Read Online One Hundred Saints by Yolanda Olson - Free Book Online

head. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “This better be the most important thing in the world you’re doing. And if you break your promise and don’t come back tomorrow, I’ll go to the Ward and find you.”
    I chuckled. Emmie had always been a fierce little thing. The day her father chased me out of their house, I remember her trying to grab onto him and stop him, but she was just too small at the time.
    I looked down into her eyes for a moment. I always liked her eyes because they were so warm and friendly. She really was the only person that ever cared about me, and I needed to find a way to get her to see what I had become without hurting her in the process.
    “You have my word; I’ll come back for you tomorrow morning,” I replied softly.
    A satisfied smile spread across her pretty face, as she reached up yet again to hug me, this time kissing me on the cheek. I closed my eyes for a moment before I opened them again and smiled back at her.
    Then I walked out of La Rue Chateau to find what I knew I needed. Three more saints would be made tonight, because I wouldn’t have the time to do it tomorrow.
    After all, I had given Emmie my word that I would be back for her. I just didn’t know in what sense I meant it, and I would have to get to work tonight to keep her safe tomorrow.

Twelve
    I left the French Quarter and went over to Old Algiers. I wanted to sit on the grass and think for a while about what I was going to do. I knew I would have to go back when the celebrations were in full swing and I’d take whoever I could find. With as much as I didn’t want to be reckless about my choices, whoever was unaware of the danger in coming close to me, would be the one I would take. I needed to take at least three and I wondered how the hell I was going to manage that.
    The closer I get to being done, the safer she’ll be from me, I thought as I looked out over the Mississippi River.
    A part of me wanted to desperately save her from what I knew should happen to her. Marie’s shop wasn’t far from where Emmie was staying and I would have to find a way to keep a watch on her from my home, but I had no idea how to do it.
    The other part of me knew that Emmie’s life source, her blood and bones, would make me so much money that I would probably never have to steal the innocent and sell their pieces and fluids for a generous sum.
    Does Emmie have to die? How do I save her from Marie when I don’t know if I can really save her from myself?
    I sighed and leaned back onto the palms of my hands. The breeze that went by made me smile slightly as I watched the water ripple lazily. I couldn’t think about Emmie’s salvation when all I had on my mind was destruction. The world didn’t work that way because if it did, there would be no one left to wage wars or try to make peace.
    Who do I take? I wondered tiredly, placing my face in my hands. I was so close to being done but I was also tired too. The remorse after ninety six saints still hadn’t set in so I knew that four more would affect me even less.
    Was I a monster for what I believed in or was I just a man who knew that everyone has to die at some point and sending them off on a greater purpose was the best thing for them?
    In their last few breaths, they had all seen me as the devil in disguise; I was waiting for the one that would see me as a savior and understand that I had done something great for them, as well as myself.
    Behind me in the distance somewhere, I could hear the sounds of children laughing, and I knew I would have to get to work. First, I wanted to go to the market and see if it was open. The purpose was to shake the hand of the man whose son had become my most recent saint and give him the money that Marie had paid me for his bones and blood. I wouldn’t tell him who I was or why I was giving him the money, but it was my custom to pay the families, if I could find them, for the use of their loved