Free The Nephilim by Greg Curtis

Normals either didn't believe you and laughed, or they did and then they ran scared. But they wouldn't say anything. Not when the normal reason that a nephilim revealed his or her gift was because of an emotional bond with another. Husbands telling their wives of their special gift and so forth. Even the Choir didn't begrudge them telling their loved ones what they were and what they could do. Not if the nephilim were truly willing to trust their partners. But in this case it was far more dangerous than that.
     
    “Some of the underworld know about people with her particular gift. They call these people keys and consider them almost priceless. And since he knows what she can do Benedict will want her back as well. So he'll be searching. No doubt she sees him as a quick way of making some money and will want to go with him if he finds her. She may even try to contact him. You'll have to watch her.”
     
    “She wouldn't.”
     
    “She's fifteen and stupid. Of course she will. She thinks he cares about her. That he'll look after her. Make her rich. He won't of course. She's just a tool to him. And he gets rid of tools when they get old. The number of his old partners now rotting away in prisons across the world is almost beyond counting. And to make matters worse if and when he eventually gets caught he'll give her up in a heartbeat. Her secret will be out.”
     
    No matter how you cut it, Katarinka had landed herself in a world of trouble, and with her potentially the rest of the nephilim. But at least she was now in the best place possible to protect her from the consequences of her actions.
     
    “He wouldn't -.”
     
    Katarinka instantly reacted, taking up where the headmistress had left off, trying to deny the obvious and thereby proving everything he'd said in the very same breath.
     
    “Kid, don't be more stupid than you have to be.” Garrick told her off even if it wasn't his place and was immediately rewarded with an angry scowl.
     
    “Benedict's an old school villain. He may look like a kindly old gent but he's never given a crap about anyone except himself. He's got half a dozen kids by as many woman and not a single one of them has ever seen him or received a single cent of child support from him. He makes the Choir look good. And if he doesn't care about his own kids what the hell would ever make you think he gives a toss about you?”
     
    She wanted to argue – he could see it in her face – but he was in no mood for her childish stupidity and cut her off.
     
    “Face it, as far as he's concerned you are valuable to him only for what you can do for him. The ability to open all doors for him. That makes you valuable, but it doesn't mean he cares about you. He probably cares more about nearly all the people he's worked with over the years, and he's dropped them in jail often enough. He doesn't share his loot with anyone if he can help it and he has all the loyalty of a snake.”
     
    “When you've done whatever he needs you to do he'll sell you to the police and you'll spend the rest of your life behind bars. He's certainly not going to give you a cut of the spoils.”
     
    “But -.”
     
    “Kid how do you think we know so much about him? Why do you think he's still free? He's never kept a partner around long enough to learn anything important about him, and he usually sells them out around the same time they might start to learn something about him. Mostly he gives them up during one of his crimes. The police spend their time chasing the accomplices while he makes his escape. Then they spend the next few decades of their lives telling us about him. And while they tell us a lot, none of it's all that useful.”
     
    But there was more to the man than that. He was also damnably clever and somehow able to persuade ever more fools to his cause despite the fact that they surely knew his reputation. Sometimes when he heard the stories Garrick wondered if he too was a nephilim with some sort of gift. It