Podcasts about you god

3 Elements of Life that Reveal to You God's Sovereign Plan Genesis 25:1-34 1. Providence in Provision (1-11) 2. Purpose of Promise (12-18) 3. Progression of Progeny (19-34) Reading for Next Week - Habakkuk

Somebody talked you out of your dream before it ever had a chance. Maybe it was a parent. Maybe a friend. Maybe someone you trusted. And the worst part? They didn't even know they were doing it. CJ takes his son Trey to a skateboard store and watches a 6-year-old fall twice in front of a crowd, get back up, and look at his dad like it was nothing — because CJ realized he was about to pass his own fear to his son. Fear of something he'd never even tried. ET traces his version, leaving comfort in Huntsville to chase something bigger when everyone said he already had enough. Jemal gives a raw testimony — real estate, the daycare, the businesses — every significant venture required blind, childlike faith. The one that didn't? Becoming a police officer. His whole family was already there. Everything else? Trust God with nothing upfront. And Karl brings the financial lens: your side hustle doesn't just need to make money. It needs to make sense. This one will make you think about who you've been taking advice from. And whether they've ever actually been on the skateboard.

There's a reason we call Good Friday “good.” The blood of Jesus wasn't shed just to cover our sins, but to completely take them away. Not hidden or managed. Totally removed! Paid in full! Never let the weight of the cross become something common to you, because it cost God everything. And thank You God, that's not the end of the story. What looked like death is about to reveal life. Resurrection Sunday is coming!

Title: Acknowledged and Regarded Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 FCF: We often struggle honoring those who are leaders over us. Prop: Because God has appointed and equipped leaders for His church, we must receive, honor, and live peacefully with those whom the Lord has given. Scripture Intro: NET [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians 5. In a moment we'll read from the New English Translation starting in verse 12. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. We have observed how 1 Thessalonians is a rather unified letter. Far from a hastily written email, Paul's letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is a masterful work weaving together major themes to bring comfort, hope, and direction to a fledgling church in the city of Thessalonica. The letter itself is incredibly positive as Paul cheers them on to keep growing in their faith. From early in the letter, Paul commended the Thessalonians for working out of their faith, their labor in love, and their enduring hope in the coming of Christ. But despite having these cardinal Christian virtues, Paul still says that he needs to complete what is lacking in their faith, and prays that the Lord would cause their love to abound for each other and to strengthen them in holiness so they can be ready and full of hope or the Lord's return. [Slide 2] Far from being a throw away comment or empty compliment, the possession of and growth of these cardinal Christian virtues takes center stage in the letter. And our most recent contexts we've considered are certainly part of that. To address what is lacking in their faith and urge them forward to work out their faith, Paul explains their need to be holy in regard to living out a godly sexual ethic. To address their labor in love and encourage it to abound for each other, Paul instructs them to live a quiet life, mind their business, work with their hands so that they have a good reputation with outsiders and are not in need. This will produce a church that is truly Holy in love. To address their holiness and hopefulness for the Lord Jesus' return, Paul assuages two of their fears by informing them that dead Christians will be snatched up with the living and we are not appointed for wrath but for salvation through Jesus's atonement for His elect. So, in chapter 4 and 5 so far, we see Paul address faith, then love, then hope, then hope again. So as we move forward Paul will now move to address love, then faith again before the letter closes. So, what does Paul have to say today that expands the idea of their labor of love abounding toward one another? Let's look. Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: All Wise Father, Creator and Sustainer, we praise You for Your Son who is the Lord of all and the Head of the Church. He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and He is The Great Shepherd. We thank You for His work to redeem a people unto Himself and we thank You for Your Spirit who has indwelled those people to guide them to all truth and progressively conform them to the image of Your dear Son. We thank You God for Your provision to the church that You have given gifts to the church in the form of leaders who are godly men serving You in Your strength and power, under the authority and in submission to Your Son. We ask that we would love those whom You have called and qualified to lead us and that we would be at peace, making leading us a joy and not a drudgery. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Transition: [Slide 3] “Every man who is divinely called to the ministry is divinely equipped.” A. W. Pink “I cannot recall, in any of my reading, a single instance of a prophet who applied for the job.” A.W. Tozer “Obedience to legitimate authority is one of the fruits and evidences of Christian sincerity.” Charles Hodge “Democracy is all very well as a political device. It must not be allowed to intrude into the spiritual, or even the aesthetic world.” C.S. Lewis “Democracy is not an infallible way for getting things right. The democratic vote among the Israelites in the wilderness was to go back to Egypt.” John Blanchard Meditate on these words as we expound the text this morning. I.) The church must be holy in their love for their leadership, so we must look for and receive leaders whom the Lord has called and qualified. (12) a. [Slide 4] 12 - Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, i. Paul once again moves on to another topic under the same goal of producing holiness in the Thessalonian people. ii. As we noted, this begins another section where Paul is exhorting them to love one another in an abounding way. iii. For the second time Paul uses the verb “ask” to get across what he and the other evangelists would like to see from the Thessalonian church. iv. We should not interpret this to be a request from Paul, in the traditional meaning of the word ask. v. It is like when we ask our children if they would go do their chores… we aren't really asking. But asking is kinder than barking orders. Asking communicates love and a good relationship. Asking gives respect. vi. So also, Paul asks the Thessalonian church to do something, but it is not as if this is optional for them. vii. So, what does Paul ask of them? b. [Slide 5] to acknowledge i. This infinitive functions as the complement to the plural pronoun you. ii. The verbal action of Paul asking produces the effect on the object (you) that they be a people who acknowledge. iii. This word is actually the word “to know.” iv. Paul has used this word repeatedly throughout the letter to assure and remind the Thessalonians of what they have already been taught by Paul and his companions when they visited them. v. Paul now is asking them to gain that same familiarity, not toward information, but toward people. vi. Therefore, the translation “acknowledge” seems to be the best understanding of the word. vii. Paul is asking for the Thessalonians to acknowledge or recognize, or even receive a group of people, in a similar way that they had acknowledged and received the evangelists' teaching. viii. But what sort of people? ix. Well, Paul doesn't name them. He doesn't give them titles. x. Instead, Paul uses participles to describe what these people are like. xi. He describes them in three ways. c. [Slide 6] those who labor among you i. We know that Paul refers to a single group of people because he uses a single article and joins each participle with the conjunction “and.” ii. The Thessalonians have already been instructed in chapter 4 how working with their hands is one major way that they can show love to one another. iii. When they are not in need, they are helping the church by not being a drain on the church's resources. iv. However, here, Paul suggests that there is a group of people who are not only working with their hands to provide for themselves, but is also working… AMONG them. v. Not only are they not a drain on the church's resources, but they are contributing to the work and labor of the church. vi. The word labor implies not only work but hard work. Labor to exhaustion. vii. This labor need not be physical or manual labor. There is nothing with the Greek word that would mandate this. In fact, in other letters Paul uses this word to describe the labor of preaching and teaching. viii. And so, whoever Paul is asking the Thessalonians to acknowledge, they are hard workers who specifically work for the benefit of the church. ix. The following two descriptions could be seen as two aspects of that labor – but this is largely an interpretational decision. It could just as easily be two more descriptions of the same people. x. So, what other descriptions does Paul have for these people who must be acknowledged? d. [Slide 7] and preside over you in the Lord i. The word preside is a great word to use here because it carries the appropriate force. ii. Commentators go back and forth on whether or not this word speaks of authority or care. iii. Preside carries the appropriate amount of both. It means to oversee. It means to look after and guide. iv. It certainly means to rule in the sense that these folks are making the decisions, but not in a tyrannical way. v. Paul clarifies and shapes the word with the prepositional phrase “in the Lord.” vi. As commentators point out – this prepositional phrase is not called out here as if the other two descriptions of these folks are somehow NOT in the Lord. vii. Certainly, they labor among them… in the Lord. viii. Instead, the prepositional phrase is called out here to assure his readers that their oversight, their care, their rule is not done with selfish or power-hungry intentions. ix. Their presiding, is done in the Lord. Under His authority. They are ultimately under Christ. x. So, what is the final description of these people whom the Thessalonian church must acknowledge… e. [Slide 8] and admonish you, i. To admonish means to exhort, to counsel, to correct, to instruct, to guide, to warn and to teach. ii. The semantic range of the word is quite broad but generally speaking it carries the idea of parental guardianship. iii. In fact, Paul uses the same word when he instructs fathers to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. iv. This then, is the fatherly role of providing spiritual instruction both in example and in teaching to set a path and keep them from deviating from the path. f. With these descriptions it seems obvious that Paul is talking about the office of Elders among the Thessalonian church. Which raises a somewhat perplexing question. g. Why didn't Paul simply tell them to acknowledge their Elders? i. The clue to the answer is the word “acknowledge” itself. ii. The word acknowledge seems to be an informal appointment or reception of the men who were conducting themselves in this way. iii. Paul and his companions were in Thessalonica for at most a few months. iv. And the vast majority of the church were gentiles and former pagans. v. That being said, new converts, only a few months into being believers are probably not the right people to appoint as Elders. Even if they are godly people and great teachers. vi. Paul actually warns Timothy about this when he instructs him not to appoint Elders who are new converts. vii. Certainly, in Acts we have records of Paul appointing Elders in the churches being established as a result of His evangelistic efforts. However, we are not told that this was a normal practice of his, as if each church waited for him to appoint Elders for them. viii. What is more likely is that although Paul did at times appoint Elders in certain churches, the more normative practice would be for the church to receive the Elders whom the Lord had clearly raised up for them. ix. Which means what Paul is saying, albeit in unofficial language, is for them to receive men as Elders of their church. And the three descriptions become an abbreviated list of their qualifications. x. Most likely, Paul has a specific group of men in mind, and by his threefold description has made it plain for the Thessalonians who he thinks should be Elders, without calling them out by name. h. [Slide 9] Summary of the Point: Paul moves on in his effort to complete what is lacking in their faith by instructing them further on how they can abound in love toward one another. They are already laboring in love. But to abound in love, there are a few principles they must consider. And the first is regarding church leadership. Paul encourages the Thessalonian church to be holy or different in the way they love those who lead them. One way that they can love those who lead them is by acknowledging or receiving those whom the Lord has obviously qualified and called to lead them. The qualities of the men and evidence of their calling is on display in the way they are currently conducting themselves among the congregation. They are laboring hard for them, presiding over them, and admonishing them. Such men deserve reception into leadership. [Slide 10 (blank)] Transition: But merely giving them a title will not ensure that the church is holy in their love for their leaders. Every organization on the planet is capable of recognizing hard working members and granting them leadership roles. The church is different because this is based on qualities and callings that are cultivated by God Himself. So, what else must the Thessalonians do toward their leaders to show a different and unique kind of love for them? II.) The church must be holy in their love for their leadership, so we must respect our Elders because of the work they have been called to perform. (13a) a. [Slide 11] 13 - and to esteem them most highly in love i. The second item that Paul asks the Thessalonian church to consider regarding these men who have become leaders among them, is to esteem them most highly. ii. To esteem means to regard or think of them… iii. It is a question of opinion or reputation. iv. But more importantly, it is a question of honor. v. Paul is asking the Thessalonians to give HIGHEST honor to these men. vi. To respect them, as the highest human authority in the church under Christ. vii. He is asking them to consider these men to be as highly regarded as he and his companions would be if they were among them. viii. And Paul encourages them to do this IN LOVE. ix. This gives a clue that the honor granted is not due to them because they have earned it or because they are more important that the rest of them. x. Instead, this is an act of selfless love. This is a way for them to labor in love toward one another. xi. This is a way for them to abound in love toward one another. xii. They must honor and respect these men to the highest degree out of a heart of a love for Christ and His people. xiii. The spirit of honoring these men is rooted in love. But what is the reason to honor them? b. [Slide 12] because of their work. i. More than likely, Paul is not referring to the excellence of their work. ii. He has already pointed to the fact that they labored to exhaustion, that they presided over them in the Lord, and that they admonished them. iii. This itself speaks to the quality of their work. iv. Here, Paul probably intends the importance of their work. v. An Elder's role is of utmost importance and comes with the highest level of responsibility. vi. Peter points out that Elders care for the very soul of each person in their congregations. Paul points out that Elders function as shepherds under the Great Shepherd. vii. They are stewards of the church of Jesus Christ. viii. Such a role is of such importance and heavy responsibility that Paul advises that the church honor, to the highest degree, the men who have been received to function in this capacity. ix. Not because they do a good job… but because they have a heavy burden to bear. c. [Slide 13] Summary of the Point: Paul continues to prove out how the Thessalonian church can be unique in the way they love their leaders. One way they can do this is by respecting them, not because of the title they have, and not even because of their excellence in performing their duties, but respecting them most highly simply because of the weight of their work. Elders watch out for the souls of the congregation. They inherit spiritual responsibility beyond their own family and will answer to the Lord Jesus for how they lead and loved His church. Such a heavy burden deserves highest honor from those who are being lead and cared for. [Slide 14 (blank)] Transition: But receiving qualified and called people into leadership and respecting them highly does not necessarily mean that you won't be a thorn in the boot of church leadership. There is one more sure-fire practice that will alleviate the burden you put on your church leaders, while simultaneously showing abounding love to the whole church, including church leaders. III.) The church must be holy in their love for their leadership, so we must be at peace with one another. (13b) a. [Slide 15] Be at peace among yourselves. i. I read this final command in two ways. I can't decide which way Paul intended and it is possible he intends both. ii. First, and probably less likely, Paul intends for the Thessalonian church to be a peace with the men who have been acknowledged and regarded as church leaders. 1. That they would go along willingly and peacefully with the leadership and labor of these men. 2. That they would not squabble or fight over preferences and unimportant matters, but would instead lovingly submit to their leadership and support them through prayer and meek correction at times. 3. However, one could make the case that all of this was already said in the requests for them to acknowledge and esteem them most highly. iii. A second way we could read this, which is probably more likely, is Paul instructing the church as a whole to be at peace with one another. 1. Paul will have more exhortations next week concerning the conduct of the church toward one another and how to abound in love toward each other. 2. But we shouldn't miss the obvious connection of this command to the reception and honoring of these men. 3. Every person who has ever served in church leadership can tell you without any hesitation, that the church is much easier to lead, love, admonish, and labor for… when there are not a hundred little fights they need to police. 4. When the church is generally at peace with each other and loving each other and discipling each other… leading, loving, laboring for, and admonishing such a people – takes on a joy that is not like anything else. 5. In fact, Peter commands his readers to submit to, love, and pray for their Elders because it will allow their Elders to serve them joyfully and not as a drudgery. b. [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: Paul seals up any cracks and holes in his exhortation here. His desire is for the church to see that they must be different in how they love their leaders. And one sure-fire way to make sure they are different in their love for their leaders… is to be a peace with them and the rest of the church. Not a busy body. Not a rabble rouser. Not a lay about. Not a gossip. Not a sower of discord. But pursuing peace with everyone in the church, including their leaders. This is how we can be different in our love for our leaders. Conclusion: So CBC, what have we learned today that informs and corrects our beliefs and shapes and guides our lifestyles? [Slide 17] Basics of Faith and Practice: In these last two chapters Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian church to consider that God's will for them is to grow in holiness. To continually to be conformed to Christ and thus be more and more distinct from the world around them. One way they can be different is by abounding in love for those who lead them. But abounding love existing within the church begins with a proper level of acknowledgement of, respect for, and peace with its leadership. A church that claims to love each other but distrusts, neglects to pray for, disobeys its leaders, or are continually experiencing unrest or lack of peace, is a loveless congregation. It is only by receiving qualified and called leaders, highly honoring them, and being at peace with them and one another, that a church can truly be different and abounding in its love for its leaders. But let us dig into some 21st century implications of this. 1.) [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that the church should treat its leaders differently than the world. a. How does the world treat its leaders? b. Although there is not a universal sentiment to every single form of government, I think we can safely conclude that the world does NOT love its leaders. c. Fear? Sure. Distrust? Of Course. Hate? Yep. d. But I think you'd be hard pressed to find any person look at the leader of their job, their country, or even their HOA with… love, respect, and receiving them as their leader. e. A cursory level of attention pointed, even to our local government in Columbus Twp, assures us that there is anything but love for those who are making decisions that affect our township. f. But the church is designed by God… to be different. g. We are to love our leaders. We are to pray for them. We are to submit to them. We are to honor them. We are to be at peace with them and one another. h. What an amazing opportunity it is to show the world that the church is different… simply in the way we speak of and treat our leaders. i. Submitting to a decision you didn't fully agree with, forgiving leaders who make a blunder, respecting them as some of the people you turn to most for guidance, receiving them as leaders even though you didn't get a vote, and being at peace with them even though they do stuff that drives you nuts. j. Wow… if the world saw a church do that with its leadership… I think they would be very… VERY confused. 2.) [Slide 19] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that the church has ever been or was ever intended to be a democracy. a. The church is a monarchy and Christ is its King. b. And not everyone in the Kingdom has the same gifts, responsibilities, or authority. c. Even within the 12 disciples Christ spent more time with and prayed more often with three out of twelve. d. Peter, James, and John all had significant roles and authority in the church as it began. e. And we have absolutely no record of or examples of the church members gathering to determine courses of action. f. We do see the church gathered to be informed of steps that should be taken, and we see the church being pleased with those action steps. g. We see the church gathered to be informed about discipline and by the majority, punishment was administered. h. But no formal vote is cast. And certainly, the church membership is never reported to dictate what is to be done. i. The only model of leadership we find in the scriptures, is a plurality of Divinely called and equipped men, presiding over the church in service and love. j. God calls and qualifies leaders who act as stewards of the True King and Head of the church Jesus Christ. k. Their authority is limited both by the sphere of the church and the revelation of the Scriptures. l. But a plurality of Elders making all the decisions for and laboring long and admonishing the church is the only biblical model we are given. m. One wonders how we got so many and so drastically different forms of church polity, when the scriptures are literally silent on any other forms. n. In the church everyone does not have an equal say. Not everyone has an equal voice. Not everyone has an equal vote. o. But when God qualifies and calls the leaders of the church, members need not fear power grubbing or tyrannical leadership. Because God qualifies and calls Elders to selflessly serve the church, presiding over it, laboring hard for it, and admonishing it. 3.) [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must receive Elders who are called and qualified by God. a. Elders are not elected, they are received. b. Elders are not voted for, they are acknowledged. c. Elders do not campaign, they are called by God and gifted with grace to exemplify the qualifications God clearly spells out in the scriptures. d. This doesn't mean they are perfect. Not like the King to that degree. e. There will be faults, failings, blind spots, character flaws, and even sinful tendencies. There may be things about them that bug you, bother you, or otherwise irritate you. f. But they are godly, they are hard workers, they are good leaders, and they are good guides. g. As such, it is incumbent upon the church to continue to look for those among them who seem to be qualified and called to be Elders. And when they happen upon someone who fits that description, they must receive that person and acknowledge them as such. h. This, in and of itself, is completely distinct from anything the world has ever seen. i. Even in a republic, elections are mostly popularity contests and those who have the most money to campaign usually win. j. And in dictatorships or monarchies leadership is passed to people who are unvetted as a leader or are just more powerful than the others. k. Only in Christ's church does He qualify and call His leaders and they are received and acknowledged as the Lord's choice for leaders. l. This is how it should be. 4.) [Slide 21] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must give our highest honor to our Elders because of the weight of their responsibilities toward us. a. In most types of leadership, we might favor a merit-based honor system. Or even, perhaps, honor given merely for the title that the person has. b. Only in the church is it expected to honor leaders neither for their performance nor for their title but merely because of the weight of responsibility they have. c. Certainly, Elders who lead well and labor long in preaching and teaching are worthy of double honor. Meaning not merely respect, but even financial compensation. d. And Elders who are especially used of God, will certainly be honored more. e. But the fact is that the church is commanded here to give their highest honor to Elders simply because of the job they have been given. f. To look out for the spiritual well-being of yourself… seems daunting at times. g. And if you have a family – that too is quite difficult. h. But for Elders they have all of this and also the weight of the individual souls of an entire congregation. i. They will be judged by Christ Himself according to how they took care of His bride. j. This detail alone is reason enough for the church to grant them their highest level of respect and honor. 5.) [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must be at peace with each other as an act of love toward our leaders and the church as a whole. a. When things are going well, people are growing, people are coming to Christ, and generally the church is progressing well… b. There is nothing more deflating to church leaders and nothing that stifles progress more than when people make mountains out of molehills. c. As much as the gospel should transform churches into holy places completely distinct – oftentimes these places are filled with Christians who are far from God or even those who claim to be Christians but are not actually Christians. d. As such, the church is waylaid by people who say they believe the scriptures but go to war over whether or not the Elders are visiting enough people, or making enough of an evangelistic effort, or connecting well with other churches or that the preaching Elder made them feel convicted by what he said in the sermon. e. And those are actually some of the “important” things they go to war over. f. And if these folks aren't squabbling over the decisions of the Elders, they are battling with one another over things that love should be able to cover and forgiveness should overtake. g. Nothing takes the wind out of the sails of the church like church members who are overcome with selfish ambition and the need to have it their way. h. Well, the church isn't Burger King. i. You can't have it “your way” j. It is God's way or it isn't a church. k. And God has given Elders to wisely and prayerfully consider, guided by the scriptures, the way that God would have them go. l. Be at peace with each other and submit to each other. m. In this way the church is a bunch of people who don't get everything they want and serve the Lord and each other with gladness and humility anyway. 6.) [Slide 23] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God has given His church godly men, in plurality, to shepherd the flock until Christ gathers her again. a. Can you imagine if the Lord did establish a democracy for the church? b. Aaron giving in to the desire of the Israelites to make a golden calf and worship it as the god who brought them out of Egypt… suddenly looks like a unifying and wonderful time of togetherness and comradery. c. Paul would have no right to correct the Galatian church of whom the majority bought into the teachings of the Judaizers that they should be Jews first before they become Christians. d. Instead, we should comfort ourselves that God did not design His church to function this way. e. Instead, He calls and equips some men to be godly and work together with other godly men to lead and care for His people. f. They aren't perfect individually, but together they sharpen each other and keep each other accountable to what the Lord would have them to do with His people. g. What a blessing. h. I have seen and heard stories of pastors who govern alone in a church. And it seems like they either become tyrants, door mats, or they get run out of their churches. Very rarely does a single man in leadership actually succeed in leading God's church effectively. i. I am so thankful to the Lord for the plurality of qualified men that lead this church. They hold me accountable. I have been corrected by them, taught by them, helped by them, encouraged by them… and I hope they could say the same about me. j. Honestly – I can't see any other form of church government as superior to what we have here. And I must tell you that you are truly blessed of God to have these men look after you. k. Oftentimes being an Elder is a thankless job. Do your best to make sure… that is less often for these men. Thank them. Pray for us. Submit to us. And honor us. Not because of our title. Not because we've earned it. But because God has laid on us the care of your soul. 7.) [Slide 24] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Only something supernaturally powerful and genuine could produce selfless and hard-working leadership that is loved, cherished, and honored by those they lead. That is what the gospel does for the church. a. When we are a church like this… where the leaders are hardworking, selfless, and good teachers and guides, and when the church loves, honors, prays for a submits to them – such a church is a billboard for the gospel. b. No other organization on earth is like that. c. No other group of people or culture is like that. d. And there is no explanation that adequately answers the question, why, then the power of the gospel of Jesus' Christ. e. He remakes our hearts. He conforms us to Him. He refines us. He changes us. f. If you are here today and you have never trusted in Christ. You have never turned from your sin. I implore you to know the power of the gospel. That it can change the vilest sinners into the purest saints. It can change adulterers into faithful spouses. It can turn ornery curmudgeons in to gentle and compassionate benefactors. g. And if you are here today – and you've professed to trust in Christ, but you are full of selfish ambition, it is your way or the highway, and you have no respect for God's qualified and called leaders, nor do you intend to ever submit to or pray for them. I would challenge you to listen to the Lord's commands before it is too late. h. A person who continually refuses to obey the Lord, is a person who cannot be sure they are truly changed by the power of the gospel. i. Repent and believe the gospel and be saved. j. As always – if this is you – be sure to come to me or another Elder before you leave today. We'd be happy to have this conversation with you. [Slide 25 (end)] Let me close with a prayer from the book of Christian prayers from 1578. O Lord, let your shepherds be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints rejoice. Pour out your Spirit of wisdom on these ministers of your word, so they may know the mysteries of your holy will. Give them the gift of utterance, that they may set forth the abundant riches of your gospel. Write your laws in their hearts, and your testimonies in their innermost parts, that they may lead your people into all truth, and guide your church with discretion. Make them good workers, faithful shepherds, and wise builders. Help them to mend any broken walls and feed your sheep with the bread and water of life. Strengthen them to care for your vineyard, repair your sanctuary, and lift up those who are dedicated to the service of the Lord. Finally, may they shine with such a holy and pure light before us that they may edify no less by example of life than by instruction of teaching. So, as we see the qualities you have given them to benefit the church-their modesty, meekness, endurance, patience, and more—may many others also be won to your gospel through their holiness, to confess the glory of your name. And we will see that you surely live, reign, and work in your servant. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Benediction: May the God of Abraham Who reigns enthroned above, Even the Ancient of everlasting days, the God of love, Inspire you to behold His face and to make Him your shield and high tower. So that you believe He is and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Angel Reiki School is in person April 10-12, 2026: Are you ready to stop wondering "if" you're intuitive and start working for God? The Angel Reiki School isn't just a class, it's a 3-in-1 certification. I'm going to certify you as an Angel Messenger, Medium, and Energy Healer all in one weekend. I'm handing you the exact business roadmap I used to build my own practice from the ground up. No more guessing how to find clients or how to structure your sessions. You'll leave with the high-vibration tools to hear the Angels clearly and the professional blueprint to build a heart-centered career. IN-PERSON TRAINING: Join Julie in person on April 10, 11, and 12 in Oak Brook, Illinois.  ONLINE TRAINING: Prefer to learn from home? Our next online session begins April 1st. REGISTER: Secure your soul's seat at https://theangelmedium.com/  QUESTIONS? Reach out directly to Julie at julie@theangelmedium.com. Episode Summary Hello Beautiful Souls! I love you so much! Welcome to the Angels and Awakening Podcast, Pray and Be Wealthy series. I'm your host and author, Julie Jancius, here to uplift, inspire, and remind you of a fundamental truth: You make God happy just by being you. In today's episode, we are shifting our vibrational frequency away from "doing" and "earning" and moving into the sacred space of "being." We often think we are separate from Source, but the truth is that the Divine is experiencing every nuance of human life through your senses. When you see beauty, God is seeing it through you. When you cry, the Heavens hold you in a divine embrace. Your unique soul blueprint is essential to the expansion of the universe. You are not a machine; you are a living, breathing expression of infinite creativity. Today, we release the burden of comparison and honor the divine spark within. Key Spiritual Takeaways & Affirmations: Divine Perspective: Your existence is a gift to God. You are the way the Universe gets to explore and express its joy. Oneness: You are never alone; the Divine is always experiencing life alongside you in every laugh, every tear, and every step of your soul's evolution. Inherent Worth: Release the need to "earn" love. You are inherently worthy of abundance and grace simply because you exist. Cosmic Bias: The Universe is biased in your favor because you are its joy! The Power of You: God's biggest wish is not for you to be someone else, but for you to be the truest version of yourself. Connect with Julie Book a Session: Ready to hear directly from your Angels and loved ones? Book a private reading at theangelmedium.com. Join the Community: Hang out with us twice weekly for new episodes! Win a Free Reading: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Take a screenshot and email it to julie@theangelmedium.com. Your name stays in the drawing until you win! In every moment, remember: You are being celebrated by the Heavens.

