Free Tartarus: Kingdom Wars II by Jack Cavanaugh Page A

massing. Robed. Shining with a heavenly glory that was mesmerizing and fearful. Moving with grace. Solemn. Silent. They filled the sky stretching north to south from horizon to horizon and upward in a column that reached to the heavens. Was this the ladder that Jacob saw?
    But unlike Jacob’s angels who ascended and descended the ladder, these angels traveled a singular direction, from heaven to earth. Their assembly had the appearance of a grand choir.
    I laughed out loud. Wasn’t it a mere five miles south of here that they had assembled in similar fashion to announce the birth of the Christ child? And now here they were again. To announce what?
    There was a tap at my door.
    “Grant? Are you ready?”
    I bolted across the room and startled Sue Ling with the suddenness of the door opening. Grabbing her by the arm I pulled her across the room.
    “You have to see this!”
    “Ouch! Grant, you’re hurting me—”
    “Sorry, it’s just that—” I pulled her onto the balcony. “—look!”
    With the sweep of my hand I showed her the angels.
    “I know,” Sue replied, unimpressed. “I have the same view from my balcony. That’s why I brought an umbrella. Oh, look, what good timing. Choni’s in the parking lot waiting for us.”
    “Sue? Can’t you see them?”
    Of course she couldn’t see them. But at times like this there is no reason, only excitement and desire. I so wanted her to see what I could see. Maybe if I wished hard enough. Maybe if I clapped my hands.
    “Well, we’re off!” she said cheerily.
    I blocked her with my arm.
    “Sue, I see angels.”
    Her genial expression faded.
    Sue Ling didn’t need to be convinced of the existence of angels. As the professor’s assistant she’d seen Abdiel often enough, possibly even conversed with him. She also knew enough to know that seeing angels wasn’t always a good thing.
    “Angels,” she repeated. “How many and where?”
    She scanned the rooftops in anticipation of viewing the location, if not the angels.
    “Thousands,” I said. “Thousands upon thousands. And not down there. In the clouds.”
    With fervent gaze she scanned the clouds. With reverent voice she said, “And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. Matthew 24, verse 30.”
    “We have to get down there,” I said.
    It took a moment for my words to penetrate. When they did, she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of the room.
    “Ouch! Sue, you’re hurting me—”
    She let go of my arm in the elevator. I rubbed it.
    Her eyes were fixed on the floor indicator, urging the elevator downward. As soon as the doors started to open, she was pressing to get through and ran into a woman and two men who were getting in.
    “Jana!” she exclaimed.
    The collision knocked Jana back a step into her bow-tied coworker and cameraman, whom I recognized from the press conference, though he wasn’t carrying a camera at the moment.
    When Jana recovered, she looked at Sue, then at me. “What are you doing here?”
    Sue stepped around her and waved for me to do the same. “Grant, we’re late,” she said, hurrying on.
    “Hi, Jana.” I stepped to one side to let her into the elevator. “You’re a long way from home.”
    “Grant!” Sue called to me.
    “Sorry, Jana, I have to go.”
    I was halfway across the lobby when—“Grant!” It was Jana.
    I turned back.
    “Grant?” Sue held the lobby door open.
    Once again I found myself forced to choose between my former girlfriend and the woman I was attracted to but couldn’t have.
    But from the expression on Jana’s face, she wasn’t expecting me to make a choice. She was sizing me up.
    She turned to the cameraman. “Get your camera. Move!” To the bow tie, “Get the car.” Then she fixed her sights on me. “Grant, what exactly are you doing here?”
    A vise grip clamped onto my arm. It was Sue. She pulled me across the lobby. At the door, I said to Jana, “Sorry—”
    Jana followed us