The Sin Collector (17 page)

You were to die next but William insisted if we waited he could lead us to a whole
boatload
of your kind, and he really came through. The one with the silver hair was an especially inspiring conquest. We estimated her to be around eight-hundred years old at least. William had promised us the next oldest in your group, he didn’t seem as torn about turning him over.”

She was really enjoying this.

“Between us girls, I think he was a bit jealous. Sadly, as you know we took the wrong male. If it makes you feel any better my little flower, we killed it quickly.”

“He was not an it,” I said, as my heart pounded against my chest.

“His name was Thomas and he was more human than you could ever hope to be.” I looked at her with disgust. Try logic before violence, I read that somewhere once. “You kill us therefore we are forced to kill you. None of my people seek to harm.”

She stopped pacing again to look me in the eyes. “What a funny thing to say.” Her words sang with a tone of amusement. “It appears as if you actually believe that.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

Screw it. This was not the crowd for logic. I yanked one of the knives out of my back pocket and threw it at her chest. She dodged it expertly. Of course, she would be skilled. She had been trained to defend herself as I’d been trained. This was who we were. I pulled another knife as did she, hers being the large curved blade that would definitely have the power to draw my blood. I suddenly wished I had bothered to bring a gun. Killing her at a distance sounded very appealing. I knew that if given the chance to stab me, I would be incapacitated like a fly caught in a spider’s web. Wounds from a Castus blade healed ten times as slowly as a human injury. I wondered why she didn’t call for help, but I saw it in her eyes. The thought of losing this fight never even crossed her egomaniacal mind. We circled each other and I took note of her impatience. She charged at me. I managed to narrowly avoid her blade while slashing at her cheek. A thin line of crimson formed and she touched her face stunned.

“Baby’s not so pretty anymore. Don’t worry, you’ll always have your personality.” I gave her a wide grin. Antagonizing her to do something stupid seemed like my best bet. Her eyes flashed with rage. She rushed me, quickly, but I was faster. She went for my chest, but I grabbed the blade with my bare left hand. The pain was searing, but I held on as I shoved the knife in my right hand straight through her heart. I pulled the knife out and she stumbled back into the wall, collapsing in a heap. I took off my jacket and ripped out some of the lining to wrap around the cut on my hand. I shoved her Castus dagger into the back of my belt covering it with my shirt. I heard someone approaching the door from the alley. This room was seriously lacking in cover. I crouched next to the door. At least I could sneak up behind whoever came in.

His hat saved his life. Seconds before I plunged the dagger between Olexander’s shoulder blades I recognized the silhouette of his fedora hat. He spun around ready to attack.

“It’s me, it’s Lily,”I said in a hushed tone. He let out a gust of air, and grabbed me in a tight embrace, kissing my forehead for a long moment. He was fighting back tears and holding me with all his strength.

“I thought I’d lost you. I don’t know what I would have done, if they had…” He let his thoughts trail off. Standing there with him, safe in his arms, feeling his heartbeat I felt something I hadn’t known for a hundred years. I felt home. No teal houses, or white picket fences, I had been fantasizing about the wrong thing all these years. My home wasn’t a place, it was simply him. I looked into his eyes and pulled his face closer to mine. I kissed him hesitantly at first. I couldn’t be sure he wanted this as much as I did, but he kissed me back with the fervor of pure love. The kind of love borne of sacrifice and forgiveness, the type of love that doesn’t hit you at first sight like fireworks. It was the kind of love that grew quietly.

I pulled away slowly. We still had things to do here.

“Where is Julia?” He asked, as he brushed the hair out of my eyes.

“The woman said she was down the hall, but I don’t know what stands between us and her.” Thinking of the woman made me think of Billy. “Where is Billy?”

Olexander was pulsating a crimson red.

“He disappeared while I was on the phone with Nela, which is how I knew where to find you.” He was still holding me tightly as he spoke.

I backed away hoping to clear my mind of the desire for him and focus on the job at hand.

“Did you bring any weapons?” I asked excited at the prospect of having a gun.

“I don’t believe in guns Lily, you know that.” He said it so seriously it actually made me want to laugh.

“There’s a time for everything under the sun Olexander, even violence. Even guns.”

“
I don’t think that’s how that particular passage goes.” He said smiling at me.

“Yeah well, I ad lib.” I pulled the Latin inscribed dagger out of the sheath hanging on the front of my belt. “Well at least we have this, this will kill everything.” He took a step back.

“Where did you get that?”

I looked at him confused.

“I found it in your office, with your Collector things, in the drawer with the fake bottom.”

He looked just as perplexed as I felt. “Lily I’ve never seen that before in my life. Is that a Castus dagger?”

“Not really, but it’s a damn good knock off of one.” We both turned to see Billy walking through the far door, tossing a dagger of his own up in the air and skillfully catching it. “Of course I didn’t want you to have a real one, that would be quite dangerous. Yet, I thought finding that with Olexanders’ things would force you to go looking for the chatty little girl all by your lonesome. Especially since the red folder already had you questioning his loyalty. You really are quite predictable LiLi.”

Everything seemed to be happening very quickly. First, I was standing two feet from Olexander, next thing I knew he had grabbed me tightly. It happened so fast I didn’t understand why, until I felt Olexanders weight slump against my body. The dagger was in the middle of his back. Billy went running back through the door he’d come from. We both collapsed to the floor. Olexander looked stunned.

“Olexander look at me.” I spoke in hushed whispers and shook him gently until his eyes met mine.

