Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) Read Online Free PDF Page A

presence of Moses, the original gangster."
    I stood. "He was also apparently Ezzek Moore, the founder of the Arcane Council. I guess that makes him the double O.G." Despite the man's multiple identities, I couldn't help but think of him as Jeremiah Conroy—the man who'd stolen my sister when she was an infant, the man who'd let Daelissa shape Ivy's impressionable mind, the man who'd tried to kill me on one occasion and told Ivy to let me die on another. He might have once been a great man, but in my eyes, he had a lot to prove. I repressed the building anger.
    We need him.
    Shelton poked Jeremiah's still form with a finger. "He can't be human. Arcanes live longer than noms, but not by thousands of years." He backed away. "Is he Seraphim?"
    Elyssa shook her head. "I don't think so."
    "That ain't good enough." Shelton chewed his lip. "We need to know."
    "We might need backup when he wakes up," I said, took out my phone, and called Mom.
    "What's wrong?" she asked without even saying hello.
    I sighed. "What makes you think something is wrong just because I'm calling you?"
    "So, everything is fine?" A note of cautious relief crept into her voice.
    I paused. "Well, not exactly. Jeremiah Conroy is unconscious on the couch right now."
    "He's what?" Mom groaned. "I was hoping for a solid week of calm so I could finish negotiations with the Australian Templars."
    "I think it might be best if you're here when he wakes up. If we use the omniarch, you can be back to Australia in a jiffy."
    "Did Justin blast someone?" I heard Ivy ask in the background. "He always does the fun stuff when I'm not around."
    "No, dear." She paused. "Justin, open the portal. I'll see you in a few minutes."
    I ran back downstairs to the omniarch. Using the image of a domed room the Australian Templars had provided, I opened the portal. Within ten minutes, Mom and Ivy stepped into the room. It was hard to believe they were actually all the way on the opposite side of the planet. Thankfully, the omniarch could open a portal to anywhere within the mortal realm, as long as we had a clear image of it.
    Ivy ran through the portal and gave me a hug. "Hey, bro."
    "Hey, sis." It still felt strange to have my sister around. I'd grown up not knowing she existed. Jeremiah had taken her away from my parents as an infant so he could teach her how to use her powers. They'd thought she was the Cataclyst mentioned in Foreseeance four three one one, but apparently I'd been the lucky winner.
    Mom kissed me on the cheek and looked me over. "You're not getting enough sleep, Justin."
    "Are you able to sleep knowing Daelissa might have the rune from the Gloom nexus in her grubby paws right this minute?"
    A troubled look flickered across her eyes. "Not very well, I must admit."
    The Battle of Bellwood Quarry had gone mostly in our favor until I'd thwarted an attempt to bring down the roof on our heads, and accidentally blown up the chamber housing the Shadow Nexus—a version of the Grand Nexus in the Gloom. The explosion also had the unfortunate side effect of caving in the quarry and taking the arch with it. Like the Grand Nexus, the Shadow Nexus could be used to cross the veil between realms, but both needed a key. A tiny sphere called the Cyrinthian Rune had been the key in the Grand Nexus. The Shadow Nexus also had one, though instead of it being white with black lines, it had been the opposite in color.
    After our army’s retreat from the Gloom and back into Eden, aka the mortal realm, the Shadow Nexus had collapsed into the quarry with everything else around it. Whether it had been destroyed or merely deactivated, we didn't know. We also didn't know if the shadow version of the Cyrinthian Rune could be used in the Grand Nexus.
    "I need you to see something," I said, deciding to let her witness Jeremiah in his current state instead of simply telling her. Mom still didn't have all her memories back after the Desecration had nearly killed her in the first war with the Seraphim.