Deliverance: The Unbound, #3

By Jeroen Steenbeeke

I used to think I was a pretty normal teenager, but nothing has been normal about the past week. Superpowers, voices in our heads, a six-thousand-year-old man, a secret NATO organization invading our school and trying to kill us. If only that were the end of the list.

I've lost track of Karen in the chaos, and now I'm on the run. Something dark is following me, something that can raise the dead and control the dying. I have one ally in all this—Shannon. But while we're both Sleepers, we may not be on the same side.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeroen Steenbeeke
• Release date: Jan 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781519947154

Book preview

1.

I watched in awe as Shannon glided toward one of the nearby trees, shrouded in a golden glow, her flight controlled and precise. She hovered near the canopy and reached between the branches. From there, she produced a large green backpack with a distinct camouflage pattern.

I've been on the move for some time. She must have seen my quizzical look. Give me your phone.

I tossed her my phone. I wasn't all that eager to hand it over, but my back still hurt from being smashed into a tree, and I knew arguing would be futile. She caught the phone without making much of an effort. The golden glow around her flared as she squeezed her hand and my phone exploded into a thousand pieces.

Hey! I shouted.

We have enough to worry about without the Purifiers using your phone to track you. She looked up at the darkening clouds. We really have to leave.

I looked back at the gathering clouds, apprehension creeping over me. I steadied my breathing, and focused my thoughts on Uriel's powers. The familiar electrical feeling washed over me and I pushed myself into the air. Uriel's presence increased, and I felt my fatigue fade.

Where to? I asked.

Anywhere that's not here. Shannon turned away from me and ascended, pushing herself through the foliage.

We should not let the creature decide our course for us, Uriel said to me.

Shannon, wait, we have to think about where we should go, I said.

Away from the creature, she said.

"It may be trying to lead us into a certain direction, like a sheep dog." Uriel had seized control of my voice.

Go north, I added. Less densely populated, though we might have to fly through Germany for a while.

Shannon nodded, and the golden glow around her brightened, turning into a streak of gold as she gained speed and altitude. She turned north, and I sped up to follow her. I turned cold again, still tired from having to fight the Purifiers earlier. My clothes were still wet from the bucket of water they had used to wake me up. I wondered if I could get sick like this. I remembered the voice of my mother, warning me not to go outside without a jacket when I was four.

I felt dizzy, fractals flashing across my vision.

Uriel, what do those patterns mean? I asked.

Patterns? I could feel he did not understand the question.

Just before Shannon burst into our school, I saw a series of mathematical patterns—fractals—and then you said help was coming. Just now I saw them again, I explained.

A Watcher was whispering in my ear. Uriel showed me a masked angel bowing down. They told me we were shrouded from them until a moment ago, and earlier they told me help was coming.

Do they do that a lot?

Not normally. Uriel seemed distant. And generally my Vessel should hear them as I do, not as a series of mathematical patterns.

I left it at that, focusing on the land passing underneath us. The hilly terrain of northeast Twente stretched out below. I thought I recognized the town of Denekamp, but I'd never been that good at recognizing towns from aerial pictures. We were close to the border by now, and would be crossing into Germany any minute. The sky was turning brighter as we increased the distance between ourselves and the black clouds that had pursued us.

I had little choice but to follow Shannon. I still had no idea what the creature pursuing us was, or what it would do if it caught up with us. It had decimated the Purifiers in a matter of minutes, and both Paul and Shannon insisted we couldn't fight it. We had escaped for now, but I had no idea how long we could outrun it if it continued to follow us.

I was aching to know where Karen was, and if she had gotten out alive. I was fairly certain the Purifiers hadn't managed to catch up with her, but they might still be tracking her phone. And she might still have been in the area when the creature Paul called Thanatos arrived. And with Shannon crushing my phone, I couldn't call her to be sure.

I also wondered if Rob was all right. His leg wound hadn't been that severe, and we had done our best to bandage it. He had been the first to leave the building, and if he had gotten out, then Karen probably would have, too. But still, not knowing for sure was gnawing at me.

I noticed a change in the landscape below us. Yellow grain fields replaced the green pastures we were flying over minutes before, and I knew we had just passed into Germany. I studied the roads and houses, noticing the overhead power lines that were common outside the cities, but were unheard of in the Netherlands. Being such a densely populated country, most of our electricity grid is below ground, with the exception of the high voltage transmission network. Germany is a much bigger country, and more sparsely populated.

Looking down, I searched for distance signs along the roads, noticing their yellow backgrounds. Dutch distance signs have white text on a blue background, so we were definitely above Germany.

If Shannon noticed the difference in landscape, she didn't show it, and she continued flying north, not even looking to me for input. I started wondering how long I could keep flying like this, remembering how exhausted I had been the first few times I had tried it, and how much energy I had already spent fighting Elariel, and the Purifiers after that. I had felt incredibly tired only moments ago, but the fatigue had disappeared.

Your body has its limits, Uriel said. Which is why I'm adding my strength to yours.

How long can you keep doing that? I asked.

At this rate? A few hours, he said.

And after that? I asked.

Best case: you pass out, Uriel said.

And worst case?

I wake up, and you die. Either from exhaustion, or from the shock of our bond breaking.

Good to know.

I decided to