Read Online Zero Saints by Gabino Iglesias - Free Book Online Page A

the usual escándalo of the street.
    “The Almighty is giving you a chance to stop sinning right now,” she was saying. “I am His voice, here to warn you of the coming judgement. You who obey the needs of the flesh now will soon be cast into the flaming pits of eternal damnation!”
    Someone yelled at her to shut up from inside a bar. It stopped her in her tracks. She looked around, her eyes wide and her hands out wide.
    “Have fun now, you son of a whore, for you will be the first to cry when the seas blacken, the mountains turn to dust, and the Almighty starts striking down the sinners! You will see your mother eating your father and everything you love will be covered first in hungry locusts and then in the darkness and stench of decay!”
    She finally reached me and came in for the transaction. I had her bag of peace ready to go because her smell was hard to put up with, so I always tried to get her taken care of and back on her way as quickly as possible. This time, however, she stopped a few feet away. I look at her wild hair and ojos locos and went back to paying attention to the door. You can’t worry too much about the things junkies do.
    “Your time is closer than theirs,” said Pilar. I looked back at her. Her eyes were locked into mine, wide open and bloodshot.
    “You will be gone before the streets of this town are covered in the bodies of men and beasts. The Fallen Angel is reaching out for you, his filthy talons craving the feel of your ripping flesh.”
    Her words sent a shiver down my spine.
    “Get away from my door, Pilar. I can’t have you here spitting nonsense at the customers.”
    “Repent now. Your time is almost at hand. When you start coughing up blood and hear the hoofs of the Beast on your roof, remember my wor…”
    “Get out of here, Pilar. I don’t want to have to remove you.”
    She looked at me. She turned around and walked down the sidewalk in silence.
    Pilar’s words wouldn’t have worried me, but the fact that she left without her smack and cut out her crazy talk made me feel very uncomfortable. The feeling grew inside me and morphed into something cold that stuck to my ribs.
    After the doors closed, I pretended to be feeling very tired and asked Jenny, a waitress whose boyfriend always picked her up at the end of the night, to give me a ride to my car.

 

    8
    Too much zlo
    Tchort – Men with black eyes
    Dueña Poderosa de la Negra Mansión
    Belly full of razorblades

 
     
     
    The Russian called me the next morning. My head spun from too many pills and I was nauseous, but the pills had helped me sleep. I picked up the phone and looked at it. As always, the number on the screen was not the same number I’d called, and I knew it was a number I’d never see again. I swiped my finger across the screen and placed the phone against my ear with a smile plastered on my sleepy face. The chemical cocktail cruising through my system made the sheets feel like feathers brushing against my skin.
    “Hello?”
    “I found the men you wanted me to find,” the Russian said, sounding tired. I imagined Nestor’s soul flying into the body of a fly just so he could land on Indio’s glassy eye and take a shit on it. Thinking about him made me sad, but the idea that a threat that had been hovering over me like a jealous helicopter was now gone trumped that sadness.
    “I knew you would. You always get things done. That’s why I called you. So…everything has been taken care of? Easy job?”
    “No, Nando. I am sorry. This is not something I can help you with. This is something I don’t think anyone can help you with. Too much…zlo involved.”
    I didn’t know what zlo meant but, for a second, I didn’t really care because I thought he was joking, so I stayed quiet. I expected him to laugh and then tell me everything was fine. He didn’t. The threat was back, now more menacing than ever. If Indio and his monkeys had evaded The Russian or, even worse, spotted him and figured out why