It was as if he was on top of the world.
From up here, on this cool, crisp, cloudless December morning, Zachariah could see the entire lower half of Manhattan, and past it to New York Harbor, Brooklyn, Queens, the Statue of Liberty, Staten Island, New Jersey, and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. The spires of the city reached for the sky at varying heights, creating a lovely pattern.
He couldn’t really see the people, and there was no air traffic either, so nothing cluttered the perfection of the buildings.
But that led rather perfectly to the bad. Still there was a gaping hole at the southern end of the island, where two of the city’s proudest structures once stood. And the event that destroyed them was why there was less air traffic over Manhattan. For that matter, Top of the Rock had opened up because the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001 cost the city its Windows on the World.
It was just another example of how mankind had squandered what it possessed. The angels had had enough.
Humanity had pissed away the gifts God gave them, and the host wasn’t going to hold their hands anymore.
Zachariah had hoped the war would progress more smoothly. He hadn’t counted on so many betrayals by his brothers—Uriel, Castiel—nor that the Michael sword would be such a pain in the ass.
Just as his espresso cup landed in the saucer with a click, Uzziel was there across from him. None of the humans in the restaurant noticed—and even if they had, their recollections would have been that the large black man had always been sitting across from the broad-shouldered, bald white man.
“How’d it go?” Zachariah asked.
“Well enough,” Uzziel said. “I destroyed the angelus iuguolo, and the final Stone of Hyginus is with the others in Cordoba. We lost Ramiel, though.”
“Pity. And the rest of the operation?”
Uzziel smiled.
“The Heart of the Dragon has been banished, as you predicted.”
“Of course.” Zachariah nodded as he lifted his cup again. “I knew if word leaked to Castiel of the spirit’s return—and of the demons’ interest—that he’d let the two jackasses know about it.” He drank down the last of his espresso. “The Winchesters may refuse to play their parts as they should, but the least they can do is help us out in other ways.”
Uzziel’s response echoed his frustration.
“Isn’t there some other way?” he asked. “Can’t we just kill them and move on?”
Closing his eyes and leaning back, Zachariah sighed.
“Oh, how I wish we could. But no, they’re the chosen ones. Nobody else can be Michael’s vessel—or Lucifer’s. Nobody else would be able to handle it.”
Zachariah opened his eyes again, and stared right at Uzziel.
“The last thing we need to do is screw up the Apocalypse.”
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks first of all to my DC Comics editor, Christopher Cerasi, who liked my other two novels enough to hire me to write a third, and who also provided me with tons of useful reference material (like the fifth-season scripts that told me how to spell Castiel’s nickname). Also to my Titan Books editor Cath Trechman, who kept things moving smoothly— or at least smoothly as her deadbeat writer would allow. Cath, Christopher and Supernatural’s Rebecca Dessertine had tons of brilliant suggestions that made this book so much better, and I am excessively grateful to them all.
Eric Kripke and his merry band of loonies (in particular Sera Gamble and Ben Edlund) for giving us Supernatural in the first place and continuing to write such nifty stories involving Sam, Dean, and the rest.
Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester), Jim Beaver (Bobby Singer), Ridge Canipe (Young Dean), Misha Collins (Castiel), Alex Ferris and Colin Ford (Young Sam), Kurt Fuller (Zachariah), Amy Gumenick (Mary Campbell), Allison Hossack (Deanna Campbell), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (John Winchester), Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester), and Mitch Pileggi (Samuel Campbell) for their onscreen portrayals that gave voice, face, and life to several of the characters appearing in this novel.
My ever-excellent gaggle of beta readers: Constance Cochran, Kara Cox, GraceAnne Andreassi DeCandido, Heidi Ellis, Marina Frants, Natalie Jumper, and Nicholas Knight.
Speaking of Mr. Knight, his many volumes of Supernatural: The Official Companion were immensely helpful reference sources. So were two books by Alex Irvine: The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls and John Winchester’s Journal. So were the two comic book miniseries Supernatural: Origins by Peter Johnson and Matthew Dow Smith and Supernatural: Rising Son by Peter Johnson, Rebecca Dessertine, and Diego Olmos. Props must also be given to Jeff Mariotte, author of the other extant Supernatural novel, Witch’s Canyon, and to Joe Schreiber and to Rebecca Dessertine & David Reed, authors of the two upcoming Supernatural novels.
Deborah and Nic Grabien for putting me up (or putting up with me) in San Francisco in March 2009 and answering many questions about the city.
