Weeks and months passed, and every day, Iofiel searched the horizon for the return of her love. When one year had passed without sign of Constantine, Iofiel left the child in the care of an old woman and set out to find Constantine.
She was quickly captured by more dominions and returned to God, never to see Constantine or their child again.
When word reached Constantine that Iofiel had been taken, his rage toward God was so complete and so overwhelming that he sought to destroy Him. In his final and unforgivable act of sin, Constantine joined the dark angels of the earth, vowing to serve the one being he believed to be strong enough to defeat God—the angel, Lucifer.
As punishment, God cursed Constantine by trapping his son in a human form and imbuing him with a power that no other of God’s creations possessed: the singular ability to take Constantine’s life.
In answer to God’s punishment, Lucifer instilled in Constantine a venom, one that was filled with dark and unnatural elements. Lucifer believed the deadly bite of Constantine would destroy the child and spare Constantine his life.
Unbeknownst to Constantine, his venom would create an aberration in the human race, a violent and blood thirsty mutation that neither time nor many weapons could destroy.
For years, Constantine searched the earth for his son, sinking his deadly teeth into anyone that thought to get in his way. As his fury drove him, the venom corrupted him, blackening his soul to a state beyond redemption. As his darkness grew, he began to target the worst specimens of the human race, turning them into a soulless band of creatures known as Uccideres.
Finally, Constantine located his son. The boy, named Boaz, had reached his nineteenth summer and was of full maturity. Constantine, still fearful of God’s prophecy, waited until night had fallen to approach his son. He crept in and visited him while he slept, while the boy was at his weakest.
Constantine bit him in the neck, emptying into him a venom so toxic no mere mortal could have survived its effects. Only this boy was no mere mortal, and the venom, though it made him frightfully ill, did not destroy the child as Lucifer had hoped.
Constantine, desperate to escape death, yet unable to kill his son, fed the boy his own powerfully angelic blood and then planted false memories in his mind. He made sure that Boaz would live a life free from the remembrance of his mission until such a time as Constantine could find a way to kill him.
For centuries, Constantine and Lucifer have worked to destroy the boy, each time failing and each time being forced to provide the boy with new memories. And so the cycle will continue, as Boaz remains immortal under God’s pledge that he will not taste of death until he sees his father take his last breath.
The words melted into a breathless tangle inside my mind. The story. The legend. Boaz. Constantine. Angels. The boy who can’t be killed. Could it be related to what Lucius had told me? Could it be related to what had happened with Bo? Could Boaz be my Bo?
I blinked my eyes and saw dark wooden beams across a soft white ceiling.
Confusion hammered at my brain. I closed my eyes, counted to ten and opened them again. Still, I was looking at the ceiling. Somewhere. And why was I on my back?
I’d just been standing in Sebastian’s office in front of that book. And now…
“I was wondering if I was going to have to wake you up.”
I looked to my left and saw Sebastian. I sat up so fast my head spun. We were in the den and I was on one of the three sofas, Sebastian on the one across from me.
“Was it that boring? I’ve always loved that movie,” he said, grinning pleasantly.
“Movie?”
Sebastian’s brows twitched, but they didn’t draw together. “Yeah. I know it predates you a bit, but I thought you might—”
“We were watching a movie?”
This time, Sebastian did frown. “Are you alright?”
“I- I’m not sure. How long have I been asleep?”
“I don’t know. Maybe half an hour. I hated to wake you.”
I rubbed the back of my hand across my eyes. His answer only served to exacerbate my puzzlement.
“What time is it?”
Sebastian glanced at his expensive-looking watch. It was then that I noticed he was in different clothes than the ones he’d left wearing.
“12:15.”
Ohmigod! I thought. Where had the last two and a half hours gone?
“Oh,” I said, trying to sound casual. “What time was it when you got in? I forgot to check the clock.”
Sebastian gave me a concerned look, but said nothing about it.
“11:30.”
He’d been here for forty-five minutes and I remembered none of it! We’d apparently watched part of a movie together, too.
“I guess I’d better get going then,” I said, pushing myself to my feet.
“Are you sure you’re alright? I can drive you if you’re feeling ill,” Sebastian offered, coming to his feet as well.
“Oh, no, I’m fine. But thank you.”
I hated to seem as if I was rushing off, but I was so addled, I felt almost desperate to get away, to clear the fog from my mind. As I walked down the hall toward the front door, I could hear Sebastian’s footsteps trailing close behind.
“Hold on, Ridley. I owe you some money for tonight,” Sebastian said, coming to stand in front of me at the door. I had my hand on the knob, ready to bolt.
“Oh.” I couldn’t think of one good, sane reason to leave without taking the money, so I waited while Sebastian pulled his money clip from his pocket and flipped through the denominations until he came up with a hundred dollar bill.
When he handed it to me, I felt guilty for taking it. I mean, apparently I’d blacked out for the last half of my stint and then had the nerve to fall asleep in front of him. That hardly sounded like he was getting his money’s worth. But arguing would only prolong the time I had to hang around, so I pocketed the money, thanked him and opened the door.
“Are you free Sunday night? It would only be for two or three hours in the evening.”
I wanted to snap at him and scream, Not now! But instead, I managed to control myself enough to smile politely and say, “Can you call me Saturday?”
Sebastian nodded. “Will do.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you then.”
“Drive safe.”
I muttered something like okie dokie over my shoulder as I practically ran down the steps toward my car. Once I was inside it, I started up the engine and backed out, racing down the driveway at breakneck speed. When I reached the bottom, I came to a gravel-slinging stop and slammed the car into park.