Read Online Tartarus: Kingdom Wars II by Jack Cavanaugh - Free Book Online
Authors: Jack Cavanaugh
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that is your…”
“It is. And now I’m choosing to go back to sleep.”
Before he could say anything more, I switched off the light, huddled beneath the covers, and closed my eyes. I resisted peeking for as long as I could. When I did, Abdiel was still there.
“And I choose to stay until this conversation is finished,” he said.
If there is anything more exasperating than a stubborn angel, I don’t want to know about it. I sat up. “You think I’m afraid to go, don’t you?”
“Are you?”
“Of course I am!”
“As you should be,” Abdiel replied. “What I find difficult to understand is why you would intentionally choose a life of mediocrity.”
“Mediocrity? Do I need to remind you that I won a Pulitzer Prize for my writing? That may not carry a lot of weight in heaven, but here on earth it’s downright impressive.”
“Do I need to remind you that you bear the mark of God?”
My hand rose instinctively to my forehead. Why, I don’t know. It had never been revealed to me where the mark was or what it looked like. All I knew was that every angel—good and bad—could see it.
“I have not forgotten,” I said. “And believe me, I’m grateful for it. It’s my ticket to normalcy. The way I see it, as long as I have the mark none of you can touch me.”
“I have no desire to touch you.”
“You know what I mean. No one can drag me into the middle of your angel war. Call it mediocre if you wish, but all I want is the chance to live a normal human life.”
“You wish to be normal?”
“I wish to be the poster boy for normal. I want a normal job with normal working hours so that I can buy a normal house on a normal street where my normal wife and I can raise normal kids, free from the threat of warring angels and life-sucking demons who want to turn my body into a hotel for the damned.”
Having spooked myself with the memory, I checked the dark recesses of the ceiling for hungry, sticky gargoylelike creatures.
“You wish to be normal,” Abdiel repeated.
“That’s the plan.”
For a long moment he stared at me, unblinking. “But that is not who you are. You are part angel.”
“Yes, but don’t you see? That’s the beauty of free will. I choose to ignore that fact.”
Abdiel turned aside. For a moment I thought he was going to leave.
“I was there in the days when Nephilim inhabited the earth; like you, part human and part angel. I saw what they could do.”
“Really?” That got my attention. “Tell me. What could they do?”
“Of all men, you alone have been given the chance to know the power of Nephilim.”
“Power?”
“I can tell you this about the Nephilim of old,” he said. “They did not choose to live mediocre lives. They were heroes and men of renown.”
I tried to imagine an entire village of beings half human, half angel. Midreverie I caught myself.
“Sorry—I’m not falling for it,” I said. “You’re forgetting, I’ve already taken a ride on the wild side with your kind. I think I’ll stick to the kiddy rides.”
He nodded. “If it is your decision for the rest of your days to wonder what powers lie within you, I will honor that.”
He disappeared.
The only light in the room was the sixty-watt bulb of my bedside lamp. I switched it off and tried to go back to sleep.
Thirty frustrating minutes later I threw back the sheets and went to the closet and pulled out my suitcase. I could sleep on the flight.
CHAPTER 5
T he coastline of Tel Aviv stretched impressively into the hazy northern horizon, a captivating view from the air even though my knees were screaming to be stretched.
Twenty hours after departing San Diego we were approaching our destination after a four-hour layover in New York, during which time I was detained by security. An agent recognized me. She was insistent she’d seen my picture on a printout of suspected terrorists. Come to find out, she’d seen it on the back of my book in her supervisor’s office.
Seated next
“It is. And now I’m choosing to go back to sleep.”
Before he could say anything more, I switched off the light, huddled beneath the covers, and closed my eyes. I resisted peeking for as long as I could. When I did, Abdiel was still there.
“And I choose to stay until this conversation is finished,” he said.
If there is anything more exasperating than a stubborn angel, I don’t want to know about it. I sat up. “You think I’m afraid to go, don’t you?”
“Are you?”
“Of course I am!”
“As you should be,” Abdiel replied. “What I find difficult to understand is why you would intentionally choose a life of mediocrity.”
“Mediocrity? Do I need to remind you that I won a Pulitzer Prize for my writing? That may not carry a lot of weight in heaven, but here on earth it’s downright impressive.”
“Do I need to remind you that you bear the mark of God?”
My hand rose instinctively to my forehead. Why, I don’t know. It had never been revealed to me where the mark was or what it looked like. All I knew was that every angel—good and bad—could see it.
“I have not forgotten,” I said. “And believe me, I’m grateful for it. It’s my ticket to normalcy. The way I see it, as long as I have the mark none of you can touch me.”
“I have no desire to touch you.”
“You know what I mean. No one can drag me into the middle of your angel war. Call it mediocre if you wish, but all I want is the chance to live a normal human life.”
“You wish to be normal?”
“I wish to be the poster boy for normal. I want a normal job with normal working hours so that I can buy a normal house on a normal street where my normal wife and I can raise normal kids, free from the threat of warring angels and life-sucking demons who want to turn my body into a hotel for the damned.”
Having spooked myself with the memory, I checked the dark recesses of the ceiling for hungry, sticky gargoylelike creatures.
“You wish to be normal,” Abdiel repeated.
“That’s the plan.”
For a long moment he stared at me, unblinking. “But that is not who you are. You are part angel.”
“Yes, but don’t you see? That’s the beauty of free will. I choose to ignore that fact.”
Abdiel turned aside. For a moment I thought he was going to leave.
“I was there in the days when Nephilim inhabited the earth; like you, part human and part angel. I saw what they could do.”
“Really?” That got my attention. “Tell me. What could they do?”
“Of all men, you alone have been given the chance to know the power of Nephilim.”
“Power?”
“I can tell you this about the Nephilim of old,” he said. “They did not choose to live mediocre lives. They were heroes and men of renown.”
I tried to imagine an entire village of beings half human, half angel. Midreverie I caught myself.
“Sorry—I’m not falling for it,” I said. “You’re forgetting, I’ve already taken a ride on the wild side with your kind. I think I’ll stick to the kiddy rides.”
He nodded. “If it is your decision for the rest of your days to wonder what powers lie within you, I will honor that.”
He disappeared.
The only light in the room was the sixty-watt bulb of my bedside lamp. I switched it off and tried to go back to sleep.
Thirty frustrating minutes later I threw back the sheets and went to the closet and pulled out my suitcase. I could sleep on the flight.
CHAPTER 5
T he coastline of Tel Aviv stretched impressively into the hazy northern horizon, a captivating view from the air even though my knees were screaming to be stretched.
Twenty hours after departing San Diego we were approaching our destination after a four-hour layover in New York, during which time I was detained by security. An agent recognized me. She was insistent she’d seen my picture on a printout of suspected terrorists. Come to find out, she’d seen it on the back of my book in her supervisor’s office.
Seated next
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