Page 113 of The Sinner and the Priest: Part Two

Putting the sword down worked.

Until it didn’t.

“How is this going to help?” I ask, fingers flexing at my sides.

“Simple math,” she murmurs. “What’s two foes minus one?”

“Hannah . . .”

“I’m the marked one, Mercy. The true devil.” She tightens her grip. “Who would you rather kill, him or me?”

I have no answer.

“Exactly,” she clips. “Now shut up.”

It’s taking all my willpower not to deploy my self-defense tactics. I can’t explain it, but I think I trust her. Or at least, I believe she’s trying to do the right thing in her fucked up way.

She wants me to use the sword on her—to eradicate the entire Mark of Cain in one fell swoop. Better her dead than the man I love.

I’d thought that too, but now that it’s a real possibility, I can’t let her do it. What kind of person would that make me? There has to be a way out of this for both of them.

Cisco stands five feet away, as still as a statue except for his ribbons of shadow undulating, shredding any light they come into contact with. His eyes are wholly black. Only moments ago—just before he doubled over clutching his middle—I glimpsed his gorgeous human eyes. They spoke a mountain of words I couldn’t hear, but I felt them in my heart.

He was terrified.

But now there’s nothing but darkness again, and wind carrying the scent of sweet decay.

“I’ll kill her!” Hannah’s shouted warning rises above the buzzing roar. “Return your half of the curse to me now, or this is the end for the woman you love.”

Cisco’s mouth opens, and dark smoke pours out as he laughs. It reminds me too much of Beelzebub and chills my soul. Hannah tenses behind me. Her breath hitches and holds.

She sees it too.

“Come on,” she mutters. “Come on, come on.”

She’s tense, but I’m petrified. I thought I could make this work. I thought I could save them both, but I might be out of my league. I’m playing with powers I’ve only just begun learning. If this goes sideways, and Cisco kills his sister, taking her half of the curse into himself, I’ll have no choice but to kill him.

Or die trying.

Perhaps if I’d taken the time to get to know Hannah better, we’d be in a different situation. She’d have trusted me with her secrets long ago.

My eyes sting with unshed tears.

Maybe it’s not too late. Maybe if I trust Hannah now and help her with her plan, it will work. For that to happen, Cisco needs to believe I’m truly in peril.

Acceptance settles in my stomach like a stone. I exhale, relax into Hannah, and whisper, “Left side subclavian area.”

I’ll bleed a lot, but I’ll still be able to use my right arm to use the sword.

At first, I don’t think she heard me. Or maybe I’m wrong about all of this. She does nothing. The blade rests at my throat, and Cisco’s thorny shadows deepen with each step he takes closer.

Then Hannah’s arm banding around my front tightens, the air around us blurs, and we sidestep out of Cisco’s trajectory. It’s as though we’re walking through water and he doesn’t notice us move. He keeps approaching the spot we vacated until he suddenly stops and looks around. His gaze passes right through us as if we’re not there. He cocks his head as if listening for signs of our presence. Ribbons of shadow lash out like tentacles, searching for us.

But we’re invisible to him and just out of reach. I don’t think he can hear us either.

Hannah keeps moving us, slowly and surely toward where I left the sword. My hope soars as we stop within reach.

“You’re right.” Her breath puffs warm air on my ear. “This needs to look convincing.”