by SD Tanner
“Did we lose to Ruler?”
“I do not know how life flows. Heaven meets hell is all I know.”
She turned to face him, and for the first time since he’d heard her speak, she seemed confused and said, “We have never lost, it is not the way. For this to happen we must fail the day, or we rule the Devil can stay.”
“Are you sayin’ that we might lose to Ruler, or we change our minds and decide man doesn’t deserve another chance?”
Staring at her in shock, he wondered if it was possible. Could Ruler have beaten them? Ip said that had never happened, but he supposed it could, or did they change their ruling? What could man have done for them to think him not worthy of another chance? He didn’t know. One thing was finally clear to him, they might have made a ruling, but clearly their decision wasn’t final. He finally understood why they were back on earth. Their decision about man’s fate was yet to be made.
Epilogue: Cain
“Oh stop it. It’s not torture if your victim enjoys it. You’re only fooling yourself.”
The voice seemed to come from nowhere, and it interrupted his concentration. It wasn’t easy to peel back the flesh of someone still alive, and he needed to do it in a way that would minimize blood loss, or his victim would die far too quickly. Without looking up, he continued to use his scalpel to delicately edge the skin from the chest plate, slowly easing it away from the body.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
A face suddenly appeared between him and the woman. To his surprise, he found himself staring into eyes he recognized as his own. Straightening up, he looked back at a man who looked exactly the same as him.
Visibly preening, the man asked, “Do you like my outfit? Narcissists and psychopaths are notoriously arrogant and self-focused.” As if realizing his words might be hurtful, he gave him a charming smile and said, “Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s not a criticism. Faith suggested I might be a bit off-putting, and I was only trying to make sure you’d find me appealing.”
“Faith?” He echoed, still stunned by his apparent identical twin.
Rolling his eyes dramatically, the man replied, “The woman you’re dissecting.” With a small snigger, he asked, “Don’t you bother to learn their names?”
“They usually tell me, but this one’s a bit odd. She seems to be enjoying it.”
“Oh, she is. Believe me, this is her kind of pastime. I’ve spent many hours indulging her.”
Remembering the scars on the woman’s body, he asked, “That explains one thing, but your appearance raises a lot more questions.”
“First things first,” the man replied.
While the man ran his hands along the woman’s body, he was surprised when her skin returned to its natural position and began to stitch itself together. Faith seemed to quickly recover her senses, and on seeing the man, she smiled widely and said seductively, “Fun while it lasted.”
“Don’t make me jealous.”
“Why? What will you do to punish me?”
“Business first,” the man replied brusquely. Returning his attention to him, he said, “There’s a lot more at stake than your petty ambitions. I do admire your work, but you’ll fail in the end. Your army isn’t undefeatable as it stands. In fact, it’s just been beaten twice.”
He had two battalions deployed, one to the refinery town, and the other to take the old Navy submarine base where Izzie said there were nukes. How would this creature know how his battalions were doing when he didn’t?
“Oh, I have demon super hunters all over the world. They act as my eyes and ears, and nothing much happens that I don’t know about.”
“How do you talk to them?”
“The same way I’m talking to you. They’re demons and I’m the Devil, although I prefer to be called Ruler. The demons work for me, and they watched your men being defeated by War.”
“War?”
“Yes, the man with the helicopters. He wiped out the convoy you sent to get the nukes before they got anywhere near them. And when he finished doing that, he hopped into his whirlybird and killed half your men standing around the refinery. You shouldn’t underestimate him. He’s really rather violent.”
“Gears,” Faith muttered. “His name’s Gears and he has two brothers called Pax and TL, and a woman called Ip. They’ll destroy you.”
Given his display of power, he had no reason to disbelieve the creature who’d taken his form. He wasn’t sure he was the Devil, but he certainly had some skills. Before his eyes, the man’s face began to melt and twist. His skin became leathery and he grew three feet taller, until a gnarled, muscular and twisted body with a long sharpened tail stood over him.
“Is this more convincing?” Ruler asked in a deep growl. “I can take on any form. Take your pick.”
The woman had talked to him while he prepared her for surgery. He couldn’t quite remember what nonsense she’d said, but he vaguely recalled it was something about creating hunters.
Before he could voice his question, Ruler said, “Yes, she did tell you that. You have a hunter, and I have the demon super hunters that can control them. Add them to your army, and you’ll give War a run for his money.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“Ah well, I either need to defeat them, or convince the Horseman to change their ruling. Fighting head to head with them doesn’t work, so I need you to do it for me. You’ll either win the battle, or convince them man isn’t worthy of life.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Ruler bent low over the operating table, sniffing at the Faith’s prone body with clear interest and said, “I can’t fight them directly or change their minds for them, that’s your job. In return, you’ll have complete control over what’s left of man. I may be the Ruler, but you’ll be its king, and this slut will be our queen.”
An army of men with the added bonus of controllable hunters and the Devil on his side. He couldn’t see a downside. Moving to untie Faith from the table, he felt a heavy clawed hand on his arm.
“No, leave her, she’s worked hard and deserves my special attention. When I’m done, she needs to go back to the Horsemen.”
From the Author
I hope you enjoyed this story, and if you would like to know how it all started, please check out the Hunter Wars series here.
Hunter Wars Series.
Eden Lost Book Two, Dead Alive is targeted for release around Christmas 2015. If you would like to be kept up-to-date on this release and others, please subscribe to sdtanner.com or follow me on Twitter @sdtanner1.
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Books in Hunter Wars Series
Book One:
EVE OF THE HUNTER WARS (Purchase Now)
Book Two:
HEAVEN MEETS HELL (Purchase Now)
Book Three:
ARMY OF ANGELS (Purchase Now)
Book Four:
GIFT FROM GOD (Purchase Now)
Book Five:
RIGHT TO RULE (Purchase Now)
Book Six:
CALL TO WAR (Purchase Now)
Books in Eden Lost Series
(Series Two of the Hunter Wars)
Book One:
HIDDEN EVIL (Purchase Now)
Book Two
DEAD ALIVE (Purchase Now)
Book Three
BATTLEFRONT
(Release: 2016)
Books in DNA Series
Book One:
THE LOCKE FILES (Purchase Now)
Book Two
TIME TO DIE
(Release: to be scheduled)
Books in NAVIGATOR Series
Book One:
ENEMY LINES
(Release: to be scheduled)
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: Eden Lost Book One (The Hunter Wars 7)