Page 14 of The Sinner and the Gunslinger
“What are you talking about?” Wes’s gaze darts between us all.
A bitter laugh escapes me, and I shake my head before answering. “He’s one of their spies.”
From Dominic’s exhale of relief, he knew about it too. The secret must have been killing him, despite having a priest conveniently absolve him of the lie.
“You’re Entity?” Wes pales.
“There is no Entity,” Cisco chides. “We are simply a trusted network of friends of the Vatican.”
“Father Angelotti,” Wes admonishes with a note of sarcasm in his tone. “You don’t truly believe that’s all they are, do you? There is nothingsimpleabout spying and eradicating threats to the church.”
“Enough,” Dominic says. “We are not at war with each other.”
“No, we are not.” The priest levels his stare on us.
“How long do we have before they arrive?” Wesley presses.
“Non lo so.” Cisco shrugs.
“So we must have this conversation now.” Wesley stands and buttons his crumpled jacket, his eyes blazing. “Will you stand with the Sinners, or continue with the original mission to dismantle them? I know what I choose.”
My lips part, but no words come out. This is the moment I should stand with the people who saved my life, but all I can think of is how utterly confused I feel. Nothing in my life has made sense since Leila was Lei Ling. And now she is something I don’t recognize, yet the darkness inside me craves. And that’s wrong. She might be a Sinner here, but she’s not pretending to be perfect. She let her wildcat out, and the only time I saw her scratch like she had hives was when she confronted me about not remembering her.
I can’t go down and drag her with me. I have to be strong. Have to resist temptation.
Wes turns his glare to the others. “The gospel was clear. The saints must work with the sinners, and the sinners are the ones who will have the power to wield the holy relics. If you’re doing this because your faith has been shaken by what’s in the new scripture—”
Cisco stands, eyes blazing. “My faith is unbreakable,mio amica.What is in that gospel only strengthens it.”
“So how can you reveal this secret to an organization that has proven they’ve tried to stifle it? Don’t you understand the consequences?”
“Si. I cannot deny they lied... but it was long ago. Today,thisorganization of Sinners cannot be allowed to continue. Your relationship has clouded your judgment.” Cisco’s white collar glares in the light from the windows. “You know this to be true.”
“Perhaps they can be saved,” Dominic ventures quietly, looking at the scaled demon as he strokes the transparent frill down its back. “We all deserve forgiveness, no?”
“Saved?” I scoff. He wants them to repent. To be someone they’re not. “They don’t want to besavedin the way you think.”
“They live in sin.” Cisco frowns incredulously. “And they are not remorseful.”
“I don’t mean the murder part,” I clarify. “I don’t see any of them filled with joy over that. But the sex. The independence. The life here all goes hand in hand with their job.”
“I agree,” Wes says. “It’s not so black and white. We need time.”
I nod. “Not excusing it, but who among us can’t say our hands are clean of blood.”
Certainly not me. Not even Dom can make that claim. The miracle that pushed him into sainthood was a venerable resurrection after death during a battle to protect Romanian orphans from five dangerous traffickers. Dom fought them off with only his bare hands until he was the last one standing... but not without suffering internal bleeding. After being pronounced dead, he woke on the mortician’s table about to have his chest sliced open... three days later.
“I’m in love with Thea,” Wesley proclaims loudly, his face turning red with his passion. “She is good, kind, and smart. The Reverend Mother said the Sinners will have no more regular missions until we deal with Lilith. In the meantime, I refuse to throw them to the wolves.”
As he stares at the arched gothic ceiling, Cisco mumbles a prayer, then audibly counts to five before responding.
“It was the right thing to do. The Vatican must know the second horseman is here. We are fighting a holy apocalypse. That is thenumero unoimportant thing.” He points at Wes and me. “Next,you must leave the abbey and have your tattoos fixed. Today or tomorrow.”
“I can’t leave,” Wes replies, aghast. “I’m in the middle of translating—”
“We cannot have our team at half capacity,” Cisco insists. “Not withil demoniorunning around. I want your tattoos fixed within the week—both of you.”
“You must start trusting these women,” Wes replies, but when he receives no response, he shakes his head and walks out.