It's Friday, February 13th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus China named global ‘Puppet Master' of religious persecution At a congressional hearing on February 4, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback asserted that China continues to aid authoritarian and communist nations worldwide in their quest to suppress religious freedom, reports International Christian Concern. Brownback explained that China is the main driver of assistance to religious persecutors throughout the world. He said, “This alliance of communist, authoritarian, [and] totalitarian regimes will literally stop at nothing to control people of faith. China is the puppet master behind all of it.” According to Bob Fu of China Aid, “The Chinese Communist Party has a powerful civilian surveillance system with hundreds of millions of face-recognition cameras. They are all over China, including all four walls of the church building and pulpits and every corner of the street.” Known as “digital authoritarianism,” China is sharing its technological surveillance programs with nations, including Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, that are known for abuses of religious freedom. Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You [God] are with me; Your rod and staff, they comfort me.” Hawley demands congressional oversight of abortion pill after FDA's safety failure Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is calling for a crackdown on the abortion kill pill, Mifepristone, saying it's time for Congress to increase oversight of the drug and reinstate what he describes as basic safety guardrails, reports Fox News. He said, "Abortions are going up every single year. What's driving that is Mifepristone. It's the chemical abortion drug that is getting mailed into every state in the country. It doesn't matter what the state laws are. It doesn't matter if your state restricts abortion, bans abortion, or bans Mifepristone. It doesn't matter. It's getting mailed into every single state without a doctor visit, many times, without even a doctor's prescription. No follow-up. It's unbelievable!" Chemical abortions now account for 63% of all U.S. abortions. Not only do 11% of women who swallow the Abortion Kill Pill have to go to the emergency room due to hemorrhaging and sever bleeding, but the FDA has not completed the study of its dangers to women which it promised. Senator Kennedy: “The Karen wing of Democrat Party wants to defund ICE!” Democrats and Republicans are still battling over the funding for the Department of Homeland Security bill as Democrats demand restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement or I.C.E., reports RedState.com. But, on Fox News,  Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana had a very direct message to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, about the Democrats' demands to defund I.C.E. KENNEDY: "The Karen wing of the Democratic Party wants to defund ICE, just like they wanted to defund the police. And we know how that vampire movie turned out. The Karen wing of the Democratic Party is in control of the Democratic Party. “Even if we agreed to every one of Senator Schumer's conditions -- and I won't vote for 'em -- he couldn't deliver the Democratic votes. Because the Karen wing will punish any Democrat who votes to keep the Department of Homeland Security open." Jelly Roll's wife says backlash to his Gospel message at Grammy Awards is 'borderline demonic' As The Worldview reported on February 3rd, Jason DeFord, known as Jelly Roll, won three Grammys including one for the Best Contemporary Country album. In a February 8th episode of her podcast, Jelly Roll's wife, Alisa, claims that the backlash against her husband has been “horrific” and “borderline demonic” after the singer thanked Jesus for saving his life and encouraged others to trust Christ at the Grammy Awards, reports The Christian Post. Listen. ALISA DEFORD: “Who would have thought that my husband's speech would set the internet on fire? The problem is people are weaponizing the Bible and religion way more than they are celebrating the name of Jesus. “They're just proving why people do not want to be a Christian. Seeing all of these people online just tearing apart my husband's walk of faith makes me not want to associate with that type of Christianity. It's so horrific and it is so sad and it's borderline demonic. “I've been seeing videos where people are saying that my husband, he's a ‘performative Christian.' If I wasn't trying to walk with God, I would find you and slap you, lady, but I'm trying to turn the other cheek and be better. “In what world is it okay to ever question somebody's walk with God? All he's saying is, ‘Hey, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus does not belong to one political party. Jesus loves you and the Internet lost their minds.” Some critics claimed that Jelly Roll's words were “very MAGA,” while others accused him of using religion to try to grow his brand.  Jelly Roll credited Jesus and his “beautiful wife” with changing his life. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” Valentine's Day birthed through Christian martyr's death And finally, have you ever wondered why we celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th? Well, Pastor Valentine or Valentinus was a clergyman in the Roman Empire who lived during the reign of Claudius Gothicus or Claudius II. Because the Emperor was having difficulty getting young men to volunteer to serve in the army to fight his wars, he prohibited marriage which would further hurt the conscription rate. Pastor Valentine, who celebrated God's love and Biblical love between husband and wife, secretly married Christian couples in the forest which ultimately led to his arrest and imprisonment.  While Claudius took a liking to Pastor Valentinus, the bold preacher tried to convert the Emperor which resulted in a sentence of death. In Romans 10:14, the Apostle Paul asks, "How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Valentine was beaten with clubs and stones.  And when that failed to kill him, Valentine was beheaded on February 14, A.D. 269. And now you know the rest of the story. Pick up a copy of the excellent children's book entitled Valentine: God's Courageous Evangelist. Close And that's The Worldview on this Friday, February 13th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Because God has shown Himself faithful in every way-by His nature, by His promises, and to His people-we can trust Him enough to live faithfully, love deeply, and serve wholeheartedly. Pastor Dan Cox reads from Lamentations 3:22-27. Learn more about Wonder Lake Bible ChurchContact Wonder Lake Bible ChurchStudy NotesGod is faithful… in His nature to His promises in Christ to His people God has been, and will be, faithful to me… God has been, and will be, faithful to YOU… God has been, and will be, faithful to WLBC… VISION 2030 Applying the Text Trust Him Love Him Praise Him

Amanda Holmes reads E. E. Cummings's “i thank You God for most this amazing day.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you'll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I explore the emotional dynamics surrounding a manifestation that's taking a while to come into being. I'll share guidance for transforming your perspective of "the timeline" and key mindset shifts to help you pivot. Inside this episode:Dealing with the question, "Why is it taking so long?" (Especially surrounding finding your husband/partner or having kids)Neurosis vs. legitimate sufferingReleasing self-blame, self-criticism and feeling victimized by the Universe/GodManifestation as it pertains to intimate relationshipClearing your wounded inner child "relationship templates" and how these wounds impact manifestingHow pain, loss and grief play a role and how to let go of unrealized timelinesHow to find acceptance and release controlAdvantages to a manifestation taking longer than you thoughtHow to get into right relationship between You–God or You–UniverseHow to turn a delayed manifestation into fertile soil for spiritual and psychological growthWatch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@field__notespod Connect with me about coaching sessions: edengarciathaler@gmail.com Learn more: edenhetrick.com Submit a topic for the podcast: https://tally.so/r/mOMzA7 Follow on IG: https://www.instagram.com/field__notespod About me:Welcome to Field Notes Podcast. I created this podcast to be a living roadmap for transforming your patterns into your expanded potential. Tune in for perspectives that spark transformation and tips for optimizing your well-being in a crunchy (yet non-dogmatic) way. On the ongoing journey of finding freedom from the stuff that keeps us stuck—here are my field notes. If you are looking for deeper support on your journey of becoming, I offer 1:1 sessions and I would love to support you. Visit edenhetrick.com for more information. Please inquire for sliding scale availability. If you love this show and want to support it's growth: Share the show w/ someone Leave a 5-star rating ...

Melba Moore - Standing Right Here (Funky Re-Edit),DJ Jazzy D The GrooveMaster - More of You God, Kerri Chandler & Jerome Sydenham - You're In My System (Dennis Quin Vocal Mix),Ten City - That's The Way Love Is (Jerome Sydenham & Tiger Stripes 2025 Remix),Adria Duch - Why You Mad (Kirill Matveev Rework), Raheem DeVaughn - You (Terry Hunter Remix),Luke Delite/Michelle Weeks - Things Will Get Better (Moodena Remix),Dave Anthony/Lisa Millett - This Time Baby,Sonny Chiba/Lucid Konversations - No More Illusions (Genuinely Blaq Remix),Dave Anthony/N Reed - I Don't Care Who's Right Or Wrong,Mascara - See You in L.A. (7" Mix),Michael Gray/Phebe Edwards - Life Will be,Dames Brown/Waajeed - Glory,Dames Brown/Eddie Fowlkes - Do It,Leroy Hutson - Wisdom of My Life (45),Arnold Blair - Finally Made It Home (45),Samm Henshaw - Float,Kym Swain - Tell Me How You Feel, Tavares - More Than A Woman,Tavares - I'm Back For More,Tavares - Strangers In Dark Corners,Tavares - Never Had A Love Like This Before,Tavares - It Only Takes A Minute,Lenny Fontana feat. Jasmine Lovett - If You Want Me,The Braxtons - The Boss (MAW Album Mix),

You God are my God | Psalm 63 | 23 Nov 25 | David Silvester | PM | Psalms by Campden Baptist Church

Your Daily Prayer

Questions? Comments? Text Us!In this What's On Our Mind episode, we ask: how do you know when a task has your name on it? In a noisy world full of choices, it can be hard to discern your true path. Is it just hard work, or a sign you're on the wrong road? We explore stories of callings, intuition, and spiritual discernment, and how energy, peace, and prayer become signposts for purpose.Through everyday examples — from saying no with clarity, to receiving encouragement from others, to God-centered prayer — we highlight how guidance shows up in radically personal ways. The conversation also introduces new podcast series: From God to Jerry to You, Intimate Dialogue, Radically Personal, and What's Your Spiritual Story?For anyone seeking everyday spirituality, practical discernment, and a deeper sense of purpose, this episode offers encouragement to listen, trust, and follow the path that already has your name on it.Related Episodes:250. Special Episode: Suffering, Growth & Divine Love | Celebrating 250 Episodes249. Jerry & Abigail: An Intimate Dialogue – The Summons of Love and Life's True Calling248. From God to Jerry to You- God on the Bhagavad Gita: Moral Complexity, Swadharma, and Your True CallingOther Series:The podcast began with the Dramatic Adaptation of the book and now has several series:The Life Wisdom Project – Spiritual insights on living a wiser, more meaningful life.From God to Jerry to You – Divine messages and breakthroughs for seekers.Two Philosophers Wrestle With God – A dialogue on God, truth, and reason.Jerry & Abigail: An Intimate Dialogue – Love, faith, and divine presence in partnership.What's Your Spiritual Story – Real stories of people changed by encounters with God.What's On Our Mind – Reflections from Jerry and Scott on recent episodes.What's On Your Mind – Listener questions, divine answers, and open dialogue. Stay ConnectedShare your thoughts or questions at questions@godandautobiography.com

