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and stretched like a cat. I felt pretty good. I must have slept more than my usual three hours. My eyes didn’t burn and the annoying gravel under my eyelids was blessedly absent. I squinted, opening my eyes slowly to test the light. It beamed brilliantly through a small stained glass window, painting a riot of colors all over the small room. “Stained-glass? Oh my God, the church!”  I rose too fast and made myself dizzy. I sat back down. Only then did I notice the soft cot under my butt. I looked around to see if I were alone. Of course not! Sitting on the floor looking broody was Lucian.
    “Good morning.” I said, eyeing the two Styrofoam cups by his leg. “Coffee?”
    He stood up, carrying the cups of heaven. He handed one to me. Turning, he sat on the cot beside me. The springs screeched and groaned as they took on more weight.
    “Not going to bolt, little deer?” he said with a smirk.
    “No.” I said. ”I haven’t had my coffee. No coffee, no boltee” I said jokingly. “What time is it anyway?”
    “It’s a little after ten in the morning. You sleep like the dead.”
    “Ten?” I jumped up “I have to get home!”
    I looked around, my shoes sat next to the cot. He must have taken them off for me. “Hold on, ten. AM ? Where is everybody? This place should be crawling with people by now.” I whipped my head back and forth taking in the little room. Lucian smiled, but it wasn’t very friendly.
    “It is,” he said with a sneer. “That’s why we’re crammed together so nicely in this tiny room, and not spread out on the pews.”  He still looked a little pissed off. Why? I didn’t know. I was the one knocked unconscious.  
    “I need to get home,” I repeated.  I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me. Seeing him in the light of day made me feel sorry rather than scared at his failing mental state. “I’ll be okay, Lucian,” I soothed. “I’m sure the bad guys aren’t out there.” Although I was still pretty undecided if the bad guys even existed. 
    “Grace,” he said quietly, placing his warm hand on my knee, “please, don’t leave. I know you don’t want to believe anything I have to say.  I know you don’t want to take any of this seriously, but please…please believe me-you are in danger. You need to stay safe. Will you please listen to me?  He wants you. His people want you. Not only them, there are several groups that think you are the reincarnation of the Madea!”
    I stopped sipping my coffee, setting the cup on the floor carefully.
    “That man from last night, Seth, said he wanted to speak to me about the ring. He was wearing it.” I looked at Lucian. Hope lit up his eyes. “He believes the ring I found is the ring? The one the Mediclorians or whoever they were shoved all that power into?”
    “The Madea, and yes, Grace, whether or not you believe it, they do. I’m sure they know you’ve been warned by now, and are taking precautions to keep yourself safe. I suggest coming home with me. You’ll be safer there. No one will know where you are, and Seth will be physically unable to approach you.”
    “Why’s that? You live in an underground bunker? Or maybe a castle with a moat? Just how are you going to keep me safe, Lucian?”  I stood, folding my arms.
    “I have a modest home, not too far from here actually. It once belonged to my great grandfather. It will do until we figure out a more permanent solution.
    “Okay, you lost me, why would I stay at your modest house? With you I presume, when I could stay at my own modest home? Where I actually know I’m safe? You’ve got to understand, Lucian, I just met you. How do I know you’re not a bad guy as well? How do I know you just didn’t get to me first? I mean, I’d have to be pretty dense not to consider that.”  
    He ignored my rant and continued with his pitch.  “My home was built on holy land. The ground was blessed, long ago, but I had a priest perform another blessing a few weeks ago. It’s