“You lied to me. You used me. You’re as bad they are.”
“I’m not like them at all.”
Josepe gestured with the gun at Stephanie. “I told you to kneel.”
MALONE REALIZED THIS WAS GOING TO BE TRICKY.
Salazar was deranged. But that didn’t mean he could not be led. In fact, it might make the task easier. He caught Stephanie’s gaze and gave her a slight nod of his head, enough for her to know he was with her.
So she knelt on the dry ground.
Luke stood in front of him, both of them holding their arms at their sides, the gun no more than a foot away, hidden from everyone’s view but his. He searched his eidetic memory for what he’d read in the book back at his shop. Salazar clearly lived in the past, so the past would be his weapon.
He said, “Wherefore, this is the land of promise and the place for the city of Zion. And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom.”
“You know the Doctrine and Covenants?”
“I’ve read it. Verily this is the word of the Lord that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the Saints.”
“And we built it. In Ohio. Missouri. Illinois. And finally in Salt Lake. If you know our teachings then you know that the Prophet Joseph declared that the redemption of Zion comes only by power.”
“Yet you have none.”
“I have this gun. I have my enemy on her knees. I have the rest of you at my mercy.”
“You elders of Israel, have you not entered into a covenant with God that you never would betray one another? A covenant not to speak against the anointed.” He was quoting more of what he’d read, a statement made by one of the early church elders.
“Every Saint pledges that,” Salazar said. “We must stay together. We draw our strength from being together.”
“Yet you were surrounded by liars,” Stephanie said.
SALAZAR TRIED TO KEEP REALITY IN FOCUS, BUT TOO MUCH assaulted him. Luckily the angel had remained, watching, staying silent, allowing him time to think. He was angry at everyone, Cassiopeia included. Elder Rowan lay on the ground, his body still, almost certainly dead.
“Shedding human blood is necessary for the remission of sin,” the angel said. “The apostle sinned. He is with Heavenly Father now, happy, and will thank you one day. His tortured soul could only be saved through the shedding of his blood.”
He felt comforted by the knowledge.
Still, Rowan had been a chosen man.
Had he done wrong atoning him?
“Don’t be alarmed if there be curiosities in Zion. If I wished to find the best men in the world, I should go to Zion to find them. If I wished to find the biggest devil, I would also look in Zion. For among the people of God there I can find the greatest scamps.”
Which surely explained Rowan’s betrayal.
What now? he asked in his head, staring at the apparition.
His enemy still knelt before him.
“She must be atoned.”
He agreed.
“All of them must be atoned.”
Including Cassiopeia?
“Her most of all. She betrayed you to our enemies.”
“Salazar.”
Malone’s voice jarred him from the vision.
“It’s done.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is,” Cassiopeia said.
He swung the gun her way. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that. You have not earned the right to pass judgment on me, or anyone else.”
“Are you going to shoot me?” she asked.
“Atone her.”
“I can’t,” he called out. “I can’t.”
STEPHANIE WAS CONCERNED FOR CASSIOPEIA. SALAZAR WAS now not only seeing things, he was talking to them. There was no telling what he would do next. She assumed Luke and Cotton had things under control. They’d freely shed their weapons, which meant that at least one of them was still armed. She’d noticed how Cotton stayed close to Luke, keeping him to his right, in front of him, never far away.
That could not be unintentional.
And thankfully, in his present state Salazar was incapable of noticing anything.
CASSIOPEIA TOOK A STEP TOWARD JOSEPE.
He reacted by re-aiming the gun her way, his eyes alight with rage.
“Remember when we were young,” she said, her voice low. “When we were together. When you first loved me.”
“I think of it every day.”
“Those were innocent times. We can’t ever go back to them, but we can have something new and different. Lay down your gun and give this up.”
“The prophet commands me to fight.”
“There is no prophet here.”
“I wish you could see him. He’s so beautiful, bathed in light, full of goodness. He has never led me astray.”