Time Jacker by Aaron Crash (nonfiction book recommendations .TXT) 📕

Bailey had danced back to avoid the blast, but Gabby had been the closest. She was thrown against the wall, which at the moment wasn’t the starry night sky, but hard stone. She hit the black rock and crumpled, knocked unconscious.

Initially, Bailey bolted to get the Eternity Cannon, but she retreated just in time to catch Gabby as she fell. It was a good catch—the demon caught the angel before sweet Gabby dashed her brains all over the polished stone floor. Both women went rolling across the ground.

Meanwhile, ears ringing, Jack staggered to his feet, stumbled forward, and snatched up the Cannon.

His fingers curled around the worn wooden grip. The metal was hot, almost like it had been held in a gunslinger’s very warm grip.

Again, his stat sheet appeared in his vision.

<<< SEPTUA SANCTUS >>>

Level: 1

Current Kairos: 49/100

Current Corpus: 88/100

Current Nefesh: 73/100

Current Ijjinaya: 91/100

Current Psyche: 95/100

Current Morpheum: 93/100

Current Decaysia: 110/100

Special abilities:

Potential Auxiliary Storage: 0/100

Aeterna Kalpa Olam

Hosted Synchronization

Septua Conversion and Transfer

<<< SEPTUA SANCTUS >>>

That horn blast hadn’t just affected Jack’s physical body, or his Corpus. It had also wiped out some of his Nefesh and Ijjinaya. And he wasn’t gaining any Kairos. The real surprise was that the weapon had synchronized with his soul. It had a name, Aeterna Kalpa Olam. He didn’t know what Septua Conversion and Transfer was, but he could guess.

This weapon was like a living thing, full of the Septua energies. Surprised, he stood there, spellbound. It was enough time for Meriton to fly down and blow that horn again.

The concussive blast hit Jack like a truck. He was thrown across the floor, and he couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, and he was pretty sure every bone in his body had been snapped into splinters.

No wonder everyone had been freaked out by Gabby’s horn.

Meriton flew in and landed, walking the last steps, the sword dripping that black goo that was oozing out of the rest of the ancient angel.

Jack was so broken he couldn’t access his Septua Sanctus. He did see something flash through his vision, though.

Current Decaysia: 120/100 - Unsafe

He had more of the mortal energy than his max. That couldn’t be good, and he knew he’d lost a lot more Nefesh and every other energy, including his Kairos, which brought on a terrible headache. He also had the distinct impression that he’d lost precious minutes of his life, kind of like how Kerrata had fed off Evelyn Mundi and reduced her lifespan. He didn’t understand how that worked, but he did know that an angel’s horn was like a spiritual nuclear weapon.

Meriton limped forward, losing a gray feather or two. His eyes and halo continue to flicker a blue-white light, sparking a little every so often. Blowing that horn had leeched power from him. “The war has scarcely begun. But I mustn’t talk about the Tempus Bellum. I must retrieve the Cannon and preserve eternity.”

That was exactly the opposite of what Meriton had said earlier. Was the war beginning or just ending? It didn’t matter because Jack just had to win this battle. He reached out with a hand of broken fingers to see if he could reach the Eternity Cannon. He felt the damage across his body. He wasn’t immortal; he was just some guy from Plum Creek, Colorado. That blast had cracked him, and his head was thrumming with pain. Just one of his many, many problems.

What had he gotten himself into? And more importantly, could he get himself out? Not only did he have to save Annie, but he also had his mom and his aunt to take care of. He was the last of the Masterson men, the only surviving son.

Meriton raised his sword to hack off Jack’s head.

But Bailey was there, with her war pick. She caught the sword between the upper and lower teeth of her weapon. She stepped in and rammed an elbow into the ancient angel’s face.

“Get up, Jack!” Bailey shrieked. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

Jack couldn’t get up. He was fairly certain that the horn had snapped both of his femurs like cottonwood sticks. The pain made everything crystal-clear and awful, and he was completely in the moment. He realized, despite the agony, that he missed the feeling of the Eternity Cannon in his grip.

It was too far from him. At least three feet away.

He reached out again. This time, the revolver went clattering across the floor and into his palm. Most of his fingers were broken, but not his trigger finger.

He rolled onto his back and lifted his arm. Was his arm in his shoulder joint? It had to be, since that part of his body was working. He lifted the gun, but Bailey had stepped into his line of fire. She parried a strike from the ancient angel with the shaft of her war pick.

Her tail was in spike mode. She also had her horns. She drove one into Meriton’s shoulder, then danced around, moving away from Jack.

Jack had the shot for only a second, and then the angel flew up into the air. Red blood dripped down Meriton’s chest. He put the horn to his lips.

Jack aimed and fired. It was a good twenty feet away and he was delirious from pain, but his bullet struck the horn out of the grip of the angel.

Meriton flew down, dodging Bailey’s war pick before kicking her in the nose.

The demon went down, clutching her face. She really wasn’t much of a fighter. She cried out. “If you broke my horns, I’ll kill you, you stupid angel!”

Meriton whirled in the air and dove toward Jack.

He was busy trying to pull the hammer back, which would advance the cylinder. His hands were so much broken bone, but he managed to get the hammer back, though it tore open the skin on his palm. That was the least of his worries.

Then he was aiming, point blank, at the angel, who drove his sword into Jack’s side. Given