Intercession by Espinoza Pepper

Author:Espinoza, Pepper [Espinoza, Pepper]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2013-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

THEY reached Salt Lake City just before dusk, Jophiel parking in an underground structure while he waited for David to wake. The fact that David allowed Jophiel to drive at all was a testament to how shaken the vampire was over recent events. The angel hadn’t even suggested that they keep driving throughout the day, but David had still voluntarily passed Jophiel the keys and settled in the backseat with his coat over his face.

He was content to watch the vampire sleep, finding more pleasure in that simple sight than he could have ever expected. He wasn’t sure why or how things had changed for him. Perhaps it was because David’s existence now seemed to hang by a thread, and Jophiel was afraid it’d snap at any moment, between Raphael and the monks. And God’s ongoing silence was not exactly reassuring. Peter refused to offer any further information on Arthur’s whereabouts, and for some reason, he couldn’t sense Arthur’s soul. That was actually more reassuring than worrying, since he would know if Arthur was being processed into Paradise.

Still… where was he?

“Where are we?” David asked, lips barely moving, eyes closed.

“Salt Lake.”

“Salt Lake?” He cracked an eye open. “I thought we’d be a few hundred miles past that.”

“We had a tail, and there were roadblocks on the interstate. I had to take certain measures to avoid detection.”

“We went the long way around, huh?”

“Precisely. It was a very scenic route. What I could make of it, at any rate.”

“Why have we stopped?”

“Salt Lake is probably the last safe place you’ll be able to feed before we reach the monk’s sanctuary.”

“Nope. No way. I do not spend time in Salt Lake.”

Jophiel tilted his head in confusion. “But it’s my understanding that Salt Lake is the safest place for vampires.”

“Sure, if you play nice with the Mormons.” David shuddered. “No, thank you.”

“What’s wrong with the Mormons?”

“Do you know anything about what goes on around here?”

“No. I know that the monks aren’t welcome, and there’s a slightly higher population of vampires.”

“Well, the Mormons are very weird when it comes to vampires. I mean, at first it seems like a pretty sweet deal. All you have to do is register with the local stake—and I don’t think the name’s a coincidence—and they’ll leave you alone. Not bad, right?”

“Yes, but why would they require vampires to register? And how do they enforce that?”

“The how is easy. When it comes to destroying vampires, they’re the best game in town. The vampires who don’t register within twenty-four hours are destroyed. Simple as that. As to the why… well, Mormons have interesting beliefs about vampires. Namely, that they’re on Earth to do God’s will, and they only eat those found… unworthy. So, I’d really rather not stick around, if it’s all the same to you. These guys make the monks look like fun-loving guys. Speaking of, how far are we from the sanctuary?”

“Still four hundred miles.”

“Let’s go. I don’t need to take a pit stop.”

Even with the new information about Salt Lake City, Jophiel wasn’t in a big hurry to get out of town.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.