FALLEN - Nephilim Arise Series

Chapter Eight

“Aren’t you freezing?” 

Nathan scuffed his feet against the fallen leaves. He hunched his shoulders against the brisk wind at his back. 

Eva shrugged. “I feel alive. That’s what matters, isn’t it?” She patted the space beside her on the bench. 

He glanced over his shoulder towards the windows of the cafe. He’d seen Kate in the window earlier, sitting with Rachel when he’d pulled up, but it was the draw of motorcycle parked across the road that pulled him.

He cleared his throat as he sat down. “I owe you an apology.” 

“Yeah. You do.” Eva crossed her arms. 

She wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

“Thank you for the journal. It’s been a long time since I last wrote in one. I—” 

“Need it. I know.” A brief smiled graced her face, her cheeks flushed from the cool breeze. Her long black hair rose slightly in the wind and Nathan swallowed.

“How did you know?” He’d never told anyone about his journalling habit that died along with Sue. 

Eva’s eyebrow rose as she twisted towards him and rested her arm on the back of the bench. “It’s kind of hard to miss your bookshelf full of journals. I noticed you didn’t have one yet for this year, or for last year. I know it’ll be hard, but…” Her shoulder lifted in a shrug as she bit her lip.

“Sue used to buy me my journals.” A shiver ran down his back. He’d promised Sue yesterday at her graveside that he’d start to journal again. 

“She never would have wanted you to stop.” Her fingers teased the back of his neck with their gentle caress. It didn’t take much for him to imagine the feel of her fingers in his hair—stop. He shouldn’t be going there with his thoughts. 

“There’s a lot of things Sue wouldn’t have wanted me to do that I’ve done since her death.” Nathan shrugged.

Eva gave him a smile that told him she knew more than she let on. More than he thought she knew. “You’re a changed man. Don’t beat yourself up over what could have been. Living in the past only hurts you, no one else.” 

Silence reigned between them. Memories of decisions made played out in front of Nathan. Of stepping down as pastor, of turning his back on God. Decisions he could never redo. He glanced at Eva only to find her staring at him.

Eva nodded her head towards the cafe. “Go on. They’re waiting for you.” 

Nathan glanced over his shoulder. The parking lot to the cafe was empty save for his Jeep and two pick up trucks. Which was odd. The place was normally packed in the mornings. Everyone came for Jack’s breakfast waffles or eggs. 

The sight of her motorbike snagged a memory.

“When you zipped past me yesterday on the highway, didn’t you notice the crows?” They’d invaded his dreams last night, their beady eyes hounding him.

Her eyes darkened as she stared at him before turning her head and staring off into the distance. “Yeah, I noticed.” Something in her voice caught his attention.

“I’ve never seen so many of them before, not like that.” 

Eva withdrew her arm from the back of the bench and gripped her hands together. “My…father…believes the gods use them as messengers,” her voice dropped.

Nathan leaned forward. Eva never talked about her father unless it was to call him devil incarnate. 

“He used to tell me if I ever needed help, to search for a crow. There would always be one around when I needed it.” She laughed, bitterness laced in the sound. “What parent tells his daughter to search for a crow?” She shook her head. Nathan noticed her knuckles were white. “Funny thing was, he was right. Whether I want them there or not, there is always a crow.” She bit her lip, the sadness evident on her face. “Never a father.”