The Tome of Bill (Book 6): Half A Prayer Read Online Free PDF

“They’re not people; they’re vampires.”
    “Yeah, I know. Wait, you do realize I’m a vampire, right?”
    “It’s not that. This isn’t some stupid racist thing.”
    “Then what’s the problem?”
    She stood, placing the sword carefully onto the couch, and began to pace. “I didn’t agree with everything the Templar said or did. I know they weren’t as righteous as they pretended to be, but there was one thing we did see eye to eye on. They continually told me that I was here, that I was given this power, to protect people - humans.”
    “The last defender of humanity,” I muttered, reiterating yet another part of the prophecy that seemed to hang over our heads like a rapidly descending pendulum.
    “That’s what they said too. I’m still not sure I want to believe that part, but they were right about one thing: I have a gift and I want to use that gift to help those who can’t fight back - to be a beacon of light in the darkness, or try to anyway.”
    I’d be lying if I said that her speech didn’t give me some wood. To hear a goddess like her spout off what was essentially a superhero origin story was pretty goddamned hot. It took me a moment to focus again enough to speak. “That’s cool. I want to help you help people too.”
    “But this won’t be helping people.”
    “Sure it will. This asshole is enslaving covens left and right, turning them against...”
    She walked over and knelt in front of where I sat, leveling her gaze with mine. To my surprise, she took my hands in hers. The slightest of sparks traveled up my arm at her touch, although I had no idea if it was her power or just wishful thinking on my part. “Listen to me, Bill. I know you mean well, but you’re wrong about this.”
    “How so?”
    “Say I go with you and we manage to defeat this Destroyer. Then what?”
    “James can take over the Boston complex again and secure it against...”
    “Against your enemies,” she interrupted. “They’ll lock it up tight again so they can fight this war you told me about...so they can win it. And what happens when they do? Are they going to go back to hiding in the shadows? Can you honestly tell me they’re fighting this war so they can leave humanity alone?”
    I didn’t answer for several seconds. I saw where she was going and, deep down, knew she was right. Fighting for either the vamps or the Sasquatches meant only one thing: humanity was gonna get the short end of the stick. They might not go quietly and it might not be easy, but at the end of the day, I’d learned one thing from a lifetime of gaming and comic books - the beings with the superpowers usually won.
    Still, I had no intention of letting any of that happen. Stopping Alex and his mad quest for world domination was at the top of my to-do list. The problem was that Sheila hadn’t seen Vehron in action, but I had. That guy seriously needed to die. Otherwise, he was going to start resurrecting the dogma of his people, a bunch of psychos ridiculously called the Cult of Ib. I didn’t know a lot about them, but I’d been told they wanted nothing less than to see the world burn.
    “You don’t understand.” I held up a hand before she could speak, stopping myself short from placing a finger on her lips. That most certainly wouldn’t have helped my concentration. “I don’t want the vampires to win either. This guy, though, he’s not going to stop. He’s going to whittle away at both sides until...”
    “You’re not putting forth much of a convincing argument here.”
    “I know. What I’m trying to say is this guy scares the ever-living shit out of me. He’s bad news for everyone: vampires, humans, and whatever the hell else is out there.”
    “I still don’t...”
    “Including you. He’s already killed two Icons, and that’s only the tip of this fucker’s iceberg.”
    “Already?”
    “I told you, this guy is old. He was razing kingdoms to the ground before either of us were gleams in our