Date: Recorded on the 16th of September, 2025Location: Melbourne, Australia // Boston, USA.A Note To The Runners: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get my book here.⁠⁠⁠Join The JL Mentorship: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fill out the form here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy me a coffee here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ My go-to order is a long black.⁠⁠⁠Notes Running⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Latest SubstackMy Guest:Lee Glandorf.Lee's Substack: https://thesweatlookbook.substack.com/Lee's Poem: "I Thank You God For This Most Amazing" by E.E Cummings. i thank You God for most this amazingday:for the leaping greenly spirits of treesand a blue true dream of sky;and for everythingwhich is natural which is infinite which is yes(i who have died am alive again today,and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birthday of life and of love and wings:and of the gaygreat happening illimitably earth)how should tasting touching hearing seeingbreathing any—lifted from the noof all nothing—human merely beingdoubt unimaginable You?(now the ears of my ears awake andnow the eyes of my eyes are opened)

I thank You God for our listening family groups. We are the victorious army. Moving and going forward A sermon With gratitude with Mike Povovich

Gracias, thank You God for the readers and listening family groups. We are the victorious army. Moving and going forward

We're talking straight to the girl in transition—whether you just moved to a new place, started a new job, became a mama, or are figuring out what's next. We've both been there, and we get how hard and disorienting it can feel. But we believe this can be a season where your faith grows in radical ways. We're sharing three super practical takeaways that have helped us keep our faith in motion when everything around us felt new or uncertain. We'll walk through the “Ask, Seek, Knock” process from Matthew 7:7, talk about why boldness matters in new seasons, and remind you that you don't have to do this alone. God is with you, and He wants to meet you right here—in the middle of the uncertainty. In This Episode [01:00] Real-Life Transitions – From high school to college, new cities, and motherhood [02:00] Keeping Your Faith in Motion – Avoiding spiritual stagnancy in new seasons [03:30] Ask, Seek, Knock – A practical faith process based on Matthew 7:7 [08:45] Step 1: Ask – How to ask God better questions [10:30] Step 2: Seek – Look for signs of God's faithfulness [12:00] Step 3: Knock – Take risks, walk through open doors with God [13:45] Boldness Through the Holy Spirit – You have what it takes because He is with you [15:00] Encouragement for the Girl Who Feels New – Be the inviter, the encourager, the pursuer [16:30] Book Reading Storytime – Kenza's real-life example of small obedience producing big fruit [18:00] Boldness Isn't Just for You – God uses your courage to bless others [19:00] How to Find Boldness – Worship and being in His presence [20:00] Final Word: Spend Your Time Wisely – Steward the season you're in with intention ⁠PRE ORDER OUR NEW STUDY! ⁠⁠ This seven-week, verse-by-verse study through the book of Acts invites you to embrace the unpredictable, sometimes challenging adventure of Spirit-led living that characterized the early church. Thanks to Our Sponsors Winshape: ⁠Learn more or submit your application today!⁠ NIV Application Study Bible - Grab your copy today! If you'd like to partner with For The Girl as a sponsor, fill out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Advertise With Us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ form! Follow us!

NEVER GIVING UP | Romans 8:31–39When life hits hard and you feel like giving up, Romans 8 reminds us: God is for you.If God is for us, who can be against us?The God who did not spare His own Son is on your side.Christ died for you, was raised for you, and is interceding for you right now.Nothing—past, present, or future—can separate you from His love.God's Promise to You:God will never give you up. God will never let you down. God will never desert you.God's love is unstoppable, and His grip on your life is unbreakable.Join us Sundays at 9:00 & 11:00

"You God see Me"A message preached by Pastor Mike Henry at Royal View Baptist Church.Worship Guitar - 100 Beautiful Hymns - Instrumental - Peaceful Gospel Music --- Used by the permission of the artist Josh Snodgrass

It's Thursday, July 3rd, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark and Adam McManus Russia's tight restrictions on missionary activity Individuals and religious groups across Russia continue to face charges of “unlawful missionary activity.” Forum 18 reports the country has conducted 34 such prosecutions this year, an increase compared to recent years. A dozen of these cases affected evangelical Christians. Pastors were fined simply for evangelizing or holding unauthorized church services. Russia enacted tight restrictions on sharing religious beliefs in 2016. The country also imposed “anti-missionary” legislation in occupied Ukrainian territories.  In Acts 5:29, the apostles said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Biologically accurate pronouns allowed despite Australia's wokeness Free speech advocates won a big case against Australia this week. At issue is a post on Elon Musk's social media platform X that used biologically accurate pronouns to identify a transgender individual. Australia's eSafety Commissioner ordered X to remove the post, but X challenged the order. On Tuesday, Australia's Administrative Review Tribunal sided with X in the case.  Paul Coleman with Alliance Defending Freedom International said, “In this case, the Australian government alarmingly censored the peaceful expression of a Canadian citizen on an American-owned platform, evidence of the expansive reach of censorial forces, even beyond national borders. Today, free speech has prevailed.” Elon Musk wants to found The American Party which will cut the deficit Speaking of Elon Musk, the tech billionaire called for a new political party in the U.S. On Monday, he posted on X, “If this insane spending bill passes, The America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”  Musk openly opposes President Donald Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill” for its deficit spending. Afraid of losing $175m, U of Penn agrees to stop transgender nonsense The University of Pennsylvania is backing down from its support for transgenderism. The Trump administration threatened to withhold $175 million in funding to the school for allowing men to compete in women's sports, reports CNN. UPenn came to an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education recently to protect women's sports. Notably, the school will strip a transgender swimmer of his medals. The male swimmer, Will Thomas, who now goes by the feminine name “Lia” Thomas, has been pretending to be a woman, enabling him to win medals by competing in women's sports. Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, said, “It is my hope that today demonstrates to educational institutions that they will no longer be allowed to trample upon women's civil rights.” Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down 176-year-old abortion ban Wisconsin's Supreme Court struck down the state's 176-year-old abortion ban yesterday. The 1849 law made most abortions a felony. But the high court ruled 4-3 that more recent legislation superseded the law. Wisconsin only has a ban on late-term abortions now. Heather Weininger, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life, told LifeNews, “The court did not point to a single state statute that specifically repeals [the law]. To assert that a repeal is implied is to legislate from the bench.” Jimmy Swaggart, known for his “I have sinned” confession, died at 90 Remember this?  JIMMY SWAGGART: “I have sinned against You, my Lord, and I would ask that Your precious blood would wash and cleanse every stain until it is in the seas of God's forgetfulness. Thank you. Thank you.” That was the tearful confession on February 21, 1988 of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart at the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana after it became public that he had an encounter with a lady of the evening in New Orleans.  He was defrocked by the Assemblies of God, reports The Christian Post. The Pentecostal preacher died on July 1st at the age of 90 after suffering a cardiac arrest recently. In the announcement from his official Facebook page on Tuesday, his family wrote, “Today, our hearts are heavy as we share that Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ.” Swaggart's popularity peaked in the mid-1980s, reaching millions of households with his weekly telecasts. In his confession, the televangelist alluded to Micah 7:19. It says, “You [God] will again have compassion on us;   You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Man's gold necklace cross deflected bullet And finally, a young man in Florida is thanking God for saving his life. Last month, 20-year-old Aiden Perry was shot in the chest, by accident, while visiting a friend's apartment.  The gun was only 10 feet away from him. The incident could have been much worse if it weren't for the gold cross necklace he was wearing. The necklace deflected the bullet from hitting major organs in his chest. Dr. Khafra Henry, who performed the surgery, explained to WESH-TV how Aiden's golden cross necklace was a blessing. HENRY:  “Of its metallic component, it actually shielded a lot of the force of the bullet, so the bullet ricocheted off the necklace and entered his chest wall. However, it was just in his fat tissues because it slowed down the trajectory of the bullet.” Dr. Henry noted what might have happened had Aiden not been wearing his golden cross. HENRY: “It could have been way worse, entering his chest wall itself, into the pleural space, which is the airspace around the lung, between the bones, and injuring his lung itself, or his heart.” Aiden said, “It's just kind of a reminder now – to never stop believing. Keep believing and God's definitely real.” In his comments to WESH-TV, he expressed gratitude to God. PERRY: “I think God played a big role in this. I think He's the reason I'm still here today.” In Matthew 10:29-31, Jesus asked, “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, July 3rd, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

God doesn't always look like He's going to do much with our lives. But at some point, in the middle of the mundane, God will ask ordinary people to change course to do something different, something that gives more purpose and meaning. What would you do if it was YOU God asked? Would your faith be so crazy so as to say, “Yes”?

Carol Chisolm is a singer, songwriter, speaker, and author. She was named Songwriter of the Month (July 2020) by Nashville Christian Songwriters, International. She was one of the top five finalists in the 2021 You God's Music Talent Showcase, named the 2022 Traditional Artist of the Year for the Tampa Bay Gospel Music Awards, named among the Top 25 Artist of 2023 by the I Support Florida Gospel Music Movement, named Female Artist of the Year for the 2024 Florida Gospel Music Awards, and recently name Female Artist of the Year for the Praise and Worship Experience Awards 2025. Carol's latest release, “Conquerors”, is inspired by my struggle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that results in baldness. She suffered many years from fear, shame, and self-hatred until finally accepting that she is fearfully and wonderfully made by a faithful God who loves her with or without hair. Carol is a contributing author in the award-winning anthology, “She Writes for Him: Black Voices of Wisdom” and “My Bald Is Beautiful: I Am Not My Hair”. Her Selah award nominated book, “Breaking the Shadows: How to Embrace Your True Self and Live in the Light of God's Glory”, was published in 2023 and is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Redemption Press Publishing. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.chisolm.5Instagram: @carolchisolmministriesWebsite: www.carolchisolm.com

2 Paths Which Portray to You God's ProvidenceGenesis 11:1-91 - A Contrary Ploy (1-4)2 - A Concrete Plan (5-9)

The Most Misunderstood Promise in The Bible, Part 2 Today, Pastor Michael is continuing our theme of studying one of the most famous quotes in the Bible, a quote used anytime one needs encouragement, that promise found in Jeremiah 29: 11. Things God Wants for You (God's Plans for You!): Salvation, John 3: 16, John 4: 14. Fellowship, John 15: 5. Obedience,  John 14: 15. Holiness, Romans 12: 1-2. Discipleship, Matthew 28: 19-20. Good works, Ephesians 2: 10. Progress, 2 Peter 3: 18. Our theme for today is, “Walk with God and the rest will follow.” (CSB Bible Notes) Many a faithful believer has found comfort in these words of hope. Today's verse can be found in Jeremiah 29: 11. Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

In 1943, a camp in rural Maryland called Shangri-La was purchased as a retreat for US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Rustic, quiet, and remote, it provided “an opportunity for solitude and tranquility,” according to the White House website, “as well as an ideal place to work and host foreign leaders.” When Dwight Eisenhower became president, he renamed this retreat Camp David in honor of his grandson, and the name stuck. Aside from increased security measures, there has been very little modernizing of the camp. It remains the perfect place for the president and his family to escape and rest. Believers in Jesus also have a retreat where we can find rest in the midst of our turbulent world. King David wrote in Psalm 32:7, “You [God] are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” David recognized that God was his true place of safety. Jesus welcomes us to find rest and restoration in Him. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). He can be our place of rest any time, every time, and all the time.

Your Daily Prayer

Send us a textLast week, in part 1 of this two part series on the UncommonTEEN Podcast, we began talking about how to throw away anxiety, stress, overwhelm, and insecurities for good!  God wants you walking in confidence, really embracing who it is that He created you to be! But how do we do that?1.    It starts with truly understanding who it is that God says you are.John 3:16 says that you are so loved by God. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God makes everything beautiful in its time. You are beautiful! Just the way you are! Jeremiah 1:5 says that before the world was even formed, God knew everything about you and approved of you as His chosen daughter. He set you apart for a purpose.Isaiah 43:4 says that you are precious to God, honored by God, and loved by God!Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has plans for your life that are good. Plans to give you a future and a hope.Luke 12:24 says that you are valuable to God. But In order to truly understand who God says you are, you have to intentionally make the choice to believe it!  2.    Rewrite the stories you've been telling yourself. When you feel anxious, stressed, overwhelmed or not confident in who you are…when those feelings start to pull you down, I want you to stop and think about what you're thinking about. Ask yourself, do these thoughts or do these words that I'm telling myself or maybe someone else said about me…do they line up with what God says about me? Do those thoughts line up with what God says in His Word? The first way you can tell if they do or if they don't is, how are those thoughts making you feel? If they are making you feel anxious, stressed, overwhelmed, or insecure, the answer probably is no…they do not line up with what God says about you.   3.    Change your words; change your life.  Our circumstances that we are facing cause our thoughts. When we dwell on those thoughts, those thoughts cause the words we begin to speak. When we begin to speak those things over our lives, our words then cause the results that we see.  Pick one verse and say it over and over again until those feelings of anxiety leave. “Thank You, Lord that in John 14:27, Jesus says He has given me His peace. I thank you that I have peace.” Then repeat over again over again until you feel that peace, Thank You, Lord for your peace. I have the peace of Jesus. I praise You God for giving me Your peace.”  Sometimes you can speak those verses for a couple minutes and anxiety will leave, sometimes you may need to be speaking those verses over yourself for an hour or two, but continue to do it until that anxiety leaves.  The Word of God is powerful and can and will destroy the weapons the enemy has used against you!  Ladies, check your emails this week for updates on the New UncommonTEEN App!!To ask your Ask Me Anything Questions or if you need prayer, head on over to UncommonTEEN.com.For the Ask Me Anything Questions, click on the RED BUTTON at the top of the screen. These questions may used on a future episode of the UncommonTEEN Podcast!For any prayer requests or more personal questions, click on the YELLOW CHAT TAB at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. These will not be used on the podcast unless you say you would like it to be used. Connect with Us!Website: UncommonTEEN.comInstagram: @uncommon.teenUncommonTEEN Live Conference: UncommonTEENlive.com

