Mortal Sin (58 page)

“Break in case of emergency,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn’t work. Rico leaned over and kissed her forehead. “God bless you, Moira.”

I need all the blessings I can get.

#

Skye called Moira when they were almost at Rittenhouse. “I sent David Collins to the warehouse. I’m worried about the kid.”

“Nikolas?” Moira glanced at him in the backseat. He
was
young.

“I’m nineteen,” he said.

“A kid,” Moira agreed. “You trust David?”

“Yes. He’s been a rock from the beginning. He’ll be able to hold his own.”

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks.” She hung up and tilted around from her position in the passenger seat while Anthony drove. “Nikolas, how’d you get hooked up with Phineas?”

He hesitated, then said, “Five years ago my sister, Hannah, got involved in a coven. I didn’t think anything of it. I never believed anyone could summon demons. I just thought she was just getting into New Age stuff to rebel against our strict parents. One night, Hannah went to the basement and performed some sort of ritual with her best friend. Something woke me up, and I went down and saw them chanting in this circle, candles all around, and there was this…
thing.
I didn’t know it was a demon, but it scared me. It was circling Hannah and her friend and they didn’t seem to see it. I did. I screamed that there was a ghost because that’s what I really thought then. Hannah was so mad at me. I ran upstairs to tell my parents. But before I could reach their bedroom, the house caught on fire. It went so fast, I didn’t believe it was really happening. It felt surreal. I barely escaped.”

“And your family?”

“All dead. The fire department said it was a candle left unattended in the basement, but I told everyone that it was a ghost who killed my family. I guess I had a nervous breakdown, or that’s what they told me. My aunt and uncle had me committed to this child psychiatric facility. That place—it would have driven me insane. But Phineas had read about the fire and what I’d said, and he tracked me down and rescued me. Told me what had really happened, and I didn’t feel crazy anymore.” He paused. “Phineas is my only family. Phineas and the others. I should have said something about Adrienne a long time ago. I sensed there was something wrong, but I didn’t trust my instincts.”

“You did good,” Moira said. “You helped me when I needed it the most, and Rico trusts you. That’s a feat in and of itself.”

“Phineas is a good man. He does some questionable things, but he does them for the right reason. I feel like I’ve betrayed him somehow.”

“You haven’t. Ultimately, it’s your choice. Gabriel’s Sword or St. Michael’s. Both Rico and Phineas will respect your decision.”

Anthony glanced at her, questions in his eyes. She ignored that. She needed Nikolas to have confidence in himself tonight more than ever. “Okay?” she added.

“Okay.”

Moira thoroughly inspected Rittenhouse as she’d done at the cliffs. This place was far more creepy. They’d torn down the original warehouse, but Moira still felt weird here. There was new construction, but she’d heard it had been plagued with problems. But the creep-factor wasn’t what bothered her. The undercurrent of something that wasn’t quite a spell unnerved her, and she began to doubt the plan.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” she said to Anthony. “What if Serena has learned to mask her magic from me?”

“We are all aware of the danger,” Anthony said. “If these three points are critical for their ritual to succeed, we have to be watchful. We’re trained to martyr ourselves if necessary.”

“I truly hope it doesn’t come to that.”

She said to Nikolas, “Same thing I told Rico—watch from a distance, you may have company, and trust your instincts.” She handed him a vial of her blood. “Be careful.”

Still she waited for David Collins to arrive, and made sure that he was clear on the danger before she was comfortable leaving Nikolas with him.

Then it was just her and Anthony.

They drove in silence for several minutes when he said, “I am sorry, Moira.”

“For what?” she asked, perplexed. “You’ve actually been kind of nice to me today.”

“I hated you. I let my anger control me. The magic that tainted Dr. Lieber’s notes was designed for me. Because I wanted you to die, I saw that your death was the only solution. Once Juan opened my eyes to the truth, I saw the truth. I loved Peter. You are not to blame for his death.”

She had no words. She’d never expected an apology, especially one so sincere.

He continued. “Father Philip loved you, and I resented you for it. He saw the truth where I could not. I hope he knows that now.”

