Daughter of Gods and Shadows by Jayde Brooks

have done all I can for her. But I will not bring her back. Not this time,” she said, surprised by how feeble her voice was.
    â€œRose, she’s not ready to be out there on her own yet. She needs us to guide her and to watch over her on this quest for the Omens.”
    â€œI will not lead her to that,” Rose said firmly.
    â€œLook! Look at what is happening to this world! Look at what the Demon has started! Rose, she needs to do this, and we have to help her!”
    Eden’s small and pretty face flashed in Rose’s mind. The little girl, so small and afraid, who smiled when she curled up in Rose’s lap and laughed until she cried when Rose tickled her. The child who fell asleep in her arms when she sang to her—that was her child. The scared young woman who was out there somewhere, running as far away and as fast as she could from Theian prophecy, was her Eden. And Rose hoped that she would escape it and get as far away from it as she could.
    She looked at Khale, gradually fading from her sight, and Rose breathed a sigh of relief as she welcomed her long-awaited rest. “All I’ve ever wanted was for her to be happy, Khale.”
    Khale’s expression twisted in confusion as if the word “happy” was a foreign concept to her.
    They both knew the fate of the Redeemer after the bond with the Omens was completed. The Omens would make her powerful enough to defeat the Demon, and then they would destroy her. There was no other way that it could end. At least if Eden was running, maybe she had a chance. At least running away gave her a choice.
    â€œRose?” Khale shook her. “Rose!”
    The sound of Khale’s voice sounded so far away. Weightlessness enveloped Rose and finally she was set free.

 
    BERLINER MORGENPOST
    BERLIN OFFICIALS DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY
    Military forces have been called in to restore order to Berlin. Scientists have not been able to identify the mysterious plague that has killed thousands. Days later, these same patients, who have been declared legally dead, reanimate or are resurrected, seemingly fully recovered initially, only to attack and appear to feed on other humans. One medical professional interviewed stated the following: “The initial onset of the disease appears as meningitis or influenza, but does not respond to treatment of either. We have no idea what it is.”
    Â 
    LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
    Three days ago Eden was at the airport trying to buy a one-way plane ticket to Fort Lauderdale. Now she was on a bus heading for Cleveland. All air travel had been suspended until further notice. Eden had been sleeping in a bus terminal for three days before she finally managed to get a ticket out of Brooklyn, and the only bus leaving was headed to Cleveland. The ticket cost her six hundred dollars. She paid it because all that mattered was getting the hell away from this place.
    She’d tried calling Rose several times, only to have her calls go straight to voice mail. In the past, Rose, along with Khale, had always found Eden and had always convinced her to go home. This time, Eden had no intention of going back, but it would’ve been nice to hear Rose’s voice and to know that she was okay. Of course she was okay. Rose was an Ancient. For now, at least, Rose had to be safe.
    Eden sat huddled beside the window in a seat next to a pregnant woman holding a toddler in her lap. The people on this bus were scared. She was scared. Eden had no idea what was waiting for her in Cleveland or where she’d go after that, but the fact remained that New York had caved in on itself and turned into a nightmare. She’d been checking the news on her smartphone.
    People were getting sick and dying and then coming back to life and killing each other. There had even been reports of some people eating other people. It was crazy. Eden had been feeling sick to her stomach for days. She hadn’t been able to eat and she’d