Sunset to Sunrise (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7.5)(27)

Father Andrew was understandably skeptical. I wouldn’t have believed me either if our roles were reversed. “I can’t help you.”

“I think you can. You know something. I know you do.” I felt a sudden desperation to connect with this man. Staring hard at him, trying to find a way to gain his trust, I felt it. Demon power.

I grasped his arm and jerked his sleeve up, exposing the demon mark etched into his flesh. It was a perfect match to the one Alexa bore.

“What is this?” I demanded.

“It’s the price I paid to save a friend,” he spoke through gritted teeth. “I will not help Shya in his quest. If that’s why you’re here, I beg you just kill me and get it over with.”

“Goddammit, listen to me. I am not here on his behalf, but there’s a demon outside who is. He can’t enter. I can. So let’s take advantage of this and work together. Please.” My voice dropped as I became aware of its volume in the large but painfully quiet building. “My friend, she bears the same mark you have. She took it for me. Shya wants to use her as a sacrifice once he obtains the scroll. I can’t allow it to happen. I owe her.”

Father Andrew blinked at me in sudden realization. “Alexa? The Hound? Is that who you’re talking about?”

“You know her?”

“I do. We spoke. Once. She came here to have me bless a very old cross pendant.”

I had to turn away for a moment then. Emotion battered at me. That cross had been a gift, from me to her, for her birthday. Hearing this from the priest brought me such relief and grief all at once that I quickly became overwhelmed.

“She’s in danger,” I finally managed to say. “That scroll needs to be found and either hidden or destroyed before Shya can use it.”

“I’m not sure it’s that simple.” Father Andrew held his hands up in uncertainty. “I don’t know where it is.”

I turned in a slow circle, surveying the grand church. There was an angel here somewhere. Did the priest know that?

I must have stood there in silence for some time because the priest laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. “She is a rare but vital creature. Most of the Hounds were killed many years ago. If anyone can foil Shya’s plans, it is Alexa.”

“But how?”

“That I do not know. All we can do is watch, pray and be ready.”

I met the dark eyes of the grey haired man. There was much understanding and awareness in their depths. He smiled, a curve of the lips that was supposed to be gentle and encouraging. It just made me feel like shit though.

“I’ll leave the praying to you, Father.”

I turned to leave, feeling like I’d come so close to finding someone who could help only to have it yanked away. A tease.

“Can I ask your name?” He called after me.

“Kale Sinclair,” I said with a shrug. I had nothing to hide.

“I don’t need to tell you there are dark forces at work in this city, Mr. Sinclair. What I can tell you, though, is that we all must choose a side and stand ready to fight.”

As I looked back at him then, my self-deprecating chuckle echoed around us. “I’m a vampire, Father. I don’t think I get to choose a side.”

“Of course you do. You came into this world a man and you will one day leave it as one.” His voice followed me out. “By not choosing, you have already chosen. Don’t let it be so.”

It took everything in me to muster a poker face and keep it firmly in place. I was certain Brook would see right through me when I told him I had found nothing. He shrugged, caring little, more than ready to be done with this treasure hunt for one night.

“If I were Shya, I wouldn’t be looking in the most obvious places,” Brook mused, crushing a cigarette on the edge of the church lawn with his heel.

“Neither would I.” It had already occurred to me that this was nothing but a wild goose chase, a way to keep one or both of us busy and out of Shya’s way, for whatever reason. Or perhaps we were simply a distraction for someone else. Either way, I kept my theories to myself.

My phone rang, a steady vibration in my pocket. I knew when I saw Justin’s number that this was a call I didn’t want to receive.

“Kale, buddy, we’ve got a problem. There’s a group of vamps in here trashing the place. It’s getting hard to handle with so many humans present. There’s already been a casualty.” Justin was almost drowned out by background noise. It sounded out of control.

“That stupid bitch,” I muttered to myself. Rebecca had to be behind this. She must have been more attached to Phillip than she let on. “Do what you can. I’ll be right there.”

I was expecting the worst. Brook vanished after promising to check in with Shya, leaving me free to deal with whatever was happening at The Wicked Kiss. That place had been off the rails since Alexa went out of town.

After spending most of the night with a demon hunting down an item I hoped would never be found, I wasn’t in the mood to see what the last of Phillip’s rebellion were doing to the club I shared with Alexa. She’d been so sure something like this would happen on my watch. The last thing I wanted was to prove her right.

Human patrons were pouring out the front door when I pulled into the nightclub parking lot. A loud bang accompanied their hasty exit.