It was rough at first. In the two years that followed Nisus’s step into the spotlight, Raul killed six demons that were a little too close for comfort. And he spent the rest of his time patrolling. Eventually, though, he began to relax a little and enjoy what Lonny and his friends were creating. It was strong-willed and defiant, hopeful and compassionate. They even had a few love songs to woo their female audience into a frenzy at every performance.
That they didn’t age, and they all had a boyish charm of some type or another, kept the band fresh, but Lonny kept the audience ravenous. As the Oracles had predicted, the band flourished. Raul would worry through the years, but Lonny remained safe.
Epilogue
[During To Absolve the Fallen, circa 2003]
Dylan looked at his speedometer as he passed a speed limit sign coming into Pittsburgh. Yep, he was definitely breaking the law. He hesitantly eased off of the gas and tried not to get himself too worked up. Jeremiah was coming for him at last. Five long years ago, Jeremiah had sent Dylan, having only just turned a man, off on his own to protect a young prophet, named David. David was a good kid, and his parents had always been kind to Dylan, but he’d never wanted to be a babysitter.
Nevertheless, it had been important to the Elder Prophet Council and, therefore, to Jeremiah, so Dylan complied. Raleigh hadn’t been so bad, and he’d met a few great people there before he’d had to leave the city. Two of Metatron’s mortal lackeys had come looking for him—not David, thank God—and he’d had to boil their blood. He was sorry to have had to do it, and the looks on their faces were still plastered in his memories, but Jeremiah had taught him that there could be no mercy for demons or the humans who followed them. Mercy was foolish, and it would lead to death. Consequently, when they made physical contact with him, making his powers all the more potent, he instinctively turned off his compassion and killed them both. He knew Jeremiah would say there had been no other choice, but that was a little easier for a two thousand year old demon to rationalize than it was for a twenty-three year old prophet.
He’d been on the run for a week before he got a message from Jeremiah, giving him a meeting place and date to be there. The demon would meet him in a parking lot of a convenience store, after seeing to another matter. There was always “another matter.” But Dylan was ecstatic anyway; he shoved everything he’d brought with him from Raleigh into his suitcase and set out to Pittsburgh.
Mostly true to his word, Jeremiah had given Dylan access to an offshore account with five million in it. The demon had promised him that he could have the other five million whenever he wanted, but, for now, it was being invested so that there would be more when he went through what he had. Dylan didn’t complain. He had a phone number to call, and however much money he wanted would be wired to him or direct-deposited in less than an hour.
Though he had always been well taken care of anywhere he went, Dylan wanted to go back to Las Vegas with Jeremiah. Being attacked recently reminded him of how vulnerable he was, basically all by himself. He resented the demon for sending him away when his powers were just starting to get cool, but he also understood that Jeremiah was going down a slightly different path now. There was a kind of finality to it. Jeremiah had told Dylan that Matt would be the first of three new students, and that these students would, in theory, be his last. That was almost four years ago.
Now, Jeremiah had all three. The most recent one’s name was Alex Tanner. Dylan couldn’t help feeling a little jealousy at Jeremiah’s new protégés, but he pushed that feeling away. The demon had tutored many people before he met Dylan (some pretty vile), and he’d even trained a couple others while Dylan was staying with him. Dylan had gotten more than his fair share from his time with Jeremiah.
As terrible as he could be, Jeremiah was an asset that had to be shared. He was good at what he did, maybe the best. There was a war coming; Dylan had heard other prophets swear to as much. (And, truthfully, he thought he could feel it too.) Jeremiah never admitted to it, but Dylan was sure he and the Elder Prophets were preparing for it. Whatever he was in for, Dylan was happy to be on his way to meet Jeremiah, and he hoped, very much, that it was time to return back into the care of the person, though demon he may be, who had taken him in as a student and ward.
Dylan had grown past the evil things Jeremiah did to him and realized that the demon was the only family he had. When he reflected on it, Jeremiah had actually done a lot more good things than bad—at least, in Dylan’s experience. But the bad things could be pretty terrible.
None of that mattered, though. With any luck, he’d be heading to Las Vegas soon, perhaps the safest place on the planet to be a prophet at the moment, and he could finally relax for a little while. He wouldn’t have to worry about supernatural badasses or the people who worked for them roughing him up because he was a prophet and alone. He’d be with Jeremiah, and Jeremiah liked to burn things.
To be continued in To Absolve the Fallen…
Beyond the Shadows (To Absolve the Fallen Book 0) Page 11
