Page 127 of The Love of Priest

Britain felt so small on the inside. He held so much authority and power in his rugged, baritone voice. Britain hated to be yelled at. It made her feel shallow and childlike, and it almost always brought tears in her eyes. Priest was so soft with her. He loved her dearly and treated her with so much honor that she thought he would never raise his voice at her.Britain fought hard to prevent the tears brimming her eyes from cascading down her face. "You heard me! You preach on and on about not wanting others to lose faith in you, but here you are losing faith in yourself! It'sdisappointing!" Britain bellowed passionately. Her words collected in Priest's heart like bullet after bullet.

"I'm not losing faith in myself, Britain! I'm living my reality!" he countered.

"Right now is not the time for accepting! This is when you're supposed to figure shit out like you’ve always done! From every story you've ever told me, that’s all you ever did when shit got rocky! Why are you giving up on yourself now?!" Her chest heaved in anger as she spewed as much as she could to Priest.

"You don't think I'm tired of figuring shit out?! That's all I've ever done, Britain! I've been maneuvering myself out of deep shit since I could remember, yo! This is it! I can't get myself out of this one! Now I have to deal with the consequences!" Priest jeered at her, trying desperately to get his point across.

Britain turned her head away from him. "You aren't the only one dealing with the consequences, Priest. Remember that," she mumbled before taking in a choppy breath to withhold her tears.

Her last words resonated with him as they inflicted deep blows to his gut. He had hurt Britain, and those weren't his intentions or motives. He honestly thought this conversation would run its course like any of the other conversations they'd had. This one was different, though. They had finally reached the realization of what needed to be done to not only serve themselves, but also each other.Britain had grown attached. She loved Priest with every bone within her and didn't feel like it was right for her to have to live without him. He was hers. The little piece of peace that belonged to her and only her. Her cycle for Priest had begun far before the day they expressed their love for each other. The good thing about this time around was that her cycle was now mentally and emotionally healthier. She was finally getting her happiness back. The love she'd always dreamt of. Her reason to wake up in the morning. And now, that was all going to be taken away from her.

"Why?" she croaked, quickly trying to wipe the tears that managed to slip out of her eyes.

Priest ran a hand down his face in distress. He felt horrible about lashing out at Britain the way he had. "Why what?" Priest asked her in confusion.

"Why'd you make me fall in love with you just for me to have to accept you leaving me? Priest, you are a very calculated person, so I know you've gone over every scenario that could unfold, and this had to be one of them. Why'd you let us get this far if you knew you would give up on yourself?" Britain honestly didn't know what to make of any of this, but she did feel played. She felt like Priest was finding an easy way to tell her that he would be skating out of her life.

"Some people aren't meant to be in your life past a certain point. I'm that person for you," Priest stated with a light shrug of his shoulders.

Britain shook her head. "That's not for you to decide."

"Britain, you think I want this to happen? This isn't something I prayed for. Shit seemed to finally fall into place. My money is right, I have no worries, and I found you. Then I had to face reality. If I don't prepare you for my absence, that would be the worst thing I could ever do to you," Priest stressed.Britain remained silent. She wasn't sure what more she could say. Priest had made up his mind, and there was no changing that.

The vehicle eased to a stop.Britain glanced around at her surroundings. "Why are we here?" she asked.They had stopped in a residential area she wasn't too familiar with. The home they were parked in front of looked to be abandoned, but it was in fair condition aside from the unkempt lawn that was practically up to Britain's knees and the damagedgate surrounding the perimeter.Britain could tell the home was nice when it had tenants to upkeep it. The two-story single-family home was a brownstone brick house that had grand windows and a peaked high ceiling. At the top of the house was a chimney that was wrapped with loose vines and a scatter of fallen leaves.

Priest let out a sigh. "Look," he said while grasping her hand in his. "I know you're not really fucking with me at the moment, but you're the only person I trust to show this to."

Britain’s orbs shifted from the house before them to Priest. "What is there to show?" She raised a brow.

"C'mon." He made his way over to her side of the car where he assisted her out. He kept her hand in his as they approached the gate of the home. The unstable wooden fence lacked strength. Priest pushed it open with ease.

Britain took a skeptical look around. She had watched far too many episodes ofForensic Filesto just willingly go into empty homes without asking a few questions. Her feet halted from making anymore movement, which alerted Priest. "What?" he looked over his shoulder and asked.

“This is scary and creeping me the fuck out," she admitted shakily as she took a look around.

"Don't trip. I got you," he assured her as he wrapped his arm around her.

Britain mustered up the courage to continue the way up toward the door with Priest. "How are we gonna get in? Maybe we should just—" Priest interjected her worries with another chuckle as he extracted the key from his pocket.

Britain let out an uneasy huff before nodding her head. Priest used the key to open the door. The pungent smell of rotten wood and mold invaded their noses immediately. Britain tucked her nose into the crook of her elbow, hoping to overpower the rancid smell with her own scent instead. "Priest, what the fuck?" Her eyes widened at him.

"My bad. Last time I stopped by, it didn't smell like this," he said as he too stuffed his nose into the crook of his own elbow.

"When's the last time you stopped by?" She peered up at him, raising her brow.

Priest shrugged as he took a step inside. "Three years ago."

Britain shook her head as she followed behind Priest into the repulsive smell of the home that hadn't been aired out in years. The wood panels that floored the home creaked with every step that was taken. Glancing up, Britain realized that cobwebs crowded every corner of the house. She caught an eerie vibe from the place, but she was confident that Priest wouldn't let anything happen to her.

She followed him past what would’ve been the living room of the home, and then to the stairs. Priest looked over his shoulder, noticing how afraid Britain looked. He extended his hand to her to go up the stairs as one to lessen her fear. The flooring on the stairs creaked with every step they took. Arriving at the top of the stairs, Britain expected Priest to take her into one of the rooms along the hall, but he didn't.

She eyed him suspiciously as he squatted down toward an air vent that was clogged with dust and cobwebs. He gave it a shake, but the frame of the vent was screwed on tightly.

He stood up from his squatted position, glancing over at Britain. "Go stand down the hall and cover your ears," he instructed her as he reached into the waistband of his jeans, extracting his gun.

Britain’s eyes widened as he motioned his head in the direction he wanted her to go. She did as she was told, covering her ears.

She watched as Priest extended the black gun out in front of him. He pulled the trigger twice, aiming at the top corners of the vent frame. The booming shots of the bullets spewing out of the gun startled Britain, making her heart race. Unplugging her ears, her right hand clutched at her chest in hopes of calming her racing heart. She observed as the vent frame came crashing down to the floor.

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