Mortal Sin (55 page)

But it was Lily.

As he got closer, he noted that her jeans were tight on her pencil-thin frame, and she wore some sort of lacy camisole under the jacket, revealing more of her breasts than should be revealed in public.

“Lily.” Jared now ran to her. “No one told me you were coming back.” He hugged her tightly. “Are you okay?”

She smiled widely. “I’m more than okay. I haven’t felt this good in a long time. Maybe forever.”

While she looked physically healthier and far less troubled than she had these last three months, she didn’t seem to be completely herself. He gently touched her neck. “Did you lose the crucifix Father Philip gave you? You loved that necklace.”

She scowled. “No need for it. What are you doing here?”

“It’s Wednesday. I have class.” The second bell rang and he was officially late, but he wasn’t leaving Lily alone until he found out what was going on. “When did you get back?”

“Early this morning. Stopped by my house to get some clothes.”

“Your house? You went to your mother’s?”

“Of course.” She smiled and stepped toward him. She reached out and touched his cheek. Her hands were icy cold. “I missed you, Jared.” She pressed her body against him, tilted her head up and kissed him.

It was no ordinary kiss. Lily opened her mouth drew in his tongue. A jolt of lust hit him and he grabbed her tight against him. She moaned, then rubbed her body against his with slow, catlike grace. She reached down and felt his hard-on that had immediately sprung up, constrained only by his jeans.

This isn’t Lily. This isn’t Lily.

His lust consumed him even as his mind told him something was very, very wrong. Lily reached down and pulled up his shirt, so her hands were on his back. She scratched him, long and hard.

He jumped back, breathing hard. “Shit, Lily! That hurt.” As he spoke he looked in her eyes. They were brown.

Lily had pale blue eyes.

“Who are you?” he said, shaking.

“You know who I am,” she said in a low, seductive voice.

“You’re not Lily.”

The creature rubbed her hands over her breasts. “What makes a person who she is? Her body? Her mind? Her soul?” She stepped toward Jared. “This is Lily’s body. I know Lily’s mind—I know that your name is Jared Santos and you’ve been lusting after Lily for nearly two years now. And I know that she’s always said no, that she wants to wait. Wait for what? A better offer?” She laughed. “And her soul… it’s still here. A small little bright spot that’s losing its light. Poor thing. Not really all that strong, is she?”

“Lily,” Jared said, trying to speak to the girl he loved and not the creature who had possessed her, “I’ll save you. I’ll find a way, I promise.”

The creature laughed. “Good luck with that. By midnight tonight, she’ll be all mine. I get the body, and my knife back.
My
knife. That’s my reward for a job well done. I have so many things I want to do. So many things I’ve waited to do.” She stepped toward Jared. He stepped back. She laughed again. It was Lily’s voice, but not her laugh. “And if you want, I’ll let you be the first.”

Jared was alternately terrified and angry. “Why are you here?”

She frowned a bit at the question and looked around as if she hadn’t thought about why she was standing outside the high school. “Sneaky little bitch, isn’t she?” the creature said. “I think she was looking for you. Isn’t that sweet?”

Jared saw movement from behind a tree. A young man emerged. Jared didn’t recognize him, but he was focused solely on Lily. Jared almost warned her to watch out, but his instincts told him to wait.

“Let me talk to Lily,” Jared said to the creature.

“Not going to happen. She’s busy, anyway.”

Lily frowned and tilted her head as if listening to something Jared couldn’t hear. Suddenly, she spun around and faced the stranger.

“I don’t believe it! Haven’t you learned your lesson?” But Lily looked both scared and surprised.

The stranger spoke in Latin, a language Jared didn’t know but had heard enough over the last few months that he recognized it. Lily put up her hand and the stranger went to his knees, but he continued to speak, though it was becoming more difficult for him to get the words out. An exorcism? He was trying to help Lily, so while the creature who possessed her was occupied with keeping the stranger to his knees, Jared tackled her.

She screamed, and suddenly Jared was flying through the air. He collided with a tree trunk twenty feet away and fell to the ground, stunned. He tried to stand, but couldn’t. Though his vision was blurred, he saw Lily run away. The stranger was still on the ground, having just as hard of time trying to stand as Jared. But he did, and walked over to Jared on unsteady feet. He held out his hand and Jared took it to stand. He leaned against the tree trunk to catch his breath. His chest hurt, as if he’d been tackled by a linebacker.

“I’m Gideon Arturo. From St. Michael’s.”

“You’re a kid.” Sort of. He was taller than Jared, and Jared figured he was about the same age.

“Desperate times. You know Lily?”

“She’s my girlfriend.”

“Jared, right?”

“How do you know?”

“Anthony Zaccardi reports to St. Michael’s.”

As if that explained everything.

“What happened? Moira took Lily to Olivet to protect her!”

“We don’t know exactly, but someone must have obtained Lily’s blood for a spell. A spirit possessed her, a dangerous ancient spirit named Jezebel.”

“Jezebel from the Bible? The one who killed a bunch of people?”

“That’s what we think.”

“You don’t know?”

“We have more important things to worry about right now.”

“Lily is important!”

“Yes, she is. She’s very important. Jezebel used her to free the two Sins we had imprisoned in Olivet. They’re now contained in Lily, an
arca
, one of the few who can contain and suppress the Seven Deadly Sins.”

Jared’s blood froze. “What?”

“But I just learned something extremely valuable; I must find the others and tell them.”

“I’m going with you.”

Gideon hesitated, then nodded. “Moira trusts you, so I do as well.”

The kid spoke like an old man. “Good. What did you learn that’s important?”

“The Seven have no power when contained in an
arca.
If they did, they would have killed both of us. Jezebel is controlling Lily because Lily is an unwilling host, but she
is
a host.” He hesitated. “Do you have a vehicle? I need to find a house.”

