DEATH (The Justice Cycle Book 1) J Kiefer (ebook reader .txt) 📖

what day it is? Well, I have not. It is a pity, though. You are too late, just as you were then.”

Sanctuary surged from the rooftop like a comet, a streak of fire in his wake. He was upon the man in the blink of an eye, and he grabbed him with one arm and hurled him into a nearby tree with such force that the tree cracked and bowed. Every bone in the man’s body shattered. Coughing and wheezing, he gasped for air, spitting up blood as he did.

His eyes burned with hate as he fixed them on the angel. “Now now, Sanctuary, you know that killing this vessel will not stop me. I see your rage bests you even now, just as it did then. Tell me, warrior, did the man who killed the Amiable Child scream as you gutted him?”

The warrior grabbed the possessed man by the throat and slowly lifted him up into the air. He glared defiantly into the eyes of the crippled killer, looking through them to the horror inside. With a small flex of his hand, the warrior crushed his neck, and with a flick of his wrist, hurled him back across the small road. The body landed crumpled and broken at the feet of the hanging child.

The man chuckled a soft breathy laugh that reverberated in the air. The chuckle did not dissipate but grew until it became a deep, throaty, bellowing laugh. A smoky silhouette rose out of the killer’s corpse, materializing into a massive, black Minotaur. Even though the demon was nothing more than a shadow of itself in this realm, Moloch the Defiler projected the power and menace of a demon lord.

“What would your precious God of love think about what you have just done?” the demon asked. “After all, even wretches such as this man are His children, are they not? I will never understand how He could love such weak and pathetic beings. All I had to do was push this man but a little in order to manipulate him into performing the most unspeakable things. The smallest nudge awakened what was already inside of him.”

Moloch smiled and cocked his head as he relished in the memories of what he’d inspired the man to do. “I do miss the old days when whole nations would bow down to me and offer up their children as sacrifices in my honor. Now I must skulk around in the shadows, murdering children in secret. Of course, I do grow fat on the screams of all of the children murdered in the womb in the name of convenience and selfishness.”

The angelic warrior growled, “Enough of your prattling already! The humans will be out soon, and I have other matters to attend to. Begone now, in the name of the Lord of Hosts, and murder no more children here.”

The demon hunched down in defiance and appeared as if he is going to pounce upon the waiting warrior. Before he could strike, the warrior spoke the hidden name of the Lord and the demon writhed with agony. Chains of pure light rose from the ground and wrapped themselves around the demon, scorching his skin painfully. He howled in anger and raged against the chains that ripped into his incorporeal form. Before the demon dissipated, however, he made one last a parting shot.

“You were more right than you knew when you said that you have much to attend to, angel. The Shogun is dead and Injustice rises... chaos is upon you.” The voice faded into the wind, leaving the warrior alone with the two dead bodies.

“No,” He breathed. “I must find the sword before he does. If Moloch knows about the passing of the Shogun, then so do others. How could I have been so blind?”

As he stood contemplating, the sun began to rise, and the citizens of New York began to awaken from their nightly slumber. He heard someone scream as the body of the dead boy was discovered. He regretted that there was no time to remove the boy from his horrible perch, but time was of the essence. He must locate the sword and help it find a new bearer to minimize the havoc that the forces of darkness were no doubt already performing. Without Tzedakah to keep him in check, the Musketeer would run rampant, after first killing the fledgling bearer before he had time to bond with the blade.

More and more people flocked to the grisly scene. A young woman in a pink jogging suit noticed him standing nearby and pointed him out to the growing throng of people. Someone shouted for him to stop where he was, and he realized that it was time to leave. With a flash of blinding light, he disappeared as police car sirens wailed in the distance.

Twenty-Three

It was around midday when Dana and Jared finally arrived at 26 Federal Plaza. Just as Johansson told them to do, they pulled around to the back of the building where the gate for employee parking was. A guard signaled for them to stop as they approached and motioned for Dana to roll down her window.

The guard, a tall African American man dressed in a blue and black uniform, bent down to look into the car. He examined the two of them thoroughly before speaking.

“How can I help you today?” the man asked with a smile. His eyes, however, did not project the same friendliness.

Dana and Jared both lifted their badges so the officer could see them. “We are detectives from Binghamton. Agent Johansson said that you would be expecting us.”

The agent examined the badges, then asked to see their IDs. They both handed them to the officer, and he examined them with the same intense scrutiny he had examined their badges.

“Wait here,” he said curtly as he turned and walked back to the small guard shack where another officer waited. Before long he returned with their IDs and two badges.