“Yeah, those symbols were a countdown. It was preordained that after three openings, the seal would self-destruct …” As Rook became more agitated, Tomahawk added, “Sorry.”
Although what would it have changed, really?
CHAPTER 11
“So no Virgin and no Hellgate?” Rook repeated, trying to make sure he got the full brunt of exactly how screwed they were.
This news changed everything. Chad had been programmed to be a three-hit wonder. He wasn’t truly a Hellgate. He was, kind of, the free shuttle that got them from one place to another.
They had all been played, and played big time. Whoever was pulling the strings and could manipulate a coven of Shivate priestesses to dig up a Hellgate, conjure a Tainted Dragon, and fake a Virgin conception was bigger than anything he had faced. Worse, Rook had no idea of the endgame. Had they wanted to start Armageddon, or was that only the tip of a very deep and wide iceberg?
And what role had he just played?
Before he could stew much more about how his incredibly crappy day had just gotten worse, Fanny came up next to him and put her head on his shoulder. She looked down at where Chad used to be.
“Don’t you think we should say something?”
“What? He was crispy-fried.”
But Fanny’s frown tugged at his heart, so Rook took a deep breath and did the best that he could. “Chad. You were … Well, you were kind of whiny and really annoying, but we are sorry you are dead.”
He looked down at Fanny, who solemnly nodded. At least she appreciated it. Beauty was still pissed about the helicopter, but honestly, getting a zombie wasn’t on any of their radars. And Tomahawk was too busy screwing with his computer to care. Only Angela stood by Chad’s funeral pyre and held Fanny’s other hand.
A chill coursed over Rook. Too many times that burning pile of ash could have been any of them. He shouldn’t care about that. Emotions only slowed your reflexes, yet here he stood mourning a guy he didn’t even know yesterday.
“Rook,” Tomahawk said, “I guess Savage is over being pissed at us. The Cabal is sending me some streaming video of—”
Rook waved him off. He was bruised, battered and hungry. Whatever it was could wait. “Whatever. Just have Savage send us an airlift, with, preferably, a live pilot.”
A tree just over the ridge looked perfect for leaning against. He started to make his way there when Tomahawk taunted him. “Remember how you said we didn’t have a Virgin?”
Rook turned on his heel, still a little suspicious about what Tomahawk was talking about. “Yes…”
“Well,” Tomahawk stated as he turned to screen around for Rook to see. “They must be having a blue-light special on ’em.”
The screen showed a world map with tiny blue lights popping up all over the globe. The others gathered round to watch the spectacle.
“Each one represents a report of an immaculate conception.”
Rook struggled to take it in. “But there’s—”
“Hundreds, maybe thousands,” Tomahawk responded.
Beauty shook her head. “What could they possibly need with so many babies?”
“No,” Rook said, getting everyone’s attention. “There’s only one.”
Fanny pointed at the screen. “But look how many there are.”
“Rook’s right,” Tomahawk agreed. “I bet 99 percent of those are like Angela. A smokescreen.”
* * *
Angela’s hand went to her belly. She had so little time to get accustomed to her pregnancy, yet in some small way she missed it. Or at least the idea of it. To rebuild a family would have required it to have been a normal pregnancy. She was relieved not to be the center of the maelstrom they had just survived.
She looked down at all those blue dots. Each one represented a woman whose life had just been changed forever. Had they all experienced such loss as she did? Were all born of such tragedy?
And were they as lucky to have people like Rook, Beauty, Tomahawk, and Fanny to look out for them? Angela still understood perhaps a sliver of a fraction of a percent of what was going on, but she had seen with her own eyes how Rook stood between heaven and hell to protect humankind. That kind of made up for his more “difficult” personality traits.
Suddenly, Angela realized that all eyes were on her. She removed her hand from her midriff and pointed to the dots. “So they are playing ‘find the needle in a haystack?’ ”
“More like a Virgin-palooza version of Where’s Waldo?,” Rook replied. That look of mischief was back in his eyes.
“From what we know of Angela’s situation, I think I can write an algorithm that can weed out about 80 percent of the false-positives.”
Still, there were a lot of blue dots.
Tomahawk typed furiously but his laptop beeped loudly, his battery bar flashing red. He closed his computer. “Well, once I get power, I can. But we are definitely going on Virgin Vigil.”
“So we’re done with this mission?” Fanny asked.
They all looked at Rook.
“What,” he said. “Do I look like your boss?”
The others all responded, “Yes.”
“Fine,” Rook conceded. “Yes, Fanny, we are officially off the clock.”
“You know what that means?”
Angela watched Rook sigh his fake sigh for Fanny. “I have no clue.”
“S’mores!” Fanny shouted as she ran toward the smoldering helicopter.
