Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) (23 page)

In two weeks, you’ll enter the University of Las Vegas as a freshman, and there you will study psychology and theology from one of the most amazing prophets I’ve ever known.
 
(Just don’t tell her that.)
 
I expect you to be on your best behavior and make use of her wisdom.

In the meantime, study up.
 
You’ll have a lot to cover so you don’t flunk out of your classes in the first semester.
 
To that end, I’ve hired tutors for you who will surely run you through a gamut of general education.
 
Don’t waste my money or their time.

Finally, do your best to get to know Elizabeth and Matt.
 
In some respects, you might feel alone in a world that is much bigger than you ever thought it to be.
 
They will be your support, and you theirs.
 
I have it on good authority that the three of you will become very close.

I’ll be back as soon as I can.

Jeremiah

Alex looked at the book apprehensively.
 
Flipping to the back of the Bible, before all of the appendices and indexes, he noted that Chapter twenty-two of Revelations ended on 1506.
 
He sighed under the weight of his mission.

In the past, he had tried, at the prompting of his mother, to read the Bible from cover to cover, but it didn’t work.
 
He had gotten as far as Noah and the ark before he finally put it down, never to try that again.
 
He grew up in a Southern Baptist household, but the dogma had rubbed him the wrong way.
 
The thought of a God who simultaneously loved and hated with everything He had never sat with him very well.
 
After a great many emotional arguments with his mother, they both decided that church might not be the best place for him.
 

He often thought about the things he’d learned in church and the stories that had held him in awe in Sunday school.
 
And, after recent events, he found himself thinking back to them more.
 
But this was nothing like what he’d heard from the pulpit.
 
Angels and demons were things that most Christians accepted with a grain of salt.
 
They were willing to believe in the existence of such creatures but not to the extent that Alex now believed.

“He wants me to read the
whole
thing?” Alex asked Marla, as if she’d put the letter there.

Marla had stepped into the room too.
 
She stood behind Alex and looked grim.
 
“This isn’t a fast food restaurant or anything.
 
You’ll have to really work here.
 
God asks nothing more of us than what we can give, and Jeremiah tests us every day to expose our limits.
 
More often than not, we find that they are further than we thought.
 
You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Alex looked over Marla’s shoulder because something had caught his eye.
 
Liz was leaning against the door jamb and watching them patiently.
 
She had on a breathtaking gossamer skirt that stopped just above her knees.
 
She wore a long sleeve button-up shirt of the same color.
 
Seeing the look on Alex’s face caused Marla to turn around.

“Liz!
 
I was just about to bring Alex to you for technical support.
 
It’s like you read my mind.”

Liz smiled, not taking her eyes off Alex.
 
“Maybe I’m developing a telepathic gift.
 
Well, I’m here now.
 
Do you mind if Alex and I speak privately?”

Alex felt his heart start to race, but Marla seemed hesitant.
 
“Uh, I was supposed to take him on the rest of the tour...”
 
She quit in mid-sentence as Liz’s eyes seemed to narrow.

“Marla, please.
 
It’ll only take a moment; then I’ll give him back to you.”

Marla said no more.
 
She briskly walked out of the room.
 
Liz stepped aside to let her through, and then she came in, shutting the door behind her.
 
She stormed across the room and grabbed the front of Alex’s shirt.

“Who, exactly, do you think you are?” she hissed as she pulled him closer.

“What?”

“Shut up.
 
I don’t have anything.
 
You understand?
 
Nothing.
 
Everything has been stolen from me, and the only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that Matt is there for me.
 
I have never been able to save him.
 
I have never been able to risk my life for him as he has for me, but today I will do something.”

“I don’t understand.”
 
Alex tried to pull away.

“No, you don’t.
 
I imagine you don’t understand much, but that will change.
 
You are shit.
 
There is nothing about you that I find appealing, yet we have to work together.
 
Remember this; always remember this: your life is in our hands.
 
You may hate him because your pea-sized brain doesn’t comprehend diversity.
 
You may be struggling with your own inner turmoil, and hurting him is the only way you can feel better about yourself.
 
And he may never do anything about it, but I will.
 
I don’t have the faith that Jeremiah wants me to have, and I don’t think you’re the one he wants anyway.
 
In fact, I think your kind is so prevalent all over the world that finding another just like you would be relatively simple.
 
I can make you disappear.”

Alex’s jaw dropped.
 
“What did I do?”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?
 
I don’t hate many people, Alex Tanner, but you just put yourself at the top of that list.
 
You will try very hard to like him, and he’d better be damned convinced.
 
