Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(10)

“He is no concern of yours, Father,” I said with an emphasis on the “he” part. I don’t like my friends being treated like freaks even when they act like freaks. Besides, it just showed how little the father knew when he was terrified of Neil but had paid no real attention to Daniel.

Of course, the father was probably under the mistaken impression that vampires couldn’t enter a holy place. It was one of those myths vampires had started themselves to put humans at ease. It gave the false impression that one could identify a vampire because they followed certain rules. As Daniel pushed his way into the vestibule, I felt bad for the little priest. Vamps rarely followed any rule they hadn’t made themselves.

“That’s weird.” Danny sounded slightly disturbed, which sent a chill through me. If something spooked Daniel, it was usually bad—really bad.

“Yeah, you’re getting that, too?” Neil stood beside Daniel, both staring into the building.

“What?” I asked, trying to keep a professional demeanor. What I was really wondering was “when do we start running?” A thousand things ran through my head. When you live the kind of life I do, you can call up some real nightmares when you try hard enough.

“Nothing.” Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m getting absolutely nothing.”

“Not nothing, exactly,” Neil qualified. “More like an absence of something.”

“And the definition of nothing is?” Daniel replied with a sarcastic zing.

“We really must go.” The priest’s hands fluttered restlessly, gesturing down the hall and then clutching at one another. “They will grow angry.”

“You’re afraid of nothing?” I ignored the priest. Danny and Neil were still trying to figure out what was at the end of that hallway.

“I know something’s there, but it’s like there’s a hole in the church.” Neil pointed down the hallway. “About a hundred yards that way, my senses stop and pick up again a few feet later.”

“It’s weird. I think we should go, Z,” Daniel said. “Let’s take you home and Neil and I will come back and figure out what we’re getting ourselves into.”

I just stared because that was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard.

Daniel sighed because he knew when I looked at him like that, I wasn’t going anywhere. “Just stay close to me.”

“If you will please come this way.” The father walked, taking short, jittery steps. I felt kind of bad for the little guy. Even over the phone he’d seemed uncomfortable. I wondered what these people had on him to force him to act as a go-between when he so obviously didn’t want to. He didn’t seem like the type to be involved in anything unsavory, and I didn’t say that because he was a priest. I’ve met some badass priests who could chop the head off a demon without dropping their rosaries. And then there were those nuns…

The father stopped in the middle of the vestibule, right beside the holy water. He absently took some and made the sign of the cross. “You wouldn’t be armed, would you? This is a house of the Lord. There are no weapons allowed in the church. I must insist on it.” He looked nervously at the three of us as though he expected a fight.

Why fight when a lie will work?

“Nope.” I was comfortable that my Ruger was hidden under Neil’s blazer. I had two extra clips in the pockets, but I doubted the padre was going to pat me down.

“I’m a pacifist,” Daniel replied with a predatory smile. He was carrying at least two guns and probably a few knives, but he didn’t really need them. Daniel was a weapon.

Neil, the only one of us who never carried a weapon, simply smiled.

Father Francis nodded as though he didn’t really believe us, but he wasn’t going to press further. He held his small hand out, gesturing toward the sanctuary. It was a typical Catholic church. The sanctuary was dominated by a statue of Christ on his cross looking down on worshippers. Down the long row of pews, standing in the middle of the aisle in front of the altar, was a couple. From a distance, they looked nice enough. It was a man and a woman, both in their early twenties. They were both blond and had bland good looks. She was in a slim skirt and pink sweater while he wore slacks and a button down. They could have been parishioners checking out the church.

I glanced back at the father, who was sweating though the church was cool. His hands shook as he pointed to the couple. “There they are. Please do whatever they say. Please.”

And then the father ran.





Chapter Four





Neil and I watched the priest run down the hall, but Daniel never took his eyes off the figures in the sanctuary.

“Where is he going?” Neil asked.

“I think he’s going anywhere they’re not.” I turned and looked into the sanctuary, wondering what the hell had the little priest so spooked.

Daniel sighed, seemingly resigned to whatever was going to happen. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’re sure she’s worth it? Sarah did shoot you.”

I remembered. It hurt like hell, but nothing hurt more than the look on her face as the demon sank his claws into her body and pulled her to Hell. It might have been different if I thought she was comfortably dead, but that’s not the way demon contracts work. There’s no parole and no end to time served. Death would have been acceptable, but what Sarah had to endure, I couldn’t live with.