The door slid open and Renning stepped down, wearing a three piece suit, his tie clip perfectly in place, his empty eyes. He said, “Sorry it took us so long to get you an extraction, but you don’t know what’s been happening in the world.”
“I’ve got some idea.”
Behind him was Viv. She was dressed in combat fatigues, her hair in a tight ponytail.
I asked, “What is it? A biotoxin? Nerve gas? Chemical agent? Virus?”
“All of that and more,” Renning said.
“Ours or–“
”Ours, theirs, and the others.” He grinned with his fat, smug face. “And would you believe that God told us to do it?”
“Yes,” I said. “But you should have said no anyway.”
He ushered me into the chopper. Beside Viv was Father Macdonald, the pretty priest. He was naked and on fire. His wings were folded back, his armor shining, his sword on fire.
“I’m not the angel of death,” he said to me. “You are.”
“I know,” I said.
Renning started to climb in behind me. I elbowed him in his pudgy gut and knocked him on his ass. I filled my hands with pistols and unloaded both of them into Renning’s chest. I pulled the triggers long after it was necessary.
Viv asked if I was finished. I nodded. She slammed the chopper door.
The priest, whether he was Satan, or Christ, or Archangel St. Michael, simply stared at me with his golden eyes. He smiled with glowing teeth. He began to laugh. The sound of it made Viv cover her ears, but I kind of liked the music and mad melody of it. I leaned forward and told the pilot to get us into the air and we lifted into the smoke-smeared sky. The crows burst up from the edges of the rooftops all around us, watching, shrieking. The angels much higher above, circled, flapping their mighty black wings in silhouette against the red clouds.
Whether this was heaven, earth, purgatory, or hell itself, I understood I’d get by doing what it was I did best. I waited to meet whoever was in charge. I would be his left hand for a while, and when the time was right, someone would ask me to do the unthinkable, and I would do it, and sit in a seat overlooking the cosmic wheel and it would turn until I decided to let it stop.
A Note from Crossroad Press
We hope you enjoyed this eBook and will seek out other books published by Crossroad Press. We strive to make our eBooks as free of errors as possible, but on occasion some make it into the final product. If you spot any errors, please contact us at [email protected] and notify us of what you found. We’ll make the necessary corrections and republish the book. We’ll also ensure you get the updated version of the eBook.
If you’d like to be notified of new Crossroad Press titles when they are published, please send an email to [email protected] and ask to be added to our mailing list.
If you have a moment, the author would appreciate you taking the time to leave a review for this book at your favorite online site that permits book reviews. These reviews help books to be more easily noticed.
Thank you for your assistance and your support of the authors published by Crossroad Press.
Vespers Page 15