This part of the city had been hit hard by the economy, and most of the stores and businesses had shut down. I guess the same applied to churches.
I approached it apprehensively, eyeing the front doors as if they might swing open and suck me inside. It was difficult to get the image of black-eyed Carly out of my head. One moment a monster, the next the best friend I’d had since kindergarten who’d known what she’d done would upset me. It scared me so much I wanted to run away from it and pretend it hadn’t happened.
But it had. And now I had to deal with what that meant. Bishop had to promise me to restore Carly’s soul, too. I didn’t want her to lose herself to this—to the hunger. As afraid as I’d been of her for that moment, I’d been just as afraid for her.
I could fix this. I could. I grabbed hold of that belief with both hands.
Along the side of the building, a door was ajar with a brick placed in it to keep it that way. It was the only indication that the church might not be totally deserted after all. No, a small group of demons and angels had set up camp here.
I wondered if a demon could enter a church that wasn’t abandoned.
The need to see Bishop pushed me onward. The door made an eerie creaking sound as I pushed it open farther and I stepped into the cool, dark halls of St. Andrew’s.
Voices echoed down the narrow hallway. Keeping close to the wall, I made my way into the church. It smelled old, like mildew and rotting wood.
Even though I was cold, always cold, a trickle of perspiration slid down my spine. Fear was alive and well in this currently soulless body.
“…should be here by now,” Kraven said, although I couldn’t see him yet. “I left the note first thing this morning.”
“This is none of your business.” Bishop’s voice sounded angry. And shaky.
My breath caught and a shiver went through me.
“Not my business you’re in bad shape? You’re part of this. You drop your end, that’s a quarter more responsibility the rest of us have to carry. And this isn’t over yet.”
Zach spoke then, his voice calm and even-toned, as if he was accustomed to coming between the two. “It will all work out. I have faith.”
“How nice for you,” Kraven replied drily.
“I hate this!” Roth snarled, joining the conversation as something crashed to the floor. I glanced around the corner to see the demon kick a stack of chairs at the front of the hall up toward the pulpit. The chairs might have been used if there were extra people in attendance and not enough space on the built-in wooden pews that lined the cavernous room. Two of the large stained-glass windows along the walls were broken, but the one at the very front was still intact and beautiful, even at night.
“What’s your problem?” Kraven snapped at him.
“My problem?” Roth grabbed a vase from a side table and looked as if he was going to hurl it at the window behind him. Kraven caught his arm to stop him. Roth pushed the other demon back. “My problem is this sucks. All of it. What are we waiting for tonight? I want out.”
“You signed up for this. You were given a choice, remember? You can’t go back yet.”
“I don’t mean back to Hell, I mean out. I want to go out on patrol. I’m so bored. I killed three of those soul-sucking freaks last night and I want to find at least as many tonight when they crawl out of their holes. Give me the dagger.”
“Bishop’s not giving it up,” Zach said. “He thinks you’ll go after Samantha.”
“I don’t need the dagger for that. I can kill a gray like her without it, just takes a bit more effort. Nearly did, but you had to go and heal her.”
Zach turned away from the demon and moved toward Bishop, who stood with his back braced against the wall as if it was an effort to stay vertical. “What can we do to help you?”
Bishop shook his head. “Nothing. Just—give me time. I’ll be fine.”
Kraven groaned. “I’ll go get her. I’ll drag her ass back here myself even if I have to knock her out first.”
“No,” Bishop replied sharply, glaring at the demon. “Harm her and I swear I’ll tear you apart.”
This was ridiculous. I put on a brave face, stepped out from behind the corner and walked up the aisle toward them. The other three eyed me with varying degrees of surprise. Bishop slowly raised his gaze up to lock with mine.
Seeing him made my heart skip a beat. I’d missed him so much, but I hadn’t realized it until this moment. I wanted to run directly to him, but I stopped myself.
I couldn’t seem to be neutral when it came to the angel. What I felt for him was too big to wrap my mind around. It had been wrapped around a lot tonight.
But what I felt for him was real. Seeing him again cemented that fact for me.
“Well, what do you know?” Kraven said. “Were your ears burning, sweetness?”
“A little,” I admitted.
The greeting between us was almost friendly, at least compared to the death glare I got from Roth. After all, I was one of the things he wanted to head out tonight and kill to help combat his boredom. If he said he’d killed three last night, how many others were there? How big of a problem had grays become in the city?
There wasn’t widespread panic. There weren’t cops stationed on every street. They had to have it under control. At least, I really hoped so.
Still, considering what I’d seen Bishop do with that dagger as he performed the ritual on the others, it seemed like an excessively violent end for anyone. While what Carly had done scared the hell out of me, I wouldn’t say she deserved a dagger through her heart for it. Paul had walked away, even though he was missing part of his soul now. I just hoped she hadn’t done any lasting harm to him.