Rook called out. “But we don’t have the supplies.”
“I betcha we do! I betcha, betcha, I bet!”
He went to go after Fanny, but Angela caught his arm.
“Let her go.” When Rook turned to her, Angela finished. “What is it you said? Have some faith?”
Fanny popped her head back out of the wreckage holding a box of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows, and some chocolate bars.
The young woman beamed. “I told you Vlad still loved me!”
And if that were the case, Angela thought, maybe they all did have reason to have some hope.
EPILOGUE
Rook warmed his hands on the fire they had stoked from the burned out helicopter. The rest formed a circle around the campfire as they waited for their extraction. He pierced another marshmallow for toasting as Fanny opened her mouth wide around a triple-decker S’more. She had chocolate drizzling down her chin, but he didn’t bother to tell her. She’d just say she was saving it for later.
For a moment anger rose again. Fanny should be able to eat all the S’mores she could handle without having to go through the dying and getting shocked back to life portion of her day. That they all had to risk their lives for people who would never know their names? Yeah, that part of the job kind of sucked.
Beauty seemed perfectly comfortable, however, as she ran everyone through their paces, getting them organized. She had a clipboard and everything.
“Tomahawk, are you confident that you will have the program up and running by morning?”
Tomahawk slowly rotated the stick with his marshmallow. “Yeah, there might be a few bugs to work out, but no later than midday.” He nodded to Angela. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but it would be very helpful if I could get some understanding of what led up to … Well … up to the events of the past twenty-four hours.”
Rook was about to step in when Angela readily nodded. “As long as you don’t expect me to understand it, sure.”
Beauty checked off a box. “Great. I’ll have to do some damage control at the mental institution on Dr. Lerhaven’s behalf,” she said pointedly at Rook, “But beyond that we should be ready to rock ‘n’ roll.”
“Nope!” Fanny announced. “We’ve got just one more thing to do!”
Beauty double-checked her form. “Fanny, we are set.”
Rook, though, looked at the young woman sitting next to him. Her eyes were bright and keen.
“And that would be?” he asked.
“Tell scary stories!” Fanny announced, as she cuddled up next
to him. “Rook gets to start!” Everyone chuckled as she looked up into his eyes. “Tell the one about the guy with a hook for a hand and the teenagers in the car …”
With her eyes sparkling and her cheek against his shoulder, how could he refuse? And yes, many, many, many parts of his job sucked. This aspect, though?
Never.
“All right. On a stormy night—” Rook started.
Fanny popped her head up, and in all seriousness, told him, “Don’t make it too scary, though. I don’t want to get nightmares.”
Rook patted her hand as everyone settled in for a night of not-too-scary stories.
“On a stormy night … but not too windy,” Rook restarted as Fanny laid her head on his shoulder. “A man with a huge pointed hook, that wasn’t too sharp came up to a car …”
Afterword
Thank you so much for coming on the amazing ride that is Rook. I hope you enjoyed reading his (mis)adventures as much as I enjoyed writing them.
If you had a blast with Rook, I would love to ask you a favor and go back to Amazon and leave a review! Rook would sure appreciate it (although he’s never tell you that to your face :-)
And don’t worry! There is plenty more to come from Rook and the “Avoid the Apocalypse” gang. The next book in the series, Home, Sweet Home, should be out in the spring of 2012.
Until then, though, I have several other novels you might be interested in….
Other Works by Carolyn McCray
Heartsblood
For those of you who might enjoy an urban fantasy/paranormal romance thriller, I have HeartsBlood.
A woman of science.
A man of magic.
Hunted for their HeartsBlood.
HeartsBlood has enough romance to propel it into the Kindle Bestselling lists for Paranormal Romance and enough kick-butt action to secure a spot as a Best Seller in Urban Fantasy as well.
Some reviews for HeartsBlood…
“Um… I just finished reading this book less than two minutes ago, and I can honestly say that it has been a very long time since a book has affected me as deeply as HeartsBlood did. Not very often does a book come along that makes you feel so intensely that the tears actually stream down your face. This one did. In fact, I’m still tearing as I write this… THIS BOOK IS PHENOMENAL.”
Theresa Cole
Reviewer
BLB Reviews
“I have been sitting here trying to find to words to express just how much I loved this book, and I am not sure what I will say will do it justice. This book was amazing…Would I recommend? A big, resounding YES! Do not walk, run and get this book! Warning—this book will cause a sleepless night. Meanwhile, I am impatiently waiting for the next book in this series, DeadBlood.”
