CHAPTER 21 — THE THIRD CHILDThe message stayed on my screen.THERE WERE THREE.I read it again.Then again.My fingers tightened around my phone.Amy was watching me."Jack?"I didn't answer.Across the courtyard, Noah suddenly stopped walking.He turned around.Our eyes met.I raised my phone.He immediately understood.His expression changed.He ran toward us."What did you get?"I showed him the message.He read it.For a moment, he said nothing.Then he whispered:"That's impossible.""Why?""Because Evelyn told me there were only two."Amy stood."So someone is lying."Noah looked at her."Yes.""Who?""I don't know."A loud bell rang.Students began leaving classrooms.The courtyard filled quickly.Jack's enhanced hearing picked up hundreds of voices.But underneath them—three heartbeats.His eyes narrowed."Wait."Noah stopped."What?"Jack looked around."There."He pointed toward the hallway.Someone was running.Fast.A student pushed through the crowd.A girl.Dark hoodie

CHAPTER 23 — THE CHOICEI couldn't take my eyes off the message.NOAH.That was it.One name.No explanation.No warning.Just his name.I looked across the room.Noah was still sitting beside Claire.He hadn't noticed anything.Amy stood beside me."Jack?"I locked my phone."Nothing."She frowned."You're doing it again.""Doing what?""Trying to handle everything by yourself."I looked at her."I need to think.""Then think out loud."I almost smiled.She had a way of making it difficult to hide from her.I looked at Noah again.Something was wrong.I could feel it.But I didn't know what.Marcus walked over."What happened?"I showed him the message.His expression changed."Who sent this?""I don't know."He read it again.Then looked at Noah."Don't tell him yet."I frowned."Why?""Because we don't know what the message means.""And if something happens to him?""That's why we need to understand what we're dealing with."I didn't like it.But he was right.For once, rushing in

DESCENDANTS OF AZAZELCHAPTER 25 — THE BLOOD BELOWThe floor shook again.Dust fell from the ceiling.I instinctively grabbed Amy's hand.Noah was still chained to the wall.Evelyn stood several feet away, watching all of us."What is happening?" Amy asked.Nobody answered.Another tremor ran through the building.This time, the lights flickered back on.For half a second, I saw something beneath the floor.A symbol.Huge.Circular.It had three sections, each connected to the other.Three bloodlines.Three children.I looked at Evelyn."You knew this was here."She didn't deny it."Yes.""What is it?""The reason you were born."I felt a chill."No."Evelyn looked at me."You think your awakening was an accident?""I thought my blood awakened because I was about to die.""It did."She stepped closer."But something was waiting for you to awaken."Noah pulled against his chains."Let me go."Evelyn looked at him."Not yet.""You kidnapped me.""I saved you."Noah laughed bitterly."Fr

DESCENDANTS OF AZAZELCHAPTER 27 — THE FALLThe floor opened beneath us.I reached for Amy.Our fingers slipped apart."Jack!"Her voice was the last thing I heard before the stone gave way.I fell.Not far.Maybe ten feet.I hit something hard and rolled across a smooth stone surface.Pain shot through my shoulder.For a few seconds, I couldn't breathe.Then I heard Noah."Jack!""I'm here!"I pushed myself up.Noah was several feet away.Claire was between us.She had landed badly and was struggling to stand."Are you hurt?" I asked."My ankle."Noah immediately went to her."I've got you."Above us, I could hear shouting.Amy.Maya.Marcus.Then the sound of stone collapsing.I looked up.The opening we'd fallen through was already closing."Amy!"I jumped.My hands caught the edge.For a moment, I hung there.I could see her above me.She was reaching for my hand."Jack!""Grab me!"She dropped to her knees and reached farther.Our fingers touched.Then the stone shifted.Amy slip

DESCENDANTS OF AZAZELCHAPTER 29 — THE FIRST BLOODNobody moved.Adrian's words seemed to remain in the room long after he said them.The first blood.I looked at Noah.Then Claire.Neither of them seemed to understand what he meant.Amy stood beside me, her fingers wrapped around mine."What does that mean?" she asked.Adrian didn't answer immediately.Instead, he looked at the floor.Another deep vibration passed through the house.The glasses on the kitchen counter rattled.Claire stepped backward."What was that?"Adrian finally looked at her."Something that has been asleep for a very long time."Noah frowned."You said the first blood."Adrian nodded."That is what the old records call it.""What is it?""A bloodline."I waited.Adrian continued."Before the Nephilim blood became diluted through generations of human families, there were beings whose blood was much closer to the original source."Jack's mind immediately went to the stories his father had told him.Azazel.The Flo