Water is Thicker than Blood Read Online Free PDF Page A

that God is still angry with us ‘cause mankind done blew
up what He had created for us. We destroyed what God had built, and
He is angry.”
    “ You...you had a vision? And what did the Archmage
say?”
    “ The Archmage is a good man, but he is not a man of faith.
He believes that our talents are our own. But I have come to
believe that our talents are a gift bestowed upon us. He wouldn’t hear more of what I
had to say.”
    “ So what does this have to do with me?”
    “ I have convinced the alchemists working on the generator of
the righteousness of my vision, and they are willing to do what
must be done. But I need someone of faith also willing to do what
must be done. Just as Jephthah sacrificed his daughter, and God
Himself sacrificed his only Son, we need someone willing to offer
for sacrifice someone they love.”
    “ Wait, you want me to let you kill Hank!?”
    “ I am asking you to release him as an offering to God, so
that the generator will work.”
    Rue raised her hands to her mouth to hold back a scream.
She shook her head violently.
    “ Ms. Rue, the truth is he has already sacrificed his
marriage to the demons of sloth and gluttony. He offends God by
forgetting his vows to you. He takes from you and drowns his soul
in alcohol. You know as well as I that it is only a matter of time
before he drinks himself to death, and you know what will happen to
his soul them.”
    “ Stop it! Stop!” Rue put her hands over her ears.
    “ Ms. Rue, you still love him, but he is not the man he was.
But you can save his soul before the Devil takes it. Offer him to
God so that he can wait for you in Heaven.”
    Rue’s hands went over her heart. “Do you understand what
you have asked me to do?”
    “ Ms. Rue. I am not asking you to do the deed. We will make
the offering for you. But it must be made willingly as a righteous
sacrifice. His blood will show God that we accept his punishment
for our sins, and he will forgive us and grant the grace of His
power to the generator. And then the waters of life will
flow.”
    “ I...I don’t know.”
    “ Ms. Rue, you walk the streets of Bywater. You see children
growing sick. Babies are dying. Your neighbors struggle just to get
water to drink. Innocent children die while your husband sells your
belongings to buy liquor. He just as well be spitting in the eye of
God.”
    “ But...what do you need me to do?”
    “ All you have to do, is tell me you offer him as a
sacrifice. I can take care of everything else. Just tell me that
you wish to offer him as the sacrifice, and then go to my mama’s
house. Tell her you don’t want to be home with Mr. Hank tonight.
You won’t be lying. Because you don’t want to be there this
evening. Stay there with mama. In the morning, it will all be
over.”
    Joseph’s eyes were red from holding back tears. His face
glowed with a strength of conviction that reminded her of the Baron
when he talked about the restoration of Nola. Her body shook. The
Lord was calling her to do His work. Joseph was her burning
bush.
    She took his hands in hers and clenched them tightly. “I
give you my husband as an offering. Bring the light, child. Make
the waters flow.”
    Joseph hugged her. “Thank you, Ms. Rue. You are a righteous
woman.”
    Rue went to Lula’s house. She told Lula she didn’t want to
go home. Lula didn’t ask why as it wasn’t her way to pry. They
drank luke warm tea and played checkers by candlelight on Lula’s
back porch beneath the mosquito net Joseph had bough
her.
    Just before they went back into the house to go to sleep,
the area became awash in a soft light. It stunned them both and
even caused Lula to drop the box with the checkers in it. Neither
Rue or Lula paid any mind to the checkers scattered all over the
porch. Instead, they both went around the front of the building and
walked down the street toward the Circle of Magi.
    They weren’t the only locals that noticed the light. A
bunch of folks were converging on the