Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) (46 page)

BOOK: Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14)
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"How did you know?"

"It was destined. Look into my eyes, and I'll cleanse your soul as a reward."

She stared into his amazing eyes. After a moment, she smiled and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Thank you," she said softly. "Thank you."

"I could use somebody with your talents on my team," Wesley said. "I'll need all kinds of people helping me."

"Help you what?"

"Fix the problems in the world. Take mankind to the next level. Interested?"

Rachiel raised her eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

"I never lie. I can't."

"Then yes! Can my coven come along?"

"Of course." He smirked. "I can't wait to see the President's face when he hears who he'll be working with."

The witch was grinning from ear to ear. Marina felt happy for her.

"Wesley," Marina said, "can we speak with you?"

She, Wesley, and Aaron stepped away from the others.

"What?" Wesley said.

"Yang wants to marry Jia. I thought you might have an opinion."

"Isn't it obvious? They must marry. Jia will have a long, happy life with him. Aaron, I want you to be the minister. As God's right-hand man, you have the authority to perform marriages."

"Sure," Aaron said. "It will be a pleasure."

Marina gave him a kiss.

"But what if other
legionnaires
want to marry mortals?" she said. "Or each other?"

"Let them," Wesley said. "Love is essential, even if it's just for a little while. An eternity without love is an eternity of hell. That's why you two have each other. Of course, they have to take their marriages seriously. 'Till death us do part' isn't a joke, especially with
legionnaires
."

He looked back and forth between them. The boy had a perplexed expression which Marina had never seen on him before.

"Something wrong?" she said.

"It's weird. I can't see your future."

"What does that mean? Are we going to die?"

"No," Wesley said. "It means the winds of destiny are done pushing you around. I foresaw everything up until this moment. What needed to happen happened, and God is satisfied. The rest of your story is yours to write."

"Oh." Marina felt the thrill of freedom. "No more prophesies?"

"None for you."

Aaron gave her a hug. "That's great news. We still have business in Chicago. When we're done there, we can start spreading the Society across the universe."

"Right. Goodbye, Wesley. Will we see you again?"

Wesley shrugged. "I have no idea."

"I like that answer." Marina smiled. "Come, husband."

The Lord and Lady of the Society vanished.

Author's Note

I began writing
Apocalypse Cult
in 2008. At the time, it was just a book, not a series. The name "Gray Spear Society" was something I made up on the spot, mostly because gray is my favorite color. I had two motivations when writing that book. The first was to answer a philosophical question about God. At the time, I was thinking a lot about man's place in the universe, the free will paradox, and other deep questions. One question in particular was, "If God exists, why does He need us?" Surely, an omnipotent being wouldn't waste His time on frail, fallible creatures like human beings. I came up with a very strange answer: because God secretly needs us to fight His enemies. We have a special kind of strength He can't get on His own. Thus, a premise was born.

The second motivation was personal satisfaction. After fifteen years of writing and failing to get published by traditional means, I decided to write for myself. I put aside all questions of marketability and just had fun telling a story. It was everything I wanted in a book and nothing I didn't. I had to self-publish the book to get it in print, but I don't regret doing so.

One and a half million words later, the Gray Spear Society series has finally reached a conclusion. It was a long, strange journey, and it took me to places I never expected to go. It's still hard to believe I wrote fourteen books about Aaron and Marina. Maybe I'll revisit their world someday, but not today.

I'm not done writing though. It's time for a fresh start with new characters and a new series. Keep your eyes open for
Seams in Reality
. It's about sorcerers, but they're not like any sorcerers you've ever seen before. As usual, I have my own, slightly bent take on the subject.

THE END

Table of Contents

Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

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