Page 9 of The Sinner and the Priest: Part Two

She takes it from my hand and leans in, looking deeply into my eyes. “Promise?”

My gaze darts down to her lips, then back up. “Read it.”

“Do you know,” she murmurs intimately. “You’re the only person I’d rather spend time with instead of wanting to do actual work.”

I exhale and soften my gaze. “Sì, I understand.”

I tuck a lock of stray copper hair back inside her wimple. Footsteps clip beside us, loudly echoing on the floor. I jerk my hand back and shove it in my pocket. How quickly I have forgotten to deport myself like a priest. How quickly I am losing reasons to care.

“It is important, Mercy.” I try one last time. “Read it. Please.”

“On one condition.”

“This is ridiculous.” I raise my brows. “You must read it regardless.”

One shoulder lifts. “Probably.”

“Definitely.”

“So . . . that condition.” She taps the folded paper on my chest. “You will tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I won’t have to.” I give the note a pointed look.

She eases back and opens it. Her frown deepens as she reads. I track her eyes as they travel down the paper and then back up to read the verse again.

The new verse adds more context to the previous translation, and after last night, it’s obvious I’m the one it speaks of.

To slay the starvation of the world,

The Saint must devour the Sinner.

But beware the feast of the righteous.

For every sin devoured to cleanse the world only fattens the beast within,

and so shall the Sinner and Saint become one and the Grievous Hunger shall ride forth . . .

“You believe this?” she asks.

“It makes sense.” I look away. Even now, the sins of others call out to me, brushing against my nerves like a fly in the greenhouse. “They think the devourer is me. I will destroy you and become the Horseman of Famine.”

She rips the note into shreds. “According to them, it also makes sense that I’m the antichrist.”

I grab her arm, squeezing. “You are not evil. I would sense it.”

“I know,” she says matter-of-factly, patting my hand. “I believe you.” A pause. “And I believe in you.”

“Why?” I shake my head.

“Why not?”

She smirks, and her humor is contagious. My dark mood becomes the sun.

“Come on.” She bumps her hip against mine. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes, but you will be on your best behavior.”

She glances up at me. “Define best.”