Mr. Destiny 4/6
Shomeret
The phrases of comfort he'd spoken on the night that Emily died whispered in my
mind, but I shut my ears to the memory. I told myself that this was not the
James that I had known. This man was an obsessed lunatic who I should gun down
like a rabid dog.
"Drop the sword, or I will shoot!" I said with conviction. You can see that
kind of determination in someone's eyes. This thing that looked like my
brother in law was not going to end the existence of a true saint among
Immortals. In his kneeling position, Darius' lips were moving in a silent
prayer.
"Get Robert in here! Tell him to take care of Joseph!" James shouted to a
follower near the door.
Hearing that name was yet another shock on a morning that had been nothing but
a series of shocks. This had to be Robert Tucker. James' daughter Lynn was
set to marry him. I'd always considered Robert a young man of integrity. I
recruited him myself. He'd given his oath in my presence before he went off to
the Academy. How could he betray everything that Watchers stand for? How
could he betray me? Robert must have been assigned to guard the church door
from the outside to make sure that no one interrupted James' murderous scheme.
Now James must be planning to have Robert shoot me in the back!
"Not Robert," I whispered. James' treachery was bad enough, but if Robert
could just kill me because James ordered it, then nothing made any sense. I
stood there frozen. I freely admit to this. I froze in a key moment when I
should have taken action. I could have been killed. I was a player in a game
as dangerous as the one Immortals play. You only have to lose once.
"Save yourself," Darius said looking at me directly with pleading eyes. "I
will not have the blood of a good man shed for my sake."
"Joe?!" said Robert's voice behind me in stunned confusion. He took in the
scene before him with dawning horror--the kneeling priest being held down by
two men and the sword poised to behead him. "No, this is wrong!" Robert said
and tried to disarm James with a flying tackle, but the crony who stood near
the door restrained him.
"Help me destroy this evil, Robert. This monster sacked Rome and brought on
the Dark Ages. Think of Lynn," James implored.
"I am thinking of Lynn. She'd never want this! You told me that you were
holding a meeting in this church. You never once said that you were planning
to behead a priest on holy ground! You're damning yourself! Robert said looking
at his future father in law as he'd become possessed by a demon. Who knows?
Maybe James was possessed. It's as good an explanation as any.
To Be Continued....