Emergency Council Makes Bold Move.. In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand. Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected.. “You may outrun your sins, but never forget that someone will pay the toll.”  I biked home, brushing a city bus and a BMW getting there. On the landing between the second and third floors I found an Amazon with baleful eyes; waiting. In front of my door was her psychic twin. ‘Can I get you and/or your cohort anything?' I politely inquired. Yesterday; the cold shoulder. ‘Thank you for the consideration. We will wait until our itinerary is clarified,' she nodded. I went in, catching the abrupt cut off of some 'O' talk. 'O', as in Odette and Oneida. They were on the sofa, half-turned to face each other when I walked in. Oneida stood and gave the standard Amazon respectful nod. ‘Oneida was all screwed up inside about last night in the Park, so I was explaining some of the basic tenants of BDSM to her,' Odette blithely blathered. ‘BDSM? What do you know about BDSM? I barely know about it and I've been having non-stop sex for years,' I exclaimed. ‘Cáel of Ishara, did you do those things to Rhada in an effort to fulfill her dreams?' Oneida desperately pleaded. Worse, it was spoken in English. ‘I can't talk about it,' I replied. ‘That is 'Cáel' for 'yes',' Odette intruded. ‘I began reading up on BDSM after you got the suspension rig,' was her saucy response to me. ‘Would you ever do that to me?' Oneida gave me those big doe-eyes as she sat down. No, she didn't want a rape fantasy. That kind of submission wasn't her thing. I paced around, stomped into the kitchen then back to the living room. ‘No Oneida, I would never do something like that to you,' I promised. ‘I like having sex; a whole bunch. I like the women I'm with to have a great time too.' ‘That means I figure out what really excites her and provide it because I normally want to have sex with that girl again,' I explained, neglecting the 'and again and again and again.' ‘Is it over between you two?' Oneida asked. She meant Rhada and me. ‘Oneida, did I ask you to come over today?' I countered. ‘Have I upset you?' Oneida's lower lip trembled. 'Yes' would make things so much easier. ‘No,' I lied. ‘Let's look at this from another angle. How would you feel if Paula showed up at your domicile unannounced? You walked in and there she was.' ‘Oh,' she stood up again. ‘I apologize.' At this moment, saying nothing meant she'd leave. I'm an idiot. ‘Do you want to stay for dinner?' I offered. It took a few seconds for Oneida to forgive herself enough to accept my suggestion. Me raping Rhada less than 24 hours ago? We'd deal with that later, or so she promised herself. ‘Okay; if it is not too much trouble,' Oneida nodded. In came the doom and gloom duo and we ordered some over-sized sandwiches from an Italian Deli two blocks away. After the two walked through my place (again, I was sure) and the food arrived, the bodyguards relaxed into a close proximity of human beings. The freakishness continued as Odette bonded with the Amazon killers with tales of my sexual exploits. At the same time, I romanced Oneida in half a dozen languages. Storming those gates was going to take more time than I normally gave a single sexual encounter. Oneida kissed me. She loved kissing me. She was ecstatic about kissing me. She made it real clear there would be not petting; yet. Penetration wasn't even on the (her) agenda. This didn't meant I was accepting her marching orders. I was far craftier than that. My plan was one of 'setting an example'. I stood up; we were sitting on the bench press seat, shot Odette a sexy look then went to the kitchenette. We got something; whatever it was wasn't important. The crucial activity was my surrounding Odette in my arms from behind. I kissed her neck, Odette wiggled her ass against my crotch and murmured happily. More kissing along the neck, ear and jawline ensued. Odette exhaled a happy breath, and twisted around in my grasp until we were face to face. An exhaustive French kiss finishing up with a few light pecks and led to us rubbing noses like Inuit. ‘Thanks buddy,' I smiled warmly at Odette. ‘She blue-balling ya?' Odette snickered. ‘Big time,' I muttered. Odette squiggled down my body then bit both my nipples through my shirt making me gasp. ‘That should do nicely,' Odette's eyes were alight and she was super-pleased with herself. She smacked my ass then returned to the living room. I returned to Oneida. After a few seconds, ‘Does it disturb you to be treated like that?' Oneida murmured. ‘Like what?' I sounded so innocent. Trust me; this is a crucial relationship tool. ‘Like; like we would treat one of our males,' she looked for my reaction. I laughed. ‘The critical difference is that I can say 'no',' I smiled. ‘Oneida, do you think the original Ash Men spent every moment not in battle, contemplating their place in the Universe?' Clearly, she had. ‘Believe me, men hunted, worked their crafts and chased female Amazons when they weren't eating, or sleeping.' ‘Warfare is an emotional undertaking,' I had read that somewhere. ‘You can believe that with the battle safely won, your ancestors and my ancestors fooled around. They sang songs, wrote poetry, and created artwork for the ladies they courted. They wanted the attention of the strongest, bravest and most courageous mates, just like your ancestors did.' ‘I think I do know something about the Ash Men you don't,' I prodded her. ‘What? I have studied them for many years,' Oneida was now more engaged. ‘What can you tell me about Vranus?' I asked. That stumped her. ‘I; nothing is written of his exploits,' Oneida admitted. ‘We know he was a young warrior for Ishara.' ‘Think about this, Oneida; Vranus was only twenty yet a member of the Host,' I started. She nodded. ‘He is shown with twin axes; no shield and no bow. That means he had to be very brave, rushing through the initial exchange of arrow fire and thrown spears to attack his enemy. His House probably directed him to large clumps of opponents, breaking their formations for the Host to exploit.' ‘That means he fought alone for several seconds until his accompanying Amazons could pick apart his foe,' I explained. ‘That must have been horrible,' Oneida frowned. ‘Not at all,' I protested. ‘He was trusted with a crucial task; to hold the enemy's focus so the faster moving Amazons could attack their foe from multiple directions at once.' ‘The Amazons of House Ishara must have been very proud of him,' I fluffed out the fantasy. ‘From what you saw from my two exhibition with twin axes, it is very tiring. Vranus had to have absolute confidence his sisters were coming for him. They trusted one another, thus fighting as one organic unit. It was a synergy that included the best of both genders.' That last bit confused her. ‘Back then, most of the Host would have been of the same genetic stock from the time of the First Betrayal. Short and fast. The males of the region they took over were taller; the local men being even taller than the local women. That means you give men heavier and longer weapons. Your people would have favored bows, light shields and short spears; ranged, or quick in and out tools.' Was any of that true? Not a history major, so I have no clue. ‘Many of the Host at the time rode horses yet there are also pictures of them forming battle lines,' Oneida enlightened me then her own eyes expanded. ‘Males are always shown with solid round shields while the Host; women had the oval wicker shields.' ‘Lacking stirrups, the Amazons may have used the men to grapple with the enemy then rode their horses around the flanks, dismounted and engaged their opponents from the rear; Amazon style,' I grinned. It was. Amazons were all about out-maneuvering and confounding their foes. The Amazons hadn't been callous with their males' lives. At one time, chosen females had held the center line. Over time, as males joined, it was practical to adapt the solid wooden shields of their opponents for their own males and put them in the place where their upper body strength and size were of best effect. The unknown older male with Vranus had probably held his place in the battle line dozens of times. I doubt he complained, or even thought to complain. Who would have taken his place? A smaller sister, aunt, or daughter? Had other males objected? Sure, the battle line in Amazon tactics was not the place of glory. The striking arm were the horse-riders. Countless times adversaries had spent the last minutes of their lives with the echoes of horses, hooves and female Amazon war cries seemingly all around them. Some wise old dead fucker once said 'defeat starts in the mind'. I wholeheartedly believed in that; except my version was 'having sex with me starts with my insidious nature'. ‘Defeat starts in the mind,' I stared intently into Oneida's eyes. Love poetry is a matter of emotional context, not actual words. I pulled Oneida to me, letting her straddle my lap because I desperately wanted her to understand my tortured soul. Grinding her vulva against my hard-on was totally accidental, as was our renewed French kiss and me grabbing two handfuls of her ass. There was no rushing of things. Oneida was a skittish mare and I had to keep her feeling safe despite her sexual peril. Any woman who bothers to get to know me knows I am not a complicated guy. Case in point: by the time Oneida was feeding me her left nipple, Odette already had the security types sweep my bedroom (again) then the three retreated to Timothy's room and shut the door. Were Oneida's guardians worried about Oneida's carnal violation? No, why would they? Amazons had dick on demand. Virginity didn't hold any religious significance for them; killing things did. With the speed and efficiency those other two Amazons made themselves scarce, I imagined they were happy that Oneida had stopped mooning over me and getting a good grip on reality. A righteous dicking was in the offing. Oneida's open eyed, opened-mouth countenance when she found herself naked on my bed with a naked me hovering over her was precious. That look always was. It did necessitate a question. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?' I whispered. My aroused cock brushed along her thigh. The question was a courtesy. The answer was always the same because girls want to have sex. They also want to believe they have a say in the process from beginning to end. I say 'believe' because sex done right is passion and passion is the rejection of reason. At some point in the seduction, intercourse becomes an avalanche. Logic can scream all it wants; the hormones are not listening. I slipped into Oneida's velvety liquid embrace. She gave up a sigh of relief. She'd made the jump into intimacy. Any other explanation for what was going to happen would have implicated me as a 'Player'; which everyone else thought I was. Oneida had this romantic ideal of me that no amount of evidence appeared to shatter. Personally, I was starting to dread ever going to her bedroom. I wasn't sure of her 'My Little Pony' comforter would be a turn-off for me. I had done in it on Pocahontas and The Little Mermaid, so odds were I'd pull through in the clinch. ‘I am not hurting you, am I?' I moaned. Said for emotional impact alone. If I was causing a girl pain, I would have stopped first. ‘No,' happy murmuring, ‘I'm wonderful.' The most powerful organ human's possess is the brain. Oneida was a 'talker'. She wanted to express her feelings during intercourse; not give to directions, but as an effort to increase her participation in the sex act itself. Slow, steady strokes followed, withdrawing my glans half way along her labia, moved up and down slightly then gradually pushed back in. Every entry held something new for her. I added to the process by tilting her thigh and leg forward so that my next penetration tantalized a whole new series of trigger points in her cunny. On the next pass, Oneida began her own experimentations, twisting and adjusting the angle of her hips as I worked my rod in and out. Oneida began crying. I wasn't upset and that didn't make me a callous bastard. She was shedding tears of joy and regret; joy because her first climax was in the offing; regret because she wish she had done this with me sooner. She had been a Havenstone employee so we hadn't done the deed. We still had to keep our liaison secret. Why? I'd think of something. The real reason was pure politics. I never knew what wacky dame hated another wacky dame for reasons I couldn't even get into, but I knew it would curtail my dating opportunities. I'd pay the price of deception later. What I couldn't take was being denied sex without having done anything wrong first. ‘Am I making you happy?' Oneida gasped. No flippancy here; romance was the key. ‘You demand things from me few other women do,' I replied breathlessly. I wasn't going to lie to her. Prettying up the truth was good enough and it made her happy. I also got something new; to her, not to me. She orgasmed. Whatever she'd been satisfied with before, I obliterated in a few quick, decisive strokes. Oh God; did she go off! It has happened to me before; the door being kicked in; just not in mid-orgasm. Guns being pointed at yours truly while the girl was in mid-scream was new. And Oneida was still carrying on and on. ‘I was trying to tell you!' Odette was screaming. ‘He does that to us all the time; please don't shoot him.' The whole 'girl screaming at me in Old Kingdom Hittite' was also new. My mentor preferred Minoan. ‘I have come back from Death,' Oneida rasped. Her skin was flushed deep red from her exertion, she had bathed us both in sweat and she was coming up with any form of vocalization from Goddess-knows where she had screamed for so long. She looked at me with love in her eyes; damn it. She looked and looked and looked and; finally noticed the two women at the foot of the bed. ‘Is; some; thing; wrong?' Oneida panted while gazing at her two guardians with worry.  ‘You may outrun your sins, but never forget that someone will pay the toll.' There was someone pounding on my apartment door. ‘Neighbor; door; I'm on it,' Odette called out. Seconds later the deadbolts clicked and the door opened. ‘Hello, Mr. Finnes.' ‘You God-damn Whore!' he screamed. ‘Where is that homo and his butt-buddy? The cops are on their way and this time you are all in the street.' He had a good head of steam on tonight. Slayer of Testicles #1 looked at Slayer of Testicles #2, nodded and left. ‘Who is this bitch,' Finnes got out. It was so wrong that I recognized the next sound. It was the barrel of a gun being inserted into a person's mouth. ‘Listen and listen carefully,' SoT#1 spoke softly. ‘You are going back to your hovel. If I get word, or even a bad premonition, that you are causing this apartment a hint of worry, I am going to come back and end you in a fashion the New York City's Coroner's Office will find memorable.' ‘I do not care if you have to puncture both eardrums to drown out the noise. I am not a compassionate person. In fact, I am considered sadistic by those who know me well. Now go back home, tell the police who show up this was all a mistake and give a prayer of thanks to whatever deity you grovel before that I didn't simply ram my firearm up your anus and decorate the ceiling in what passes for brains in your pathetic bone-sack of a body,' she menaced. There was a choking/gagging noise then the sound of heaving. ‘Mr. Finnes; are you okay?' Odette worried. As a wonderful counter-point. ‘Have you given me your seed?' Oneida asked hopefully. I was still hard. It had only been ten minutes of sex after all. I gently rocked my penis deeper in. ‘Oh,' she happily babbled. ‘Again?' SoT#2 questioned. I made a few more penetration cycles instead of speaking. ‘Do they train you in some sort of Sex Academy for this? Are there more males out there like you?' ‘Is having a viewing gallery a real damper on the mood?' I asked her while looking into Oneida's eyes. I was actually proud of Oneida for not sending the other woman away. It showed me she respected the woman's job. I also heard the apartment door shut. ‘Wow, your threat was nice and spooky,' Odette snickered. ‘Threat? Child, what do you think I do for a living?' SoT#1 asked. ‘You are one of those wacko, psycho-chicks Cáel Nyilas works with,' Odette was undoubtedly smiling. ‘Correct, I am one of those wacko, psycho-chicks;' SoT#1 left that hanging out there. ‘You weren't playing with Mr. Finnes, were you?' Odette grew quiet. Pause. ‘There is really a job which allows you to do that kind of stuff?' Pause. ‘Can I apply?' ‘This is not something you apply;' SoT#1 began, but then, ‘I guess if Cáel wants to; ‘ ‘Cool,' Odette was truly irrepressible. ‘If he does that, there will definitely be consequences and repercussions,' SoT#1 cautioned. ‘Oh, I think I had better stick with being his fuck-buddy,' Odette conceded. ‘Wise choice,' SoT#1 agreed. My bedroom door shut. SoT#2 had slipped out. Do you often have sex with an audience?' I teased Oneida. ‘Yes,' she answered matter-of-factly, ‘I do. Don't you?' ‘Now that you mention it;' and I got back to the pleasure that encompasses so much of my life. Sunday Night. ‘Cáel,' a voice purred over my phone. ‘Hey Nicole,' I greeted my lawyer not-quite a hook-up anymore. Also, unless you are Sure you know the female caller, don't take a gamble with the name. ‘So, do you have something going on tonight?' she queried. ‘Nope. My normal engagement had to cancel so I'm sitting back with some friends who do not appreciate the depth of my depravity,' I sighed. ‘Canceled?' She laughed. ‘On you? Have your recovered from the shock?' ‘Actually, they had a death in the family and had to go to South Carolina,' I explained. ‘Oh; sorry,' Nicole apologized. ‘Well, if you are feeling lonely and neglected, you could come by work and do me a favor.' ‘I am feeling neither lonely, nor neglected, but I am certainly missing you right now. Give me a half hour and I'll be there,' I promised. She thanked me and hung up. ‘Who is it this time?' Odette snickered. Man, I was becoming so used to her hanging around. ‘Nicole the lawyer,' I replied. I trekked back to my bedroom to prep. I opted for the 'Bad Boy' look; worn jeans, high-top tennis shoes (equally worn), my Plant Smashers t-shirt (Quebecois ska band; yes, I will road-trip to another country for sex) and my Bolingbrook bomber jacket. Yes, I was going to an Ivy League Law firm dressed like a carjacker. Every other male was going to be dressed in finely-tailored silk and I had to stand out. Since I couldn't outspend them, I was going to make them look like effete pussies by dressing like I just didn't care what anyone thought. I was coming over to screw Nicole and there would be no doubt about it. ‘Isn't that chick rich?' Timothy teased me. ‘Yeah. I'm packing the glow in the dark Trojans tonight; cause she's special,' I grinned. ‘Oh! I love those,' Odette squealed. She really needed to trust me less. I walked over, cupped her ears with my hand then kissed her on the forehead. I did the same to Timothy. His look suggested that I had best make a hasty exit before he kicked my ass. I caught a taxi a block away. It turned out he was from Qatar and he asked if I was sure about the address I gave him. I grinned then told him I could outrun 95% of the yPD so was feeling good about my chances. He snorted, countering with 'If you were an Arab, they'd shoot you.' Not to be outdone, 'I'd claim to be a Syrian anti-government protester; you know, because we all look alike to these Caucasians'. We laughed for a bit then he said he had a younger sister back in the homeland. I insisted I was immoral; a wicked man. 'Was I religious?' 'Only when it suited my purposes.' 'Would I consider converting to Sunni Islam?' 'Only if the girl was cute enough.' He showed me her picture; dammit, she had a really beautiful face. I got her name, his name and the name of his mosque. I considered it. Yahweh, Christ, Bacchus (wine, an orgy and 'bull' testicles; long story) and Jehovah all had reasons to barbeque my ass already. Why not add Allah to the mix, besides it being an incredibly stupid thing to do for a man in constant mortal peril like me? In theory, three of the four definitely had the possibility to be the same Omniscient and Omnipotent Galactic Being so the odds were I wouldn't get too much more screwed. I finished up my journey imagining Buffy in a burqa. That evolved into a vision of me being force-fed a burqa; in private; where no one could hear my muffled cries for help. Buffy; murdering me; made me horny. I am a sick puppy. ‘Buffy,' I called her as I paid the cabbie. ‘What; huh; are you okay, Cáel?' Buffy muttered. ‘Yes, I'm fine. I was dreaming of you and decided to give you a call,' I related in a sleepy voice. ‘Oh;' she sounded affectionate. ‘Yeah. In the dream you were murdering me. It was so romantic; so you,' I related. ‘Shit-for-brains, do you have any idea what time it is?' Buffy turned all savage in an instant. ‘Hmm; 11:45?' I offered up. ‘Call me this late again when it is not an emergency and your dream will become a reality,' she growled. ‘You know you sound so;' and she hung up on me. I called Nicole and warned her I was at her building, pursued by two FDIC investigators and could she please come and rescue me. She snickered, came down and retrieved me, but not before the yPD stopped by for a casual conversation and I hadn't even been standing there two minutes. In my neighborhood you were lucky if you saw a patrol car every thirty minutes and short of offering them some crack cocaine, cheap nookie, or shooting a gun off, they never stopped. Was I my normally fuck-wad self? No. I told the man/woman team the truth. Some upper crust weenies I worked with dragged me off to Yuppie Hell. I hooked up with a lawyer who I screwed repeatedly in the Women's bathroom and she was calling me for round 2. Second question (the first one was name/ID/reason for being in this part of town dressed like I was)? Was she paying me? 'No'. Was I practicing safe sex (female cop; married even)? 'Yes'. Was she the red-head at the door behind me? 'Yes she was and goodnight.' ‘What are you dressed like that for?' Nicole smiled. In her mind she already knew the answer; I had come here to screw her; raw and primal. ‘Ballroom dancing was not on the itinerary you gave me,' I smiled. We went inside. ‘My co-workers are still here,' she hinted seductively. ‘Whoa now!' I protested humorously. ‘I am not here to pull a train; girls only.' Nicole nearly fell over laughing. She was so embarrassed by me and my attire, she dragged me straight to the conference room 'her' team was working out of. Everyone else was eating. Two of the lawyers were clearly the top dogs; a man and a woman. The woman had a vague resemblance to one of the portraits I'd seen coming in; a legacy. The man screamed 'serial killer'. It probably made him one hell of a lawyer, but spooky to live with, or work for. The other nine people in the room were in two groups. Two were obviously paralegals. They dressed in what must have started out as clean, starched clothing from off the rack as opposed to tailored. The other seven were lawyers in their own dual set-up. My amateur guess was two different branches of law. This group was dressed in fine clothes now wrinkled from a long day's work, plus it was a Sunday. They were not at their best yet they were still better than most of what I had. The most endearing part was how they looked at me. Even the female contingent thought that I was trash. I had certainly given them the opportunity. Seriously, they should have paid more attention to Nicole, her intelligence, competence and tastes. Come on now; there was no way she'd bring some grease-monkey from Flatbush to her workplace. They needed to engage their brains and not their social bias. A murmur slithered through the crowd. Amusement and condescension were the clear messages shot my way. I imagine the poor soul who delivered the food got less crap because he/she was providing a tangible service. ‘Nicole, who is this?' the woman asked. Sex. Outside of her being a soulless cancer on the hopes and dreams of mankind, she was an alluring forty-something. ‘This is my friend Cáel;' Nicole began, both her arms wrapped around my right arm. ‘Cáel Belafonte,' I interrupted. You could tell who the trial lawyers in the room were. Their expressions told me they knew I was lying. ‘Fascinating Mr. Belafonte,' Mr. Serial-Killer droned on. ‘What do you do?' ‘I am an Ichthyologist,' I met his gaze. ‘I'm involved in a twenty year study to determine the cause for the reduction in the size of Tuna fish scales.' That had them stumped. ‘That sounds like yet another great waste of government funds,' a young male lawyer with more bravado than combat-sex experience fired off. ‘Oh,' I shrugged. ‘Smaller scales, smaller full-sized Tuna, a spike in tuna prices and an eventual world-wide restriction on Tuna fishing, similar to the one currently covering virtually all whale species. Now, I doubt you know which people will decide who the recipient of those lucrative Tuna contracts will be, but I do. By all means; mock what you don't understand.' ‘Government research project results will be in the public domain,' a woman joined the struggle. ‘Yes; and?' I asked in a bland tone. ‘Your research will be available to all kinds of commercial concerns,' male asshat grinned. ‘Your ability to show that you are as smart as any pre-law student must make someone, somewhere very proud,' I grinned back. Confused looks. Nicole was struggling to keep it together. ‘He never said he was in any manner part of the government, or a government program, Mr. Cherrie,' the female lead barracuda gave me her own hungry look. The guy looked pissed. ‘Oh, Mr. Belafonte, are you a private researcher, or a government one?' she female junior lawyer asked. ‘Heather Pulaski,' she gave her name. ‘Call me Cáel, Heather, and I am in no way associated with any government, I barely know what an Ichthyologist is and I'm certainly not one. Rude, arrogant people annoy me when they treat my friends like they are stupid; especially when they should know better. I can rarely stop myself from ridiculing them,' I grinned. ‘And now you think you are better than everyone else in the room for tricking us with this juvenile prank,' the Serial Killer sounded bored. ‘No. The lives of strangers are not my concern,' I bantered back. ‘I did what I did to make Nicole smile. If my antics remind the rest of you what a hotshot lawyer she is so much the better.' ‘Mr. and Mrs. Dyoung, Cáel, Cáel Nyilas, is a joker. He's is also brilliant and just joined Havenstone Commercial Investments in their Executive Services Division,' Nicole bragged. She got points for the 'Executive Services' part. More smirks; some people never learn. ‘Havenstone doesn't employ too many men, does it?' Mrs. Dyoung said. Maybe she was looking for a Discrimination lawsuit. ‘Five men to be precise and two of us are out of the country,' I enlightened her. ‘So you are brilliant,' Mr. Dyoung seemed barely engaged; and was Mrs. Dyoung's Mr. Dyoung. ‘What are your insights on DNA ownership, Cáel?' ‘DNA ownership is a fallacy,' I stated. ‘People are not pigs, soybeans, or corn. You cannot create a financial liability for your offspring because that amounts to slavery and is forbidden by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. DNA is a person; their blueprint. Only the person owns it and they can't even sell it outright.' ‘That is hopelessly naive,' he snorted. ‘Not really. If you apply an accepted price tag to every human being on Earth, the anarchy will begin. Crimes like murder, torture and mutilation are based on the concept that