Page 7 of The Sinner and the Gunslinger
She looked at the house. The alarm blared. Black smoke billowed from every window, and more people streamed out. Now that he knew she was safe, and the demon hadn’t taken her, he was no longer afraid. This was probably a simple house fire. It was all in his imagination.
Probably.
“Wait here,” he said to her. “I’ll find him.”
“No,” she cried and tugged his sweatshirt. “It will get you.”
He stared into her teary eyes. “You will be safe out here until I get back. The demon doesn’t want me, remember? It had a chance, and it walked on by. I will return with Snuggles.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.” He dragged his pointer finger over his heart twice. “Now you say the next part.”
She pouted, fashioned her fingers into a gun, and pointed at his face. “Stick a bullet in your eye.”
“Eat a horse manure pie,” they said together and then made puking gestures.
She giggled. It was all he needed to hear. The world was empty without that sound.
He pushed her away and then jogged into the burning building.
Six
Leila - Today
Sometimes you meet a stranger and know they’ll be in your life forever. There is no quantification of this knowledge. It’s just a feeling. A sixth sense. It’s like you’ve already spent time with them. You’ve laughed and cried with them... yet... you’ve only just met. Sometimes this feeling comes from future friends, lovers, or mentors. But sometimes, it’s from an infuriating boy like Ezekiel Cohen. He blew into my childhood and cared for me when no one else did. Even though I was six and he was eleven, we became instant friends when he saved me from bullies and called me wildcat. He became my world—my protector. My hero.
Then he made me believe he was dead... and that I killed him.
I confronted him,but the coward hasn’t spoken to me since. I keep waiting for him to man up and explain why he left, but he can barely look at me.
Good. I don’t care, either.
I turn my attention to the front of the abbey classroom, where Thea and Wesley recount what they’ve translated from the lost gospel’s prophecy.A week has passed since the demon prince Asmodeus played us for fools and broke out of his prison. Thea found an angelic relic only she can use to heal all manner of ailments... but we still lost our sister Prue. We still found the Monsignor crucified to the wall in our dining hall, and the nuns still tried to kill each other.
It’s been a week since the start of the apocalypse... we think.
So far, we’ve not heard a peep of proof that Asmodeus is truly the Horseman of War and causing havoc amongst the streets. But he knows how to infect innocent people with the urge to fight. He knows how to teleport. He could be anywhere by now.
I glance at my Sinner sisters on my side of the long conference table. Mercy, Raven, and Tawny look as tired and concerned as I feel. The Reverend Mother appears older than I’ve ever seen her. None of us slept well. Not with the knowledge that any of us could be next. And Tawny—I give her a sideways glance—that demon princekissedher. She’s paler than usual and fidgets continuously. Probably wondering if the demon did something to her... left something evil inside.
Across the table, the surviving members of Team Saint listen warily. Zeke appears bored, but I know he’s listening. He used that bored face whenever I wanted to watch baking shows at the group home, but then knew exactly what ingredients to buy me when I asked for help.
Father Angelotti sits next to Saint Dominic. I try to place their expressions... They look lost, hopeless, and upset. The discovery of Mary Magdalene’s gospel has rocked the foundations of their faith.
She wasn’t a prostitute. She was Jesus’s favored Apostle and wife. A woman. A prophet.
Thea’s angelic relic and Asmodeus’s prison break prove Mary’s apocalyptic prophecy to be real, so it stands to say we should all take the rest of her manuscript as, well, gospel.
If this gets out, then it changes everything for the Catholic Church. Priests will be allowed to marry. Women will be allowed into the seminary. The question is, what does Team Saint plan on doing with this information? It’s no secret they were sent here to dismantle us—a secret society of female assassins. But that was before one of theirs fell in love with one of ours. That was before we found out the Mother of Demons, Lilith, is spearheading the antichrist’s arrival. Thea and Wesley insist our factions must work together to stop this apocalypse, but I’m unsure.
Zeke is a liar. The Saint is too quiet. Probably has a Rolex hidden beneath the cuff of his expensive Italian suit. Father Angelotti doesn’t seem so pious with those prison tattoos hiding beneath his white collar. Old scars batter his olive skin. I don’t trust any of them. For all we know, they’ve already tattled to the Vatican, who had already spent centuries hiding Mary’s gospel so the patriarchy can retain power in the church.
They might sneak in during the night and burn us all down. It would save them drama... and keep their power in balance. I should double my fire hazard checks tonight. Just in case.
Now is the time we should be watchful. Wary.
A loud bang whips my head to the front of the classroom. Thea has just slammed the gospel down and now glares at us.
