Read Cautionary Tales for Free Online

can finally die and stay dead.”
    â€œMaybe He counts on that. I couldn’t kill Him. It’s not really religion. It’s truth. Jesus will come again. Soon, we believe.”
    â€œYeah. I count on that.”
    â€œMaybe by some chance that will turn out to be your role. To save Him, though you hate Him. We don’t want to kill Him at all; we want Him to return and exercise His will on Earth. Face it, Cart—he doesn’t need to die again, to free you. He just needs to return.”
    She had a point. But Cartaphilus was tired of this dialogue. “Let’s fuck.”
    â€œGladly,” she said, accommodating him with a will. She was a lusty creature; he remembered again how that was unusual in beautiful woman, albeit not in witches.
    â€œOur meeting,” he said, after. “That wasn’t coincidence.”
    â€œApparently not. Emmanuel suggested that I attend this party. He said I might find something interesting here. But I don’t think even he knew it was about you, just that there was something we needed to check out. He has a feel for such things; it’s why he’s a coven leader. So I came, obeying his directive, and also because I have a certain taste for danger.”
    â€œI’m a dangerous man.”
    â€œYou are. You turn me on.”
    He knew by now that she wasn’t fooling. She was definitely the woman for him, even if she was hung up on religion. “That bat on your back—how come?”
    She smiled. “Well, I could tell you that my name means black-as-night, and the bat is a creature of the night.”
    â€œYou won’t let me lie to you. Are you going to lie to me?”
    â€œMerely teasing. But it’s true, just not the whole truth. Early in my life when my ability started showing—little boys discovered I was one little girl they couldn’t pick on—someone likened it to the bat. The bat can fly in darkness through the most devious caves and never crash. It has echolocation, using high-pitched sound to bounce off objects and give it a special kind of ‘vision.’ I could avoid things similarly, in darkness or daylight, without even looking. So they nicknamed me ‘the bat’ and I went along with it, and finally it became my mascot. It seemed only fair to give it a place on my body. Does that turn you off?”
    â€œEverything about you turns me on.”
    â€œBefore we separate, there is one other thing I should mention.”
    â€œOh, shit! You’re married?”
    She laughed. “No. Would it make a difference?”
    â€œSure. I’d have to kill your husband, and then you might be annoyed. I don’t want you mad at me.”
    â€œI am not married. And I’m not talking about any permanent separation. It is merely that we can’t stay constantly together, lest we attract attention neither of us wants. We’ll get together often enough for what counts.”
    â€œHot sex.”
    She laughed again. “That too. The other thing I need to be sure you understand is that Jesus may not return in the form you knew. What counts is not His form, but His spirit, whatever its vessel. He may assume the body of another person, or simply infuse that person, making him become the new Messiah. He could even take the form of a woman. We don’t know. We need you to understand that so that you don’t mess it up.”
    â€œMess it up?”
    â€œBy killing the wrong person. There may be one who looks like Jesus, but isn’t, so you will need our guidance. Are you prepared for that?”
    â€œI don’t kill anybody you don’t tell me to.”
    â€œThat’s about the case.”
    â€œHow about the Templars?”
    She laughed once more. “Open season on them, I think. Especially if they catch me, damp out my magic, and try to burn me at the stake. My five seconds’ foresight won’t help me then; they’ll cover my escape for fifteen