie, soon! We're on our way to safety, I promise." She was saying it as much for her own benefit as the baby's, as if simply saying the words could make them come true.

  The baby did not cry. It listened to the sirens, eyes as round as plates. The Luftwaffe was bombing London, again. People had lost count of how many consecutive days they had been running for the shelters with the rising and falling scream of the siren filling their ears, sweeping them onwards like terrified animals towards a place of refuge.

  "Come along, Miss, 'Itler's not going to wait for you, dear!" The ARP warden took her by the elbow to encourage her along with the others. Then he saw the baby in her arms. "Sorry, Madam! But please, hurry up do, missis!"

  She was not only escaping the bombs, but also the creatures that were after her baby. Their baby. The only precious thing she had left of him and their love. Her reason for living.

  Beautiful. He had called her beautiful. And he had not yet seen his daughter.

  She had not been aware of her heritage before she met him. She had only fallen madly in love with the tall young stranger. In the midst of the war they had clung to each other as though they were drowning and the touch of the other would save them both. He had told her what she was, and after the initial shock the knowledge had finally eased her pain of being different.

  She no longer cared about her childhood – the way all the others had mocked her, ho
w she kept getting herself into trouble, and that final day, when she had taken all she could stand. After that, all the children avoided her, and even though no one believed their stories, she became an outcast. Before, they had bullied her, now they did not even come near her. She spent the rest of her childhood alone, without a single friend, completely ignored.

  When she was old enough, she moved to London and found a position as a servant. No one commented on her tall frame in the kitchen. They hardly spoke to her at all, and she lived for those moments when anyone threw her a word, even if it was just an order to peel potatoes. She remembered with warmth the day the grocery boy took a liking to her.

  "Hullo, Beanpole!" he said the moment he saw her. "What's the world like from up there? I bet people are always saying you've got your head in the clouds!"

  "Nothing I can't handle! I just duck whenever a bird flies towards me." She quite surprised herself by coming smartly back with a reply that earned a delighted chuckle from the boy.

  "Handy for me that you're so tall," he grinned, "now I don't have to knock on the door, 'cause you'll see me coming for miles off, wontcha, eh, Beanpole?" He was cheeky, but so cheerful and kind that she couldn't be offended. She found she was smiling despite herself.

  He carried the groceries into the kitchen.

  "Where d'you want them then, gel? Over there?" He touched his cap and was on his way with a wink and an appreciative lipsmacking noise. She was still smiling when a voice cut in from behind her.

  "Oooh, someone's got an admirer!" It was one of the maids, the pretty one, who had seen the whole thing. She fluttered her lashes mockingly, with her hand on her round hips. "Fancy that, you've got yourself a follower who likes 'is women to look like a boy!"

  To emphasize her meaning, the maid threw back her shoulders so that her own rounded bosom made the boot-boy's eyes pop out.

  After that they called her the Beanpole, and snide remarks by the other girls about her thin frame made it clear that they thought no man would ever be interested in her. Still, most of the time they weren't too mean, just showing a sort of sly sympathy for an unfortunate young woman who did not look as a woman should.

  She kept quiet, and continued timidly to do her job the best that she could, eager to please the others and even smiling at their comments about her boyish figure in order to win acceptance into their ranks.

  When she came of age, she began to have a constant fever, but oddly enough she did not feel any weakness. By then the war was underway, and in the midst of all the uncertainty and fear she had met him. She saw him first, and stopped in surprise. There weren't many men who were even taller than she was, so he stood out amongst the others. There was something else about him; something that she seemed to recognise. She was sure she had never met him before, though.

  "Good afternoon, Miss!" He lifted his hat to her, taking her by surprise, as she walked towards the pond in the nearby park. She liked to sit and watch the water, and the ducks swimming. Sometimes she took them bread crumbs from the kitchen, not that there was often much left these days, when every scrap of food counted.

  "He... Hello," she stammered, instantly captivated by his intense gaze. To her horror she blushed. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears.

  He was tall - so tall - just like her. And handsome. He was probably the best looking man she had ever seen. He was just standing there, looking at her in...what was that expression... wonder? As though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. And then his eyes began to smile, and her knees suddenly felt weak, so that she had to take a step to regain her balance.

  "There may be a war on, but I've never known a smile knock someone off their feet!" he said. "Well, not anyone as lovely as you, anyway."

  It took her mind a few seconds to catch up with what her ears had heard. Lovely? He had called her lovely! She peeked at him to see if he was joking. No, his eyes looked as though he meant what he said. He apologised for his forwardness.

  "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to be offensive. Would you - walk with me?" he asked, and, noticing her nervous gaze searching for other people, he added "Just round the park, of course." He held out his arm to her.

  After a moment's hesitation she had agreed. They walked together for almost half an hour. He was polite, thanking her when she told him it was time for her to go, and lifting his hat again. They met again the next day. And the next.

