Free The Firstborn by Conlan Brown Page A

prophetic gift that followed them through their lives—they and only they were gifted like this, they and their offspring.”
    “Their descendents?”
    “Yes. But it wasn’t simply a matter of lineage, but faith. As the First-born reached out to Christ, He reached back and shared with them each their own unique charge—their own calling to fulfill. To some He gave the gift of foresight, to see things that had yet to come. To others He gave the gift of insight, to see the truth of the moment, and to others still He gave the gift of hindsight—”
    “The ability to see things that have been,” she said, piecing it all together.
    “You,” her grandfather said, leaning close, “are a descendant of that ancient line. In your blood you carry that same gift, and in deeper faith it has been made manifest.”
    She looked his face over, skeptically. “And you’re one of these—Firstborn?”
    “Yes,” he said with a nod. “In fact, I am the patriarch of the Prima.”
    “The Prima?”
    “Yes, those who are gifted with the ability to see events from the past. Prima . The word is Italian; it means what has come before. There are also the Domani , a word that means ‘tomorrow.’ They are given the gift of foresight—the ability to see into the future. And there are also the Ora , a word that means ‘now.’ They are blessed with insight—the ability to see the truth of the moment. I look over our brothers and sisters of the Prima and keep them together so that we can use our gifts together to serve our purpose in Christ.”
    Her mind raced, trying to understand better.
    “And Devin Bathurst?”
    “He is a member of the Domani—those who see the future. Using his gifts he was able to prevent any harm from coming to you.”
    “Then why don’t people like him?”
    “Devin is highly regarded throughout our community. All the Firstborn know about Devin Bathurst and his many successful callings—but long ago the Firstborn turned against one another and began to kill one another. Every order turned against the others, and so the Firstborn agreed that the orders would never mingle. The Prima do not interact with either the Domani or the Ora, and vice versa. Only on special occasions do the Firstborn ever talk with other orders.”
    “I don’t get it.”
    Her grandfather nodded his head understandingly. “When people are gifted with very different forms of knowledge, they begin to see the world very differently—and if there is one thing that people can’t abide, it’s people who see the world differently from them.”
    “And people stop talking about those differences?”
    “People will kill over those differences.”
    She thought about all the things she wanted for her life. A house. A husband. Children. But an ancient order of prophets? This was not what she had ever dreamed of.
    “I don’t want to be one of the Firstborn,” she said in a small voice. “This was never what I wanted.”
    His look was gentle as he laid a hand on her shoulder. “But this is your life now.”
    She pulled away from him, standing. “This isn’t the life I want.” She left the barn and her grandfather behind.

Chapter 7
    C LAY WAS MEETING WITH his people when his cell rang. He lifted his index finger to request a moment from the others.
    “This is Clay.”
    “Have you seen the news?”
    “No.”
    He stood, walked toward the television, and pressed the button on the remote control.
    “It’s the Al Nassar thing.”
    “What about it?”
    “There’s been a copycat shooting in Florida, and it looks like a couple of retaliatory attacks—a guy got on a bus this morning and knifed the driver to avenge Al Nassar. There was nearly a riot at Al Nassar’s funeral.”
    Clay turned up the volume on the television, watching the broadcast intently.
    “Clay—this is all getting out of hand.”
    “Yes,” Clay said, mind focused on the television, “it is.”
    “It’s time to do something about this.”
    “Yes, it