“Thank you,” she said, because she didn’t know what else to say. But Anthony seemed to be happy with that.

#

Moira wasn’t supposed to drive because she didn’t have a valid license, but Anthony let her drive his car anyway. She didn’t feel great about leaving Anthony alone at the mission. Her gut told her it was the most dangerous of the potential hot spots. But Anthony had years of training and knew the mission grounds inside and out.

“He’ll be okay,” she told herself.

Maybe she’d send Phineas up there with him. Just in case.

She drove off the mountain, down the coastal highway, and into town. It was still early evening, and Walker and Serena would wait until dark before heading to the school. That gave Moira’s people time to get into place, plus hopefully, by the time she arrived at the St. Francis rectory, Rafe would have finished with Juan’s notebook. They needed more information. All they had now was theories and ideas, based on knowledge and experience, but which had never been tried. Anthony’s theory about the points of the triangle made sense, but what if they were wrong about one of the points? What if nothing actually
happens
at the points, and they’re wasting manpower they need at the school? It would take twenty minutes for any of them to get to the school, even in the middle of the night—longer for Anthony coming down the mountain.

Her head ached. Too many things going on, too many people in danger. While she had grown to depend on the others, she preferred only having to worry about her own safety. Now Kyle was in trouble because she’d agreed to take him down into the tunnels in Victoria, and his gift had been revealed to the wrong people. Lily was in trouble after Moira had taken her to Olivet for her own safety. She’d put young Nikolas in charge of one hot spot and Jared in charge of the command center and Gideon, who was only seventeen, was tracking Lily—with the explicit order
not
to engage her. Fortunately, he had Phineas with him.

Moira stopped at a red light in the middle of downtown. Almost immediately, she felt a spell working up around her. She looked all around and saw the triad, Kimberly, Laura and their leader, Brianne, standing on three of the corners. She glanced for traffic, saw none, and floored the car.

It didn’t move. Smoke began to rise from under the hood.

“Well, shit,” she muttered. She pulled her dagger from her jacket and got out of her car. “Magic doesn’t work on me, girls,” she said. That was partially true, but they had already seen her thwart their attempt to kill Jared.

But the spell was cast over her car, not her, and it would be better to let them have their fun and games. This seemed like a delay tactic, which meant her friends might be in trouble.

Someone’s approaching.

She sensed another presence and trusted her instincts. Their approach was cloaked in magic, but the spell over her car had distracted her, so she didn’t pick up on it until it was too late.

Moira whirled around and faced Serena. She had her knife out, but she hesitated just a moment too long. Maybe because she knew killing her sister was the only way to stop her, and Moira didn’t want to kill her. She didn’t want to kill anyone.

Serena shot her.

Moira looked at her chest. A dart stuck out.

She shot me with a dart?

Then Moira thought of nothing else.

#

“Moira should have been here by now,” Rafe said. It was dark, after eight, and he’d spoken to Rico hours ago.

Rafe called Anthony.

“Nothing so far,” Anthony said in lieu of hello.

“When did Moira leave?”

“Almost two hours ago.”

“And she said she was coming straight to the rectory?”

“Yes. She’s not there?”

“Be vigilant, Anthony. I’ll find her.”

Rafe hung up, because there was nothing that Anthony could do from the mountaintop.

Skye said, “I’ll call Hank.” She got on the phone.

Rafe tried Moira’s cell phone for the second time. It went to voice mail, again. Dammit! He should have gone with her. He should never have left her alone.

Skye hung up. “Hank’s on his way over. Anthony’s car was just towed off Main Street. It was on fire.”

“Moira? Is she at the hospital?”

Skye shook her head. “She wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened, Rafe, only what Hank just told me.”

“I have to find her.”

“How? You have no place to start looking. You don’t know that she’s in trouble—okay, I get it, she would be here by now or call. But you’re not going out there alone, not when the shit is about to hit the fan. I can’t do this alone.”

“Neither can I,” Rafe said. “Not without Moira. That’s why they took her.”

“You don’t know that.”

