AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This time, it was Brice who caught him, making Thane stop. "I shot her. Three times, I put a bullet in her. I was so freaked out that I completely forgot about my clavum. When she pinned me against the truck, I was trying to open the door, not grab one. When I remembered, she warned me not to, so I stopped.That'swhy she let me live - because I let her."
"And?" Thane asked.
"And she's let you live a few times. The club, the stadium, and then in that room. She spared your brother. I mean, you and Laird look enough alike that it's pretty obvious you're related, so that makes sense, but don't you get it? Here's a gift, hunter. Leave me alone. That's what she's doing. She just wants to beleft alone."
"So?" Thane asked. "If you help her in any way, they will stake you for it."
"And if I don't,she'llkill me," Brice countered. "Maybe she's the Devil. Maybe she's not even a demon. I don't fucking know. Right now, all I'm sure of is that she's predictable and this church isn't. If I want out, there's one way, and that's death."
"What if there was another?" Thane asked.
Brice just smiled. "Yeah, that's kinda what I thought."
"Fuck you," Thane grumbled. "I was just trying to keep you from being an idiot."
But Brice pushed right up into his face. "I want out. You want out, but you can't go because they're holding your brother hostage. We all fucking know that much. They use him against you like a leash. They keep dangling promotions in front of him, saying he'll never get them because of your mother. Always your damned mother, never your brother. Why?"
"Mom made a Word," Thane admitted.
Brice's reaction wasn't what he expected. The man's body stalled out, his mouth opened, and his eyes went wide. "How?"
Thane shook his head. "No idea. She had no training. She was never a priest of any kind - or a nun. Not that we have many of those anymore. The daughters need to have families, to multiply the faith, right? But a demon possessed my mother and created a Word. A new one that they'd never known about. Stuart was just a pussy of a kid who couldn't stake a demon. He chickened out, so he got staked instead. Mom was different."
Brice nodded. "So how do we use that to get us out?"
"We don't," Thane told him. "You? I'd suggest you just don't come into work one day. Get a new identity, move to a different country, and get lost. Never use a Word, learn how to keep the power calm inside you, and start all over. Me? I don't get out. Not without my brother."
"The problem is the Cardinal," Brice said. "While he's here, everything's going to shit. The entire Church is trying so hard to impress him, and they don't even see how they're ripping apart the things that made this work."
"Yeah," Thane agreed, "but I'm not sure they care."
Brice just smiled. "They will when I let her go. When that happens, she'll tear this place up. Get Laird and run. Do not stop, do not hesitate. When she destroys the Church, you get your brother and the two of you get out of here. It will at least make my death mean something."
"Fucking idiot," Thane muttered under his breath, turning back for the building, but he didn't make it. After only three steps, he paused. "She won't come."
"What?" Brice asked.
"When they make you summon her, she won't come. They have the wrong damned name."
"And you don't," Brice realized. "Shit. That changes everything."
"Not really," he admitted. "She's long gone. If you breathe a word of that, I'll ruin you."
"Not gonna say shit," Brice promised. "Just gonna do a damned good job of acting when they make me try to summon her and be thankful that I'll live another day."
ChapterTwo
THANE
That night, Brice was called to help the Cardinal. He was gone forhours.To distract himself, Thane went to visit his brother. Mostly, that was to tell Laird about the strange conversation he'd had with Brice earlier. The more Laird knew about how badly Thane had slipped up and revealed to Brice, the better prepared Thane would be when something went wrong.
But nothing did. The church stayed quiet, without even a warning about potential demon activity in the Metroplex. The entire team was in their bunks for the night when Brice finally slipped into the room. The sound of the door closing made Thane wake up. When he turned to look, Brice noticed, angling his steps to head Thane's way.
"The Cardinal wanted me to make sure you got this," he said, passing over a note.
"Shit," Thane grumbled, sitting up to take it. "So, you lived?"
"Shh!" someone hissed. "It's like one in the morning. Some of us are trying to sleep."
