Mortal Sin (64 page)

“Moira, go. I’ve accepted death. I’m at peace in my soul. Leave.”

“No, no, no! I’m not losing anyone else.”

The sprinklers went suddenly went on again and the gym groaned in agony, as if it were alive. From the door came a booming voice chanting.

“
Sed et lingua mea tota die meditabitur iustitiam tuam: cum confusi et reveriti fuerint qui quærunt mala mihi ad.”

Rafe. It was Rafe.

Moira held onto Rico as tight as she could.

Serena slid right past her. Moira reached out for her sister. “Serena! Take my hand!”

“Go to Hell!” Serena screamed, and then she disappeared into the pit below.

Moira closed her eyes. Regret, pain, and sorrow filled her. What had happened to the sweet Serena Moira remembered as a child? Had she been so tainted by Fiona that she couldn’t see there was always a chance for redemption?

A violent, hot wind rushed over them. The swirl of the Seven Deadly Sins above her were forcibly pulled into the pit. They’d lost any form, any power, but the wake they created as they descended pulled Rico’s arm from her grasp. She was flung across the room.

“Rico!”

She couldn’t see him anywhere. She’d tried to save him. Dammit! She’d tried.

With a cavernous howl, the pit disappeared. The gym stopped moving, and the sprinklers were melted to the ceiling, dripping random water drops to the drenched floor.

There was no sound, no wind, no stench of Hell.

No one.

Had she lost everyone? Rico…  Rafe. No, no, no!

She cried out in a deep grief and tried to stand, but couldn’t. Her head spun and she sank onto the wet floor and sobbed.

An overwhelming sense of loss and anguish flooded her, then suddenly someone picked her up and held her. “Moira! Dear God, no.”

Rafe. The sense of anguish was his. He’d thought she was dead.

She clung to him and he cried in relief. “I thought I’d lost you,” she said.

He laughed through his sobs. “I thought you were dead. You’re so pale, Moira. You’re cut and still bleeding. We have to get you to a hospital. Don’t fight me on this.”

“I won’t.” She took a deep breath. “Rico. I tried to save him.”

“You did.”

“But he was pulled from my grasp. I thought he was sucked under.”

“You were both thrown across the gym.”

“Are you sure?” She sat up, but felt nauseous. “Where is he?”

“Over there.” Rafe pointed to the opposite corner. “He’s coming.”

Sure enough, Rico was limping around the edge of the gym toward where they were sitting.

Moira cried in joy. “I thought—dammit. I don’t want to remember.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“I don’t think any of the coven escaped. When you make a promise to a demon, they will collect.”

“I tried to save Serena.”

“She didn’t want to be saved.”

“Did the others get out? Phineas? Anthony?”

“I don’t know.”

“We’re fine,” Anthony called. He, Skye, and Phineas walked back onto the stage on the far side of the gym. They were all slow moving. When the six of them were together, Rafe and Phineas helped Moira up and they all walked out into the cold, moist, fresh air. Moira took a deep breath and sat down under a tree.

Gideon was holding Lily. “She won’t wake up,” he said. “I’ve tried everything.”

Skye checked her pulse. “She’s breathing. Let’s get her to the hospital.” Skye looked at Moira. “And Moira, you’re going too. You need stitches.”

“I’m not going to argue.” She paused. “This time.”

Skye pulled out her phone and said, “I finally have a signal. I’m calling for an ambulance.”

Jared came running from the building. He saw Gideon holding Lily, and pain crossed his face. “She’s going to be okay,” Moira told him. She hoped she was right.

Jared looked from Moira to Gideon and back to Lily. He took Lily’s hand and squeezed. Gideon put a hand on his shoulder.

If love can heal, Lily will be the healthiest girl in town.

Rico said to Phineas, “Thank you for stopping Walker. I guess some rules are meant to be broken.”

Phineas flashed his gun. “Sometimes, you really do need a gun in battle. He turned to Rafe. “What happened to Kyle?”

