"They've gone ..." said Suzie, finally lowering her shotgun.
"They have no business here any more," said Jude. "It's only a cup now. Made pure again, in His name. Blessed, like me."
"So," I said, just a little breathlessly. "What happens now?"
Jude picked up the airline bag and stuffed the cup into it. "I take it back to the Vatican with me, put it on a shelf somewhere, and let it fade into obscurity. Just another old cup, of no particular importance or significance to anyone."
He smiled on us all, like a benediction.
"No charge for the wine," said Alex. "On the house."
Suzie snorted. "Who said the age of miracles was over?"
"You have done all of Humanity a great service," said Jude, bowing slightly to me. "And enabled me to right an old wrong. Thank you. Now I really must be going."
"I hate to spoil the moment," I said. "But..."
"The Vatican will pay the rest of your fee, Mr. Taylor. With a substantial bonus."
"Pleasure doing business with you," I said. "Even if it was a little hard on the Nightside."
He smiled. "I think you'll find the angels of the light have repaired all the damage they caused, an put right as much as they can. They are the good guys, after all, if somewhat limited in their thinking."
"What about all the people who got hurt?" said Suzie.
"The injured will be healed and made whole again. The dead, however, must remain dead. Only one man could ever raise the dead to life again."
Suzie walked across the pentacle lines to approach him. Her shotgun was back in its holster. She stopped directly before him and looked him in the eye.
"Are you ever going to forgive yourself?"
"Perhaps ... When He finally returns, so I can say I am sorry to His face once again."
Suzie nodded slowly. "Sometimes, you have to forgive yourself. So you can move on."
"Yes," said Jude. "And sometimes it was never your fault in the first place."
He leaned forward and kissed her gently. On the brow, not the cheek. And Suzie didn't flinch away.
"Hey, Jude," I said. "Can you tell me the truth about my mother?"
He looked at me. "I'm afraid not. Have faith in yourself, Mr. Taylor. In the end, that's all any of us can do."
He turned and walked away, back up the metal stairs, towards the night. At the last moment, Alex called after him.
"Jude, what was He really like?"
Jude stopped, considered for a moment, and the looked back over his shoulder. "Taller than you'd think."
"God speed you on your way," I said. "But please, don't come back. You guys are just too disturbing. Even for the Nightside."
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Agents of Light and Darkness n-2 Page 17
