Free The Rise of the Fat Mogul (The Defenders Saga Book 2) by Adam Oster

understand.  A new emotion burns within me, like anger, but something far more sinister.  I feel I am unable to resist its siren’s call, incapable of denying its unyielding release.
    “The man who just fled from these hallowed halls, the man who believes himself to be man’s salvation.  He seems to be at the center of this emotion, the cause for its inconceivable pull.  At the very sight of him, I find myself yearning to pull him apart.  And the most frightening piece of it all is that even considering that option feels comforting somehow.  Just the idea that I might deliver harm unto this man gives my heart release.
    “I fear losing sight of Your plan for me.  I fear that through this emotion, I may be following selfish means, instead of Your Will.  The man who gave me this gift, Arthur Flores claims to be Your servant.  He says it was Your Will that I receive these abilities.  Yet something about this man feels off.” 
    Damon paused and looked at his hands as they lit up again.
    “I need a sign, good LORD.  I need a sign of which path I am supposed to take.  Am I to act as Your messenger, bringing death and destruction as a part of Your judgment, or would acting in such a way merely cause me to become one of the Horsemen?
    “Or, perhaps. . . perhaps these men and women who bring their own destruction, in the guise of salvation, perhaps they are the true Horsemen of the Apocalypse?  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.   Does not my gift resemble the purging fire more than the quest for death?  Or the fiery red horse of Conquest, the demon whose image is that of mass slaughter.”
    The flames extinguished themselves as Damon stood and walked toward the back of the sanctuary.  He paused halfway from the altar to the doors and looked up to the sky, tears hissing once again as they hit his face.  He returned to his knees unable to continue any further.
    “Please give me a sign.  And please don’t let her die.”

CHAPTER 7
    Buddy entered his sister's apartment quietly.  With how late it was, he didn’t want to risk waking her.  He even suggested that Alexa spend the rest of the night at her father’s house to ensure Maggie would be able to get as much sleep as possible.  He loved her, but he knew how difficult it was for her to be nice to unruly customers even after a full night’s rest.  He definitely wouldn’t want to be on the other side of a serving line run by an exhausted Maggie Jackson.
    As Buddy shut the front door, he noticed a towering pile of books placed on the couch. 
    “Looks like Zero is going to have plenty of questions in the morning,” he thought to himself.  He considered checking out what items had caught Zero's interest this time, but decided he’d allow himself to be surprised. 
    He tiptoed across the living room to his bedroom and carefully entered the darkness that was his shared sleeping quarters.  He could hear Zero snoring loudly in his bed, obviously exhausted from a day playing with Dewey and his decimal friends. 
    Buddy removed his clothing in absolute silence, even being certain to keep his belt from clicking against itself as it hit the floor.  Using as much care as he was capable, he reached into the crumpled pants’ pocket to pull out his phone.  As he slunk to the side of his bed, he fumbled on the floor for the end of the charger’s power cord and clumsily slid it into the USB port on his phone, causing it to make a single loud beep as it announced that it was, in fact, charging.
    Buddy panicked as Zero snorted in response to the sudden noise, daring not to even move in case it would aid in bringing the notoriously light sleeping out of his hibernation.  After counting to sixty in his head without any further action from his roommate, Buddy felt confident he could continue his nightly ritual.
    Pulling the sheets back gently, he climbed into his own bed, holding his breath to keep back the grunts his body wanted to release due to the effort