human life has an unspecified value. Give something a value and you can trade in it.' ‘Murder somebody? How much was their DNA worth?' I postulated. ‘I pay the cost, or somebody pays it for me. You are calling me naïve? I'm not murdering somebody. I'm repossessing their DNA. Mr. Dyoung, I'm not a lawyer, so I am not approaching this from a limited field of vision like you are. I live in the World.' ‘Oddly enough, I've had some recent encounters with real slavery and that has convinced me that I'll go down standing up, thank you very much,' I grinned. ‘In case that was misconstrued; my DNA is mine, no legal precedent will change that and I'm more than willing to put bodies in the ground to keep it so.' ‘You sound like an anarchist,' Mr. Cherrie chimed in. ‘Nope. I'm independent-minded. There is a difference,' I indicated. ‘Just like you, anarchists don't want to let me be me either.' ‘Laws exist for a reason,' Nicole chastised me. What she was really saying was 'you are here for a reason and it isn't entertaining my co-workers'. ‘This is the point where the smart man goes 'yes ma'am, they do',' I nodded to her. ‘Your young man is not stupid,' Mrs. Dyoung chuckled. ‘This young man knows what happens if he behaves,' Nicole bowed to her superior; her boss, not me. ‘Oh goodie,' I rubbed my hands together. ‘Are we about to do some file-sharing?' ‘Something like that,' Nicole laughed and off we went. All I could imagine was that Nicole had to be God's Own lawyer at this firm to get away with the crap we'd just pulled. Honestly, I had other things on my mind. We coasted into her office, with her name etched on the glass door; with the glass walls and floor to ceiling glass windows. Just because, I picked up a water-smoothed stone on her desk; glass houses and all. ‘That is from the Canadian Shield; some of the oldest rocks on Earth,' she told me. ‘You are also going to have one of the most painful hard substance on Earth in your office if we don't do something soon,' I teased. ‘Where do you want to start?' she leaned against her desk. Her office was small, but it was her own. Considering her age, it was another 'she rocks' indicator. ‘Your lips,' I murmured. Nicole liked that. She pushed off the desk enough so our lips could lock. It was very nice. ‘The other lips,' I teased her. She liked that idea even more. Her black, mid-thigh skirt came up, I knelt and decided her scarlet thong was more than skimpy enough for me to work around. I let my hands run along her calves. Nicole hummed out her acclaim and was even happier when I began lifting both legs up. Before long, she was laying on her back, her legs were raised high and spread wide. Nice and easy was replaced by rapidly energetic and fiendishly cunning. Nicole was fighting back the tidal surge of her ecstasy. ‘What are you holding back for?' I slurped around my tongue-lashing. We weren't in a bathroom stall this time. Nicole tilted her head up, gave me a simmer glance then embraced her orgasm. ‘Damn!' she screamed followed by a dozen slightly less vocal 'damns'. I gave her just enough time for me to shed my pants, roll down a prophylactic then I mounted. Had there been any doubt of our forceful ardor, my heroic efforts and Nicole's dynamism shattered them. Half of the lawyers I'd briefly met stopped by and peeked through the glass. I didn't care and Nicole reveled in 'bending the minds' of the onlookers. After a while, her office was not enough. That sofa in the executive reception area? I bent her over the art deco beast and pummeled it, half way across the room. The bathroom? To be gender-equal, we screwed around in the Men's room this time. Nicole and I revisited her erotic fantasy of being bent over in the toilet, sodomized, then completing the act with dispensing of the condom and a glorious blowjob. Our last encounter involved a men's standing urinal, Nicole's legs wrapped around my waist as I gyrated. ‘Oh my God!' she yelped. ‘I've got it. Put me down.' I put her down because the reason I was here was to crack the mental block she had found herself in. Me? I'd come for the sex and Nicole delivered in spades. She had upheld her side of our bargain. Now that I'd reciprocated, it was time for 'hook-up' Nicole to become 'lawyer' Nicole. She made herself somewhat presentable and quick-stepped in back to the conference room. I secured my cock and pants before following. Nicole was babbling in an eldritch dark-tongue similar to Lady Sauron relaying doom to her pack of Nazgûl. They responded with various other arcane invocations until their agreement confirmed that millions of voices had cried out in terror then been suddenly silenced. In my universe, female devotees of Evil were all black leather-clad gorgeous sex kittens who used their dark arts to increase galactic lecherousness. ‘Time to show you out,' Nicole gave me a sultry smirk. ‘Come on.' Arm in arm, we traveled closely to the elevators. ‘Hold the door,' a female voice commanded right as the doors began to shut on the two of us. Nicole put a hand out to keep us from a few more second of alone time. A Caucasian women with short brown hair and a fierce scowl entered first. An imperious damsel came in next. My heart stopped in shock while I barely registered on her radar. A dusky man, nearly my height came in last of all. The doors shut and down we went. I was spending too much time watching the woman and her two bodyguards as we all headed to the door and not enough with Nicole. ‘Don't even think about it, Cáel,' Nicole teased. ‘That's Miss Brianna O'Shea, she leads our client's team and she's totally off limits.' O'Shea pulled a 'Katrina' the moment after Nicole used my name. She spun in place so that she was now facing Nicole and me. ‘What was your name?' she asked with sugary smoothness I associated with Bolivian tourism officials; the nice ones. You know, the ones that thought using a truck battery attached to the jumper cables and your testicles was too much because a car battery would do. ‘Percival Fenris, ma'am,' I introduced myself. ‘I'm a product engineer for Cyberdyne Systems. My team is creating a process that uses constantly recycling colored sugar dust as a medium that will replace current LCD technology. We are calling it Pixie TV.' Nicole was giggling. I was feeling less giggly, mainly because I was staring at my Mother. Not my Mother-mother; the woman who gave birth to me and who had been eaten alive by cancer. No, this was my Mother the way she looked when she was twenty-five and in excellent health. ‘Miss O'Shea, this is Cáel Nyilas. He is a good friend of mine,' Nicole cut through my obfuscation. O'Shea took several steps toward us, away from the exit. Her guardians kept up and were ratcheting up their vigilance. ‘Interesting eyes,' she noted. ‘What is your heritage?' Rude and scary. Even Nicole knew something was incredibly wrong. ‘Cáel, you two have the same eyes,' Nicole mumbled. ‘I was thinking the same thing, Miss Lawless,' Brianna said. Huh? ‘You are a lawyer named Lawless?' I gawked at Nicole. ‘How did that happen?' Why had that not registered when I went to Nicole's office? Oh yeah, her leading me in, eyes pleading for sex. ‘That is not relevant, Mr. Nyilas,' O'Shea kept coming. ‘What do you mean 'not relevant'? Are you saying you'd hire a male escort named Quick-fire Small-Penis?' I wondered. ‘If so, you are a more trusting soul than I.' ‘Why are you avoiding my question?' Brianna queried. ‘Why are you asking questions I clearly don't want to answer?' I retorted. ‘Cáel, please don't antagonize my client's representative,' Nicole was playful yet concerned. ‘No problem Nicole Lawless, Attorney at Law,' I grinned to her. I gave her a secretive ass squeeze then made to leave. Miraculously, Brianna let me slip by. The deceptiveness of that kindness was revealed when I stepped outside and found the limo; with another bodyguard standing beside the front passenger door. O'Shea/Mom's double was hot on my heels. As I turned and headed up the street, she grabbed my right arm. ‘Why don't we go out for a late bite to eat,' she stated. I wasn't being invited. I was being told. ‘No can do,' I shrugged off her hand. ‘I promised my Father to leave a recognizable corpse.' ‘What makes you think I have sinister intentions?' she questioned. There was a lot of that going around; not answering stuff, that is. ‘Why do you assume you aren't giving off the same bad vibe as a half-dozen 18th Street gangbangers on a Meth binge?' I teased. Brianna made a hand signal and the three bruisers put their hands on their guns. The closest to me moved around me to block off that escape route. To be correct, the guy at the car door was African-American, around my height with maybe 10 kg on me. The two guarding O'Shea were a guy of Moorish decent and a woman of the English Midlands. I knew this because I was afraid and making shit up. ‘Was I supposed to be impressed with the quiet appeal of desperation you exhibited by playing patty-cake with yourself,' I kept smiling. ‘Or are these three supposed to scare me?' I chuckled. ‘Here; in downtown Manhattan; one of the few places on the planet Earth trying to rival London in video surveillance.' ‘Video evidence can be altered,' Brianna gave me a wicked gleam. ‘Was that supposed to be your Evil Henchwoman voice?' I kept snickering. ‘If so, get a refund from that mail-order firm you took lessons from,' I grinned. ‘You appear to be rather fearless, and obstinate,' O'Shea nodded. ‘Foolishly so.' ‘Lady, I'm staring into the face of my dead Mother who is trying to get me into a limo with three goombahs who think they are intimidating. They are not,' I pointed out. ‘This whole weekend has been a disaster, so me beating the crap out of those three, you and the driver isn't going to change a damn thing,' I enlightened them. The Moorish guy extended a collapsible cane. ‘You seem very confident,' she informed me. ‘Of course I am,' I stated. ‘You haven't spotted my bodyguard yet, meaning all of you are truly screwed.' ‘Why would you have a bodyguard?' she inquired. ‘Why would you want to know?' I countered. ‘Do you practice being irritating, or is an innate talent?' Brianna regarded me. ‘We can do this 'answering a question with a question' thing all night long, except I have to be at work at six a.m. so how about you tell me what you really want to know and tell me why you look like; screw that; are my Mother's clone,' I sighed. ‘Tell me about your genetic heritage,' O'Shea demanded. She was that kind of authoritative prick; actual penis not required. ‘I apologize. I don't seem to have a handle your native vocabulary and your English-as-a-Second Language skills suck,' I sneered. ‘I should go home now.' Moorish guy blocked my egress. English chick was on my right flank, back to the limo and the street. The most pressing issue was a matter of privilege; O'Shea's people thought they'd get away with breaking the law. The moment the Moor popped out is baton, it was 'on'. A baton is a weapon plus O'Shea and her bodyguard were blocking my exit. I was legally free to attack him now. Normally I was lawfully compelled to exit the scene as opposed to engaging in violence. Since I couldn't run away, I was allowed to kick his ass; and O'Shea and company didn't give a crap. I worked five-plus days a week with people like that. The wavy-red haired, emerald green-eyed O'Shea wasn't the daughter of some Mafioso, or Nigerian Warlord. I didn't know what she was, but she was the many opposites of good news. ‘I imagine you think I didn't notice that Taser,' I addressed the Englishwoman while getting in the Moor's face. ‘That is an unfortunate miscalculation on your part.' ‘See, your dumbass partner, with his wonderful 80 cm tool, has let me get inside his reach. Before he can bring it to bear, I'm going to crush it trachea,' I outlined. ‘Now I have his tool and the whole reach thing is working in reverse. You have a hand-held device with a 10 cm reach and I have one that is 80 cm and the distance to make effective use of it.' ‘Don't worry about the guy at the door. By the time I face you, my bodyguard will lethally wound Miss O'Shea there. In case you missed it, now you are all screwed because your job is to guard her, not suppress me; and you all just failed,' I kept the Moor's eye contact. ‘While this horror crosses your mind, I'll break your hand.' ‘Your buddy isn't coming to help you. He's running to Miss O'Shea because he's supposed to keep her alive and that takes all his time and concentration. You poor driver will get out and, not yet having his situational awareness, my bodyguard will neutralize him. About the same time, I will crack your skull open. This allows me to decide whether, or not to kill Miss O'Shea,' I concluded. All of that was an utter and complete fantasy. Collapsible batons; I'd seen them in a few movies. Tasers? I have been tazed and never, ever want to repeat the process; three separate incidences was enough for me. Did I have a bodyguard close by? I had not asked for one and Havenstone had the sad habit of not telling me a damn thing that concerned my personal survival. On the plus side, I could be a compelling actor, or successful conman. I'm not an actor by the grace of two little words; sex scandal. If I sleep with a girl I want it to be because I've tricked and deceived her, not because she wants to tape us then sell it to the media. That would make me feel degraded; cheapened even. I'm not a conman because they use seduction to get what they want. For me, the seduction IS what I want. Steal their money? That would imply I would never, ever be able to sleep with them again. I couldn't do that and remain true to myself. To prove my point, the Moor looked past me to O'Shea for instructions. I punched him in his Solar Plexus and took his toy as I shoved his breathless form to the sidewalk. The Englishwoman expected me to attack her, just like I'd told her I would. It took her a second to realize I'd played her. By then it was too late. I could flee up the street if I wanted. ‘You attacked my man,' O'Shea noted casually. ‘Well, your ears are dicey, but your eyes are spot-on,' I snorted. ‘Shoot him,' O'Shea was decided to wrap this up. I was ceasing to be amusing. ‘In the legs.' Out came the guns and down went my likelihood of getting out of this intact. Pamela walked out of the building we'd exited a minute ago. She was wearing tight black stretch pants, a red turtleneck and a short beige jacket. ‘Protocols,' Pamela invoked in a bored voice. ‘Define,' O'Shea demanded. ‘Cáel,' Pamela kept her gaze on O'Shea, ‘who do you work for?' ‘Havenstone,' I answered. O'Shea looked from Pamela to me. ‘This does not protect a simple employee,' O'Shea stated. ‘I am invoking the Protocols. This does not require me to explain things to you,' Pamela was cool and relaxed. ‘By all means, if you feel I am abusing the Truce, kick it upstairs and it will be adjudicated.' ‘What is your name?' Brianna O'Shea requested of Pamela. ‘Cáel Nyilas. That is all you need to know,' Pamela smirked. ‘That is not possible,' Brianna gained her own barracuda grin. ‘He is Illuminati business. Look at his eyes.' Pamela laughed. The WHO? Weren't they some kind of Freemasons? ‘He walks away right now unless you explain yourself. He is at Havenstone. Whatever relationship he possessed with the Illuminati ceased when he was hired,' Pamela informed her. ‘Cáel Nyilas, tell me about your Mother,' Brianna commanded. ‘No,' I shrugged. ‘It is a simple enough question,' Miss O'Shea persisted. ‘And it is simply none of your business,' I held my ground. ‘I am her sister,' O'Shea declared. Pamela snorted but otherwise kept silent. ‘Ugh; that was not what I wanted to hear,' I groaned. Pamela snickered. She knew where my mind was. ‘Why should I believe you?' ‘You had your genetic sequence analyzed Thursday, didn't you?' O'Shea said. ‘That was flagged by people working for me because you and I share half of the same DNA.' ‘That's not possible,' Pamela stated in the same way she knew I was a cosmic joke. ‘How is that not possible?' I looked to Pamela. I was really starting to accept me and Homicidal O'Shea were family. Why? I'd never had to confront the incest taboo before and here it was looking right at me. O'Shea looked to Pamela, to me, back to Pamela then finally back at me. ‘Do you have a single clue about what is going on?' Brianna addressed me. ‘Yeah, of course I do,' I lied. ‘You are with the Illuminati and you know Havenstone is more than a bunch of greedy bitches.' Pause. ‘So you know nothing about what is going on here, right at this moment,' O'Shea's eyes skewered me. Sigh. ‘Mom; your sister, is dead;' I got out. ‘Yes, she died seven years ago,' Brianna interrupted. ‘What?' I glared. ‘No, she died fifteen years ago. Where do you get your information from and why didn't you at least check out the fucking gravestone?' I snapped. ‘Fifteen; that doesn't make sense; I didn't know where she died, only that when her medication ran out, she would have been consumed by some kind of aggressive cancer,' O'Shea responded. ‘What;' sort of slipped out. ‘How many brothers and sisters do you have?' O'Shea probed. ‘Like I'd tell you,' I growled. ‘None,' Pamela stated. ‘Thanks,' I glared at Pam. ‘Why don't you give away all my bargaining chips?' ‘Cáel, they know your last name,' Pamela stated. ‘Do you want them to hunt down your father and torture him for the names and locations of any other children?' ‘If you go after my Dad;' I became aggressive. ‘You will do nothing,' Pamela interrupted. ‘He is not covered by the Truce.' ‘A Truce I know nothing about,' I grumbled. ‘Screw all of you.' ‘Don't sweat it, Cáel. They need you and I can prove it with two honestly answered question,' Pamela smirked. ‘What name are you using today?' to Brianna. ‘Brianna O'Shea,' the red-haired lady replied. ‘How quaint; your real name. Brianna, how many other nieces and nephews do you and your sisters have?' Pamela inquired. Brianna glared. ‘I'll answer that for her; none. That begs the question of why you,' Pamela smiled at me, ‘exist at all. I'm sure that come Monday morning every medic at Havenstone is going to be crawling all over you looking for that answer.' O'Shea had a new game plan. She was going to murder Pamela and kidnap me. This meant I was going to get screwed up; maybe killed. Pamela would kill everyone else and sex would be extra painful for the next week to ten days; I was tired of that crap. I dropped the baton and walked up to Brianna. The bodyguards were twitching, Brianna was calculating multiple variables and Pamela looked mildly amused. I hugged Brianna. ‘If we are family then we are family,' I explained. ‘If there is something you want to talk to me about, give me a call. I'm in the book and I'm sure Havenstone can patch you through if you want to get in touch with me at work.' Pamela was struggling to contain her mirth. ‘Can you keep this discussion under wraps for now?' Brianna requested. The likelihood of that happening must have showed in my eyes. ‘Okay, who do you work for?' Pamela was laughing into her hand. ‘Umm; I work for Katrina Love of Executive Services,' I answered. O'Shea almost had an embolism. ‘It is okay, my desk is in her office, so we are pretty close.' Not at all what she wanted to hear. ‘Okay, I'll stop teasing you. I know who Katrina is and what she does; basically making people like you have believably fatal accidents.' ‘You are a man? Why are you still walking around free?' O'Shea muttered. ‘His sexual dynamism supersedes the sublimely addictive,' Pamela enlightened O'Shea, ‘and if you don't believe me, go up and ask that 'Nicole Lawless' woman.' ‘I was going to say 'I look great in hose and a push-up bra', but that works too,' I muttered. And the last thing I wanted to envision at that reality-cracking moment happened. Brianna O'Shea looked me over and that look said 'Sex'. She was my aunt! Technically; somehow; that should matter, right? ‘Aunt Brianna; Brianna; Auntie O'Shea; what do you want me to call you?' I stammered. ‘Brianna will do,' she pulled those plush red lips into a grin and extended her hand. I shook it. She had a strong grip. She was tapping the pulse in my wrist with her forefinger; a tried and true arousal technique I'd used countless times. ‘I'm really happy that we are family;' I evaded. ‘I had regular sex with mine and your mother's father, your grandfather,' Brianna discussed with the outrage normally reserved for the 'do you want your cantaloupe in wedges, or scoops' debate. ‘My; we'll just toss that in the category of things I never wanted to know,' I coughed. Wait! I could do better than that. This deserved sympathy, not comedy. ‘I am glad you got that off your chest,' I stroked her hand back; okay, not my brightest idea. ‘Has Grandpa stopped doing that?' ‘Your Grandfather is dead,' Brianna delivered the bad news. It was doubly bad because she seemed to really miss the jack-ass. At least I didn't have to feign grief at the bastard's funeral. This also would explain why Mom ran away from home and told Dad and I that her family all perished in a freak Sperm Whale hunting accident in the Arctic. You know, that sounded much more believable when I was five. Dad was crazy in love, which explained his suspension of disbelief whenever she walked in the room. ‘He was assassinated in his study in our mountain home, his throat slit clean through and his body desecrated beyond our ability to resurrect him,' Brianna shed a tear. This was the point where I seriously began worrying about there being a natural gas leak that was either screwing up what I was hearing, or what other people were saying. ‘Wow; how sad,' I tried to sound shaken by the news. ‘I know,' Brianna hugged me. But wait, ‘You smell like him (deep, sensual purr); Dad, that is.' Oh God No! ‘Well with Granddad gone, you seem to have done well for yourself; lves,' I corrected. It sounded like I had aunts in the plural, I was praying for the positive, plus a quick exit. ‘No, we can't move on until we find the assassin,' Brianna told me. She added in a whisper, ‘We know she was an Amazon.' Ah, look, an invitation by my freakish, incestuous aunt to betray the insane fanatics I worked for. I began crying. ‘I understand,' Brianna reached around and patted my back, ‘This must be a lot for you to take in.' ‘You have no idea,' I sniffled. What was my mind was saying: 'By the way, Aunt Brianna, the wacked-out chick that offed Granddad is two meters away from you and you definitely didn't bring a big enough army to deal with her'. ‘Why don't you come home with me tonight?' Brianna offered somewhat plaintively. Sex; worse, I wasn't coming up with any really convincing reasons to not have sex with her. We would do it with the lights off. That way I wouldn't be looking into the face of the Mother of my youth having an orgasm impaled on me. Maybe dim lighting would be okay too. ‘I can't go home with you tonight,' I looked away. ‘I'm feeling vulnerable.' That was exactly why she wanted to take me home with her; confused and vulnerable would allow her to revisit her nostalgic Father-Daughter fornications. ‘You need someone who loves you to look after you,' Brianna prodded. ‘That's what I'm for,' Pamela came to my rescue. Glares and snippets of wrath ensued. In the end, Pamela and I made our getaway. A few blocks away; I didn't want a taxi yet; Pamela speaking voided my introspection. ‘Questions?' ‘Where were you hiding while Nicole and I were having sex?' I mused. ‘Which time?' Pamela taunted me. ‘You mean you followed us to the Men's bathroom (we were reliving our first sexual encounter and then some)?' I groused. ‘I am not saying I was there. I'm not saying I wasn't. I'm not saying,' Pamela smirked. Pause. ‘You killed Grandpa?' I asked. ‘Yes.' ‘You stole his soul?' ‘Yes.' ‘You took yourself to the cliffs to destroy his soul; and yours?' ‘Yes.' ‘You decided not to because of his curse/warning?' ‘No.' ‘Um; why didn't you kill yourself?' ‘He; your Grandfather; had a back-up plan. Having me kill myself was a ploy. Had I done it, I would have lost my soul, his soul would have been released and Havenstone would have thought him dead. At the last moment I gained the insight he had a body already prepared for him that no other person knew about,' Pamela informed me. ‘You.' ‘My Mother didn't know?' I worried. ‘I am not sure. Most likely she thought she had escaped the Old Bastard.' ‘Ugh; family life around Christmas must have been a blast,' I grumbled. ‘The Illuminati make a mockery of the Cult of Christ. They have influenced the Catholic hierarchy for a millennia.' ‘How did she get away; if she got away?' I muttered. ‘Your Mother and Aunts were born to be slaves, but contained nearly all the DNA of your Grandfather; essentially female 'hims'. That meant they are all very, very smart so your Mother figured out a way and fled. Somehow she found your Father and happiness.' ‘He let her get away, didn't he?' I asked. ‘Don't sell your Mother short,' Pamela chided me. ‘He most likely engineered her escape from his estate, but the rest was her. Otherwise, you would have had Illuminati watchers all this time. No, your Grandfather wanted her to be completely free of the Illuminati, and all the other secret orders, until he was ready to make his return.' ‘Why did Brianna think Mom died of cancer seven years ago?' I went for next. ‘All your aunts need medication to keep them healthy and young,' Pamela related. ‘The only one with the formula was your Grandfather and, after so many decades, those bitches have to be running out of it soon, if they haven't already exhausted their supply.' ‘Without the drugs, your Mother would have aged and developed various cancers that would have escalated in their aggression until she died. For some reason, she stopped taking her medications before they ran out,' Pamela ruminated. ‘To have me,' I lowered my head. Mom had died because she knew Dad wanted a child; me. ‘It is not impossible that she couldn't have a child while on the regimen. That sounds like something that bastard Cáel O'Shea would have done,' Pamela agreed. ‘What?' I gulped. ‘You were named after your maternal grandfather, who I studied for weeks, and I can tell you that Cáel Nyilas is a hundred times the person he ever was,' Pamela assured me. ‘Let's not tell my aunt that,' I grunted. ‘Don't worry about that,' Pamela patted me on the back. ‘All of your aunts are most likely addicted to his pheromones and you have some variant of them.' ‘The fuck you say!' I gawked. ‘Oh yeah. He was that kind of son of a bitch.' ‘So when I get scared, they get horny?' I despaired. ‘Or if you are your regular horny self,' Pamela chortled. ‘Hell, Brianna is probably humping that urinal you and Miss Lawless engaged as a; prop earlier this evening.' ‘You are just a cornucopia of horrific knowledge, aren't you?' I groused. ‘I've never had a friend like you,' Pamela enlightened me. ‘You've never had a friend before,' I countered. I hadn't known her a week and I already wanted to kill her half the time as it was. I wondered if women felt the same way about me on occasion. ‘That would definitely make you my finest friend then,' she snickered. ‘Thanks,' I grumbled. ‘Just for that, when I have Daphne bent over with her head and shoulders pressed against the wall while I slam her from behind with all this pent up rage, I'll be thinking of you.' ‘Really?' she queried. ‘Of course not. Daphne is smoking hot. When I finally have sex with her, the only thing I'll be thinking about besides Daphne is how I'm going to have sex with her again,' I grinned. ‘Good,' she smiled happily. Yes, we were talking about me boinking her granddaughter and she was A-Okay with it. ‘Remember, there is no need to use a condom.' ‘I'm not falling for that, you evil witch

