Page 38 of Drag You Down
Another lie.
Does the weight of his sin weigh down on him like mine does?
I want to ask him why he’s here, but I bite down on my bottom lip instead.
“There are no issues,” Father Zachariah answers, and I can tell he’s growing angry. He’s always quick to anger. We all know when it’s better to drop a matter, because the consequences can be severe.
“There are issues,” Gabriel insists, smiling darkly at Father Zachariah. “Why don’t you give me a tour so I can get a good look at everything that’s wrong with the building?”
“I don’t have time for that.” Father Zachariah looks between me and Gabriel. His anger seems to melt away in an instant, the small frown morphing into a smile. “But I can see I won’t convince you to leave. Levi will give you a quick tour of the maintenance areas, then escort you out.”
I freeze.
Everything in me howls in denial at the idea of going into the basement.
I’ve been down there so often,toooften, and it feels like I’m being punished all over again.
Maybe I am. Maybe this is God’s way of ordering me to repent before I’m truly lost.
Why else would Father Zachariah send me down there with Gabriel?
It’s akin to handing me over to the Devil on a silver platter. There will be nothing to stop Gabriel from taking me.
There will be nothing to stop him from touching me.
From kissing me.
From losing myself with him.
“Okay,” I say. “This way,” I tell Gabriel.
I can already feel my soul fraying.
CHAPTER 9
GABRIEL
Iwatch my little lamb as he leads me to the stairs.
I want to go back to Zachariah’s apartment; I want to punch his face in and carve him open and let him know exactly what I think of the way he’s been abusing Levi. I could still do it, too. That flimsy door wouldn’t be able to stop me.
But I know if I do that before Levi is ready, I’ll only lose him forever, and Levi is more important than the rage coiling inside me.
Besides, there’s nothing I can do for Levi if I’m arrested. He’s going to need care and comfort once he’s pulled out of this hell disguised as salvation.
“This way,” Levi says, his voice adorably breathy.
“Of course, little lamb,” I whisper.
I follow him a step too close, and he tenses but doesn’t turn around.
He also stops right in front of the entrance to the building. “You need to leave,” he hisses.
I notice two things right away. One, there’s no conviction in his voice. Two, his right hand is closed in a fist.
Then a third as he turns to face me.
There’s trepidation, of course, and fear. But there’s yearning, too, and it’s all I can do not to lean in and claim his lips in a kiss.
