Sherry plucked back the top sheet. “Machu Picchu! The ruins in Peru? Cool! You going?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s over Christmas, and my parents would probably flip—”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“—and it’s really expensive.”
Sherry looked down at the flyer. “Three thousand dollars. Actually, for a flight to Peru, classes, and two weeks of touring, that’s pretty good.” She gathered up a few booksand walked into the bedroom, speaking over her shoulder. “I’d say it’s worth it if you’re interested.”
Claire picked up a few more books and followed her roommate. Of course it would be worth it , but who had three thousand dollars lying around?
As she entered their joint bedroom, her eyes flickered to Sherry’s loft, noticing for the first time the quality of the structure. It wasn’t a bunch of cobbled-together planks like so many other students put up to maximize floor space—it was a handsome, custom-built system complete with drawers and shelves for clothes and books.
Claire helped Sherry slot the textbooks into the beautiful blond wood shelves built into the loft. Claire’s books were already organized in brightly colored plastic crates across the room.
Claire eyed the Bible sitting on Sherry’s bookcase next to her textbooks. In one e-mail, Sherry had said she went to church in her Georgia hometown. Claire hoped that meant she was a committed Christian.
“Sherry, in one of your e-mails over the summer you said you didn’t know your major yet. Which way are you leaning?”
“History, maybe.”
“Hey, I’m thinking about history too! Well, either history or biology if I go premed, but I kinda doubt that. I might do biology as a minor.” She stepped back from Sherry’s bookcase for a moment, staring at the load on the shelves. “How many classes do you have? ”
Her roommate made a face. “Too many.”
“You seem to have a lot more reading than I do.”
“I have two advanced classes this semester. I placed out of the introductory prerequisites.”
Claire paused, a heavy book in her hands. “Hey, isn’t this the Intro to European History text?”
“Yes.” Sherry dug a schedule out of her pocket. “I’m in Professor Mansfield’s class at … eleven o’clock, Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“No kidding! We’re in the same class.”
Sherry smiled and dusted her hands off on her jeans. She glanced at the clock. “Want to go get dinner?”
FIVE
S URROUNDED BY DARKNESS , K ROLECH WAITED for a report. The demon’s masters were pressing for the latest information on his progress, and he wanted to have good news to relay before he went anywhere near them—especially since he had heard through the ranks that Leviathan himself was due for a briefing on this, one of his prize initiatives.
An aide got Krolech’s attention, and he settled before a large map of his territory as several underlings arrived. He carefully allowed his pleasure to show as they spoke in turn about the initiatives underway in each of the different cities. They were clever, these troop commanders—some of the best. Their hold on the area was so tight and their mechanisms so well established that it had become a simple thing to take whatever strategic steps were decided upon. This marriage needed to be destroyed—easy to increase temptations or stress. That family needed to be embittered—easy to ensure that a beloved son or daughter contracted a fatal illness. This business should be undermined—so easy to appeal to greed when integrity was long gone and then, of course, alert the authorities.
They loved doing that. Loved using and destroying those created in the image of the Enemy, the One who had cast them from heaven, who had forever removed them from glory. His human children might be wayward, but they were still His children and He loved them. He reached out to them every day, yearning to draw them to Himself before it was too late. That was all the reason the dark forces
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s over Christmas, and my parents would probably flip—”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“—and it’s really expensive.”
Sherry looked down at the flyer. “Three thousand dollars. Actually, for a flight to Peru, classes, and two weeks of touring, that’s pretty good.” She gathered up a few booksand walked into the bedroom, speaking over her shoulder. “I’d say it’s worth it if you’re interested.”
Claire picked up a few more books and followed her roommate. Of course it would be worth it , but who had three thousand dollars lying around?
As she entered their joint bedroom, her eyes flickered to Sherry’s loft, noticing for the first time the quality of the structure. It wasn’t a bunch of cobbled-together planks like so many other students put up to maximize floor space—it was a handsome, custom-built system complete with drawers and shelves for clothes and books.
Claire helped Sherry slot the textbooks into the beautiful blond wood shelves built into the loft. Claire’s books were already organized in brightly colored plastic crates across the room.
Claire eyed the Bible sitting on Sherry’s bookcase next to her textbooks. In one e-mail, Sherry had said she went to church in her Georgia hometown. Claire hoped that meant she was a committed Christian.
“Sherry, in one of your e-mails over the summer you said you didn’t know your major yet. Which way are you leaning?”
“History, maybe.”
“Hey, I’m thinking about history too! Well, either history or biology if I go premed, but I kinda doubt that. I might do biology as a minor.” She stepped back from Sherry’s bookcase for a moment, staring at the load on the shelves. “How many classes do you have? ”
Her roommate made a face. “Too many.”
“You seem to have a lot more reading than I do.”
“I have two advanced classes this semester. I placed out of the introductory prerequisites.”
Claire paused, a heavy book in her hands. “Hey, isn’t this the Intro to European History text?”
“Yes.” Sherry dug a schedule out of her pocket. “I’m in Professor Mansfield’s class at … eleven o’clock, Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“No kidding! We’re in the same class.”
Sherry smiled and dusted her hands off on her jeans. She glanced at the clock. “Want to go get dinner?”
FIVE
S URROUNDED BY DARKNESS , K ROLECH WAITED for a report. The demon’s masters were pressing for the latest information on his progress, and he wanted to have good news to relay before he went anywhere near them—especially since he had heard through the ranks that Leviathan himself was due for a briefing on this, one of his prize initiatives.
An aide got Krolech’s attention, and he settled before a large map of his territory as several underlings arrived. He carefully allowed his pleasure to show as they spoke in turn about the initiatives underway in each of the different cities. They were clever, these troop commanders—some of the best. Their hold on the area was so tight and their mechanisms so well established that it had become a simple thing to take whatever strategic steps were decided upon. This marriage needed to be destroyed—easy to increase temptations or stress. That family needed to be embittered—easy to ensure that a beloved son or daughter contracted a fatal illness. This business should be undermined—so easy to appeal to greed when integrity was long gone and then, of course, alert the authorities.
They loved doing that. Loved using and destroying those created in the image of the Enemy, the One who had cast them from heaven, who had forever removed them from glory. His human children might be wayward, but they were still His children and He loved them. He reached out to them every day, yearning to draw them to Himself before it was too late. That was all the reason the dark forces
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