The New York Public Library (Research)—that’s the big building with the lions—which was, as always, a magnificent place for research. Also thanks to the SFPL.org web site and to the kind soul who was working the phones in the International Center of the San Francisco Public Library’s Main Library the day I called with several more questions.
Shihan Paul and the rest of the folks at the dojo, for constantly enriching my body and spirit.
Finally to friends, family, and felines, for everything.
PLAYLIST
If you purchased either of my previous two Supernatural novels—Nevermore and Bone Key—you know that each of those came with a playlist of suggested songs to listen to while reading the novel. From AC/DC’s “Back in Black” playing over the Impala driving down the highway to the brilliant use of such songs as Styx’s “Renegade” and Kansas’s “Carry on, Wayward Son” to Sam and Dean singing a dreadfully off-key version of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” music has been an integral part of Supernatural’s very soul.
Those two playlists still apply to Heart of the Dragon, but as with Bone Key, I’ve made some additions:
America: “A Horse with No Name”
The Band: “Across the Great Divide,” “Tears of Rage,” “We Can Talk”
The Beatles: “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Come Together,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
David Bromberg: “Suffer to Sing the Blues”
The Contours: “Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)”
Creedence Clearwater Revival: “Fortunate Son.”
Crosby, Stills, & Nash: “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”
The Charlie Daniels Band: “Still in Saigon”
The Doobie Brothers: “Black Water,” “China Grove”
Bob Dylan: “Ballad of a Thin Man,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Tangled Up in Blue”
Norman Greenbaum: “Spirit in the Sky”
Arlo Guthrie: “Chilling of the Evening,” “Coming Into Los Angeles,” “The Motorcycle Song”
Jimi Hendrix: “Purple Haze,” “The Star-Spangled Banner”
Iron Butterfly: “In-A-Gada-Da-Vida”
Jethro Tull: “A New Day Yesterday,” “Nothing is Easy,” “Teacher”
Janis Joplin: “Me and Bobby McGee”
Taj Mahal: “Keep Your Hands Off Her,” “Stagger Lee”
Van Morrison: “Caravan,” “Moondance”
Kenny Rogers & The First Edition: “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”
The Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
Sam & Dave: “Hold On, I’m Coming”
Simon & Garfunkel: “I am a Rock,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “The Sound of Silence”
Cat Stevens: “Moonshadow,” “Peace Train,” “Wild World”
The Subdudes: “Papa Dukie and the Mud People”
Paul Thorn: “Angel Too Soon,” “Mission Temple Fireworks Stand”
Traffic: “Many a Mile to Freedom”
The Ventures: “Wipe Out”
The Who
: “Love Ain’t for Keeping,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
The Zombies: “Time of the Season”
—Keith R.A. DeCandido somewhere in New York City, November 2009
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This is Keith R.A. DeCandido’s third Supernatural novel, following 2007’s Nevermore and 2008’s Bone Key. Keith has written more than forty novels, as well as a mess of short stories, a smattering of novellas, a bunch of comic books, a dollop of essays, a gaggle of eBooks, and many bits of editing. Most are in various media universes: Farscape (most recently the monthly comic from BOOM! Studios as well as several miniseries and one-shots), Star Trek (most recently the novella “The Unhappy Ones” in the anthology Seven Deadly Sins and a Captain Jellico one-shot comic book), CSI: NY (Four Walls), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Blackout, The Deathless), World of Warcraft (Cycle of Hatred), Doctor Who (the Short Trips anthologies Destination Prague and The Quality of Leadership), StarCraft (Nova, Ghost Academy), Resident Evil (the novelizations of all three films), Spider-Man (Down These Mean Streets), and whole bunches more. The bulk of his original work is in the world of his 2004 novel Dragon Precinct. Keith is also a musician, currently the percussionist for the parody band the Boogie Knights. A fan of classic rock (Dean Winchester would approve of much of his iTunes “favorites” playlist), Keith is also a black belt in Kenshikai karate and a devoted fan of the New York Yankees. Learn less about Keith at his official web site at DeCandido.net, read his tiresome ramblings at kradical.livejournal.com, or email him directly at [email protected].
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Table of Contents
1859
ONE
2009
TWO
1969
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
2009
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
2009
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
EPILOGUE
Table of Contents
1859
ONE
2009
TWO
1969
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
2009
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
2009
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
EPILOGUE
Supernatural Heart of the Dragon Page 22
