Thorn (12 page)

As Thorn stuttered, the angel abruptly turned and paced away toward the vastness of the warehouse. Thorn rushed after him. “God is all-knowing, so perhaps—Maybe He could see my thoughts, right? He can see my change of heart?”

“When you rebelled, He separated Himself from you. He can see your thoughts as much as you can see His. You know this. Now leave me.”

No, it can’t end like this. I won’t let it.
The angel’s gait was so tremendous that Thorn could barely keep up, so he drifted into the air and over the angel’s head. The angel yelped, ducked, swatted at him, changed directions. This time Thorn grabbed his robe, forcing him to stop.

He spoke quickly. “It’s not just that I’m tired of my life, okay? I mean that’s part of it, the endless power struggles and the empty achievement and all that, but it’s—I think—” Now it was Thorn’s turn to avoid eye contact. “I think now that it’s probably wrong. I think I made a stupid, stupid decision choosing this for my life, and I regret that now, and that’s the real reason I’m here. Not to—Not to escape my choices, you know, but to—” He paused, tried to steel himself. “I want to change.” He could barely believe his own words. But he did.

The angel stepped back and raised his arms protectively, but seemed afraid to touch Thorn. Thorn couldn’t let him retreat again, so he pulled around to the angel’s front and madly clutched his robe by its collar.

“I don’t want to be the cause of hate and narcissism and ignorance anymore. I don’t want to make the elderly suffer, or make kids insecure, or make people waste their lives on dumb things that don’t matter. I don’t want to murder children anymore. So please. Please! You angels are the only ones who might know how to help me do the right thing. And I badly want to do the right thing now!” Thorn had not noticed until this moment how fully the idea had blossomed inside him. It had been coming for a very long time, he realized, and he could hold it back no longer.

“I WANT TO BE GOOD!”

During Thorn’s rant, the overwhelmed angel had turned to face him as if in shock at what he was hearing. Now that their eyes had met, neither could look away in the silence that followed Thorn’s bold words. Though Thorn knew his voice could not interact with physical space, he thought he heard it echo around the enormous room. He felt the angel’s quivering breath as his fierce eyes clung to Thorn’s just inches away.

Only then did Thorn recognize him. The impeccably square jaw, the wide mouth and thin lips, those intense blue eyes that had once seemed so icy. His powerful body was just as terrifying as Thorn remembered it, and even his voice had retained its liquid bass tone, though it was not as thunderous as it had once been.

But this was preposterous. Impossible. How could this heavenly being staring into his eyes be the same friend and leader Thorn had lost so long ago?

“Xeres?” Thorn said.

The angel held his gaze. After a moment, his immense wings unfurled, and in a second he was through the roof, and gone.

I owe loads of gratitude to Robert Eichenberg, Robin Ingle, Marissa DePasquale, and David Sigurani for their feedback and encouragement during the writing of these Thorn books. Extra special thanks goes to Fedor Steer, whose dedication to this project and willingness to give continued criticism over the span of years is humbling and greatly appreciated. Thank you, Fedor, for offering your sharp eyes to these books from the very beginning—and for lending your face to their covers! Thanks also to Reid Nicewonder, for challenging me to always think deeper.

The largest slice of my Thank You pie goes to David Gatewood, whose deft editing took my raw story and raised it to the next level. David, thank you for your honesty and your keen insight, and for helping me craft these books into something truly special.

Last but certainly not least, thank
you
, dear reader. You’re the reason I write. Without you taking a chance on my books, their stories are just thoughts in my head that I happened to scribble on a page. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Joshua Ingle is a pathologically curious sci-fi and fantasy geek. The Thorn Saga is his first series of books.

Learn more at
www.joshuaingle.com
.

Connect with Josh at
www.facebook.com/joshthestoryteller
.