“He’s sitting over there.” Rafe gestured to a bench near the main school building. “He was shaken up. I think he’s trying to find out if his uncle woke up.”

“He should have,” Moira said, “when Matthew Walker died. All Walker’s active spells should have been broken.”

Rafe wrapped his arm around Moira and kept her close. “It’s over, Moira.”

“Yes, it’s over.”

She hoped.

Remember tonight… for it is the beginning of always.

~ Dante Alighieri

Skye put down the receiver and lowered her head to her desk. She’d been reinstated as sheriff. The Attorney General was sending a special investigator down to work the crime scene, interrogate the prisoners, figure out how a cult had infiltrated the highest levels of law enforcement in her county.

She was going to have to lie and manipulate the investigator. She was going to have to ask Rod and Zach and her deputies to do the same. They couldn’t very well tell the state’s top cops that the Seven Deadly Sins had descended into their town, but had been vanquished, leaving a trail of bodies and disappearances in their wake.

Lies it had to be. But she was getting used to it. Sadly, mistruths had become part of her life. At least she had two days. Two days to get everyone on the same page.

She must have fallen asleep because when her door opened, she looked up and saw that the quality of light had changed.

She stretched and heard her bones crack.

Anthony stepped inside.

He was cut up, bandaged, bruised. His hair was clean, but hung limp on his shoulders. He walked in and closed the door. “I worried about you.”

“I’m okay.”

Okay.
Would any of them be okay?

Anthony walked around to her side of the desk and sat on the edge. He touched her cheek. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“I love you,” he said. So simple. So clear. So true.

The tears came then. The tears that never came before. For all the losses her town had suffered. For the loss of Juan, especially Juan, who she had failed, but he had never failed her. Anthony gathered her into his arms and held her. Just held her. Exactly what she needed.

“I’m leaving the Order,” he said.

She stepped back. “What?”

“I can not be a good husband and a good soldier.”

She blinked. She didn’t hear that right. “What?” she repeated.

“I love you. I have never loved like this before. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. To hold you every night. I’ve been torn these last few months between my duties and loyalty to St. Michael’s, and my love for you.” His voice cracked and he swallowed. “I can’t do both well. I spoke to Rico, and eventually, I’ll need to go to Sicily to help train my successor. But I will be here, in Santa Louisa, for the rest of my life. I’m rebuilding St. Francis de Sales. I will have plenty to do as well as keeping an eye on the town. Making sure all is well. But mostly, I will make sure you are happy.”

“I don’t want to come between you and your life. Anthony, St. Michael’s is your home.”

“No, St. Michael’s is my past. I still have my faith. Stronger than ever after what I’ve seen. But my home is where you are.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He then bent on one knee, trying not to wince from the pain the gesture caused. “Skye, I have failed you, I failed my brethren, I have failed God. But now I see the light, the truth, and the truth is you are my life. As Jesus loves his church, I love you, until I die.” He opened the box. “Please accept this small token of my undying love. Please agree to marry me, to be my wife and partner, now and forever.”

Tears streamed down Anthony’s face. She’d never seen him cry. Never. He was rock hard, almost cold even when passionate.

She knelt in front of him. “Yes.” She kissed him. “A thousand yeses.”

#

Lily opened her eyes and found two boys looking at her.

She remembered everything. Jezebel. Her mother. How she was conceived. She stifled a sob.

She closed her eyes. “Please go,” she said through her scratchy throat.

She didn’t hear anyone leave.

“We’re here for you,” Jared said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

She shook her head. “I—I don’t know what to think. I wish I’d died.”

“No, you do not wish that,” Gideon said. “You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. You suffered, but with great suffering can come great joy. You will find the joy someday.”

She looked from Jared to Gideon. She was confused and she didn’t want to hurt either of them. Jared loved her, and she loved him.

Gideon loved her. She felt it in a way she could not explain. And she loved him.

“You need time,” Jared said. “And rest.”

Gideon concurred.

