Ethan Stone laid a hand on my shoulder. “That’s a lot to absorb. I understand.”

He didn’t understand everything, but it was a nice gesture.

“Actually, I do,” he said. “You and your Guardian fool no one, not even an old fool like me.”

“Is being a creepy mind invader your only talent?”

“Of course not,” he replied. “I’m also a talented smartass.”

“That one has been apparent enough,” I grumbled. “Nathaniel told me that my scions can’t control angelfire, so what else can you do?”

“Enable my inherent laziness,” he said with ease. He lifted his right hand and small objects zipped around my head toward him, very nearly nicking my skin. The objects—small rocks collected from the debris littering the ground—settled into his open hand. “I could have merely picked them all off the ground, but I don’t need to. Brilliant, I know.”

“In all seriousness, it is,” I said, marveling at the rocks in his hand. I touched one and it prickled my skin with energy, like static electricity. “How strong is this ability? Can you pick up things that are heavier than little rocks?”

“Like a person?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Could you pick up me?”

“I can do more than lift you,” he replied. “When I was younger, I had less control over it. I had to learn quickly.”

I cringed. “Did people get hurt?”

“They had it coming,” he said with a dismissive wave. “Most of them, anyhow.”

“Could you defend yourself from a reaper?” I asked. “Like if you were attacked?”

He shrugged and then he backed away several paces. “Rush at me.”

I gaped at him. “What?”

“Attack me.”

“Again, what?”

“Just run at me!”

I lunged toward him, but I only took three steps before his hand flicked up and my body was hurled in the opposite direction. My feet hit the ground the same instant his were lifted. Will had wound his entire hand around Ethan Stone’s throat and he now held the man high over his head.

“It was just a friendly demonstration, I assure you!” Stone gargled, barely able to breathe.

“You attacked her,” Will snarled, adding just a hair more pressure to make the man’s eyes bulge.

“Will!” I shouted at him as I caught my balance. “Let him go. He wasn’t hurting me—just showing me his powers. He’s one of my scions.”

That didn’t seem to make Will want to pummel Stone any less. In fact, Will glared even harder, but I understood. This human was descended from me and a man other than Will. Will had no reason to like him. Even so, he set Ethan back on the ground on my order and folded his arms.

“Thank you,” Ethan said, and smoothed out his suit and his hair. Will didn’t give him any room. I rolled my eyes. The stupid macho crap would never end.

“What do you want?” Will demanded.

“To help you!”

“He knows where the Naphil is,” I explained. I turned to Stone. “Which is…where, exactly?”

“The Temple of Solomon,” Ethan Stone said. “You really liked Solomon, I must say.”

“But no one knows exactly where that is,” I told him. “It’s the same temple that protected the Ark of the Covenant for a long time. No one has ever been allowed to excavate the Temple Mount. If there’s a Naphil buried alive in there, then there’s no way to get to it.”

He seemed unconcerned. “No, no. The temple in Jerusalem was sacked by King Nebuchadnezzar—completely plundered and destroyed. But there were two temples built. The one in Jerusalem protected the Ark of the Covenant, and a second in Aleppo, Syria, housed the last Naphil.”

“Ain Dara,” Will said in a low voice.

I stared at Stone, confused. “But that temple was built by the Hittites, not the Israelites.”

“Parts of it, yes,” he replied. “The twin temples are nearly identical if you look at the excavated ruins of Ain Dara and the descriptions of Solomon’s Temple on Zion in the Hebrew Bible. The Hittites in the area Ain Dara was built believed the Naphil was one of their more destructive gods, a storm god called Addu. They worshipped him, built gigantic basalt lions and sphinxes around the cherubim reliefs, and carved enormous footprints into the earth leading toward the Sanctum, which is the inner holy room of the temple.”

“Solomon built twin temples,” I repeated, astonished. “Can you take us there? Can you help us find the Naphil?”

“I can do that,” Stone agreed. “I have contacts in Israel and Syria.”

“Will,” I said, and caught my Guardian’s attention. “Once we’re finished at Ain Dara, we can head to Har Megiddo.”

Ethan loosed a long whistle. “That’s really where it will all end, is it?”

“It is indeed,” I said dimly. “I’m tired of playing tag with the enemy. I’m doing everything I need to do in order to give our side the best chance to win this war and then I’m heading to Armageddon to face Sammael and end this once and for all. I’m just afraid that we won’t have enough soldiers to help us fight Sammael’s army. He will have thousands of demonic reapers to fight us there.”

“All of the demonic spawn to meet the angelic,” he mused. “We need more angelic soldiers. I’m certain my mercenaries would be delighted to fight with you. I don’t believe they’ve ever battled an army of reapers before. It’ll be like Christmas morning for them, the bloodthirsty beasts.”