Part 6 (2/2)
”Pardon?” she asked.
”Padre?” Antonio said.
”You heard me right. You spent two years at the Academia pining for each other, neither admitting your feelings. But I knew, I watched you, and every time I sent up a prayer or cast the runes, the answer was always the same.”
Jenn sucked in her breath, terrified of what he would say.
”The two of you belong together.” The priest laced his fingers together in demonstration. ”Spirit. Mind. Body.”
Jenn was shocked. And strangely hopeful. Happy. And then dizzy with fear. Antonio was a vampire, and nearly a priest.
She felt Antonio move beside her, leaning toward Father Juan. He let go of her, and she tried to fold her hands quietly in her lap. Instead she clenched them, determined not to lose her composure.
”But I'm a Cursed One,” Antonio murmured. ”And I have lost my soul twice. I can't be trusted. Ever.”
”But according to the runes, G.o.d trusts you,” Father Juan said.
”Runes are magick,” Antonio protested, ”and I'm a Catholic.”
”My son, look at the Bible. G.o.d doesn't choose the mightiest, the most virtuous to carry out His grand plans. He chooses the weak, the flawed, the outcast. He chooses those who are willing to do as He asks even when it seems impossible.”
And this is why I don't believe, Jenn thought. Antonio was right. He couldn't be trusted. He'd turned his back on her. He believed his rampage in Las Vegas was a result of losing focus, and he'd rededicated his body, mind, and soul to the Catholic Church, which had turned its back on him.
Antonio dipped his head. ”But in this case . . .”
”This is no different,” Father Juan interrupted him. ”We are living in terrible times, and great things will be asked of us all if we are to survive. But the greatest thing G.o.d requires of you is faith, and even more than that, love.”
Jenn's throat tightened. Father Juan was practically forcing Antonio to declare that he didn't love her as much as he loved his Church. Please, Father Juan, just shut up.
Unaware of her turmoil, Father Juan laid a hand on each of their heads. ”I know you think it is a fool's errand to go to Romania. But nothing He asks is foolish. Antonio, you need to overcome your vampiric urges. And Jenn, you need to find your faith. Only then can we win this war. Only then will you, too, find the love G.o.d wants for you.”
Jenn didn't know which task was more impossible, finding faith or being with Antonio. Maybe it was time for her to throw the runes. Because she sure wasn't going to pray for guidance.
”You must find a way, or you will be lost. And the world will be lost too. Now go in peace.”
”Peace? That's a joke, right?” Jenn asked, as the priest lifted his hands from their heads.
Beside her, Antonio crossed himself and pressed his lips against his thumb.
CHAPTER FOUR.
What is Father Juan trying to tell us? I don't understand. But I hope . . .
. . . I can't even write it down.
Because it's impossible.
-from the diary of Jenn Leitner,
retrieved from the ruins
EPPING FOREST, ENGLAND.
SKYE.
Skye had walked these forests since she was a small child, and she'd always had a sense of wonder. Now it felt like some dead, decaying thing. The trees were still green, the animal tracks in the ground fresh, but the vitality, the joy, were gone. And just beneath the surface, evil twisted and turned, growing ever stronger.
They've done this to us, the Cursed Ones, she thought bitterly. They've slaughtered humanity and poisoned the Earth herself.
Skye thought of her parents, her sister, and all her kin. They let it happen. They should have been the protectors and stewards of this world.
Tears streaked down her cheeks, unchecked. She prayed to the Lady that they might water the earth beneath her feet, returning to it that which was lost.
But they were only tears, not magick.
She balled her hands into fists, as something powerful broke loose within her. An it harm none, do what thou wilt. It was the creed of her people. She had clung to it blindly even through the most desperate nights, trying to restrict and regulate her actions accordingly.
But there were things worth fighting for, things worth dying for, and things worth killing for.
And because she had refused to kill anything but vampires, people had died. Their blood was on her hands.
”Never again,” she whispered.
The wind caught at her words even as they left her lips. A warning or an affirmation?
”Never again,” she said, louder.
She could feel something stirring in the woods.
”Never again!” she shouted as loud as she could. Her nails dug into her palms. She fell to her knees and fed the earth with her blood and her tears. The forest sighed around her, and the ground beneath her seemed to shudder.
”I am a daughter of the G.o.ddess, and I will defend you,” she pledged to the Earth. All the fear, the uncertainty, the frustration poured out from her, and she breathed in courage, purpose, and clarity.
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