Emergency Council Makes Bold Move.. In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand. Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected.. “You may outrun your sins, but never forget that someone will pay the toll.”  I biked home, brushing a city bus and a BMW getting there. On the landing between the second and third floors I found an Amazon with baleful eyes; waiting. In front of my door was her psychic twin. ‘Can I get you and/or your cohort anything?' I politely inquired. Yesterday; the cold shoulder. ‘Thank you for the consideration. We will wait until our itinerary is clarified,' she nodded. I went in, catching the abrupt cut off of some 'O' talk. 'O', as in Odette and Oneida. They were on the sofa, half-turned to face each other when I walked in. Oneida stood and gave the standard Amazon respectful nod. ‘Oneida was all screwed up inside about last night in the Park, so I was explaining some of the basic tenants of BDSM to her,' Odette blithely blathered. ‘BDSM? What do you know about BDSM? I barely know about it and I've been having non-stop sex for years,' I exclaimed. ‘Cáel of Ishara, did you do those things to Rhada in an effort to fulfill her dreams?' Oneida desperately pleaded. Worse, it was spoken in English. ‘I can't talk about it,' I replied. ‘That is 'Cáel' for 'yes',' Odette intruded. ‘I began reading up on BDSM after you got the suspension rig,' was her saucy response to me. ‘Would you ever do that to me?' Oneida gave me those big doe-eyes as she sat down. No, she didn't want a rape fantasy. That kind of submission wasn't her thing. I paced around, stomped into the kitchen then back to the living room. ‘No Oneida, I would never do something like that to you,' I promised. ‘I like having sex; a whole bunch. I like the women I'm with to have a great time too.' ‘That means I figure out what really excites her and provide it because I normally want to have sex with that girl again,' I explained, neglecting the 'and again and again and again.' ‘Is it over between you two?' Oneida asked. She meant Rhada and me. ‘Oneida, did I ask you to come over today?' I countered. ‘Have I upset you?' Oneida's lower lip trembled. 'Yes' would make things so much easier. ‘No,' I lied. ‘Let's look at this from another angle. How would you feel if Paula showed up at your domicile unannounced? You walked in and there she was.' ‘Oh,' she stood up again. ‘I apologize.' At this moment, saying nothing meant she'd leave. I'm an idiot. ‘Do you want to stay for dinner?' I offered. It took a few seconds for Oneida to forgive herself enough to accept my suggestion. Me raping Rhada less than 24 hours ago? We'd deal with that later, or so she promised herself. ‘Okay; if it is not too much trouble,' Oneida nodded. In came the doom and gloom duo and we ordered some over-sized sandwiches from an Italian Deli two blocks away. After the two walked through my place (again, I was sure) and the food arrived, the bodyguards relaxed into a close proximity of human beings. The freakishness continued as Odette bonded with the Amazon killers with tales of my sexual exploits. At the same time, I romanced Oneida in half a dozen languages. Storming those gates was going to take more time than I normally gave a single sexual encounter. Oneida kissed me. She loved kissing me. She was ecstatic about kissing me. She made it real clear there would be not petting; yet. Penetration wasn't even on the (her) agenda. This didn't meant I was accepting her marching orders. I was far craftier than that. My plan was one of 'setting an example'. I stood up; we were sitting on the bench press seat, shot Odette a sexy look then went to the kitchenette. We got something; whatever it was wasn't important. The crucial activity was my surrounding Odette in my arms from behind. I kissed her neck, Odette wiggled her ass against my crotch and murmured happily. More kissing along the neck, ear and jawline ensued. Odette exhaled a happy breath, and twisted around in my grasp until we were face to face. An exhaustive French kiss finishing up with a few light pecks and led to us rubbing noses like Inuit. ‘Thanks buddy,' I smiled warmly at Odette. ‘She blue-balling ya?' Odette snickered. ‘Big time,' I muttered. Odette squiggled down my body then bit both my nipples through my shirt making me gasp. ‘That should do nicely,' Odette's eyes were alight and she was super-pleased with herself. She smacked my ass then returned to the living room. I returned to Oneida. After a few seconds, ‘Does it disturb you to be treated like that?' Oneida murmured. ‘Like what?' I sounded so innocent. Trust me; this is a crucial relationship tool. ‘Like; like we would treat one of our males,' she looked for my reaction. I laughed. ‘The critical difference is that I can say 'no',' I smiled. ‘Oneida, do you think the original Ash Men spent every moment not in battle, contemplating their place in the Universe?' Clearly, she had. ‘Believe me, men hunted, worked their crafts and chased female Amazons when they weren't eating, or sleeping.' ‘Warfare is an emotional undertaking,' I had read that somewhere. ‘You can believe that with the battle safely won, your ancestors and my ancestors fooled around. They sang songs, wrote poetry, and created artwork for the ladies they courted. They wanted the attention of the strongest, bravest and most courageous mates, just like your ancestors did.' ‘I think I do know something about the Ash Men you don't,' I prodded her. ‘What? I have studied them for many years,' Oneida was now more engaged. ‘What can you tell me about Vranus?' I asked. That stumped her. ‘I; nothing is written of his exploits,' Oneida admitted. ‘We know he was a young warrior for Ishara.' ‘Think about this, Oneida; Vranus was only twenty yet a member of the Host,' I started. She nodded. ‘He is shown with twin axes; no shield and no bow. That means he had to be very brave, rushing through the initial exchange of arrow fire and thrown spears to attack his enemy. His House probably directed him to large clumps of opponents, breaking their formations for the Host to exploit.' ‘That means he fought alone for several seconds until his accompanying Amazons could pick apart his foe,' I explained. ‘That must have been horrible,' Oneida frowned. ‘Not at all,' I protested. ‘He was trusted with a crucial task; to hold the enemy's focus so the faster moving Amazons could attack their foe from multiple directions at once.' ‘The Amazons of House Ishara must have been very proud of him,' I fluffed out the fantasy. ‘From what you saw from my two exhibition with twin axes, it is very tiring. Vranus had to have absolute confidence his sisters were coming for him. They trusted one another, thus fighting as one organic unit. It was a synergy that included the best of both genders.' That last bit confused her. ‘Back then, most of the Host would have been of the same genetic stock from the time of the First Betrayal. Short and fast. The males of the region they took over were taller; the local men being even taller than the local women. That means you give men heavier and longer weapons. Your people would have favored bows, light shields and short spears; ranged, or quick in and out tools.' Was any of that true? Not a history major, so I have no clue. ‘Many of the Host at the time rode horses yet there are also pictures of them forming battle lines,' Oneida enlightened me then her own eyes expanded. ‘Males are always shown with solid round shields while the Host; women had the oval wicker shields.' ‘Lacking stirrups, the Amazons may have used the men to grapple with the enemy then rode their horses around the flanks, dismounted and engaged their opponents from the rear; Amazon style,' I grinned. It was. Amazons were all about out-maneuvering and confounding their foes. The Amazons hadn't been callous with their males' lives. At one time, chosen females had held the center line. Over time, as males joined, it was practical to adapt the solid wooden shields of their opponents for their own males and put them in the place where their upper body strength and size were of best effect. The unknown older male with Vranus had probably held his place in the battle line dozens of times. I doubt he complained, or even thought to complain. Who would have taken his place? A smaller sister, aunt, or daughter? Had other males objected? Sure, the battle line in Amazon tactics was not the place of glory. The striking arm were the horse-riders. Countless times adversaries had spent the last minutes of their lives with the echoes of horses, hooves and female Amazon war cries seemingly all around them. Some wise old dead fucker once said 'defeat starts in the mind'. I wholeheartedly believed in that; except my version was 'having sex with me starts with my insidious nature'. ‘Defeat starts in the mind,' I stared intently into Oneida's eyes. Love poetry is a matter of emotional context, not actual words. I pulled Oneida to me, letting her straddle my lap because I desperately wanted her to understand my tortured soul. Grinding her vulva against my hard-on was totally accidental, as was our renewed French kiss and me grabbing two handfuls of her ass. There was no rushing of things. Oneida was a skittish mare and I had to keep her feeling safe despite her sexual peril. Any woman who bothers to get to know me knows I am not a complicated guy. Case in point: by the time Oneida was feeding me her left nipple, Odette already had the security types sweep my bedroom (again) then the three retreated to Timothy's room and shut the door. Were Oneida's guardians worried about Oneida's carnal violation? No, why would they? Amazons had dick on demand. Virginity didn't hold any religious significance for them; killing things did. With the speed and efficiency those other two Amazons made themselves scarce, I imagined they were happy that Oneida had stopped mooning over me and getting a good grip on reality. A righteous dicking was in the offing. Oneida's open eyed, opened-mouth countenance when she found herself naked on my bed with a naked me hovering over her was precious. That look always was. It did necessitate a question. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?' I whispered. My aroused cock brushed along her thigh. The question was a courtesy. The answer was always the same because girls want to have sex. They also want to believe they have a say in the process from beginning to end. I say 'believe' because sex done right is passion and passion is the rejection of reason. At some point in the seduction, intercourse becomes an avalanche. Logic can scream all it wants; the hormones are not listening. I slipped into Oneida's velvety liquid embrace. She gave up a sigh of relief. She'd made the jump into intimacy. Any other explanation for what was going to happen would have implicated me as a 'Player'; which everyone else thought I was. Oneida had this romantic ideal of me that no amount of evidence appeared to shatter. Personally, I was starting to dread ever going to her bedroom. I wasn't sure of her 'My Little Pony' comforter would be a turn-off for me. I had done in it on Pocahontas and The Little Mermaid, so odds were I'd pull through in the clinch. ‘I am not hurting you, am I?' I moaned. Said for emotional impact alone. If I was causing a girl pain, I would have stopped first. ‘No,' happy murmuring, ‘I'm wonderful.' The most powerful organ human's possess is the brain. Oneida was a 'talker'. She wanted to express her feelings during intercourse; not give to directions, but as an effort to increase her participation in the sex act itself. Slow, steady strokes followed, withdrawing my glans half way along her labia, moved up and down slightly then gradually pushed back in. Every entry held something new for her. I added to the process by tilting her thigh and leg forward so that my next penetration tantalized a whole new series of trigger points in her cunny. On the next pass, Oneida began her own experimentations, twisting and adjusting the angle of her hips as I worked my rod in and out. Oneida began crying. I wasn't upset and that didn't make me a callous bastard. She was shedding tears of joy and regret; joy because her first climax was in the offing; regret because she wish she had done this with me sooner. She had been a Havenstone employee so we hadn't done the deed. We still had to keep our liaison secret. Why? I'd think of something. The real reason was pure politics. I never knew what wacky dame hated another wacky dame for reasons I couldn't even get into, but I knew it would curtail my dating opportunities. I'd pay the price of deception later. What I couldn't take was being denied sex without having done anything wrong first. ‘Am I making you happy?' Oneida gasped. No flippancy here; romance was the key. ‘You demand things from me few other women do,' I replied breathlessly. I wasn't going to lie to her. Prettying up the truth was good enough and it made her happy. I also got something new; to her, not to me. She orgasmed. Whatever she'd been satisfied with before, I obliterated in a few quick, decisive strokes. Oh God; did she go off! It has happened to me before; the door being kicked in; just not in mid-orgasm. Guns being pointed at yours truly while the girl was in mid-scream was new. And Oneida was still carrying on and on. ‘I was trying to tell you!' Odette was screaming. ‘He does that to us all the time; please don't shoot him.' The whole 'girl screaming at me in Old Kingdom Hittite' was also new. My mentor preferred Minoan. ‘I have come back from Death,' Oneida rasped. Her skin was flushed deep red from her exertion, she had bathed us both in sweat and she was coming up with any form of vocalization from Goddess-knows where she had screamed for so long. She looked at me with love in her eyes; damn it. She looked and looked and looked and; finally noticed the two women at the foot of the bed. ‘Is; some; thing; wrong?' Oneida panted while gazing at her two guardians with worry.  ‘You may outrun your sins, but never forget that someone will pay the toll.' There was someone pounding on my apartment door. ‘Neighbor; door; I'm on it,' Odette called out. Seconds later the deadbolts clicked and the door opened. ‘Hello, Mr. Finnes.' ‘You God-damn Whore!' he screamed. ‘Where is that homo and his butt-buddy? The cops are on their way and this time you are all in the street.' He had a good head of steam on tonight. Slayer of Testicles #1 looked at Slayer of Testicles #2, nodded and left. ‘Who is this bitch,' Finnes got out. It was so wrong that I recognized the next sound. It was the barrel of a gun being inserted into a person's mouth. ‘Listen and listen carefully,' SoT#1 spoke softly. ‘You are going back to your hovel. If I get word, or even a bad premonition, that you are causing this apartment a hint of worry, I am going to come back and end you in a fashion the New York City's Coroner's Office will find memorable.' ‘I do not care if you have to puncture both eardrums to drown out the noise. I am not a compassionate person. In fact, I am considered sadistic by those who know me well. Now go back home, tell the police who show up this was all a mistake and give a prayer of thanks to whatever deity you grovel before that I didn't simply ram my firearm up your anus and decorate the ceiling in what passes for brains in your pathetic bone-sack of a body,' she menaced. There was a choking/gagging noise then the sound of heaving. ‘Mr. Finnes; are you okay?' Odette worried. As a wonderful counter-point. ‘Have you given me your seed?' Oneida asked hopefully. I was still hard. It had only been ten minutes of sex after all. I gently rocked my penis deeper in. ‘Oh,' she happily babbled. ‘Again?' SoT#2 questioned. I made a few more penetration cycles instead of speaking. ‘Do they train you in some sort of Sex Academy for this? Are there more males out there like you?' ‘Is having a viewing gallery a real damper on the mood?' I asked her while looking into Oneida's eyes. I was actually proud of Oneida for not sending the other woman away. It showed me she respected the woman's job. I also heard the apartment door shut. ‘Wow, your threat was nice and spooky,' Odette snickered. ‘Threat? Child, what do you think I do for a living?' SoT#1 asked. ‘You are one of those wacko, psycho-chicks Cáel Nyilas works with,' Odette was undoubtedly smiling. ‘Correct, I am one of those wacko, psycho-chicks;' SoT#1 left that hanging out there. ‘You weren't playing with Mr. Finnes, were you?' Odette grew quiet. Pause. ‘There is really a job which allows you to do that kind of stuff?' Pause. ‘Can I apply?' ‘This is not something you apply;' SoT#1 began, but then, ‘I guess if Cáel wants to; ‘ ‘Cool,' Odette was truly irrepressible. ‘If he does that, there will definitely be consequences and repercussions,' SoT#1 cautioned. ‘Oh, I think I had better stick with being his fuck-buddy,' Odette conceded. ‘Wise choice,' SoT#1 agreed. My bedroom door shut. SoT#2 had slipped out. Do you often have sex with an audience?' I teased Oneida. ‘Yes,' she answered matter-of-factly, ‘I do. Don't you?' ‘Now that you mention it;' and I got back to the pleasure that encompasses so much of my life. Sunday Night. ‘Cáel,' a voice purred over my phone. ‘Hey Nicole,' I greeted my lawyer not-quite a hook-up anymore. Also, unless you are Sure you know the female caller, don't take a gamble with the name. ‘So, do you have something going on tonight?' she queried. ‘Nope. My normal engagement had to cancel so I'm sitting back with some friends who do not appreciate the depth of my depravity,' I sighed. ‘Canceled?' She laughed. ‘On you? Have your recovered from the shock?' ‘Actually, they had a death in the family and had to go to South Carolina,' I explained. ‘Oh; sorry,' Nicole apologized. ‘Well, if you are feeling lonely and neglected, you could come by work and do me a favor.' ‘I am feeling neither lonely, nor neglected, but I am certainly missing you right now. Give me a half hour and I'll be there,' I promised. She thanked me and hung up. ‘Who is it this time?' Odette snickered. Man, I was becoming so used to her hanging around. ‘Nicole the lawyer,' I replied. I trekked back to my bedroom to prep. I opted for the 'Bad Boy' look; worn jeans, high-top tennis shoes (equally worn), my Plant Smashers t-shirt (Quebecois ska band; yes, I will road-trip to another country for sex) and my Bolingbrook bomber jacket. Yes, I was going to an Ivy League Law firm dressed like a carjacker. Every other male was going to be dressed in finely-tailored silk and I had to stand out. Since I couldn't outspend them, I was going to make them look like effete pussies by dressing like I just didn't care what anyone thought. I was coming over to screw Nicole and there would be no doubt about it. ‘Isn't that chick rich?' Timothy teased me. ‘Yeah. I'm packing the glow in the dark Trojans tonight; cause she's special,' I grinned. ‘Oh! I love those,' Odette squealed. She really needed to trust me less. I walked over, cupped her ears with my hand then kissed her on the forehead. I did the same to Timothy. His look suggested that I had best make a hasty exit before he kicked my ass. I caught a taxi a block away. It turned out he was from Qatar and he asked if I was sure about the address I gave him. I grinned then told him I could outrun 95% of the yPD so was feeling good about my chances. He snorted, countering with 'If you were an Arab, they'd shoot you.' Not to be outdone, 'I'd claim to be a Syrian anti-government protester; you know, because we all look alike to these Caucasians'. We laughed for a bit then he said he had a younger sister back in the homeland. I insisted I was immoral; a wicked man. 