There was a tension between the two boys, unspoken but visible, at least to Lily. They were in a truce because they both knew animosity would twist her up more inside.

The door opened and Moira stepped in. “Moira,” Lily said.

Gideon and Jared rose. “We’ll let you guys talk,” Jared said.

“We’ll come back later,” Gideon said.

We.
They were on the same page. That felt so… odd to Lily.

They left and Moira sat down next to her. She had a thick bandage on her arm and she looked pale, but she’d saved them all. She was probably exhausted.

“Two gorgeous young men fawning over you,” Moira teased. “Aren’t you lucky?”

“I don’t feel lucky.”

“I’m teasing.”

“How can I feel this way? I don’t know Gideon. Except… I feel like I’ve known him for my entire life. Jared has been so loyal and good to me…”

“Stop. You’re eighteen. You don’t need to make any decisions right now. You’ve been through hell, literally. Give yourself a break.”

“I remember everything. Or, mostly everything.”

“I’m here if you want to talk. But remember this, Lily—you are strong. You are not who your mother thinks you are, or who she thinks you were supposed to be. You have free will. You make your own choices. We are not our parents. You have to believe that.”

Lily nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Didn’t that little green guy from Star Wars say ‘Do or do not, there is no try?’”

Lily smiled for the first time. “Yoda.”

“Yeah, him. I don’t get to see too many movies. Maybe I’ll change that now.”

“What are you doing here?” Lily asked. “You hate hospitals.”

“Just had to get my stitches checked. They itch.”

“Take care of yourself, Moira. And Rafe.”

“Roger that. You too.”

She left and Lily closed her eyes. She slept, and for the first time didn’t have a nightmare.

She hoped it would last.

#

Rafe sat at the table in his small cabin. Rico and Phineas sat stiffly in the chairs. They had a truce, they’d battled together, but still they were wary.

Trust needed to be earned.

“Nikolas wants to go with the Order,” Phineas said.

“I will take him.”

“I thought we were going to unite,” Rafe said. “St. Michael’s and Gabriel’s Sword. We are each too small in numbers to stay divided.”

“I may be the leader,” Phineas said, “but there are others out there, loosely connected. I can’t guarantee they will all see the benefit.”

“Do you?” Rafe asked.

Phineas hesitated. “Yes, I do, but there are things about the Order that I can not tolerate. Moira saved us all, yet the Order doesn’t allow women.”

“Because the Order had always been priests,” Rico countered.

“The Order is mostly priests, but not all,” Phineas said. “Rafe. Anthony. Gideon. You.”

“Point taken.”

“Is Moira the exception? Or would you be open to training others like her?”

“There is no one like her,” Rico said. “But, I will talk to Bishop Aretino. Now that Anthony is leaving and St. Michael’s is moved to Olivet, he wants me to take over the council. He’ll be an advisor. He’s very old and the move to Olivet drained him.”

“Fair enough.”

“No more murders,” Rico said. “No more violence.”

“There will always be violence.”

“You know what I mean. We can’t seek it out. You think St. Michael’s is reactionary, but we must give these people playing with dark magic a chance to turn away from the evil and reclaim their life. We can’t deny them the opportunity. We’re not God. We don’t know what’s in their hearts.”

Phineas didn’t say anything for a long time. “After what happened on Anacortes, to that coven, I see where Gabriel’s Sword may have deterred from the path. I’ve never killed in cold blood, Rico, no matter what you might think of me. But I deeply regret what I did to you and Moira.”

Rico nodded. “I realized this week that I never forgave you for leaving the Order, and that anger in my heart clouded my judgment in some matters.” He looked at Rafe. “Particularly in my relationship with you, Raphael.”

“I understand.” Rafe smiled. “We are going to work through this. The Order needs both of you. You have time to work out the details.”

“Perhaps,” Rico said, “Gabriel’s Sword can be for our warriors, for those who fight dark magic. Under my direction and your leadership. You did well, Phineas. You learned patience when I thought you never would.”

“Honestly, it nearly killed me to be that patient.”