Read Armageddon for Free Online Page B

asked.
    “No,” Hoff replied, his eyes narrowing on his daughter. “You’re already perfect the way you are.” To Atton he said, “Have you thought about what will happen when Ceyla finds out who you really are and that you’ve been lying to her all this time?”
    “I’m going to tell her tomorrow, before I propose. She’ll either accept me for who I really am… or not.”
    “She might need some time to think about it,” Hoff said.
    “Probably, but I’m prepared to wait as long as she needs.”
    “She might also say no,” he warned. “It’s a big deception.”
    Atton appeared to consider that. “I lied to be with her, not to hurt her. She’s smart enough to understand the difference.”
    Hoff sighed. Destra looked ready to say something more, but he squeezed her knee again. “Well, If you’re sure, then we’re sure, Atton. It might be premature to say, but—” Hoff raised his wine glass. “—congratulations.” Everyone else raised their glass for the toast—everyone except for Destra.
    “Thank you, Hoff. Mom? Are you okay?”
    Hoff saw her staring out the windows at nothing in particular, her lips pressed into a stubborn line. He knew that look.
    Atton frowned and rose from the table. “I think maybe I’d better come back another day.”
    “Destra, darling…” Hoff began.
    Then she rose from the table, too, and rounded on her son. “You’re a foolish, foolish boy! You expect me to be happy that you’re leaving us? You won’t even be able to visit us anymore!”
    “Hopefully Ceyla will agree to ascend to Etheria, and then we’ll all be together.”
    “Then why didn’t she do so sooner? You said it yourself, she believes we have a soul, and that hasn’t changed. Her beliefs will keep her where she is until she dies and leaves you a grieving widower.” Atton looked uncertain. “Have you considered what you’ll be giving up? Or the risk you’ll be taking with your life? If you choose to go to the Null Zone now, you’ll become a target . You won’t age, and you don’t look like them. You’re too perfect. Right now it’s suspicious, but once people get to know you, they’ll realize you don’t belong.”
    “I can look after myself.”
    “Let’s suppose you can. And that Ceyla can, and that everything works out just fine. Twenty years from now she’ll be looking old already, and you’ll still be young and handsome. How do you think that ends up? It ends up with you looking after an old crone.”
    “Love goes beyond the surface,” Atton insisted.
    “But not beyond death! There’s a reason marriage vows used to read till death do us part. ”
    Atton smirked at that. “And now they read, until this contract expires. What does your marriage contract read, Mom? Ten years? Twenty? It’s the same thing.”
    “That’s none of your business, Atton. The point is, your marriage is doomed to failure one way or another, and in the meantime you’ll run the very real risk that someone kills you out of spite. Omnius won’t bring you back after that, not after you’ve chosen to become a Null and live apart from Him.”
    Atton threw his hands up. “Don’t you think I already know all of that? Omnius has already tried to change my mind.”
    Destra snorted. “So why didn’t you listen? ”
    Hoff rose from the table now, too. “I think we should all agree to discuss this at another time. Atton, I’ll show you out. I’m sorry that your news wasn’t the cause for celebration you thought it would be, but…” Hoff glanced at his wife, and she turned her scowl on him. “Your mother is right.”
    “Thank you!” she replied.
    “But even though I don’t agree with your decision I still support it. If it’s what you really want, you have a right to make that choice. In fact, all of Avilon is built on that premise. The Null Zone wouldn’t even exist if not for Omnius saying the exact same thing to all of us—that we are allowed to choose to go our own way, even if that way is