“Each of us here in this sacred place has passed through the fire many times. Each of us has stayed true even when we thought that our god had withdrawn his grace from us. Each of us has proven our faith beyond all doubt. And thus, the lord of the darkness has revealed to me that this—all of this, our struggles, our doubts, our pain, our longing, our faith—has made us the chosen of Thanatos.”

There was another beat.

“Henceforth we will rise to be worthy of that choice. We will sing out in joy for the glory of God’s grace. We will no longer fear life and flee like sheep into the darkness of the grave.” Mother Rose raised her arms in triumph. “We have been reapers at work in the fields of the Lord. This task we have done well and faithfully. The fields are clear of vermin and pests. They are clean, and they welcome us to put down our tools of reaping and set about our new work.”

The woman who had been kissed cried out, “What is our purpose, Mother Rose, beloved of Thanatos?”

Mother Rose turned so that her upraised hands indicated everything. Not just this field, Benny knew . . . but everything.

“The chosen will go out into the world and reclaim it.”

Although Benny didn’t really understand the nature of this church, he thought he had the gist of it. It felt like a weird slant on something Charlie Pink-eye used to say: Kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out.

Except that now this woman seemed to be changing the rules.

“Is she talking about double-crossing Saint John?” asked Nix, once more proving that she was reading his thoughts.

“I think so.”

“Better her than me,” said Nix. “That guy freaked me out.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not having fuzzy puppy love about Mother Nut Job down there.”

“How many sides are there in this fight? I thought it was Eve’s family against these reapers.”

Benny nodded. “Sorry to make a bad joke, but from what we just heard, I think there’s trouble in paradise.”

“Ugh.” Nix looked around the cockpit. “Whose side do you think they were on?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea. The good guys’ side, I hope.”

“Okay, but who are the good guys? Eve’s dad tried to shoot us.”

“Wait, something’s happening,” Benny said.

Down in the clearing, the reapers were arguing among themselves. However, one by one they broke from the group and knelt before Mother Rose.

“Praise be to the mother of us all,” yelled one man. “Praise be to the mother of the chosen!”