Donna Newman
“Right out of the gate, I knew that this book would challenge me to believe in the possibility of magic and the impossible. Is it possible to alter reality simply by using the mantra of mind over matter? My heart raced just knowing there was a paranormal terror on a rampage through San Francisco. Terror, intrigue, and magic became par for the course in this thriller. HeartsBlood is a unique, fast-paced paranormal tale with an original storyline and a shocking twist of an ending that will leave you breathless.”
Book Reviewer
Kyra Dawson
Brighter Scribe
To sample or purchase HeartsBlood, click here.
* * *
Widowmaker
If you were looking for another more supernatural thriller…
WidowMaker: A Movie to Die For
Terror in the Trees, the latest über-low budget slasher flick, is slaying people … literally. But is it all hype, or is there an evil force behind the supposed deaths? Special Agent Boulder had best find out before the president attends the Hollywood premiere …
Praise for WidowMaker…
“From the first page to the last, WidowMaker rocks, out loud. Part thriller, part horror, and completely awesome, WidowMaker is filled with great characters and situations that are just impossible enough to believe. You can’t find a better read for Halloween.”
ThrillersRockT
Book Reviewer
“A film that kills people? Yep, we were right there for it. And how McCray and Gray weave such a great suspense tale amongst all the carnage is truly brilliant. And of course, we appreciated the sexual tension between the FBI agent and his ex-fiancée. I have no idea how you could create a sequel, but we want one!”
ParaYourNormal
Book Reviewer
To sample or purchase WidowMaker, click here.
* * *
The Evil Within
Carolyn also has two, count ‘em two short stories in the ultimate horror anthology, The Evil Within.
The hiss of hot breath coming from inside the coat closet.
The noxious odor of plastic smothering your face as you fight to breathe.
The nagging feeling that someone is watching your every move … waiting.
Vengeance. Misplaced trust. Pure evil.
After reading these eight chilling tales, how many times will you soothe yourself in the dark, trying to convince yourself that “there are no monsters”?
To sample or purchase The Evil Within, click here.
Works by Other Authors
Ingredients of a Cauldron
If you enjoyed the action and supernatural elements of Rook, you are going to love Ingredients of a Cauldron by Shannon Mayer…
8 INTENSE tales of horror, urban fantasy, love, fear and otherworldly creatures!
In Priceless, find out where all those missing children have really gone
Nocturnaphobia will leave you shaking with fear, unable to sleep soundly ever again!
The Chronicles of Sin: Gluttony, has the twist on urban fantasy that everyone has been looking for.
And that’s only 3 of the tales…
To sample or purchase Ingredients of a Cauldron, click here.
About the Author
Carolyn McCray is a social media and sales consultant to indie authors and publishing houses alike. Her own controversial thriller, 30 Pieces of Silver, hit the #1 spot on the Amazon “Men’s Adventure” list, (beating out the likes of Clive Cussler), and all six of her indie-published books are Kindle Bestsellers. Her latest nonfiction endeavor, Dollars & Sense: The Definitive Guide to Self-publishing Success (coauthored with Amber Scott and Rachel Thompson) debuted at #1 on Amazon’s “Authorship” bestselling list.
Carolyn is also the founder of the Indie Book Collective, an organization with over 6,000 members which is dedicated to helping authors utilize social media to the fullest to sell their books. The Collective offers free workshops, a live advice radio show, innovative programs such as Blog Tour de Force & Bestseller for a Day, and so much more to its members.
If you would like to know more about Carolyn, just follow this Contact Info link and sign up for her newsletter so that maybe you can join her at an in-person signing.
Contact Information
Carolyn McCray can be found just about everywhere social media exists (and some that are just in her head).
Email: [email protected]
Her personal social media links:
Website
Twitter
Blog
Facebook
Goodreads
LinkedIn
Her writing advice, Writing Without the Drama, links:
Twitter
Blog
Her Indie Book Collective (where she and the rest of the Collective help teach authors how to use social media to market their books):
Website
Twitter
Blog
Facebook
Goodreads
LinkedIn
Technical Publishing articles on DigitalBookWorld.com
Poignant articles on Lifarre.com
Motivational article on MOMeoMagazine.com
Acknowledgments
So many people contribute to any book th
at it is hard to list them all. However, I intend to try!
This book would never have come into existence without, of course, Jim. Ever cool. Ever there.
Ben, who faithfully edited the manuscript through its many, many, many incarnations.
Dee Dee, who has believed in me for so long it is almost impossible to remember a time without her. #andnothatsnotadissonyourage
Copyright Information
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, places, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Rook
An Off Our Meds Project/published by arrangement with the author
FIRST EDITION
Copyright 2011 by Carolyn McCray
All rights reserved
Kindle Edition
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Any inquiries can be made to:
3524 South Star Lake Rd
Auburn, WA 98001
Email
Rook: Let's Avoid the Apocalypse, People Page 14