by Michael Todd
Katie stood up and turned around, wiping the dust off her ass. “Hey, you always show up to the party about three minutes late.”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Try, he shows up after everyone else leaves and the trash has been collected. Then he makes you feel uncomfortable, and you sit there talking to him until he finally leaves.”
Katie pointed at Pandora. “But it’s all in riddles.”
Pandora nodded her head. “Yeah, of course.”
Gabriel smiled. “I’m glad to see you two getting along and working side by side so well lately.”
Pandora shrugged. “I’m too awesome to always be hitching rides.”
Gabriel chuckled. “I came for a couple of reasons. Did you send a Monster of Time to hell?”
Katie pursed her lips and shifted her eyes to Pandora. Pandora shrugged, and Katie turned her gaze back to Gabriel. “Uh, were we not supposed to? We did it before.”
Gabriel blinked at her for a couple of moments before shaking his head. “It’s not looked too highly, no. We don’t have a lot of angel mercenaries and random Leviathans walking around. But now that you’ve done it twice, we’ll have to write something in about it.”
Katie grumped. “Great, so I’m basically the girl who got the sticker put on Tide Pods telling people not to ingest.”
Gabriel covered his mouth, letting out a small chuckle. Katie’s eyes went wide, and she and Pandora looked at each other in awe. “Holy moly, he just laughed at one of our jokes!”
Pandora crossed her arms and looked at Gabriel with amusement. “Where is this good mood coming from? Did you start dating again in heaven?”
Gabriel shook his head, straightening his face. “Just thought it was funny. Now, I don’t have very long.”
Katie sighed. “When do you ever? I feel that’s like the mantra in our lives.”
Gabriel tilted his head from side to side, agreeing. “Anyway. I came to tell you something. Hell wants to come to Earth. Trust your friends, Katie, but know that a friend of your friend can be your enemy.’
Katie looked at Pandora. “Does that count as a riddle?”
Pandora put her hand out and tilted it from side to side like Gabriel had done with his head. “It could be, or he could mean exactly what he is saying.”
Katie narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t that in and of itself a riddle?”
Gabriel put his hands out and then dropped them to his side. “Why do I even come?”
Katie smirked. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. We like to bust your…chops. Anyway, my answer to that little tidbit of depressing news is that I have hope, Gabriel.”
Gabriel looked at her with pride on his face. “Good, because you’ll need it.”
Suddenly there was a loud bang behind them, and both Pandora and Katie spun. One of the soldiers had knocked over a stack of crates he was trying to move. Pandora snickered. “Hey, Gabriel, I remember when you…” Pandora let her voice trail off as she turned back around.
The angel was gone.
Katie leaned against the headboard, her hair pulled up on top of her head in a messy bun. She was wearing one of Brock’s old band t-shirts, and sat with her legs straight out in front of her, crossed at the ankles. There were lit candles all over his room, flickering in the darkness. The shadows danced, creating a visual effect that set the mood. Brock smirked as he scooted off the end, pulling his boxers up.
He glanced over his shoulder at Katie. “I like having you here like this. I know it’s not forever, but it’s really nice for a little while. I don’t have to guess where you are.”
Katie smiled. “Before long, you’ll be the world traveler. You and Korbin are leaving Stephanie and me here to pine away in our flower beds, waiting for our men to come home.”
Brock laughed. “Yeah, right. I can’t imagine you pining for anyone at any point.”
Katie put her arms over her head and shrugged. “Who knows? I could lose my angel powers and Pandora could run off, and I could be left here.”
Brock gave her a look. “You still wouldn’t be pining.”
Katie wrinkled her nose. “No. No, I wouldn’t.”
Brock chuckled, walking over and opening his closet. He pulled his guitar down from the hook on the back of the door and walked over, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “So, when you thought you were saving us in the street, I was actually having a nightmare.”
Katie reached out and touched his hand. “What about?”
Brock strummed his guitar once, slapping his hand to the strings to stop the sound. “I opened my eyes, and I was standing in a stadium in front of thousands and thousands of fans. My band was there behind me, and I just started playing. I played the best song that I had ever written. I knew it without even thinking about it, and my band knew it too. Anyway, I sang my heart out, and when I was done, I stood there for a few moments with my eyes closed.”
