Read Online The Darkness of God: Book Three of the Shadow Warrior Trilogy by Chris Bunch - Free Book Online

they’re trying to kill me,” he reasoned, “at least that’ll bring ‘em further into the open. I’m pretty sure I can duck another attempt by thuggery, if they’re no better than the late idiot who called himself Aurus.”
    But he still felt clammy fingers at his back as he walked. He made three blocks before a long, sleek lifter pulled out of a side street. Its window hissed down.
    “Mister Taylor?” The driver was young, freckled, friendly looking.
    “Yes.”
    “I’m your transport.”
    Wolfe got into the luxuriously appointed vehicle. The driver waited for a slight hole in traffic, then sped across the boulevard. He took a left, two rights.
    “I didn’t bring any backup,” Wolfe said.
    “Of course,” the young man said. “I’m just careful.”
    Two smaller lifters, with four men in each, came from side streets, fell in behind Joshua’s vehicle.
    “Yours?”
    “Mine,” the driver acknowledged.
    “You are careful.”
    • • •
    “Sorry, sir, but I’ll have to check you before we go inside,” the driver said, trying to sound truly apologetic.
    Damn them for untrusting bastards and not taking that damned bomb off.
Wolfe caught himself grinning.
How dare these Chitet think I’d ever do anything nefarious or possibly dare to haul ass without giving them the chance to blow me up. I’m shocked. Shocked, do you hear me?
    He got out of the lifter, pretending to be impressed by the looming, colonnaded gray stone building they’d landed in front of, and the forested grounds around it, while he was
reaching
out,
feeling …
    The driver took a sweep from the door pocket and moved it across Wolfe, who turned, raising his hands, a bored expression on his face, as the sweep moved up his spine.
    The driver’s expression blanked, just as the detector’s needle pegged and a buzzer sounded. He looked perplexed, then shook his head and paid no notice to the alarm triggered by the bomb. He continued on, moving the sweep under Wolfe’s armpits, around his waist.
    “You’re clear,” he said. “So let me take you inside to Advisor Walsh.”
    “Won’t be necessary,” a jocular voice came from the mansion’s steps. “The mountain has come to Yahweh, or however it goes.”
    The man appeared as cheery as his voice and his driver. He was small, balding, with twin ruffs of white hair above his ears, and a smile accenting the lines of happy aging on his face. But his eyes were obsidian, and the two men flanking him looked equally dangerous.
    “Mister Taylor, you’ve wreaked some havoc on my organization,” he went on. “I’m Edmund Walsh, and I think we should have a talk.”
    • • •
    “I suppose you expect me to begin with some sort of moral lecture on how I’m so outraged by this new generation of villains like yourself, who lack all respect for tradition, the amenities, and so forth,” Walsh said. “I had Sathanas’ own time finding Hubert Dayton,” he said. “Finally had to buy a bottle from your hotel. I believe this is how you like it, however.”
    He handed Wolfe a half-full snifter and a glass of ice water.
    “It is, sir,” Wolfe said. “And no, I wasn’t necessarily expecting a lecture about the good old days. Wasn’t expecting or not expecting anything, to be precise.”
    “Good,” the old man approved. “What they call no-mind, eh?”
    He noted Wolfe’s flicker.
    “Oh yes, Taylor. I’m hardly an oaf. When I heard the report of the damage you did to Aurus and his goons, I suspected there was a bit more to you than just being quick with a gun. Some say a man properly trained could even control objects. Such as roulette balls?”
    Wolfe smiled politely, sipped Armagnac, and made no response.
    “Anyway, back to where I started. You’ll have to bear with me, Taylor. I’m getting old and have a tendency to ramble. You’ll likely find that weakness in yourself, as you age.” The black eyes glittered. “That’s assuming you plan on getting older.”
    “It’s on my