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Benny felt soift of darkness He had no idea what religion thisto, but it was pretty clear what the ‘darkness’ was

Death

But hoas death a gift? How did that make any sense, especially in a world where life was rare and so very precious?

At the same time, it unnerved him that this maniac could somehow tell that he and Nix had killed people Since that terrible night when Mrs Riley was murdered, Nix and Benny had been in several bloody confrontations, first with Charlie Pink-eye’s gang and then with Preacher Jack’s killers at Gameland They had plenty of blood on their hands; and the fact that the men they’d killed were absolutely evil did very little to help either of theht The fact reouged marks into each of their souls that no amount of justification could remove

And this ain, get away from him Go--now!

"Have you coe little smile as he spoke those words, and he seemed oblivious to Nix’s pistol and Benny’s sword "The darkness wants to take you The darkness wants to take us all Do you not agree?"

"Umno?" replied Benny uncertainly "Not today, thanks"

Saint John’s eyes were filled with a strange light, as if he could read Benny’s thoughts Benny thought itelse, too So he had never seen before, and it chilled hiht of absolute fanatical belief Not a simple faith, like Benny had seen in the eyes of way-station monks like Brother David, nor the desperate hope that was always present in the eyes of Pastor Kellogg back ho else This was a kind of insanity And this ed in his own inner conversation with things only he could see Gods? Monsters?

Chong had quoted a passage to Benny after the Ga a German philosopher nao "‘He who fights with monsters should look to it that he hi recited as the four of therave and the column of smoke that rose above the dust and fire and ash of Ga into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you’"

The very thought of that had chilled Benny back then, and it returned now as a cold breath on the nape of his neck, because he was absolutely positive that it explained what he was seeing right now This er and utter wacko--was so into the abyss Benny knew this with an intuitive flash, because looking into his eyes was like looking into the very same abyss Into a bottohts, coh his mind in less than a second

Behind them, somewhere in the woods, Benny could hear more shouts Riot’s voice, and Sarah’s Then the roars of the quads as the reapers hunted theravely to Nix

"Nyx," he said, his eyes taking on a dreaht Mother of the Fates, Sleep, Death, Strife, and Pain Sweet mother of all shadows"

Out of the corner of his eye, Benny could see the gun treiveyou to tell me--are you her? Did Mother Rose call you from the darkness in our hour of need?"

"Look, just back off," warned Nix, taking her pistol in two hands "I don’t knohat you’re talking about, but we don’t want trouble"

"Trouble?" The man lookedto fear from me--or any of our kindred" He suddenly senuinely happy

Nix cleared her throat "Mister, I have no idea what you’re talking about Whoever you think we are--we’re not We’re not part of whatever you’re doing, and we don’t want to be We just want to leave, okay? Don’t try anything and don’t try to follow us or I swear to God that I’ll shoot you"

The man who called himself Saint John of the Knife nodded, as if Nix had said so he both understood and liked "Yes, yes, Goddess, I understand that the darkness is yours to give, and I welcome it with all my heart I am a reaper, and I am yours body and soul until the darkness closes around us all!" His words, strange as they were, had the cadence of a church litany, and that made Benny’s skin crawl "Kill me now, or come with me to spread darkness to the heathens out there" He pointed to the field "And then I would be so honored to kneel before you and accept your gift A bullet, a knifeeach is a path to glory"

"Nix," Benny said cautiously, "let’s go"

They began backing away fro that they were going to lead hie out onto the field, but when he saw that Nix and Benny were o around hied At first it was lit by an expectant hopefulness, his srew confused

"Holy one," called Saint John, "where are you going?"

"Far, far away from here," said Nix, "you incredible freak"

Even as she said it, Benny knew that it was a ed once more; the confusion e

"You are not her," growled Saint John in a low, feral voice His pale face grew flushed, and his dark eyes filled with a dreadful light "You steal the na that is holy"

He spat onto the ground between them

"I never said that I was"

Benny pulled her arrowled Saint John, "you da her holy name, and you do it in the presence of a saint of her son’s sacred Night Church No fire exists in hell to burn that blasphemy from your soul"

"Hey, look, pal," snapped Benny, "we’re not blasphe And if that’s what it sounds like, then we’re sorry Like she said, we’re not who you think we are, so we’re just going to leave Pretend you never saw us You go ahead and do whatever it is you were doing, and we’ll be out of your life and--"

Saint John spat again and took a threatening step forward, his fists balled "Where are you from? Are you scouts from Sanctuary?" His eyes flared, and he bared his teeth "That’s it, isn’t it? You think you can spy on the holy children of od in order to lay a trap for us?"

"Still don’t knohat you’re talking about,Adios"

"You pathetic ots," sneered Saint John "Do you think Sanctuary can hide from us? Do you think it can withstand us? We are the fists of God on earth"

"Whatever," said Benny

"Sanctuary will fall, as every other town has fallen, as all evil must fall The reapers will open every red door and wash its streets in blood You cannot hope to defy the will of the only true god Thanatos--all praise to the darkness"

Saint John reached into the billowy folds of his shirt and drew out two knives, and he did it so quickly and sically in his hands Benny had seen enough skilled knife fighters--Tonize that this man was a master of these blades

Nix saw it too, and she stopped backing away and settled into a wide-legged shooter’s stance "Don’t be stupid," she warned Her voice did not sound like that of a fifteen-year-old girl Benny knew that she was deadly serious<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>