“Olexander if you have any chance I need to pull it out.” He nodded weakly and I used all my strength to remove the blade from his back. He arched his body in agony before collapsing back into me. “Olexander I don’t know what to do, tell me what to do.” The tears were flowing freely now. “Why did you do that?” I choked out.

“I had...I had to rescue you.” He had the faintest outline of a smile on his lips.

I felt a hundred years of sadness swallowing me up, but I fought against it. Olexander wasn’t dead yet, and if Jules was in this building, I was going to find her. I took a deep breath to make me brave, and looked into Olexanders face.

“Olexander I have to find Julia, and then I’ll come back for you.” He nodded weakly. I kissed him. His lips were soft underneath mine. I wrapped the bandage on my hand more tightly and picked up the legitimate Castus dagger. I was going to end this today. I followed Billy into the dark corridor.

Chapter 16

The corridor was pitch black. I felt my way uneasily along the wall. Holding the dagger I’d pulled from Olexander at my side ready to shove it into anything that moved. I wandered into the sparse lighting of the sub-basement. I saw Billy in the corner of the room playing idly with his knife. I wondered what I would turn into if I had been in his place. His Mother killed in front of him.

“Billy we can stop all this right now. No more people have to die here today.” I spoke to him in the same voice I would speak to a child.

“
We all have to die, we are all damned.” He had a wild look in his eyes, like someone who had nothing left inside, just a shell of a person.

I inched toward him a bit closer than I should have. “Billy we aren’t damned. You don’t know any more than I do what worlds lay beyond this one.”

He looked into my eyes. “We let monsters into paradise. We will be meant to pay for that. They said killing the abominations would be enough to save me. I have to repent for who I am.”

“
Whose words am I hearing now? The Castus? Did Angeline tell you all this? Did it ever occur to you she is lying? She brainwashed you Billy.”

“I know about the pit. I know about the torture, and the anguish,” he spit out.

I could feel anger rising in my chest. I was angry that Billy wasn’t strong enough to fight this nonsense. I was angry that he was now my enemy.

“
Oh I’m sorry, I must have forgotten about that summer when you backpacked across the pit.” My voice was seething rage and sarcasm, I liked it, and it seemed to make me brave. I felt strong.

“
The Castus are warriors of God. I only killed the people who deserved to die.” He said the words matter-of-factly, unwavering in his faith. I knew then, the Billy I had known was wholly gone.

“Like your Mother? Tell me Billy did Clara deserve to die?”

“
That is enough.” A booming voice broke through the tension, and I spun around.

“So this is the little flower causing me so much trouble.”

I had never seen this man before. He was tall and intimidating. Fifty years old would be my guess. His skin was the color of dark chocolate, and it made the whites of his eyes stand out menacingly. His voice was deep and rich and brought with it an air of authority. He was wearing a tailored grey suit with gold cufflinks, and an ornate silver cross hung from around his neck. He looked ridiculous standing with all of us in a dingy basement. A man and woman in black army fatigues soon flanked him. I recognized the young girl from the warehouse and I saw more coming out of the shadows, at least seven of them surrounded me, all in black, and all very young.

“Quinlan I presume,” I said, trying to hide the defeat in my voice. I was outnumbered and royally screwed. Billy scrambled over to Quinlan’s feet mumbling pleas for forgiveness. I wondered how I could have missed how broken Billy had been. Had fear made him a good liar, or had fear only recently shattered him completely. It was probably a little bit of both.

Quinlan patted his head as you would a dog, “my dear boy, do not grovel. You did your best.”

Billy didn’t even see the blade coming, it happened so fast I barely did, in one swift motion Quinlan had slit Billy’s throat.

“I’m sorry William, but your best was simply not adequate.” He took out a handkerchief and wiped off the blade of his knife as well as his hands. I stood, shocked. Quinlan stepped over Billy as if he were no more than a dead insect and focused his attention on me.

“I know what you’re thinking little flower. You are thinking he isn’t dead, there is still a chance for him to heal, but you would be wrong. William here was telling the truth about never Collecting a sin, therefore he is far more human that he realized. I’m afraid that wound is fatal.” He was still walking toward me, completely at ease. He was human, but his aura was like nothing I had ever seen. There were so many variants of red and orange it looked as if he was in flames.

I was about to run, possibly fight, definitely scream, when suddenly the lights went out. The room went black as a moonless night. You could hear the flustered footsteps of the Castus, disoriented in the sudden darkness. The Castus became disoriented, but I didn’t. I could still see everyone, or at least their auras. Everyone in the room was suddenly glowing. All my power was raw, alive, and very pissed off.

They shined so brightly, each a distinct glow. I took the dagger and shoved it into the man nearest my right. Another woman rushed me and I kicked her as hard as I could in the gut. I heard her fall to the ground. I could see the rest of the people retreating, but Quinlan had barely moved. I ran at him carelessly and was grabbed from behind by another man, knocking the dagger out of my hand. I heard it clatter on the polished stone floor. I used all my energy to spin around and punched the man so hard in the head I heard him fall to the ground as well. Backup generators kicked on, and I realized I was alone in the dank room with Quinlan. I had never even seen him move, but he now held the dagger I’d so carelessly let slip from my grasp. He stalked toward me slowly, with the blade at the ready, fully prepared to shove it into my side, just as Nela had predicted. Each stride measured like a hunter never doubting his prey was both cornered and defeated. I slowly reached behind me, placing my hand on the dagger there.