Desecration: Antichrist Takes The Throne by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page B

his pose. He could hold it only so long before having to scratch his backside or his ankle. Some in the crowd seemed to develop sympathetic itches. “Behold the lamb who takes away the sins of the world!” Fortunato bellowed.
    Buck gritted his teeth and looked away, noticing that Chaim’s breath now came in short gasps.
    The sky blackened, and people pulled their collars up and looked around for shelter. “You need not move if you are loyal to your risen ruler!” Fortunato said. “I have been imbued with power from on high to call down fire on the enemies of the king of this world. Let the loyalists declare themselves!”
    Buck froze. While thousands jumped and screamed and waved, he stood stock-still, fearing that just about anyone would be able to tell he opposed Carpathia. Chaim crossed his arms and stared directly up at Fortunato, as if daring the man to strike him dead.
    “Today you shall have opportunity to worship the image of your god!” Fortunato shouted, but he could be seen only when lightning flashed. Buck saw rapturous looks on the faces of the crowd. “But now you have opportunity to praise him in person! All glory to the lover of your souls!”
    Thousands knelt and raised their arms to Nicolae, who remained with his hands outstretched, drinking in the worship.
    “How many of you will receive the mark of loyalty even this day at the Temple Mount?” Fortunato implored, now scratching in three places, including his stomach.
    Buck stared at the strobelike image of Carpathia’s pitiful sycophant, wondering if he would be revealed and struck dead by the man whose power came from the pit of hell.
    Thousands rose from their knees to wave, to assure the leader of Carpathianism that they would be there, taking the mark in the shadow of the image. That at least made Buck and Chaim less conspicuous.
    “My lord, the very god of this world, has granted me the power to know your hearts!” Fortunato said. The people jumped and waved all the more.
    “Not true,” Chaim whispered. Buck leaned close. “Carpathia-Antichrist-Satan is not omniscient. He cannot tell his False Prophet what he himself cannot know.”
    Buck narrowed his eyes at Chaim. So this was it? This was the opposition? This was Moses standing against Pharaoh? Buck gestured as if Chaim should shout it out, make it clear. But Chaim looked away.
    “I know if your heart is deceitful!” Fortunato said between claps of thunder, rubbing his body in the flashing light. “You shall not be able to stand against the all-seeing eye of your god or his servant!”
    The hymn to Nicolae spontaneously erupted again, but Buck did not have the heart to sing even his own lyrics.
    Suddenly the crowd fell deathly still, and the thunder diminished to low rolls that seemed to come from far away. Fortunato stood surveying the massive throng, still scratching, but his eyes piercing. Carpathia had somehow maintained his pose for several minutes. Heads and eyes turned toward a high, screeching voice from the base of Golgotha. The crowd evaporated from around a woman who stood pointing at Carpathia and Fortunato.
    “Liars!” she railed. “Blasphemers! Antichrist! False Prophet! Woe unto you who would take the place of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! You shall not prevail against the God of heaven!”
    Buck was stricken. It was Hattie! Chaim dropped to his knees, clasped his hands before his face, and prayed, “God, spare her!”
    “I have spoken!” Fortunato shouted.
    “Yours is the empty, vain tongue of the damned!” Hattie called out. She lifted her pointing finger from the two on the hill and raised it above her head. “As he is my witness, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus!”
    Fortunato pointed at her, and a ball of fire roared from the black sky, illuminating the whole area. Hattie burst into flames. The masses fell away, screaming in terror as she stood burning, mighty