Blood Infernal: The Order of the Sanguines Series by James Rollins, Rebecca Cantrell

possessed.
    Leopold .
    It was from the smoke of that weakening flame that Legion had learned the ways of this present world. He had rifled through those memories, those experiences, to ready himself for the war to come. He had built an army, enslaving others with merely a touch of his hand. He let the strength of his darkness flow into them. With each touch, his eyes and ears in this world multiplied, allowing his awareness to grow ever larger across the land.
    He had one purpose.
    He pictured a being of immensely dark angelic power, seated on a black throne.
    Centuries ago, those six-hundred-and-sixty-six spirits had been woven by that black angel, securing Legion inside that gemstone. He was left there as a harbinger for what was to come, a dark seed waiting to take root in this new world and spread.
    When he was finally freed from the gem, he attached himself to the creature who broke that stone. Leopold . Legion rooted himself deep into his new vessel, attaching himself to Leopold, taking possession, the two becoming one. The vessel was the pot from which he could grow into this world, spreading his branches far and wide, claiming others, branding them, enslaving them. And while his foothold in this world depended on Leopold living, he could still travel along those branches and control them from afar.
    His duty was to open the way for his master’s return, to ready this world for its purification, when the vermin known as mankind would be purged out of this earthly garden. The dark angel had promised Legion this paradise, but before he could be awarded this prize, he must first complete his task.
    And now he knew there were forces aligned against him.
    That he also learned from the flickering flame inside him.
    Legion did not fully understand that threat, but he recognized that his vessel fought to keep certain scraps hidden from him. Moments ago, he felt that flame of Leopold’s spirit flare brighter with shock, saw it shudder in the darkness, drawing his attention. From that smoke, he learned a name, put a face to it.
    The Warrior of Man .
    But not just that name. Others slipped free, too, as memories burned away to smoke.
    The Knight of Christ .
    The Woman of Learning .
    Whispers of prophecy rose with that smoke, along with an image of a book written by the very Son of God. He studied that flame now, trying to learn more.
    Who else stands in my way?

March 17, 8:32 P . M . PST
    Santa Barbara, California
    Talk about an exercise in futility . . .
    With gritted teeth, Tommy shinnied up another couple of inches on the knotted rope that hung from the center of the gymnasium. Below his toes, his classmates yelled either words of encouragement or insults. He couldn’t really tell which from up there, especially past the pounding of his heart and gasping of his breath.
    Not that it would matter anyway .
    He had always hated gym, even before his cancer diagnosis. Uncoordinated and not particularly fast on his feet, he was usually picked last for most sports. He also quickly discovered that he would rather stay away from any ball than jump after it.
    I mean what’s the point?
    Only one activity truly interested him: climbing. He was actually good at it, and he liked the simplicity of it. It was all about him and the rope. Whenever he climbed, his worries and fears faded away.
    Or at least most of them.
    He clamped his knees on the rope and tugged up higher. Sweat trickled down his back. The weather was always warm in Santa Barbara, and almost always sunny. He liked that. After spending time in Russia and aboard an icebreaker in the Arctic, he never wanted to be that cold again.
    Of course, after being frozen solid in an ice sculpture of an angel, anyone would appreciate the Southern California sunshine .
    He stared up toward that sunshine now, where it flowed through a row of windows at the top of the gymnasium.
    Almost there . . .
    In another two yards, he should be able to touch the wire cages that protected the lights