“You really think a bullet is going to stop him? Or the Entities behind him? He could turn you inside out just by looking at you! Where did you get hold of a gun, anyway? No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”
“Suzie gave it to me.”
“Of course she did. Please, Cathy, as a personal favour to me, put the gun away. Before he decides to do something amusing to it. Or you.”
Cathy snarled but made the gun disappear somewhere about her person again. I had to lean on the nearest pew for a moment. Even the brief struggle with Cathy had taken a lot out of me. There wasn’t a lot left in me to draw on. Cold sweat beaded my face, and my legs were trembling. I could barely feel the rough ancient wood of the pew, under my hands.
“Not looking too good there, John,” the Sun King said cheerfully. “In fact, I’d have to say you were looking pretty shit. Been having a hard time, have you? Getting near the bottom of the barrel? I knew there was a reason why I had the Entities mess you up and drive you round the Nightside like a mad thing. Killing you would have been far too kind. I wanted you to catch up with me and be here for my final triumph. Because it’s never enough to break your opponents; they have to admit they’ve been beaten.”
“That’ll be the day,” I said. I pushed myself upright and turned away from the pew, with an effort I hoped wasn’t too obvious. I met the Sun King’s gaze steadily.
“You made it as difficult as you could, but I’m still here. And I will stop you.”
“How did it feel, John?” said the Sun King. “Having to kill your old friend, Julien Advent?”
I heard Cathy’s breath catch in her throat. “You killed him, John? You really did kill him?”
“I need you to trust me, Cathy,” I said, not looking round. “I have no right to ask it of you, but . . .”
“Of course you do. You risked your life to save me. Nothing else matters. You can fill me in on the details later.”
“Yes. I promise I’ll tell you everything, later.” I took a step towards the Sun King. “I did what I had to do. I’ve always been able to do the hard, necessary thing.”
“Yes, but how did it feel, John? Did it break your heart? Well, now you know how I feel. The world, the future that I gave my heart and soul to, betrayed me by not becoming what it was supposed to.”
“Wallow in self-pity on your own time,” I said. “Where’s the Lord of Thorns?”
The Sun King shrugged easily. “I had the Entities lure him away, with urgent news. Though I can’t believe anyone his age still believes in angels. Only room for one living god in this church, and that’s me.”
“But why here?” said Cathy bluntly. “Come on; you know you want to tell us. Your sort always likes to make speeches and justify yourself.”
“Girl side-kicks should be seen and not heard,” said the Sun King. “If they like having their tongues attached. But she’s right, John; I always have loved addressing an audience. Those were my happiest days, preaching in Haight-Ashbury. So why St. Jude’s? Because this particular place was here before the Nightside was here. A holy place, where Heaven touched Earth, briefly, and made a connection. This location was sacred long before someone built a church here, and made it Christian with a saint’s name. Think of St. Jude’s as a conduit, where here meets the hereafter. Where reality itself can be overwritten, by a greater power.
“I will call on the Aquarians, and they will fill me with their power, in this place where miracles happen and dreams come true. I will bring the sun here, and let the sun shine in, and it will shed its natural light over this unnatural darkness and make it what it should always have been. Sunnyside! Let us all hail the Age of Aquarius, and the soul’s true liberation! All things shall be made well, all hurts healed, and good things will happen every day.”
“You can’t do that,” I said.
He glared at me, irritated at being interrupted in midflow. “Oh, I think you’ll find I can. I must. I have to save the world. From itself, if need be.”
“You don’t understand!” I said. “You’ve never understood how important the Nightside is, just as it is! We are the last-ditch defence, against things like the Aquarians, or whatever they really are. What the good guys can’t do, we will. The Nightside is here to do whatever needs doing, to defend Humanity, and the world. Your Aquarian masters need you to destroy us, so they can invade our reality. You must see that! They’re not Entities, they’re Enemies!”
At the end I was shouting at him, but he didn’t flinch. None of it touched him. He smiled coldly, condescendingly.
“You’re so desperate now you’d say anything, anything at all to stop me, wouldn’t you? Well, tough. Here comes the Sun.”
At that moment, the shotgun blast hit him square in the chest, punching him right off his feet, and backwards over the stone altar. Blood flew on the air, and the Sun King hit the floor behind the altar. He hit it hard, and didn’t move again. And while the sound of the shotgun blast was still ringing on the close air of the church, I turned to look; and there was Shotgun Suzie, my Suzie, standing behind me. Smoke still rising from both barrels of her pump-action shotgun. She stood tall and proud in her black motorcycle leathers, my blonde-haired Valkyrie. She smiled at me.
“You didn’t really think I’d leave you to do all this on your own, did you?”
“I thought you’d never get here,” I said. Because I had to say something.
Suzie racked new shells into place and strode forward to join me, tilting the gun up and back to rest on her leather-clad shoulder. I made myself stand very still. Hope was a small and fragile thing in my heart, and I didn’t want to do anything to disturb it.
“I knew someone would be listening in on my phone,” she said, in her cool, calm voice. “It’s what I would have done. So I said what they expected me to say. And once everyone knew I was pursuing you for the bounty on your head, most of the other would-be bounty hunters quietly dropped out of the race. Rather than go up against me. I’ve been trailing you at a distance for ages, taking out anyone who looked like getting too close. You’ve no idea how many times I’ve saved your life, tonight. You didn’t even notice, did you? All caught up in the thrill of the chase. You always did need me to watch your back. And now here we are, at the end of the trail. Together again.” She cocked her head slightly to one side. “You’re being very quiet, John. You didn’t really think I’d turned against you, did you?”
“Of course not,” I lied.
Suzie looked at me, for a long moment. “It must have been very hard for you, out there on your own. All your friends turned against you. I’m glad you found Cathy.”
“More like I found him!” Cathy said cheerfully. “So you never wanted the bounty on John’s head?”
“There’s only ever been one bounty, as far as I was concerned,” said Suzie. “And that was on the Sun King. No-one messes with my man and gets away with it.”
“You are a very frightening person,” said Cathy. “Don’t know what he sees in you.”
But they were both smiling. They never doubted me for a moment. They were always better people than me.
We all stopped, and looked around, as we heard sounds of movement from behind the altar. And there was the Sun King, rising to his feet, brushing himself down in a fussy sort of way. He turned to face us and smiled, completely unharmed. His Coat of Vivid Colours had no bullet-holes in it, and no blood-stains. His gaze was very cold.
“I can’t believe he’s getting up again,” said Suzie. “I must be losing my touch.”
She stepped forward and shot him in the face with both barrels, at point-blank range. The sound was deafening, and smoke filled the air. But when it cleared, he was still standing there, untouched. He smiled at Suzie, showing his teeth, defying her. I’d always suspected that with the power of the Entities behind him, no mortal weapon could stop the Sun King. Suzie lowered her shotgun, not even bothering to rack fresh shells. Oddly, she didn’t seem that upset. She looked at me and surprised me with a quick wink.