Page 79 of Anorthic Anarchy

When I reach the altar, I turn and face the crowd, but my eyes scan upward until I find Falcon’s dark ones high above us in the balcony. She gives one tiny nod, then disappears.

A peace settles over me I haven’t had since the night I first made love to my wife. I wasn’t sure what I expected at my death, but the calm assuredness is a comfort.

One of the tuxedoed men and Amalthea rise from their pews and approach the pulpit, the John brandishing a knife and handcuffs. Edging as far away from them as I can get, my calves hit the edge of the large baptismal pool. We’d had it outfittedwith a fountain, and the sound of trickling water makes my soul rest even more. As long as they don’t touch me.

“Vladimir Vincente Strauss the third. The last of your name.” A chuckle escapes from under the iron mask of the Clavius member. “Well…youwillbe once we annihilate the fetus inside yourwife’swomb. We’ll marry her to someone appropriate, then impregnate her. Her Barrington blood will blend nicely with all of us as we take turns filling her with seed.”

My eyes scan the numbers here. There could be five hundred. Maybe a thousand of them are staring at me with their flat eyes. I have no doubt they would rape her until she was almost dead, keeping her alive only until she could survive to give birth to their demon.

“You are aware of your crimes? Or should I go over them myself?” Amalthea speaks up.

Clearing my throat, I try to cover the chuckle released in a sharply exhaled breath. “Let me see… Not following your orders. Disobedient. Rogue. Did I not violate enough children for you? Or participate in yourridiculousblood sacrifices enough? Pray to your gods enough?”

As if offended, she snaps back, “We have no gods.”

“You do. The god of self is the most destructive of all. And you worship at its feet daily with your greed, concerned only for whatyoumost desire instead of focusing on the needs of others. No wonder you’re so miserable and depressed. All you think about is your own patheticselves. And you believe the way to feel better is to continue taking care of yourself! Trying to manipulate the world to get what youthinkyou want. But it’s never enough, is it? Chasing after a god with no form or substance. An ever-changing one that is never satisfied except with the want formore.”

I feel lighter than air as the silence rings through the chapel like a loud bell. Tilting my head, I almost wait for a reply. Buttheir words are meaningless. Why consider them when these people aren’t aware enough to hold any value? Automatons repeating back whatever their group echoes like loud crows.

Chaff. All of them.

So I step back onto the edge of the tub, reaching into my pocket just as a few men stand with guns pointed at me. But I’ve already depressed the button.

As the rock of bombs starts at the pillars in the back of the nave, I smile. Smoke billows through the room and everything flashes before me in slow motion. Crossing my arms over my chest, I fall back.

In a series of explosions, each set of concrete pillars lining the sanctuary detonates in sequence. Mid-air, I can see the plaster, concrete, wood, and dust cover the crowds screaming in panic. Then…the fire.

Blooms of heat furl out with rage, burning men and women alive. Their robes are quite flammable. And the comedy of their scrambling while set ablaze is the last thing I see before I plunge as a sacrifice into the pool behind me.

As the water surges over my stiffened body, I picture my love, my angel, my star, Astrid, and think,

I love you.

Chapter 30

Astrid

The smoldering rubble is clouded with smoke by the time I reach the church. Sev jumps out of the Hummer behind me, and we gaze upon the burning destruction in horror. Some distant screams die down as more walls fall inward onto the heap of ruin.

Sev holds his hands to the sides of his head and wails, glancing around. My heart has been desolated by the sight before me.

“I’m not leaving him! I’m not!” Falling to my knees, I wait on the other side of the parking lot for any movement. Maybe he made it. Perhaps he had a plan of some sort and he’ll emerge from the building like a superhero.

But by midday, I’m lying on my side, whimpering and in so much pain, I cannot move. “I’m not leaving.”

“Please.” Sev sniffs as he stands over me. “Please, Mrs. Strauss.Pleaselet me take you home. They-they said they can’t find survivors.”

The fire fighters dig through some of the carnage before us and my lungs burn from the incessant smog. I don’t move. “No.”

“I’m picking you up now, Mrs. Strauss. I-I’m going to put my hands on you.”

My heart remains under the pile of ashes left by what he did. My husband. My hero.

“Is she okay? Asa! Come over here!” A soft, feminine voice carries to me as the Donovans shuffle over. “Astrid? Do… Can I get you anything?”

All I do is sigh. I hear the words that people speak, but it means nothing to me any longer. If I had the strength, I think I’d walk right into the flames that still linger.

“Move! The girl needs help.”

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