Page 34 of Good Vampires Go to Heaven

“Jasper must be having a bird. Beaten by a woman, and a lowly vangel at that.”

“Don’t forget she’s a witch, too.”

“Right.”

“Wonder if she put a curse on Jasper’s manpart while there? She was always threatening to tie mine in a knot.”

“As if yours is long enough!”

“I’m plenty long enough.”

“Somebody better go tell Lizzie to prepare a feast to welcome Regina home. Didn’t she buy a big pig from that Amish farmer last week? Yeah, we could have roast boar to celebrate.”

Michael shook his head at them. “There will be no celebration. I have no idea where they are. And if I did, there are a few words I have for the woman, and none of them would be ‘Congratulations!’”

“I thought you knew everything,” Trond blurted out.

“No, Trond, I do not know everything. Only the Good Lord knows everything, and He does not confide all in me.”

Okaaay. At least Trond is the one blushing with embarrassment now, not me.

“I do not even know if they have survived. Last I heard they were in a hot-air balloon over the Norselands. And they were not alone.”

This just got more and more bizarre.

Vikar and his brothers exchanged glances. “A hot-air balloon?” Harek mouthed, probably thinking that even he wouldn’t have come up with that one. And what did Michael mean about them not being alone?

“Have you any idea what thou hast unleashed by not acting sooner?” Michael asked Vikar then.

Vikar wasn’t about to argue about the unfairness of that statement, even though he considered it was unfair to blame him, totally.

“Jasper is in an evil rage. Satan’s fury is even greater.”

That is to be expected. And, frankly, yippee!

There were grins all around as the others silently shared his glee.

“They have launched an all-out war against all vangels, three thousand Lucipire strong and growing.”

“Bring ’em on!” Trond, the bigmouth, said, even though they all thought the same thing. At first, anyhow.

But whoa! Last I heard from Zeb a year ago, there were a little over a thousand Lucipires. Now that number is tripled? Well, Jasper has a never-ending supply coming from Hell, I suppose. But they wouldn’t be trained as Lucies, not so quickly, would they?

“Have you not seen the news? Wars, beheadings, bombs, every evil imaginable and some unimaginable to draw you vangels out into the open. Their goal is total obliteration of every single VIK and vangel and their human families.”

Vikar and his brothers exchanged glances, not sure exactly what Michael meant.

“They are planning their very own Armageddon.”

“Oh, Lord!” Vikar whispered.

Instead of being offended at Vikar’s use of the expletive, Michael chose to view it as a prayer and said, “Exactly.” Then he rubbed his hands together, as if getting down to business. “Vikar, I assume this castle is secure.”

Vikar nodded.

“Make it more so. Double the shielding. Post more guards. Lock down and stay out of sight. Consider this a siege for those left behind when you all go out to battles, and, yea, there will be more than one battle at a time.”

Vikar’s mind was already working with plans for which vangel to assign to which task, and worry over his wife and the children.