Katie wrinkled her forehead. “That doesn’t sound like a nightmare.”
Brock sighed. “It wasn’t. Not until I opened my eyes and saw the absolute hate and disgust for me and my music. Nobody liked it, and that was the best I was ever going to give them. I tried playing something else, but my guitar made no sound. My hands just stopped working.”
Pandora groaned inside Katie. Really? I decide to stay with you tonight, and this is what I get? Is he going to play? This song better not be sappy or I will come out just to puke in his guitar.
Katie growled at her. If you’re staying, shut up.
Brock began to strum the guitar. “In my dream, it was almost like they couldn’t hear me.”
Katie pulled her knees to her chest and put her chin on them. “I hear you, Brock.”
So he played.
And they listened.
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AUTHOR NOTES - MICHAEL ANDERLE
FEBRUARY 20, 2019
THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well.
(I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)
RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?
You ever have too many things you want to accomplish?
Besides too many books to read, I mean ;-)
I am having to learn how to cope with too many fun projects where the interest in one project is causing me to enjoy doing this other project less than I should or could if the new bright shiny wasn’t calling to me.
Whispering sweet nothings in my ear…
I’m fifty-one years old. While I’ve suffered from this issue before, it usually hasn’t been with ten projects; it was with maybe two. Thank God that I’m having this challenge when I’m this old or I would have substantially hosed myself decades ago.
Now I have the maturity (sort of and don’t snort, Stephen Campbell, when you read this; it is unmanly) to temper my desire to start too many projects.
Actually, I’m trying to finish up some projects and reduce the total as LMBPN Publishing moves forward.
I can’t say that I’m too successful at reducing projects, but life is a marathon, right?
That is what I keep telling myself as I go to sleep, dreaming of another ten projects to tempt me to start the next day.
For me, “No” is the most liberating word I have in my vocabulary. Perhaps I translate it as “Not Right Now.”
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.
Las Vegas, NV—in bed typing these notes because the tv is on in the living room.
It snowed last Sunday night and is possibly going to snow tonight here in Las Vegas.
(UPDATE! – It snowed like crazy!)
I’ve visited Las Vegas at leas
t twenty times in my life, and this is the first week I’ve ever encountered snow on the Strip.
It feels like it should be Christmas time… But it is February.
I know from reading that it snows in the desert, but now I am experiencing snow in the desert, and I come away confused.
It’s the desert. Sand, rocks, and cacti are what I think belongs here. The white stuff just feels so wrong. Enough about the snow (all 1/32” of it (maybe) that immediately melted when it hit the ground. I imagine I have readers in REAL snow places that are looking outside at four feet wondering if I’d like to change places?) No, no I wouldn’t. I am allergic to the nasty cold, and I don’t think I could type new stories and messages if I was freezing.
You know, that 44-degree weather?
FAN PRICING
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Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
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BOOKS BY MICHAEL TODD
PROTECTED BY THE DAMNED
Torn Asunder (1)
Killing Is My Business (2)
And Business Is Good (3)
Sit Down, Shut Up, And Pull The Trigger (4)
Welcome To The Jungle (5)
Metal Up Your Ass (6)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (7)
For Whom The Bell Tolls (8)
WAR OF THE DAMNED
Resurrection Of The Damned (1)
No Quarter (2)
Dark Is The Night (3)
Dim Glows The Horizon (4)
Waking The Leviathan (5)
Subversive Giants (6)
Juntto (7)
Redemption (8)
WAR OF THE ANGELS
A Sacred Pact (1)
Katie’s War (2)
Baylahn (3)
Personal Demons (4)
There Will Be Blood (5)
DAMIAN’S CHRONICLES
Crucifix (1)
Renegade (2)
Apostle (3)
BOOKS WRITTEN AS MICHAEL ANDERLE
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes
To see all LMBPN audiobooks, including those written by Michael Anderle please visit:
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
There Will Be Blood Team
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Protected By The Damned On Audio
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Connect with Michael Todd
Books by Michael Todd
Books written as Michael Anderle