He was killing them. Draining them dry, sucking their power free, devouring it like a feast he'd earned, deserved, reveling in it, his arms to the sky, the tiny church emptying of life as his power took what didn't belong to him, the people who trusted him to keep them safe, to guide and protect them, their God, their Lord, betraying them in the worst way possible.

I arrived out of time, out of craps to give, with my heart in my throat and the desperate heat of some southern ...