The Fallen 4 (38 page)

I looked at Jay’s drawing. He’d already noticed what had taken me so long to see.

“That’s awesome, Jay,” I said proudly, but tactfully. Jay wasn’t big on fuss. “You should go to art camp this summer.”

Jay was rifling through the snack drawer, completely unimpressed. “Art camp?” he blurted. “Too busy with baseball, Mia.”

I laughed. Jay was a kid who knew exactly where he was going in life. I often wished I was more like him.

I waited at the kitchen table, the picture in my hand as Jay headed up to his room. There was a lot I didn’t get about the world,
but nothing shocked me more than what had happened to Jay. Jay’s mom was my dad’s second wife, and Jay had lived with them until Dad bailed again and the wife took revenge on him by dumping her four-year-old son with Pete! I mean, where do these people come from? At least Jay had our dad for a time, I guess. I wouldn’t have known the guy if he’d hit me over the head with a mallet.

So, though Jay was my dad’s kid and, therefore, not actually Pete’s blood, Pete had taken him in too, and I’d gained the brother I’d always wanted. Don’t get me wrong. Pete was pretty much useless. But he had saved Jay from a life without family, and he’d given me a family in the process.

I placed Jay’s picture on the table, then headed for the shower to wash the scent of Mickey’s fried chicken out of my hair. I’d barely settled in to study when the sound of Pete’s truck brought me to my bedroom window.

Pete stood in the driveway, takeout bag in one hand, six-pack in the other. He looked out over the moonlit cornfields that bordered our land. His shoulders were back, his chin was up, and though I couldn’t see his face, I knew his gaze swept those fields.

I frowned. It was so unlike Pete, who invariably stumbled when he arrived home this late. I quickly scanned the cornfield. There was nothing there. Yet Pete remained fixated on the horizon. I remembered the light and the shadow in front of Rowe.

“Maybe we’re both cracking up,” I said to myself. But I wondered if I wasn’t the only one to have seen something strange that night.

T
HOMAS
E. S
NIEGOSKI
is the author of more than two dozen novels for adults, teens, and children. His books for teens include
Legacy
,
Sleeper Code
,
Sleeper Agenda
, and
Force Majeure
, as well as the series The Brimstone Network.

As a comic book writer, Sniegoski’s work includes
Stupid, Stupid Rat-Tails
, a prequel miniseries to the international hit
Bone
. Sniegoski collaborated with
Bone
creator Jeff Smith on the project, making him the only writer Smith has ever asked to work on those characters.

Sniegoski was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his wife, LeeAnne, and their French bulldog, Kirby. Visit him on the Web at
www.sniegoski.com
.

A
LSO BY
T
HOMAS
E. S
NIEGOSKI

THE FALLEN 1
THE FALLEN
AND
LEVIATHAN

THE FALLEN 2
AERIE
AND
RECKONING

THE FALLEN 3
END OF DAYS

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

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www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Simon Pulse paperback edition August 2012

Copyright © 2012 by Thomas E. Sniegoski

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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Designed by Karina Granda

The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond.

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sniegoski, Tom.

Forsaken / Thomas E. Sniegoski. — 1st Simon Pulse pbk. ed. p. cm. — (The fallen ; 4)

Summary: As the war between Heaven and Hell rages on, half angel and half human Aaron and the other Nephilim are determined to protect humanity, but when casualties mount around them, Aaron and his beloved Vilma’s loyalty and faith will be tested.

ISBN 978-1-4424-4699-1

[1. Angels—Fiction. 2. Good and evil—Fiction. 3. Love—Fiction. 4. Supernatural—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.S68033Fo 2012

[Fic]—dc23

2012012489

ISBN 978-1-4424-4700-4 (eBook)