Fallen Stars (The Demon Accords) (40 page)
Read Fallen Stars (The Demon Accords) Online
Authors: John Conroe
Behind her, Awasos jumped down from the back of the SUV, the back end lifting up noticeably as his weight left the car. He yawned and then headed into the parking lot, big nose sniffing cars, looking for one in particular. He found it, a shiny red BMW convertible. His big brown eyes met mine and flashed lava red as his hind leg lifted over the radiator grill. I felt Grim flash back and immediately had a memory of a bar parking lot in Asheville.
I looked back at Gina. “Not very Angelic, huh?”
“Most people don’t realize that Angels aren’t fluffy creatures of love and happiness. Your Brethren are usually God’s Enforcers,” she said. “But you have a lot more to worry about than some referee at a kids' game.”
No shit. A plague of portals straight to hell, a gorgeous uber-vampire that I needed to get to know for the second time, a beautiful werewolf friend who was crushing on me (and might get crushed by the vampire), agents of Oracle looking to control my skills, a witchy primer for mass destruction to protect, Elder vampires toying with my life, and a team to build to close the Hell holes.
Out on the field, the ref suddenly spotted 'Sos peeing on his car. He turned away from the game and completely missed Toni’s cross to center, where her teammate kicked a goal. The crowd erupted in cheers and the asshat ref turned back as his partner called a goal. Toni looked in the stands to see if we were watching, then spotted us near my ride. We waved back at her excited face.
“But Gina, I only have one goddaughter, and I will always do what it takes to protect her,” I said, quietly.
“Heaven help them if they try again,” Gina said.
“Oh, I can guarantee that Heaven isn’t going to help,” I said, resting my hand on the massive head that leaned over the fence.
The End.
Author’s Note:
Just a couple of thoughts.
It’s been said that Chris is too powerful. That it’s difficult or impossible to challenge him.
My mother passed away while I was writing Fallen Stars, the victim of a nine year struggle with Alzheimer’s. There’s a challenge for you. Once that disease has its hooks in you it’s just a matter of time, wrapping around your brain like an anaconda, crushing neurons till you forget how to breathe.
Chris is immune to disease, but not immune to a .30 caliber chunk of lead and copper moving at 2600 feet per second. What do you do when your memories are simply gone? How do you relearn what you used to know? How do you change in the process? Are you still you?
Two people in my life have battled memory and skill loss brought on by subdermal hematomas within the last 3 years. A simple fall, the impact of a hard object on the head, and life is turned upside. Speech, simple motor skills, childhood memories are all at risk when your brain is traumatized. Relearning how to speak at sixty years of age—that’s a challenge.
So Chris will always have his challenges, they’re just not always going to be super villians and physical combat.
If you’re interested in how I view Chris when he’s in Grim mode, just listen to Disturbed’s song
Indestructible.
I think of Grim every time I hear it.
I need to thank Ryan Bibby for his awesome artwork, and Susan Gottfried for undertaking the daunting task of making my writing readable. Of course, my wife and girls support me 100%. If I fall, they’ll catch me.
I especially need to thank my fans for reading my little stories and writing me their thoughts and impressions.
And last, but not least, thanks, Mom, for making me read out loud after dinner every night until I realized that I didn’t hate reading but, in fact, loved it.
You
will not be forgotten.
Chris, Tanya, Awasos, and company will be back in
Forced Ascent.
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