  And then he stole a kiss from her under an old oak tree and her response was so fierce that her cheeks burned with shame for the entire evening. A week after she had first met him they became lovers.

  He had been escaping from something; because he only agreed to meet her as far from crowds as was possible in a big city like London. She did not ask what he was hiding from, too afraid to, for fear of losing him.

  They had three wonderful months together, meeting in parks, and in his room, when they could. Her visits to him were as secret as she could make them, though sometimes she wondered if the other servants guessed.

  One evening, when she was lying in his arms, nervously knowing that she was late and that she should have already left his little room in his boarding house, hoping that she could avoid his landlady again, that he looked into her eyes so intensely that she was almost scared.

  "There is something you need to know about yourself," he said.

  "About myself?" She did not understand.

  "Yes. You are not who you think you are," he said, gently tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, and kissing her softly under her jaw, in the place that made her gasp with pleasure.

  "I'm not? Who am I then?" She smiled, trying to make a joke of it, but feeling apprehensive.

  "We share a secret, you and I," he said and locked eyes with her, but there was none of the usual laughter in them, only tenderness and... fear?

  "I know..." she tried to sound light, "if they knew what I have been doing with you..."

  "It has nothing to do with this," he said, tracing her shoulder with his finger, "And yet it has everything to do with this. I have put you in great danger."

  She looked at him questioningly, waiting for an explanation.

  The explanation came in short, hesitant sentences, while he held her tight, as if fearing she would break from his arms and run away. It was not what she had expected. While the words came out, she listened mutely, stiff as a statue, not believing what he said. Not wanting to believe anything he said, because every word confirmed the fear she had been trying to escape all her life. Every pretence of her being normal was shattered forever, there in the shadows of the ordinary little room that had witnessed their deep love for each other.

  "I think they have found me. I saw one of them in the park, but none yet near this house," he finally said, "It is not safe for you to be seen with me anymore. After tonight I have to disappear. And you must promise not to try to find me here. If I am right, they will be observing this location soon, and will follow anyone who comes here, to see if that someone could lead them to me. You must believe me - your life is at stake. Please, for the sake of our love, don't come back here. I shall look for you again, when it is safe. And trust me, I will find you." He kissed her again.

  That was their last day together. The following day she looked for his tall, unmistakeable figure, but it was not at their usual place in the park. Nor the day after that. She wandered around the park, searching everywhere, but knowing in her heart he would no longer be there. But she could not help herself. It took all the self-control she could muster to stay away from the boarding house.

  And soon afterwards she found out she was with child.

  She managed to keep her pregnancy a secret for a few months, but because she was so tall and thin, it began to show sooner rather than later. She could not hide in loose dresses much longer, and before too long they would throw her out of the house. She could not let her parents hear of her shame.

  But where could she go? No one would take on a maid who was pregnant and unmarried. And she would never return back home,
to be mocked by the villagers.

  "What's up, Beanpole?" The grocery boy appeared suddenly at the top of the area steps, although she had thought no one was around when she went out to catch some fresh air and fight the nausea that was now her constant companion. "Not enjoying your position in the fancy house with all the toffs?"

  She could not help a tear escaping and quickly wiped it away, leaning slightly forward so her dress did not stretch over her belly.

  "I guessed it. Them pretty gels are teasing you all the time, aren't they? You mustn't let 'em upset you. You know what - I might have a place for you, Beanpole. One that would suit you better. My sister just got married and moved out and it's her landlady, what now needs a maid to help her. She's blind, you see. You might even be able to live there without paying rent, if you'd agree to look after her. I know my sister did. You wouldn't mind working for a very grumpy old blind lady, would you? The old girl's all right when you get to know her."

  This time tears really began to fall. It was the answer to her prayers. An old lady who was blind!

  "Tha.. thank you..." she managed to hiccup.

  "There, there, gel..." the boy patted her hand, trying to appear older than his years. "And I've got news for you, too. I've got me call-up papers." He seemed proud and excited.

  "Your - call-up papers? But - you're far too young to be conscripted!" Her own problems were forgotten for a moment.

  "I'm eighteen, Beanpole. Just 'ad me birthday - so there we are."

  "They won't send you overseas, though, will they? You're too young."

  "Dunno. Have to wait and see. Well, aint you got a hug for a man what's going to serve 'is nation, Beanpole? Lovely scent you always have on, and I don't mean the smell of onions! I'd like to get a bit closer."

  "Of course!" She felt a sudden rush of affection for him. He was so young. Absurdly young to fight.

  He put his arms around her, not caring that his head only reached her chin - and immediately let her go and looked down at her belly in surprise.

  "Put a bit of weight on round the middle, haven't you? Oh Beanpole - you aint in the family way, are yer?"