Interlogue 1

A woman with hair of pure silver sat in a coffee shop sipping her latte. On the table before her was a copy of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The cover was worn, and the pages dog-eared. She wore a white blouse of stylish cut and white jeans with gold trimming patterns. Her nails, professionally done in an ivory tone, went well with her overall look and style. Her ageless beauty made it difficult to know if she was in her late twenties or early fifties. The hair color made those who glanced at her think the latter, but the health of her skin and energetic aura persuaded people to the former. She had just turned the page of her book when a short man in a suit approached her in recently shined brown loafers. His black hair bounced with each step, accentuating a white streak in his locks that crossed over his brow.

This man, too, had a youthful glow about him. He wore a smile stretching from ear to ear and strutted as though he didn’t have a care in the world. And he wore his suit very well—a chestnut brown, tailor-fitted suit with a vest and a chain running from his pocket to somewhere in his coat. A brilliant white collar poked above his coat lapel, completing the ensemble.

“Gabriella,” the man said. “I see you’re indulging in your vice again. Things must be pretty bad.”

Gabriella closed the book and slid it to the end of the table nearest the cafe window. “Michael. I didn’t expect you when Barty informed me they were sending someone from higher up.”

“What is it you like so much about coffee?” he asked, gesturing to the tall cup. “I tried it once, but the taste is overpowering. And it has addictive qualities.”

“One cup now and then will not hurt anybody,” Gabriella shot back. “I like the taste personally. It has an earthy flavoring that keeps me grounded, for lack of a better word. You should worry more about things that actually matter.”

“Oh, I’m quite concerned. From every report I’ve read, we are well behind the opposition on the latest Nexus.”

Gabriella put her fingers together in a dome shape and pursed her lips slightly. “It’s true. We have our best people working on it, but...” She took a sip of her coffee and shook her head. “It’s weird. They have made contact with two people. I think they’re trying to keep us guessing which is the Nexus. Or they don’t know which it is.”

“Two?”

Gabriella nodded, but Michael could see her thoughts were elsewhere.

“Marcia Dawson has already descended far enough that the haze has obscured her from us. Jade Seymour is on our side, but she is not so far as to be obscured from them. However, there was a moment a few days ago when she was completely obscured. According to reports, the haze was completely impenetrable.”

Michael smiled. Gabriella was rambling. Was that because of the coffee or because she was growing more anxious? “It must have been a powerful demon near her to cause so much obfuscation. There is certainly something in the air. I could feel it the moment I arrived.”

He withdrew from his suit a small comb and fixed his hair.

“A tension. That’s what it feels like. A palpable tension.” Michael had to search his memory for only an instant. “Remember Jornada del Muerto? 1945? That instant before they detonated the bomb?”

Gabriella made a face that suggested she disagreed with his analogy. “Don’t you think that’s a rather dramatic example?”

“Not particularly. The entire world froze for an instant, suspended in the moment where everything could and would change. Then, an energy so powerful was unleashed it ripped through reality itself. My hair stood on end at that moment, Gabriella. I will never forget it. And a Nexus can mean the same thing. Reality changing. For better or for worse. Do you know how long it’s been since our side pulled a Nexus to it?”

“Not that long,” Gabriella said, pushing a strand of silver hair behind her ear.

Michael sputtered on his water. “I beg your pardon. Noah was a very long time ago.”