'Was I religious?' 'Only when it suited my purposes.' 'Would I consider converting to Sunni Islam?' 'Only if the girl was cute enough.' He showed me her picture; dammit, she had a really beautiful face. I got her name, his name and the name of his mosque. I considered it. Yahweh, Christ, Bacchus (wine, an orgy and 'bull' testicles; long story) and Jehovah all had reasons to barbeque my ass already. Why not add Allah to the mix, besides it being an incredibly stupid thing to do for a man in constant mortal peril like me? In theory, three of the four definitely had the possibility to be the same Omniscient and Omnipotent Galactic Being so the odds were I wouldn't get too much more screwed. I finished up my journey imagining Buffy in a burqa. That evolved into a vision of me being force-fed a burqa; in private; where no one could hear my muffled cries for help. Buffy; murdering me; made me horny. I am a sick puppy. ‘Buffy,' I called her as I paid the cabbie. ‘What; huh; are you okay, Cáel?' Buffy muttered. ‘Yes, I'm fine. I was dreaming of you and decided to give you a call,' I related in a sleepy voice. ‘Oh;' she sounded affectionate. ‘Yeah. In the dream you were murdering me. It was so romantic; so you,' I related. ‘Shit-for-brains, do you have any idea what time it is?' Buffy turned all savage in an instant. ‘Hmm; 11:45?' I offered up. ‘Call me this late again when it is not an emergency and your dream will become a reality,' she growled. ‘You know you sound so;' and she hung up on me. I called Nicole and warned her I was at her building, pursued by two FDIC investigators and could she please come and rescue me. She snickered, came down and retrieved me, but not before the yPD stopped by for a casual conversation and I hadn't even been standing there two minutes. In my neighborhood you were lucky if you saw a patrol car every thirty minutes and short of offering them some crack cocaine, cheap nookie, or shooting a gun off, they never stopped. Was I my normally fuck-wad self? No. I told the man/woman team the truth. Some upper crust weenies I worked with dragged me off to Yuppie Hell. I hooked up with a lawyer who I screwed repeatedly in the Women's bathroom and she was calling me for round 2. Second question (the first one was name/ID/reason for being in this part of town dressed like I was)? Was she paying me? 'No'. Was I practicing safe sex (female cop; married even)? 'Yes'. Was she the red-head at the door behind me? 'Yes she was and goodnight.' ‘What are you dressed like that for?' Nicole smiled. In her mind she already knew the answer; I had come here to screw her; raw and primal. ‘Ballroom dancing was not on the itinerary you gave me,' I smiled. We went inside. ‘My co-workers are still here,' she hinted seductively. ‘Whoa now!' I protested humorously. ‘I am not here to pull a train; girls only.' Nicole nearly fell over laughing. She was so embarrassed by me and my attire, she dragged me straight to the conference room 'her' team was working out of. Everyone else was eating. Two of the lawyers were clearly the top dogs; a man and a woman. The woman had a vague resemblance to one of the portraits I'd seen coming in; a legacy. The man screamed 'serial killer'. It probably made him one hell of a lawyer, but spooky to live with, or work for. The other nine people in the room were in two groups. Two were obviously paralegals. They dressed in what must have started out as clean, starched clothing from off the rack as opposed to tailored. The other seven were lawyers in their own dual set-up. My amateur guess was two different branches of law. This group was dressed in fine clothes now wrinkled from a long day's work, plus it was a Sunday. They were not at their best yet they were still better than most of what I had. The most endearing part was how they looked at me. Even the female contingent thought that I was trash. I had certainly given them the opportunity. Seriously, they should have paid more attention to Nicole, her intelligence, competence and tastes. Come on now; there was no way she'd bring some grease-monkey from Flatbush to her workplace. They needed to engage their brains and not their social bias. A murmur slithered through the crowd. Amusement and condescension were the clear messages shot my way. I imagine the poor soul who delivered the food got less crap because he/she was providing a tangible service. ‘Nicole, who is this?' the woman asked. Sex. Outside of her being a soulless cancer on the hopes and dreams of mankind, she was an alluring forty-something. ‘This is my friend Cáel;' Nicole began, both her arms wrapped around my right arm. ‘Cáel Belafonte,' I interrupted. You could tell who the trial lawyers in the room were. Their expressions told me they knew I was lying. ‘Fascinating Mr. Belafonte,' Mr. Serial-Killer droned on. ‘What do you do?' ‘I am an Ichthyologist,' I met his gaze. ‘I'm involved in a twenty year study to determine the cause for the reduction in the size of Tuna fish scales.' That had them stumped. ‘That sounds like yet another great waste of government funds,' a young male lawyer with more bravado than combat-sex experience fired off. ‘Oh,' I shrugged. ‘Smaller scales, smaller full-sized Tuna, a spike in tuna prices and an eventual world-wide restriction on Tuna fishing, similar to the one currently covering virtually all whale species. Now, I doubt you know which people will decide who the recipient of those lucrative Tuna contracts will be, but I do. By all means; mock what you don't understand.' ‘Government research project results will be in the public domain,' a woman joined the struggle. ‘Yes; and?' I asked in a bland tone. ‘Your research will be available to all kinds of commercial concerns,' male asshat grinned. ‘Your ability to show that you are as smart as any pre-law student must make someone, somewhere very proud,' I grinned back. Confused looks. Nicole was struggling to keep it together. ‘He never said he was in any manner part of the government, or a government program, Mr. Cherrie,' the female lead barracuda gave me her own hungry look. The guy looked pissed. ‘Oh, Mr. Belafonte, are you a private researcher, or a government one?' she female junior lawyer asked. ‘Heather Pulaski,' she gave her name. ‘Call me Cáel, Heather, and I am in no way associated with any government, I barely know what an Ichthyologist is and I'm certainly not one. Rude, arrogant people annoy me when they treat my friends like they are stupid; especially when they should know better. I can rarely stop myself from ridiculing them,' I grinned. ‘And now you think you are better than everyone else in the room for tricking us with this juvenile prank,' the Serial Killer sounded bored. ‘No. The lives of strangers are not my concern,' I bantered back. ‘I did what I did to make Nicole smile. If my antics remind the rest of you what a hotshot lawyer she is so much the better.' ‘Mr. and Mrs. Dyoung, Cáel, Cáel Nyilas, is a joker. He's is also brilliant and just joined Havenstone Commercial Investments in their Executive Services Division,' Nicole bragged. She got points for the 'Executive Services' part. More smirks; some people never learn. ‘Havenstone doesn't employ too many men, does it?' Mrs. Dyoung said. Maybe she was looking for a Discrimination lawsuit. ‘Five men to be precise and two of us are out of the country,' I enlightened her. ‘So you are brilliant,' Mr. Dyoung seemed barely engaged; and was Mrs. Dyoung's Mr. Dyoung. ‘What are your insights on DNA ownership, Cáel?' ‘DNA ownership is a fallacy,' I stated. ‘People are not pigs, soybeans, or corn. You cannot create a financial liability for your offspring because that amounts to slavery and is forbidden by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. DNA is a person; their blueprint. Only the person owns it and they can't even sell it outright.' ‘That is hopelessly naive,' he snorted. ‘Not really. If you apply an accepted price tag to every human being on Earth, the anarchy will begin. Crimes like murder, torture and mutilation are based on the concept that human life has an unspecified value. Give something a value and you can trade in it.' ‘Murder somebody? How much was their DNA worth?' I postulated. ‘I pay the cost, or somebody pays it for me. You are calling me naïve? I'm not murdering somebody. I'm repossessing their DNA. Mr. Dyoung, I'm not a lawyer, so I am not approaching this from a limited field of vision like you are. I live in the World.' ‘Oddly enough, I've had some recent encounters with real slavery and that has convinced me that I'll go down standing up, thank you very much,' I grinned. ‘In case that was misconstrued; my DNA is mine, no legal precedent will change that and I'm more than willing to put bodies in the ground to keep it so.' ‘You sound like an anarchist,' Mr. Cherrie chimed in. ‘Nope. I'm independent-minded. There is a difference,' I indicated. ‘Just like you, anarchists don't want to let me be me either.' ‘Laws exist for a reason,' Nicole chastised me. What she was really saying was 'you are here for a reason and it isn't entertaining my co-workers'. ‘This is the point where the smart man goes 'yes ma'am, they do',' I nodded to her. ‘Your young man is not stupid,' Mrs. Dyoung chuckled. ‘This young man knows what happens if he behaves,' Nicole bowed to her superior; her boss, not me. ‘Oh goodie,' I rubbed my hands together. ‘Are we about to do some file-sharing?' ‘Something like that,' Nicole laughed and off we went. All I could imagine was that Nicole had to be God's Own lawyer at this firm to get away with the crap we'd just pulled. Honestly, I had other things on my mind. We coasted into her office, with her name etched on the glass door; with the glass walls and floor to ceiling glass windows. Just because, I picked up a water-smoothed stone on her desk; glass houses and all. ‘That is from the Canadian Shield; some of the oldest rocks on Earth,' she told me. ‘You are also going to have one of the most painful hard substance on Earth in your office if we don't do something soon,' I teased. ‘Where do you want to start?' she leaned against her desk. Her office was small, but it was her own. Considering her age, it was another 'she rocks' indicator. ‘Your lips,' I murmured. Nicole liked that. She pushed off the desk enough so our lips could lock. It was very nice. ‘The other lips,' I teased her. She liked that idea even more. Her black, mid-thigh skirt came up, I knelt and decided her scarlet thong was more than skimpy enough for me to work around. I let my hands run along her calves. Nicole hummed out her acclaim and was even happier when I began lifting both legs up. Before long, she was laying on her back, her legs were raised high and spread wide. Nice and easy was replaced by rapidly energetic and fiendishly cunning. Nicole was fighting back the tidal surge of her ecstasy. ‘What are you holding back for?' I slurped around my tongue-lashing. We weren't in a bathroom stall this time. Nicole tilted her head up, gave me a simmer glance then embraced her orgasm. ‘Damn!' she screamed followed by a dozen slightly less vocal 'damns'. I gave her just enough time for me to shed my pants, roll down a prophylactic then I mounted. Had there been any doubt of our forceful ardor, my heroic efforts and Nicole's dynamism shattered them. Half of the lawyers I'd briefly met stopped by and peeked through the glass. I didn't care and Nicole reveled in 'bending the minds' of the onlookers. After a while, her office was not enough. That sofa in the executive reception area? I bent her over the art deco beast and pummeled it, half way across the room. The bathroom? To be gender-equal, we screwed around in the Men's room this time. Nicole and I revisited her erotic fantasy of being bent over in the toilet, sodomized, then completing the act with dispensing of the condom and a glorious blowjob. Our last encounter involved a men's standing urinal, Nicole's legs wrapped around my waist as I gyrated. ‘Oh my God!' she yelped. ‘I've got it. Put me down.' I put her down because the reason I was here was to crack the mental block she had found herself in. Me? I'd come for the sex and Nicole delivered in spades. She had upheld her side of our bargain. Now that I'd reciprocated, it was time for 'hook-up' Nicole to become 'lawyer' Nicole. She made herself somewhat presentable and quick-stepped in back to the conference room. I secured my cock and pants before following. Nicole was babbling in an eldritch dark-tongue similar to Lady Sauron relaying doom to her pack of Nazgûl. They responded with various other arcane invocations until their agreement confirmed that millions of voices had cried out in terror then been suddenly silenced. In my universe, female devotees of Evil were all black leather-clad gorgeous sex kittens who used their dark arts to increase galactic lecherousness. ‘Time to show you out,' Nicole gave me a sultry smirk. ‘Come on.' Arm in arm, we traveled closely to the elevators. ‘Hold the door,' a female voice commanded right as the doors began to shut on the two of us. Nicole put a hand out to keep us from a few more second of alone time. A Caucasian women with short brown hair and a fierce scowl entered first. An imperious damsel came in next. My heart stopped in shock while I barely registered on her radar. A dusky man, nearly my height came in last of all. The doors shut and down we went. I was spending too much time watching the woman and her two bodyguards as we all headed to the door and not enough with Nicole. ‘Don't even think about it, Cáel,' Nicole teased. ‘That's Miss Brianna O'Shea, she leads our client's team and she's totally off limits.' O'Shea pulled a 'Katrina' the moment after Nicole used my name. She spun in place so that she was now facing Nicole and me. ‘What was your name?' she asked with sugary smoothness I associated with Bolivian tourism officials; the nice ones. You know, the ones that thought using a truck battery attached to the jumper cables and your testicles was too much because a car battery would do. ‘Percival Fenris, ma'am,' I introduced myself. ‘I'm a product engineer for Cyberdyne Systems. My team is creating a process that uses constantly recycling colored sugar dust as a medium that will replace current LCD technology. We are calling it Pixie TV.' Nicole was giggling. I was feeling less giggly, mainly because I was staring at my Mother. Not my Mother-mother; the woman who gave birth to me and who had been eaten alive by cancer. No, this was my Mother the way she looked when she was twenty-five and in excellent health. ‘Miss O'Shea, this is Cáel Nyilas. He is a good friend of mine,' Nicole cut through my obfuscation. O'Shea took several steps toward us, away from the exit. Her guardians kept up and were ratcheting up their vigilance. ‘Interesting eyes,' she noted. ‘What is your heritage?' Rude and scary. Even Nicole knew something was incredibly wrong. ‘Cáel, you two have the same eyes,' Nicole mumbled. ‘I was thinking the same thing, Miss Lawless,' Brianna said. Huh? ‘You are a lawyer named Lawless?' I gawked at Nicole. ‘How did that happen?' Why had that not registered when I went to Nicole's office? Oh yeah, her leading me in, eyes pleading for sex. ‘That is not relevant, Mr. Nyilas,' O'Shea kept coming. ‘What do you mean 'not relevant'? Are you saying you'd hire a male escort named Quick-fire Small-Penis?' I wondered. ‘If so, you are a more trusting soul than I.' ‘Why are you avoiding my question?' Brianna queried. ‘Why are you asking questions I clearly don't want to answer?' I retorted. ‘Cáel, please don't antagonize my client's representative,' Nicole was playful yet concerned. ‘No problem Nicole Lawless, Attorney at Law,' I grinned to her. I gave her a secretive ass squeeze then made to leave. Miraculously, Brianna let me slip by. The deceptiveness of that kindness was revealed when I stepped outside and found the limo; with another bodyguard standing beside the front passenger door. O'Shea/Mom's double was hot on my heels. As I turned and headed up the street, she grabbed my right arm. ‘Why don't we go out for a late bite to eat,' she stated. I wasn't being invited. I was being told. ‘No can do,' I shrugged off her hand. ‘I promised my Father to leave a recognizable corpse.' ‘What makes you think I have sinister intentions?' she questioned. There was a lot of that going around; not answering stuff, that is. ‘Why do you assume you aren't giving off the same bad vibe as a half-dozen 18th Street gangbangers on a Meth binge?' I teased. Brianna made a hand signal and the three bruisers put their hands on their guns. The closest to me moved around me to block off that escape route. To be correct, the guy at the car door was African-American, around my height with maybe 10 kg on me. The two guarding O'Shea were a guy of Moorish decent and a woman of the English Midlands. I knew this because I was afraid and making shit up. ‘Was I supposed to be impressed with the quiet appeal of desperation you exhibited by playing patty-cake with yourself,' I kept smiling. ‘Or are these three supposed to scare me?' I chuckled. ‘Here; in downtown Manhattan; one of the few places on the planet Earth trying to rival London in video surveillance.' ‘Video evidence can be altered,' Brianna gave me a wicked gleam. ‘Was that supposed to be your Evil Henchwoman voice?' I kept snickering. ‘If so, get a refund from that mail-order firm you took lessons from,' I