Page 62 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
I fought to draw breath again. “No,” I gasped, shaking my head in futile denial.
Isn’t this what you wanted, Colin? To be important? To matter? Look around! You’ve ended an entire world. I gave you that. You should be thanking me.
“No,” I repeated. “No. I’ve stopped you.”
You have?
“You’ll see,” I promised from behind trembling lips.
You don’t mean the angel, do you?
I stopped breathing again.
Oh, was it supposed to be a surprise? Forgive me. It’s been fluttering around, trying to work up the courage to do something.
“It—” I forced the words out. “It’s going to smite you with heavenly fire or call down the power of God or whatever angels do.”
We’ll see.Slowly, it bent at the waist and moved its hand toward Eric, standing motionless next to me.One more meal before I go.
I hurled myself at it without thinking, prepared to rip it apart with my bare hands. It lifted an arm to fend me off, and I staggeredback as if I’d run into a piece of rebar. “No!” I shouted as its fingers dipped toward Eric’s throat. “No!” I threw myself at it again, but before I made contact, its hand hesitated and then drew back.
Interesting, it said as I scrabbled uselessly at its arm. Then it shrugged me off like a dog would a flea.
I fell back, chest heaving with deep, shuddering breaths, adrenaline roaring through me. If it tried to touch Eric again, I would…I didn’t know what I would do, beyond fight as hard as I could. But it didn’t reach for Eric. Instead, it tilted its body back and looked up at the sky.
I’m in the mood for something easier to swallow. You know, I haven’t devoured an angel ineons. It’s going to be absolutely scrumptious.
“No,” I croaked helplessly.
Goodbye, Colin.
The universe flickered and Eric stepped forward, halting when he realized there was no one left to save. His head turned toward me, eyes wide. “What just happened?”
“They’re gone,” I replied dully.
Expression grim, he said, “We’re leaving. Now.”
I didn’t argue. Bending down to grab my bag from the grass, I glanced over and saw him pick up the disposable spoon I’d used to eat my few bites of cereal. In his other hand was a small plastic baggie into which he dropped the spoon before slipping it carefully into the sleeve of his leather jacket. I hesitated, confused. Was this some weird thing where he’d go home and tape my spoon into a scrapbook and then, forty years from now, show it to our grandkids and describe our romantic picnic while Manhattan burned? Or was there a creepy collection of utensils from all his past dates in a cardboard box that he carried with him from city to city?
Before I could ask, he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward his bike. “C’mon. I’ll get you home.”
Numb, I followed, stumbling over my own feet. As I moved, though, a deep warmth began to spread through my chest along with a rising sense of euphoria. It was a familiar sensation, one I’d felt just a few hours ago, and instinctively I peered up at the hazy skies. My heart leaped at the sight of a solitary figure suspended high above, arms outstretched and light streaming from its glowing flesh.
Sukariel.
Our salvation had arrived. Despite what the Thing had promised, hope bubbled through my veins. I knew that everyone in New York would be feeling this as well, a shining optimism coaxed to life by the intangible presence of the divine. Next to me Eric whispered something as his hand tightened around mine. We were going to be okay.
With a thunderous clap of sound that made my teeth vibrate, pure darkness boiled out from the sky itself, seething and twisting as it closed in around Sukariel. That beautiful radiance faltered, the warmth inside me dimming in response as the angel turned in place, hands lifted protectively. A black tendril snared an arm, then a leg, as darkness crawled across the shimmering form like ink bleeding through paper. Horrified, I waited for Sukariel to free itself, to beat back the darkness with more light and save us all. But it didn’t. Instead, shadows rolled hungrily across the angel, and then a burst of golden light lit up the darkness from within, like lightning deep inside a thundercloud.
Everyone in the city knew when Sukariel died, because hope died with it.
Twenty-One
Not once in its historyhad New York ever been as still and silent as it was in the moments that followed. The darkness overhead dispersed and wan sunlight trickled through the haze of smoke that lay over the city, turning everything dingy and gray. After basking in celestial radiance, I wasn’t sure the world would ever look beautiful again.
“I—” Pausing to swallow, I said the first thing that came to mind. “I don’t want to go home. Take me somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Please.”
Eric looked at me, his face streaked with tears, then nodded. Pulling a second helmet from the box mounted on the back of his motorbike, he helped me put it on before swinging a leg across the bike and settling himself in the seat. Looping my bag across my chest, I climbed on behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing myself into his back. I barely noticed when we drove back to Central Park West and turned south. All I could do was repeat, over and over again,I’ve failed. I’d sent Sukariel to its death,and now I was all out of ideas. If an angel couldn’t stop what was coming, our only hope was Management…and I’d heard Them warn Ms.Crenshaw that New York would die if They intervened.