If you don’t, or if you ever tell him about this conversation, you’re a dead man.
 
And,” she added, smiling patronizingly, “I use the word
man
loosely.
 
You’re not even half the man that Matt is.”

Alex went flush.
 
“Liz--”

“Don’t call me that,” her voice rose to almost a screech.
 
“That name is reserved for my friends, and you and I are definitely not friends.
 
Listen closely because this is the last time I will speak to you for a long time.
 
I have no good feelings for you right now.
 
And I would have no problem with turning you into another missing person.
 
I’m a desperate woman, and you are an endangered child.
 
Do as you’re told.”
 
With that, she let go of his shirt, spun, and exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

Alex stared at the door as if he could take some understanding from it.
 
With wide eyes and a rapid pulse, he tried to piece together what had just happened and couldn’t.
 
He felt utterly alone in this mansion.
 
He knew that he was in danger, but that danger had just increased tenfold.
 
His only allies now threatened to kill him, and he wasn’t sure why.
 
She had accused him of hating Matt and being closed-minded.
 
Why?
 
Because Matt was gay?
 
If anything, Alex had been relieved when he’d heard the news.

He wanted to leave.
 
He wanted to go back to Missouri.
 
But, in that instant, he remembered that he couldn’t.
 
Jeremiah had said that would not only endanger him, but it would also endanger his parents.
 
He would have to explain to them and everyone else what had happened, and he didn’t think anyone would believe him.
 
He took a deep breath and attempted to sort through the mélange of thoughts and emotions.
 
It was no use.
 
He walked over and lay down on his bed to relax.
 
That, as well, proved futile.
 

He felt drawn to the Bible on his desk.
 
He fought that, determined to figure out what had gone so painfully wrong.
 
However, the longer he lay on his bed, the more pressing the urge to begin reading the book became.
 
Finally he succumbed to it.
 
He opened the book to the first page of text.
 
Genesis chapter one, verse one: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

***

Elizabeth felt vindicated.
 
She hadn’t had any intention of scaring Alex so badly, but when she got to his room and saw his smug face, she lost control.
 
It didn’t matter; she said what she was feeling, and that was important.
 
He had to know that kind of behavior wouldn’t be tolerated.
 
It was bad enough that Matt had been treated so badly throughout his life.
 
It only made matter worse that Jeremiah treated him poorly.
 
She was not going to allow yet another person to hurt him for something he had no control over.
 
Maybe, one day, she would apologize for the way she had treated him, but that wouldn’t be for a long time—well after he’d proven himself to have basic human compassion.
 
Elizabeth looked up the stairs, and she saw that Marla was coming down.

Marla looked very concerned, “Liz, we have a problem.”

“What?”

“Jeremiah’s factory in Atlanta and his castle outside of Berlin have been blown up.”

Elizabeth stopped climbing the steps.
 
“When?
 
How?”

“They were destroyed simultaneously only minutes ago.
 
It looks like they, whoever
they
are, used a lot of C-4.”

“We could be in trouble.
 
Where is Matt?”

“I don’t know,” Marla replied.
 
“I called his cell phone, but he didn’t answer.”

Elizabeth pulled out her phone and tried Matt’s number and had the same luck.
 
She dialed Jeremiah.

After two rings, the demon answered, “Yes?”

She explained the situation to him, and there was silence.
 
Finally, he responded.

“The factory was destroyed in an attempt to disrupt our finances—futile.
 
The castle was blown up to send me yet another message.
 
Ignore this attack; there isn’t anything you can do about it now.”

“Are they going to attack the mansion?” Elizabeth demanded.

“I doubt it.
 
They know where we are.
 
If they thought they could do anything significant to the mansion, they would have already.
 
I have a small army of the best trained men in the United States there.
 
I have state-of-the-art technology.
 
And three prophets defend it.
 
All of this is on top of my allies’ close vigil of the compound.
 
If our security holds, there will be no way for them to get an explosive close enough to the mansion to inflict any real damage.
 
If they should decide to march an army in to take it, they’ll be met with deadly force.
 
I should think you have nothing to worry about.
 
Goodbye.”
 
And he hung up.

Elizabeth cursed under her breath.
 
Why was it that Jeremiah never seemed to be concerned?
 
Didn’t he realize the implications of these actions?
 
With the exception of the small army of retired special-ops forces he had here, Jeremiah’s defense of the area did not impress Elizabeth too much.
 
Though, this was the first time she’d heard of the mansion being watched by allies of Jeremiah.
 
She wondered what he meant by that.