grinned. ‘You appear to be rather fearless, and obstinate,' O'Shea nodded. ‘Foolishly so.' ‘Lady, I'm staring into the face of my dead Mother who is trying to get me into a limo with three goombahs who think they are intimidating. They are not,' I pointed out. ‘This whole weekend has been a disaster, so me beating the crap out of those three, you and the driver isn't going to change a damn thing,' I enlightened them. The Moorish guy extended a collapsible cane. ‘You seem very confident,' she informed me. ‘Of course I am,' I stated. ‘You haven't spotted my bodyguard yet, meaning all of you are truly screwed.' ‘Why would you have a bodyguard?' she inquired. ‘Why would you want to know?' I countered. ‘Do you practice being irritating, or is an innate talent?' Brianna regarded me. ‘We can do this 'answering a question with a question' thing all night long, except I have to be at work at six a.m. so how about you tell me what you really want to know and tell me why you look like; screw that; are my Mother's clone,' I sighed. ‘Tell me about your genetic heritage,' O'Shea demanded. She was that kind of authoritative prick; actual penis not required. ‘I apologize. I don't seem to have a handle your native vocabulary and your English-as-a-Second Language skills suck,' I sneered. ‘I should go home now.' Moorish guy blocked my egress. English chick was on my right flank, back to the limo and the street. The most pressing issue was a matter of privilege; O'Shea's people thought they'd get away with breaking the law. The moment the Moor popped out is baton, it was 'on'. A baton is a weapon plus O'Shea and her bodyguard were blocking my exit. I was legally free to attack him now. Normally I was lawfully compelled to exit the scene as opposed to engaging in violence. Since I couldn't run away, I was allowed to kick his ass; and O'Shea and company didn't give a crap. I worked five-plus days a week with people like that. The wavy-red haired, emerald green-eyed O'Shea wasn't the daughter of some Mafioso, or Nigerian Warlord. I didn't know what she was, but she was the many opposites of good news. ‘I imagine you think I didn't notice that Taser,' I addressed the Englishwoman while getting in the Moor's face. ‘That is an unfortunate miscalculation on your part.' ‘See, your dumbass partner, with his wonderful 80 cm tool, has let me get inside his reach. Before he can bring it to bear, I'm going to crush it trachea,' I outlined. ‘Now I have his tool and the whole reach thing is working in reverse. You have a hand-held device with a 10 cm reach and I have one that is 80 cm and the distance to make effective use of it.' ‘Don't worry about the guy at the door. By the time I face you, my bodyguard will lethally wound Miss O'Shea there. In case you missed it, now you are all screwed because your job is to guard her, not suppress me; and you all just failed,' I kept the Moor's eye contact. ‘While this horror crosses your mind, I'll break your hand.' ‘Your buddy isn't coming to help you. He's running to Miss O'Shea because he's supposed to keep her alive and that takes all his time and concentration. You poor driver will get out and, not yet having his situational awareness, my bodyguard will neutralize him. About the same time, I will crack your skull open. This allows me to decide whether, or not to kill Miss O'Shea,' I concluded. All of that was an utter and complete fantasy. Collapsible batons; I'd seen them in a few movies. Tasers? I have been tazed and never, ever want to repeat the process; three separate incidences was enough for me. Did I have a bodyguard close by? I had not asked for one and Havenstone had the sad habit of not telling me a damn thing that concerned my personal survival. On the plus side, I could be a compelling actor, or successful conman. I'm not an actor by the grace of two little words; sex scandal. If I sleep with a girl I want it to be because I've tricked and deceived her, not because she wants to tape us then sell it to the media. That would make me feel degraded; cheapened even. I'm not a conman because they use seduction to get what they want. For me, the seduction IS what I want. Steal their money? That would imply I would never, ever be able to sleep with them again. I couldn't do that and remain true to myself. To prove my point, the Moor looked past me to O'Shea for instructions. I punched him in his Solar Plexus and took his toy as I shoved his breathless form to the sidewalk. The Englishwoman expected me to attack her, just like I'd told her I would. It took her a second to realize I'd played her. By then it was too late. I could flee up the street if I wanted. ‘You attacked my man,' O'Shea noted casually. ‘Well, your ears are dicey, but your eyes are spot-on,' I snorted. ‘Shoot him,' O'Shea was decided to wrap this up. I was ceasing to be amusing. ‘In the legs.' Out came the guns and down went my likelihood of getting out of this intact. Pamela walked out of the building we'd exited a minute ago. She was wearing tight black stretch pants, a red turtleneck and a short beige jacket. ‘Protocols,' Pamela invoked in a bored voice. ‘Define,' O'Shea demanded. ‘Cáel,' Pamela kept her gaze on O'Shea, ‘who do you work for?' ‘Havenstone,' I answered. O'Shea looked from Pamela to me. ‘This does not protect a simple employee,' O'Shea stated. ‘I am invoking the Protocols. This does not require me to explain things to you,' Pamela was cool and relaxed. ‘By all means, if you feel I am abusing the Truce, kick it upstairs and it will be adjudicated.' ‘What is your name?' Brianna O'Shea requested of Pamela. ‘Cáel Nyilas. That is all you need to know,' Pamela smirked. ‘That is not possible,' Brianna gained her own barracuda grin. ‘He is Illuminati business. Look at his eyes.' Pamela laughed. The WHO? Weren't they some kind of Freemasons? ‘He walks away right now unless you explain yourself. He is at Havenstone. Whatever relationship he possessed with the Illuminati ceased when he was hired,' Pamela informed her. ‘Cáel Nyilas, tell me about your Mother,' Brianna commanded. ‘No,' I shrugged. ‘It is a simple enough question,' Miss O'Shea persisted. ‘And it is simply none of your business,' I held my ground. ‘I am her sister,' O'Shea declared. Pamela snorted but otherwise kept silent. ‘Ugh; that was not what I wanted to hear,' I groaned. Pamela snickered. She knew where my mind was. ‘Why should I believe you?' ‘You had your genetic sequence analyzed Thursday, didn't you?' O'Shea said. ‘That was flagged by people working for me because you and I share half of the same DNA.' ‘That's not possible,' Pamela stated in the same way she knew I was a cosmic joke. ‘How is that not possible?' I looked to Pamela. I was really starting to accept me and Homicidal O'Shea were family. Why? I'd never had to confront the incest taboo before and here it was looking right at me. O'Shea looked to Pamela, to me, back to Pamela then finally back at me. ‘Do you have a single clue about what is going on?' Brianna addressed me. ‘Yeah, of course I do,' I lied. ‘You are with the Illuminati and you know Havenstone is more than a bunch of greedy bitches.' Pause. ‘So you know nothing about what is going on here, right at this moment,' O'Shea's eyes skewered me. Sigh. ‘Mom; your sister, is dead;' I got out. ‘Yes, she died seven years ago,' Brianna interrupted. ‘What?' I glared. ‘No, she died fifteen years ago. Where do you get your information from and why didn't you at least check out the fucking gravestone?' I snapped. ‘Fifteen; that doesn't make sense; I didn't know where she died, only that when her medication ran out, she would have been consumed by some kind of aggressive cancer,' O'Shea responded. ‘What;' sort of slipped out. ‘How many brothers and sisters do you have?' O'Shea probed. ‘Like I'd tell you,' I growled. ‘None,' Pamela stated. ‘Thanks,' I glared at Pam. ‘Why don't you give away all my bargaining chips?' ‘Cáel, they know your last name,' Pamela stated. ‘Do you want them to hunt down your father and torture him for the names and locations of any other children?' ‘If you go after my Dad;' I became aggressive. ‘You will do nothing,' Pamela interrupted. ‘He is not covered by the Truce.' ‘A Truce I know nothing about,' I grumbled. ‘Screw all of you.' ‘Don't sweat it, Cáel. They need you and I can prove it with two honestly answered question,' Pamela smirked. ‘What name are you using today?' to Brianna. ‘Brianna O'Shea,' the red-haired lady replied. ‘How quaint; your real name. Brianna, how many other nieces and nephews do you and your sisters have?' Pamela inquired. Brianna glared. ‘I'll answer that for her; none. That begs the question of why you,' Pamela smiled at me, ‘exist at all. I'm sure that come Monday morning every medic at Havenstone is going to be crawling all over you looking for that answer.' O'Shea had a new game plan. She was going to murder Pamela and kidnap me. This meant I was going to get screwed up; maybe killed. Pamela would kill everyone else and sex would be extra painful for the next week to ten days; I was tired of that crap. I dropped the baton and walked up to Brianna. The bodyguards were twitching, Brianna was calculating multiple variables and Pamela looked mildly amused. I hugged Brianna. ‘If we are family then we are family,' I explained. ‘If there is something you want to talk to me about, give me a call. I'm in the book and I'm sure Havenstone can patch you through if you want to get in touch with me at work.' Pamela was struggling to contain her mirth. ‘Can you keep this discussion under wraps for now?' Brianna requested. The likelihood of that happening must have showed in my eyes. ‘Okay, who do you work for?' Pamela was laughing into her hand. ‘Umm; I work for Katrina Love of Executive Services,' I answered. O'Shea almost had an embolism. ‘It is okay, my desk is in her office, so we are pretty close.' Not at all what she wanted to hear. ‘Okay, I'll stop teasing you. I know who Katrina is and what she does; basically making people like you have believably fatal accidents.' ‘You are a man? Why are you still walking around free?' O'Shea muttered. ‘His sexual dynamism supersedes the sublimely addictive,' Pamela enlightened O'Shea, ‘and if you don't believe me, go up and ask that 'Nicole Lawless' woman.' ‘I was going to say 'I look great in hose and a push-up bra', but that works too,' I muttered. And the last thing I wanted to envision at that reality-cracking moment happened. Brianna O'Shea looked me over and that look said 'Sex'. She was my aunt! Technically; somehow; that should matter, right? ‘Aunt Brianna; Brianna; Auntie O'Shea; what do you want me to call you?' I stammered. ‘Brianna will do,' she pulled those plush red lips into a grin and extended her hand. I shook it. She had a strong grip. She was tapping the pulse in my wrist with her forefinger; a tried and true arousal technique I'd used countless times. ‘I'm really happy that we are family;' I evaded. ‘I had regular sex with mine and your mother's father, your grandfather,' Brianna discussed with the outrage normally reserved for the 'do you want your cantaloupe in wedges, or scoops' debate. ‘My; we'll just toss that in the category of things I never wanted to know,' I coughed. Wait! I could do better than that. This deserved sympathy, not comedy. ‘I am glad you got that off your chest,' I stroked her hand back; okay, not my brightest idea. ‘Has Grandpa stopped doing that?' ‘Your Grandfather is dead,' Brianna delivered the bad news. It was doubly bad because she seemed to really miss the jack-ass. At least I didn't have to feign grief at the bastard's funeral. This also would explain why Mom ran away from home and told Dad and I that her family all perished in a freak Sperm Whale hunting accident in the Arctic. You know, that sounded much more believable when I was five. Dad was crazy in love, which explained his suspension of disbelief whenever she walked in the room. ‘He was assassinated in his study in our mountain home, his throat slit clean through and his body desecrated beyond our ability to resurrect him,' Brianna shed a tear. This was the point where I seriously began worrying about there being a natural gas leak that was either screwing up what I was hearing, or what other people were saying. ‘Wow; how sad,' I tried to sound shaken by the news. ‘I know,' Brianna hugged me. But wait, ‘You smell like him (deep, sensual purr); Dad, that is.' Oh God No! ‘Well with Granddad gone, you seem to have done well for yourself; lves,' I corrected. It sounded like I had aunts in the plural, I was praying for the positive, plus a quick exit. ‘No, we can't move on until we find the assassin,' Brianna told me. She added in a whisper, ‘We know she was an Amazon.' Ah, look, an invitation by my freakish, incestuous aunt to betray the insane fanatics I worked for. I began crying. ‘I understand,' Brianna reached around and patted my back, ‘This must be a lot for you to take in.' ‘You have no idea,' I sniffled. What was my mind was saying: 'By the way, Aunt Brianna, the wacked-out chick that offed Granddad is two meters away from you and you definitely didn't bring a big enough army to deal with her'. ‘Why don't you come home with me tonight?' Brianna offered somewhat plaintively. Sex; worse, I wasn't coming up with any really convincing reasons to not have sex with her. We would do it with the lights off. That way I wouldn't be looking into the face of the Mother of my youth having an orgasm impaled on me. Maybe dim lighting would be okay too. ‘I can't go home with you tonight,' I looked away. ‘I'm feeling vulnerable.' That was exactly why she wanted to take me home with her; confused and vulnerable would allow her to revisit her nostalgic Father-Daughter fornications. ‘You need someone who loves you to look after you,' Brianna prodded. ‘That's what I'm for,' Pamela came to my rescue. Glares and snippets of wrath ensued. In the end, Pamela and I made our getaway. A few blocks away; I didn't want a taxi yet; Pamela speaking voided my introspection. ‘Questions?' ‘Where were you hiding while Nicole and I were having sex?' I mused. ‘Which time?' Pamela taunted me. ‘You mean you followed us to the Men's bathroom (we were reliving our first sexual encounter and then some)?' I groused. ‘I am not saying I was there. I'm not saying I wasn't. I'm not saying,' Pamela smirked. Pause. ‘You killed Grandpa?' I asked. ‘Yes.' ‘You stole his soul?' ‘Yes.' ‘You took yourself to the cliffs to destroy his soul; and yours?' ‘Yes.' ‘You decided not to because of his curse/warning?' ‘No.' ‘Um; why didn't you kill yourself?' ‘He; your Grandfather; had a back-up plan. Having me kill myself was a ploy. Had I done it, I would have lost my soul, his soul would have been released and Havenstone would have thought him dead. At the last moment I gained the insight he had a body already prepared for him that no other person knew about,' Pamela informed me. ‘You.' ‘My Mother didn't know?' I worried. ‘I am not sure. Most likely she thought she had escaped the Old Bastard.' ‘Ugh; family life around Christmas must have been a blast,' I grumbled. ‘The Illuminati make a mockery of the Cult of Christ. They have influenced the Catholic hierarchy for a millennia.' ‘How did she get away; if she got away?' I muttered. ‘Your Mother and Aunts were born to be slaves, but contained nearly all the DNA of your Grandfather; essentially female 'hims'. That meant they are all very, very smart so your Mother figured out a way and fled. Somehow she found your Father and happiness.' ‘He let her get away, didn't he?' I asked. ‘Don't sell your Mother short,' Pamela chided me. ‘He most likely engineered her escape from his estate, but the rest was her. Otherwise, you would have had Illuminati watchers all this time. No, your Grandfather wanted her to be completely free of the Illuminati, and all the other secret orders, until he was ready to make his return.' ‘Why did Brianna think Mom died of cancer seven years ago?' I went for next. ‘All your aunts need medication to keep them healthy and young,' Pamela related. ‘The only one with the formula was your Grandfather and, after so many decades, those bitches have to be running out of it soon, if they haven't already exhausted their supply.' ‘Without the drugs, your Mother would have aged and developed various cancers that would have escalated in their aggression until she died. For some reason, she stopped taking her medications before they ran out,' Pamela ruminated. ‘To have me,' I lowered my head. Mom had died because she knew Dad wanted a child; me. ‘It is not impossible that she couldn't have a child while on the regimen. That sounds like something that bastard Cáel O'Shea would have done,' Pamela agreed. ‘What?' I gulped. ‘You were named after your maternal grandfather, who I studied for weeks, and I can tell you that Cáel Nyilas is a hundred times the person he ever was,' Pamela assured me. ‘Let's not tell my aunt that,' I grunted. ‘Don't worry about that,' Pamela patted me on the back. ‘All of your aunts are most likely addicted to his pheromones and you have some variant of them.' ‘The fuck you say!' I gawked. ‘Oh yeah. He was that kind of son of a bitch.' ‘So when I get scared, they get horny?' I despaired. ‘Or if you are your regular horny self,' Pamela chortled. ‘Hell, Brianna is probably humping that urinal you and Miss Lawless engaged as a; prop earlier this evening.' ‘You are just a cornucopia of horrific knowledge, aren't you?' I groused. ‘I've never had a friend like you,' Pamela enlightened me. ‘You've never had a friend before,' I countered. I hadn't known her a week and I already wanted to kill her half the time as it was. I wondered if women felt the same way about me on occasion. ‘That would definitely make you my finest friend then,' she snickered. ‘Thanks,' I grumbled. ‘Just for that, when I have Daphne bent over with her head and shoulders pressed against the wall while I slam her from behind with all this pent up rage, I'll be thinking of you.' ‘Really?' she queried. ‘Of course not. Daphne is smoking hot. When I finally have sex with her, the only thing I'll be thinking about besides Daphne is how I'm going to have sex with her again,' I grinned. ‘Good,' she smiled happily. Yes, we were talking about me boinking her granddaughter and she was A-Okay with it. ‘Remember, there is no need to use a condom.' ‘I'm not falling for that, you evil witch

Cáel's tombstone: For the love of women, women put him here.In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand.Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected..