“She’ll be able to close her eyes every night not wondering what’s with her in the dark, Nina. I’d say you’re being kind.”

“Maybe. Can you imagine her reaction when she finds out we’re leaving for Israel in a few days? She’s going to freak out. I don’t even know how to explain it to her.”

“Then don’t. It’s not a necessity to tell her we’re going to Jerusalem. Just say the West Coast or something.”

I pressed my lips together in a hard line. “I’m tired of lying to her, Jared.”

“I know.”

The stars had crowded out the last colors left behind by the setting sun, and the ocean was as black as the sky above. I might have been chilly at night by the water a few months before, but being wrapped in Jared’s arms coupled with my own elevated temperature, the sun might as well have been bearing down on my skin.

The wind rolling off the water blew my hair into Jared’s face, and he turned his head, blowing the strands from his mouth.

I smiled, but my amusement quickly faded. “Speaking of Jerusalem….”

“Yes?”

“If they know we’re going, won’t they try to stop us? If it gets worse than a car bomb we’re going to be busy. What if they wire the plane?” I laughed once without humor. “What if they shoot us down?”

“That is a possibility. But we’re prepared.”

Dread settled over me. We were vulnerable on the plane, and it was a ten-hour flight.

“We’ll land, get you and the book to the Sepulchre, and wait it out underground until you deliver.”

“You make it sound simple, but you forget demons will do everything they can to stop us.”

“We just have to get you there. It’s smooth sailing after that.”

“You hope.”

The skin around Jared’s eyes tightened. “I’m going to stop by the warehouse before we leave. Talk to Eli.”

“I thought he said to come to him when we only had one question to ask?”

Jared kept his eyes on the ocean. “I don’t think the question is ours to ask.”

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

The Road Home

We revisited that spot on the beach many times over the next two days. Jared sat with me and watched the waves roll onto the sand, and the water carry distant ship slowly across the horizon. We discussed our upcoming trip to Jerusalem, but Jared kept most of the details to himself. He didn’t want to worry me with the truth of what he saw coming. Although I was much stronger than I used to be, that didn’t change the fact that I was carrying our child.