Page 49 of Of Faith and Fangs

Silas settled into his chair, the worn leather creaking beneath his weight. Unlike the main chamber with its dramatic shadows and flickering braziers, his office was lit by steady gas lamps that cast an unforgiving white light over everything. No place for secrets here. No shadows to hide in.

“Tomorrow night’s mission is of critical importance,” he began, pulling a detailed map from beneath a stack of papers. He spread it across the desk, weighted corners with small brass figurines—a cross, a sword, a scale, and something that looked disturbingly like a tiny coffin. “The coven we’ve been tracking has chosen the full moon for a significant ritual. Our intelligence suggests at least seven practitioners will gather near the old mill.”

My eyes fixed on the map, on the location he indicated with a decisive tap of his finger. The old mill—barely thirty minutes from St. Mary’s Church, where Father O’Malley would be waiting for me. With my vampiric speed, I could get there in five minutes provided I was fully fed—but I wasn’t. I was fasting, with the intention to receive the Eucharist.

“You will lead your progeny from the eastern approach,” Silas continued, tracing the route with his finger. “The forest provides adequate cover, and the stream will mask any sounds of your approach. The Nightwalkers may be newly turned, but their instincts should serve them well enough.”

“When do we depart?” I asked, though I already feared the answer.

“Midnight,” Silas replied. “The witches won’t begin their ritual until the moon reaches its zenith. We want to catch them in the act—evidence of their corruption in plain sight.”

Midnight. The exact time Father O’Malley had scheduled our meeting. The exact time the midnight mass would begin, the mass that would include my first Communion as a vampire. The sacrament that might be my only path to reconciling what I had become with what I once was.

“Your mission is to contain and eliminate the threat,” Silas continued, oblivious to my internal crisis. “I will observe from a distance to assess the Nightwalkers’ effectiveness in combat. And to ensure compliance.”

The last part was meant for me. The compliance of the others was practically guaranteed—provided I remained in line.

My fingers twitched at my sides as I calculated possibilities. Could I complete the mission quickly? The old mill was closer to the Order’s headquarters than to St. Mary’s. Even if we departed at midnight and dispatched the supposed witches immediately, I’d never reach the church before the mass concluded. Not to mention, Silas would probably expect a debriefing.

Did he intend to turn all of these witches we were supposed to eliminate also? Was that another reason he meant to remain hidden in the woods?

Could I postpone with Father O’Malley? Ask him to hold a special service later? I had no way of sending a message. No way to explain without revealing where I’d been spending my nights. I’d already made confession. I was prepared for it. If I followed through with this mission, it would be like going back to square one. There’s no way I could obey Silas without ending up neck-deep in the worst kind of sin possible.

Could I feign illness to Silas? Claim some weakness that prevented me from leading the hunt? The absurdity of the thought almost made me laugh aloud. I was a vampire. I didn’t get sick. Even raising such a notion would rouse Silas’ suspicions—and the one thing I couldn’t let him know about was that I had another path, a real way, toward redemption.

“The primary objective is to test the Nightwalkers’ obedience to your commands,” Silas was saying, his voice penetrating my frantic thoughts. “Secondary objective is elimination of the coven. We believe their leader possesses a grimoire of considerable power—you’ll recognize it by the red leather binding and silver clasps. Secure it if possible.”

I nodded mechanically, struggling to focus on his words while my mind screamed with frustration. After weeks of progress with Father O’Malley, after the miracle of touching holy water without pain, after the relief of confession—to have this chance at real redemption snatched away by Silas’s timing was a cruel joke.

“Alice?” Silas’s sharp tone snapped me back to attention. “You seem distracted. Is there a problem with tomorrow’s assignment?”

His eyes narrowed as he studied my face, searching for any hint of deception or reluctance. I forced myself to meet his gaze steadily, to school my features into an expression of appropriate focus.

“No problem,” I lied. “I’m simply... unexperienced. Perhaps we should delay it until I’ve had more opportunity to test the limits of my sire bond over the others. What you’re talking about, a potentially powerful coven, could be an actual threat if we’re not properly prepared.”

Silas continued to study me, the scar along his jaw more pronounced in the harsh lamplight. I held his gaze, remembering how Daddy had taught me to face down bullies in the schoolyard. “Stand straight, look them in the eye, and they’ll back down.” Different circumstances now, but the principle held.

“Thankfully, you have the day to test your abilities however you wish within the safe confines of our facility. I expect you to do so.”

I suppressed a sigh—I thought I’d come up with an excuse, but Silas didn’t accept it.

He rose from his chair, circling the desk to stand beside me. Too close. Close enough that I could feel the talisman he carried—the one that weakened me when he touched me, left me vulnerable.

“The Order has invested considerable resources in you, Alice,” he said, his voice softening in a way that made me more uneasy than his commands. “In what you represent. In what you can help us achieve.” His hand settled on my shoulder, heavy with an unspoken threat. “Your redemption continues tomorrow night. Don’t disappoint me.”

The weight of his hand felt like a brand, marking me as property.

“I won’t disappoint,” I said, my voice hollow even to my own ears.

He nodded, satisfied with my acquiescence. “Good. You’re dismissed.”

I turned to leave, my movements carefully measured, betraying none of the turmoil that raged within me. As I reached the door, Silas spoke again.

“The hunger in your progeny will be stronger than their will,” he said. “Remember that. Use it to control them if necessary. They will obey you above even their hunger.”

I paused, my hand on the door handle. “And if they don’t?”

Silas’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then they will face the same fate as the vampire in the forest. The Order has no use for the disobedient.”