Chapter Two: Behind the WallThe heartbeat was getting weaker.I stood in the middle of the crowded hallway, surrounded by students pushing toward the nearest exit, but somehow everything around me had become distant.The fire alarm continued screaming.Teachers shouted.Shoes scraped against the floor.Someone bumped into my shoulder.None of it mattered.I could still hear that heartbeat.Thump.A pause.Thump.Another pause.It was faint.Too faint.“Jack!”Danny grabbed my arm.“What are you doing?”I looked at him.“Someone’s inside.”“What?”“I heard someone.”Danny stared at me.“Where?”I pointed toward the corridor.“Over there.”“Jack, everybody’s getting out.”“I know.”“Then why are you going that way?”I didn’t have an answer.I pulled my arm free.“I’ll be right back.”“Jack!”I ran.“Jack!”I ignored him.I didn’t know why I was running.I didn’t know why I could hear the heartbeat.I didn’t even know if I had actually heard it.Maybe it was my imagination.Maybe the al

Chapter Four: The QuestionDad was home.I could hear his footsteps downstairs.Normally, that wouldn’t have meant anything.It was just my father coming home after work.But tonight, everything felt different.I was standing in the middle of my bedroom with my phone in my hand, staring at the last message.Ask your father about the Ark.I read it again.Then again.I didn’t understand.What Ark?There was only one Ark I could think of.Noah’s Ark.The story everyone learned as children.The flood.The animals.Noah and his family surviving while the rest of the world was destroyed.But why would someone send me a message about it?And why would they say my family knew what I was?I looked down at the photograph lying on the floor.He survived.I picked it up.The boy in the photograph was still staring back at me.There was something unsettling about him.Something I couldn’t explain.I couldn’t even tell how old the photograph was. The image was faded, and the people standing behind

CHAPTER SIX — WHAT MY FATHER KNOWSThe first thing I noticed when I woke up the next morning was the silence.Not the normal kind.The kind that felt like the entire house was holding its breath.I lay still for several seconds, staring at the ceiling.Morning light slipped through the curtains, drawing pale lines across my room. My alarm had been ringing for almost a minute before I finally reached out and shut it off.For once, I didn't immediately think about school.I thought about the gym.About the stranger who had appeared there.About Maya.About the word she had used.Nephilim.And most of all, I thought about my father.I had spent the entire night replaying everything in my head, trying to find a reasonable explanation.Maybe Dad had been protecting me from something else.Maybe Maya had lied.Maybe the man in the gym was part of some elaborate criminal group.Maybe I had somehow misunderstood everything.But every explanation collapsed when I remembered the look on Dad's f

CHAPTER 8 — THE LAST SONThe car was silent.Not peaceful.Silent.There was a difference.Jack sat in the back seat with his forehead against the cold window, watching Ravenwood disappear behind them. Streetlights passed across his face one after another, bright for a second and gone the next.His mother sat beside him.His father drove.Nobody spoke.Jack could still hear everything.The tires against the road.The engine.His mother's breathing.His father's heartbeat.And underneath all of it, his own thoughts were screaming louder than anything else.The Last Son.Those three words had followed him out of the house.They had followed him into the car.They were still sitting beside him now.Jack finally broke the silence."Where are we going?"Marcus didn't answer immediately."Somewhere safe."Jack gave a humorless laugh."Safe?"His father glanced at him through the rearview mirror."Jack—""No."Jack sat upright."You don't get to do that anymore.""Do what?""Tell me to calm

DESCENDANTS OF AZAZELCHAPTER 10 — AWAKENINGThe lights exploded.For one second, the entire house disappeared into darkness.Then something flashed.Jack opened his eyes.He was standing.He didn't remember standing.The attacker who had been holding him was several feet away, staring at him as if he had just seen a ghost.Jack looked down at his hands.They were shaking.But not from fear.Something was moving through him.A strange warmth traveled from his chest to his arms, then through his legs. His heartbeat was no longer racing.It was steady.Powerful.Every sound around him had become painfully clear.He could hear the wind outside.He could hear glass settling onto the floor.He could hear the breathing of every person in the room.He could even hear the blood moving through their veins.Jack slowly raised his head.The attacker took a step backward."What are you?"Jack didn't answer.He didn't know.Marcus stared at him."Jack."Jack looked toward his father.Something abo