“They wanted to separate us. That’s why they lured Moira to Victoria. The demon at Lloyd’s was testing me. The triad was testing Moira. They know that together, we have a better chance of stopping them. Apart, we don’t.”

“But Moira saved Jared and you saved all those people in the bar. You
can
do it alone.”

“Fighting the Seven is not the same.”

“What does Juan’s notebook say? He was adamant that I give it to you alone.”

“It’s a prayer. I’ve translated it. It’s from Psalms, but a very old version.”

“And?”

“And I think it’s a prayer that will help us in the battle but I don’t know for certain. When do I use it? What will it do? Is it an exorcism? I have no idea!” He ran his hands through his hair. He couldn’t think with Moira out there and in danger. What if they’d killed her?

Don’t even think it.

Rafe’s phone rang. He grabbed it before looking at the caller ID. “Moira?”

“It’s Phineas. Gideon found Lily. We’re staying back, just like you told us. Where’s Moira?”

“Someone grabbed her.” It had to be either Serena or Fiona, but Rafe was acting on emotion.
Calm down. You have to be calm to find Moira.
“Where’s Lily? I’ll meet you there.”

“At a house. I’ll send you the address. We’re down the street, near the corner.”

Rafe hung up and looked at his text messages for the address. It popped up and he recognized it. Elizabeth Ellis’s house. Lily’s mother. Of course. She’d set this in motion in the first place when she consecrated Lily to be the
arca
in the first place. Elizabeth would know where the coven was holding Moira; if she didn’t, she’d know where Matthew and Serena had been staying while they were here.

They could even be at Ellis’s house now.

“Keep an eye on the school,” Rafe said. “If I’m not back and you see anyone go in, call me.”

“Rafe—let Phineas handle this one.”

“This is Lily we’re talking about, and she is hosting two of the Seven Deadly Sins plus an evil spirit from thousands of years ago. She won’t survive if this goes on much longer.”

If her soul isn’t already dead.

“And her mother will know where the coven is hiding out,” Rafe said. “It’s my best lead on finding Moira.”

He left before Skye could stop him.

#

Walking the grounds of the church brought goose bumps to Fiona’s arms. Because she had a secret, one she’d kept from everyone.

The Good Shepherd Church might have been destroyed and burned to the ground, but the basement had been cleared out and sealed. Faded warning tape attempted to keep people out. It might have been effective for those who weren’t on a mission.

The basement housed Fiona’s secret. A secret she’d even kept from Matthew and Serena. No one but Fiona knew about the special room. Maybe, deep in her subconscious, she’d suspected one or both of them would betrayed her.

Not so smart now, are you, Matthew Walker?

She had all the things she needed, nearly everything she had in her own house. Spell books and herbs, asthmes and chalices. A special altar for her special sacrifices. And a safe, that contained the blood and hair of everyone in her coven.

Because you never knew who would betray you.

The man who’d given her a ride was more than happy to come to her secret room, especially after she cast a compliance spell on him. He even layed on the altar with only a mild consternation. He didn’t make a peep when Fiona slit his throat and collected his blood.

This was a particularly dangerous spell, especially since she hadn’t fulfilled all her promises to the Underworld. But she still had a few days left of protection from the wrath of Lucifer, so she went through with it.

“As it is below, it is above. Listen to your mistress command you to punish the wicked, punish those who have betrayed me. Take this sacrifice, the blood of a man; take his soul for your own enjoyment.”

She dropped Serena’s blood, then Matthew’s blood into the mix. “These are the traitors, who have hurt your mistress and damaged you yourself through their acts of treason and treachery. Punish them, and deliver me.”

The room shook and Fiona closed her eyes. She held fast in her circle of protection.

When the room stopped shaking, she opened her eyes and looked into the chalice. The blood was gone.

She looked at the altar. Her savior rose from death. His eyes gleamed bright. She smiled. “You know what to do.”

“Yes, Mistress, I know.”

Skye was biting her fingernails, a bad habit she’d long ago broken. But fear and worry would do that to you, bring back your bad habits as if they’d never gone away.