I picked up the priest and laid him on a padded pew, smoothing down his robes and putting a hymnal under his head for a pillow. Then I turned to Glory.
“What the ever-loving fuck was all that?” I asked, crossing my arms and staring at her.
“Here’s what I can tell you, which isn’t much. Dominus was insane. He acted alone, without knowledge of The Host or anyone else.”
“Anyone?” I asked, eyebrows climbing.
“I don’t get into what The Father does and doesn’t know. I always assume that He knows everything and sometimes just waits for us to figure things out for ourselves. He does like His children to be independent, you know.”
“Then he must fucking love me,” I muttered.
Glory took hold of my chin and turned my eyes to hers. I looked deep into them, really looked for the first time, and behind the blue I saw more than I could process. I saw the love, the compassion, the forgiveness for every stupid, hard-hearted and small-minded thing I’d ever done. I stared into her eyes until I felt like my heart would burst, and then I tore myself away, tears rolling down my face.
“That’s just how I feel about you, Quincy Harker, and I have nothing like the capacity for love that Father has. So yeah, he fucking loves you. And don’t you forget it.”
I stood there for a moment, trying to pull myself together. When I could speak again, I looked back at her. Fortunately, she had de-magicked her eyes, so I could look at her without being overwhelmed.
“So it’s over? The murders? The magically-induced unnatural catastrophes? All done?”
“All done. No more murders, and no more using the death of innocents to manipulate the Earth’s energies. And hopefully Dominus can be rehabilitated.”
“In Hell?” I raised an eyebrow.
Glory looked at me like I was a particularly slow first-grader. It was a look she’d used before. I’ve given her plenty of opportunities to perfect it over the years. She said, “Hell isn’t for punishment, Quincy. The punishment is being away from the presence of the Almighty. The redemption comes in the hope to some day earn the right to be in His presence again. If Dominus truly repents and learns from his mistakes, he may one day become part of The Host again. That is our most sincere hope.”
“Our? I thought being part of The Host was like a rank thing, and Guardians were a step below.”
“Usually that’s true.” Glory gave me a little smile. “But you’re a special case. You get into a little more trouble than most humans, so you require a higher level of guardian. So you get me.” She gave me a dazzling smile, the kind that’s supposed to distract me from asking any questions she doesn’t feel like answering. I knew she was playing me, but I let her. She wasn’t going to tell me anything more about her status among the angels, or about the attention I was receiving from Heaven, so I figured I’d just chalk it up to a win and move along.
“Yeah, I got you. Ain’t you the lucky one?”
“I am, Harker. I truly am. Peace be with you, my friend.” Glory gave me a quick hug, then vanished in a stream of sparkles.
“Kid definitely knows how to make an exit.” I grinned and turned to the door.
Let’s get out of here, I sent to Flynn.
Did we win?
We’re still alive, so yeah, we wo,. I replied.
Meet you at the car. You’re driving, she thought at me.
Drunk on communion wine?
Fuck off, Harker, that shit’s stronger than I thought.
I’ve never heard anybody slur their thoughts before, Becks.
Just open the car door, asshole.
I looked back at the church, and as the sun flickered behind a cloud for a second, I thought I saw the figure of little Emily Standish standing in the doorway. She gave me a little wave, then turned and walked through a patch of sunbeam, and was gone.
“Peace be unto you, little one,” I murmured, then walked to the car and rode away.
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Acknowledgements
A very heartfelt thanks to Melissa Gilbert of Clicking Keys for her all her help.
Thanks to Adrijus at Rockingbookcovers.com for the awesome cover.
For information on appearances, signings, autographed copies, etc. please visit
http://www.johnhartness.com
@johnhartness on Twitter
Copyright 2016 by John G. Hartness
Hell Freezes Over by John G. Hartness is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
About the Author
John G. Hartness is a teller of tales, a righter of wrong, defender of ladies’ virtues, and some people call him Maurice, for he speaks of the pompatus of love. He is also the best-selling author of EPIC-Award-winning series The Black Knight Chronicles from Bell Bridge Books, a comedic urban fantasy series that answers the eternal question “Why aren’t there more fat vampires?”
John is the author of the Bubba the Monster Hunter series of short stories and novellas, the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter novella series, and the creator and co-editor of the Big Bad anthology series, among other projects.
In 2016, John teamed up with a pair of other publishing industry ne’er-do-wells and founded Falstaff Media, a publishing conglomerate dedicated to pushing the boundaries of literature and entertainment.
In his copious free time John enjoys long walks on the beach, rescuing kittens from trees and recording new episodes of his ridiculous podcast Literate Liquors, where he pairs book reviews and alcoholic drinks in new and ludicrous ways. John is also a contributor to the Magical Words group blog. An avid Magic: the Gathering player, John is strong in his nerd-fu and has sometimes been referred to as “the Kevin Smith of Charlotte, NC.” And not just for his girth. He can be found online at www.johnhartness.com and spends too much time on Twitter, especially after a few drinks.
For more information about appearances, signings, and other silliness, feel free to follow John on Twitter (@johnhartness), or on his website www.johnhartness.com.
Also by John G. Hartness
Bubba the Monster Hunter Short Stories
Voodoo Children
Ballet of Blood
Ho-Ho-Homicide
Tassels of Terror
Monsters Beware - Bubba the Monster Hunter Vol. 1
Cat Scratch Fever
Love Stinks
Hall & Goats
Footloose
Monsters Mashed - Bubba the Monster Hunter Vol. 2
Sixteen Tons
Family Tradition - A Bubba the Monster Hunter Prequel
Final Countdown
Monsters Everywhere - Bubba the Monster Hunter Vol. 3
Scattered, Smothered and Chunked - The Complete Bubba the Monster Hunter Season 1
UnHoly Night - A Skeeter the Monster Hunter Short Story
Love Hurts
Dead Man’s Hand
She’s Got Legs
Dead Man’s Party - Bubba the Monster Hunter Vol. 4
Fire on the Mountain - A Beauregard the Monster Hunter Story
Howl
Double Trouble
The Black Knight Chronicles
Volume 1 - Hard Day’s Knight
Volume 2 - Back in Black
Volume 3 - Knight Moves
The Black Knight Chronicles Omnibus Edition
Volume 4 - Paint it Black
Movie Knight - A Black Knight Short Story
Black Magic Woman - A Black
Knight Short Story
Gone Daddy Gone - A Black Knight Short Story
Knight UnLife - Collected Black Knight Shorts
Co-Edited with Emily Lavin Leverett
The Big Bad: An Anthology of Evil
Other Work
Headshot
Balance - Tales of Alternate Reality
Genesis - Return to Eden Book 1
The Chosen
Returning the Favor and other slices of life
Red Dirt Boy
The Christmas Lights
Table of Contents
Contents
Title
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
Special Thanks
Appearances
About the Author
Also by John G. Hartness
Hell Freezes Over - A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Novella Page 13