Free Tears of Blood by Simone Beaudelaire

then his weight disappeared from her body. Annie opened her eyes.
When had she closed them? A shadow stood between her and the late spring
sunshine. It took several seconds for her to focus, and then...
    "Grandfather?"
    The wiry man tossed Josiah away as though he weighed no more than a
kitten. The boy stumbled.
    "Hannah, cover yourself." He averted his eyes from her bare
body.
    Face burning, Annie shoved her skirt down over her bare legs and
twitched her blouse back into place.
    "Josiah, go to your room and wait for me. If you’re not
there when I arrive, you’ll never be welcome in this community again. Do
I make myself clear?" His voice was calm, but his eyes flashed like chips
of onyx.
    "Yes, sir," Josiah replied, struggling to his feet and
racing up the hill to the compound.
    "Well, Hannah?"
    "Annie, please, grandfather."
    "Never mind about that. What do you have to say for yourself,
young lady?"
    "That I love Josiah, and I want to marry him." Annie rose
gracefully to her feet and met her grandfather’s eyes with her own
unflinching gaze.
    "But you are not married to him. No one has asked the elders. And
you’re underage. I don’t see an almost married couple. I see a
young, naïve fool being seduced by a bad..."
    "Stop it," Annie screamed. "I love Josiah. He’s
not bad."
    "There’s something wrong with him, Annie."
    She crossed her arms over her chest. "There is not."
    "No?" He raised his eyebrows. "Then how did you give
up on your chastity so easily? I know you, Hannah. You don’t want this; a
clumsy lay in the meadow. Is that what all your talk of chastity, all your
leadership of your peers has amounted to? I’m disappointed in you."
    Seen that way, Annie flushed. Yes, she’d been vocal in the youth
meetings. And now here she was, rolling in the grass like a hypocrite. She shook
some flowers from her hair.
    "I’ve behaved badly," she said, casting her eyes at
the ground. Then she met her grandfather’s gaze boldly again. "But
it was my decision. Don’t blame Josiah. After all, he’s one quarter
angel. There must be more goodness there than bad."
    "I don’t know," her grandfather replied, his dark
eyes focusing on the horizon. "Of all nephilim, I least would have
suspected Lucien of improper behavior. He’s just been promoted to
general. And yet he was the one who broke his vows, who brought his infant to
us to raise. There is weakness in his line. It shows in his son."
    "No!" Annie shook her head, rejecting his words.
"Lucien is our hero. If anyone can get us through the battle, it’s
him. And there’s nothing wrong with Josiah. He’s just a young man.
And he loves me."
    "He’s said so?" The old man raised one bushy white
eyebrow.
    "Not yet," Annie mumbled.
    "Annie."
    "What?"
    "He’s not for you."
    "Why am I here then?" she demanded.
    "What do you mean?" There. Now she had his attention.
    "Since I was a child, you’ve prevented me from learning to
fight. I assumed it was because I was supposed to be with Josiah, our future
champion. You never intended that, did you?"
    "No." His blunt admission was like a stiletto to the gut.
    "Then why am I here? What need does the order have of me?"
    His eyes went far away. "I don’t exactly know. For one
thing, this is the best way I have to keep you safe from what’s coming.
But... there’s something. Argh, why can’t I grasp it? I don’t
have an answer, except that I just know if you leave, all is lost. Please,
Annie. Please don’t make Josiah more than all of us."
    Nothing further needed to be said. He gave her a long look and walked
away. Anne sank down in the grass and wept.
    ***
    Mr. Smith wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. He’d lost so
much over the long decades of his life. His wife, Mary, with her beautiful
golden hair. Their daughter Pearl and her husband Jacob. His grandson. Annie
was all he had left. And he hadn’t lied to her. The partial vision he
received so often when he looked at her made it clear that she was the key to
so many