Free Fire Prophet (Son of Angels) by Jerel Law Page A

instructor who will be joining us,” Camilla said. “I should let you know that he is human.”
    Jonah and Eliza glanced at one another. How was that supposed to work?
    “You will meet him before the night is over. We didn’t feel it prudent or safe for him to be here right now, considering his inability to enter the hidden realm. Plus”—she laughed—“he wouldn’t be able to see you right now, would he? You will have to emerge from the realm for his class. His name is Reverend Bashir, and he is deeply gifted in this subject. He will be teaching the Spiritual Arts.”
    Jeremiah looked at the others and slowly raised his hand. “I had language arts in school last year. Is it kind of like that?”
    “Actually, Jeremiah, spiritual arts do involve language arts in a way. They are the often-overlooked weapons in the battle,” Camilla replied. “It is another realm of knowledge and practice. More subtle, yes, but just as effective. Prayer, scripturalmeditation, fasting, to name a few. There are many ways humans can enter the battle. And since you are mostly human,” she said, looking each quarterling in the eye, “it is important you learn the spiritual arts.
    “Now,” Camilla continued, clasping her hands together. “On to the task of grouping you.”
    She pulled out a huge leather-bound book with a golden clasp and placed it on the table in the center of the room. In her hand she held a key, which she inserted into a small hole, then turned. The book opened itself.
    “Ladies first,” she announced. “Eliza, step forward.”
    Eliza adjusted her glasses and moved toward the table, watching Camilla for further instruction.
    The angel pointed her finger to a passage. Jonah saw Eliza smile slightly, as if she recognized it, and she began to read.
    “‘Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’”
    Then Camilla pointed her to a passage from the book of Romans about spiritual gifts.
    When Eliza looked up, Jonah could see Camilla lock eyes with his sister. The angel was looking for something, and Jonah couldn’t help but think that she was actually searching behind Eliza’s eyes.
    Then the angel began to pray, but in a foreign language. Jonah somehow knew immediately that she was speaking in the angelic tongue. The beautiful, mysterious words rolled from her mouth as she continued to search.
    When she was finally finished, she nodded, smiled at Eliza, said, “Very interesting,” and made notes in another smaller book made of the same worn leather.
    Eliza seemed to shake herself from the daze she was in, and then turned to rejoin the others, rubbing her eye with the palm of her hand.
    One by one Camilla called the girls up and had them read the passages, and then she prayed, again peering at each one closely. The boys followed. Jonah read the same words aloud and tried to peek at her notebook, but all he saw were scribbles on the page.
    She stared at him longer than the others, with a mysterious gaze that Jonah couldn’t decipher. A flash of darkness came across the deep blue orbs gazing at him, and a chill shuddered along his spine.
    She said nothing, but finally began to scribble furiously in her notebook.
    “What did you see?” he asked, eyeing her book. But she didn’t speak to him, or even look up, as she continued to write. Instead, she addressed all of the quarterlings.
    “You have all just participated in a gift grouping: a way for Elohim to reveal to me the gifts He has given to you.