“We should get you something to eat,” Jared said.

I turned to the priest. “What does your Bible say about this?”

Father Francis thought for a moment. “Well, it does have its own version of the end days. It talks about the woman with child.”

“I’ve mentioned to Jared that we’re looking in the wrong place. If you can’t find the answers in the Bible of Hell, shouldn’t you look in Heaven’s?”

The priest shrugged. “I suppose so.” He walked over to the counter and picked up the book. “It’s worth a try. A third of the Bible is prophecy.”

I offered Jared my glass, and he took a sip. When he handed it back to me, he kissed my cheek. The two men returned to their chairs, this time opening Heaven’s Bible.

Father Francis flipped the pages. “Let’s start with anything that discusses women with child in the end days.”

Jared nodded, and waited for the priest to find the first passage. They discussed trumpets, and something about seals—I imagined angels opening wax-sealed envelopes the way celebrities do at award shows—and a dragon and a woman with child. I tried to tune that part out, because the sound of it terrified me. But I didn’t have the luxury of putting frightening prophecy to the back of my mind. Because of what I had seen the last two years, I knew prophecies were very real possibilities. My only defense against the instinct to run screaming was simply not to hear. The priest discussed literal and symbolic interpretations, among other things that made my head spin. I wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion, the fact that I was purposely trying not to pay attention, or that their discussion really was simply over my head. At any rate, I was pregnant, tired, and irritable.

“It would be nice if you two wouldn’t talk about me like I’m not here,” I grumbled.

Jared’s eyes turned soft, and he reached for me. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. We’re trying to hurry, but we need to be thorough. This is our last chance.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Kim needs to return the book to Jerusalem. I’ve made her wait long enough.”

I nodded. Traveling to Jerusalem had crossed my mind many times. Shax and the rest of his minions would not make it easy for us to return his book to the one place he can’t go. The Sepulchre was above the tomb of Jesus; the creatures of Hell were forbidden. Even infinite, divine patience refused to tolerate desecration of the Sepulchre. The war could start the moment the plane lands, or they could try to keep us from even getting on the plane. We had no idea what would happen. That was the worst part.