Jared nodded. “Where to?”

“Do you know Skye McPherson? I was told that was where Rico would be.”

“Let’s go.

#

Kyle worried about his uncle more than his own fate. Matthew Walker had flown Kyle first class from Victoria to Santa Barbara, then drove the hour to Santa Louisa. Kyle didn’t speak unless Walker spoke to him, but Walker didn’t talk much. He seemed very pleased with himself. He made one call, to Serena, telling her to prepare for their arrival.

Serena O’Donnell, the witch who’d killed John.

Kyle wondered the entire journey whether he’d made a huge mistake. But in the end, he concluded that saving his uncle was worth the sacrifice. Uncle Brody had raised him after his parents were killed. He’d been a rock, a teacher, a spiritual advisor. He’d never raised his voice yet commanded respect by everyone who met him. He didn’t deserve this. And what had happened to Rico and the others? Were they dead? Who from St. Michael’s could save Uncle Brody? Kyle didn’t know enough about the Order to know if they had someone who could counteract a spell. Too many unknowns, and if doing one bad thing would save his uncle, he would do it. What other choice did he have?

They’d ended up early in the morning, before dawn, at a small house near the coastline. Kyle knew he was in Santa Louisa, but he didn’t know where. Matthew led him to a bedroom, handed him a sandwich and water, and told him to rest. Kyle didn’t want to sleep, but found himself drifting into a dreamless, but uneasy rest. He awoke to Matthew Walker’s irritated voice. Kyle walked to the door and listened

“Is she dead or not?” Matthew said. A moment later, “That’s not a good enough answer. What about Moira? Is she at least dead?”

A glass broke and Matthew shouted, “So what you’re telling me is that you failed. I’m sorely disappointed in you, Tiffany.… No, nothing at all… Be here on time or you will be punished.”

Another glass broke.

“We have everything we need,” a female said.

“We should never have let anyone else handle Fiona. No one is strong enough.”

“No one else could have brought the boy here or breeched Olivet. We were needed elsewhere. Everything is on schedule. We’ve completed preparations right under Moira’s nose and she didn’t even know. Her power has been greatly over-estimated.”

“Adrienne gave Moira’s blood to Fiona, who used it
all
in the ritual. And yet, Moira didn’t die.”

The girl said, “We don’t need it. We’ll kill her the old-fashioned way if she comes back.”

“If Fiona shows up here, let me handle her,” Matthew said.

“Of course she’s going to come—she was planning on it even if she was successful. She doesn’t know our plans. Her obsession with Moira will be her undoing.”

“Don’t be so sure that your mother won’t figure out that we’ve planned this without her. Even being sick, she’s more powerful that you give her credit for.”

Mother.
That was Serena speaking. What were they planning? Kyle could imagine the worst.

“Someone is eavesdropping,” Serena said.

“Would you like to meet him?” Matthew asked.

“Of course.”

A moment later the door opened. Kyle was sitting on his bed, pretending he hadn’t been at the door, but of course they both knew he’d heard everything. The house wasn’t that big and the walls were thin.

Serena walked over to Kyle and sat next to him. “You have an amazing power.”

He didn’t say anything.

“And we’re finally going to teach you how to use it.”

“I don’t know what you think I can do,” Kyle said.

“You communicate with spirits.”

He shook his head. “I only help them leave the astral plane and go where they’re supposed to.”

“That’s what we need, in a way. There’s one spirit we need to talk to.”

“I don’t talk to them.”

“But you
can,
” Serena said.

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Only for the weak. We need information and you can get it for us.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes,” Serena said, “you can. Or you’ll die trying. But if you don’t perform, then not only will you die, but so will your uncle. And I’ll make sure his soul is trapped for eternity. Do not doubt me.”

Kyle didn’t.

A pounding outside drew the attention of Serena and Matthew. They left, but didn’t shut Kyle’s door, so he followed them out of the room. He had to figure out a way out of this mess.

Matthew opened the door to a tall, blond teenager and two brunettes. “She walked out,” the blonde said.

Matthew didn’t say a word, but his face reddened and suddenly, the three girls were on their knees, terror in their eyes.

Serena put her hand on Matthew’s arm. “Dad.”

He stepped back. The girls didn’t move.

“Come in,” Serena said, “and explain.”

The girls complied. “We tried to stop her, but our magic didn’t work.”

Serena didn’t respond. “What did she say?”

“She wanted to see the town.”

“Unbelievable,” Matthew said. “She should have been in a demon trap.”

“That won’t work with the demons suppressed by Jezebel,” Serena said. “She’s a spirit, not a demon. But we had an agreement.”

“We followed her. She went to the school.”

“See?” Serena said. “She knows what’s required of her. This is all fine.”

“And,” the blonde continued, “Jared Santos saw her. He knows.”

“Knows
what
exactly.”

“That she’s not Lily. Someone else arrived, another teenager—I don’t know who he is. Definitely not from Santa Louisa. Jezebel brought him to his knees, then fled.”

“We must find her,” Matthew said.

“She’ll be where we need her when we need her,” Serena said unconcerned.

“Leave,” Matthew said to the three girls. “Find Jezebel and bring her to me.”

“What if she won’t come?”

Serena said, “Tell her I command it. She answers only to me.”

The girls left and Matthew turned to Serena. “You truly are your mother’s daughter.”

“Excuse me?”

“Arrogant. Unconcerned. If Zaccardi finds out she’s back, we’ll have a problem.”

“Zaccardi has been infected. His girlfriend and her friends put him into a coma.”

“This is where your arrogance impacts your judgment,” Matthew said. “You are still young, Serena.”

She frowned, obviously not liking the criticism.

“Networks are important, and we use them for a reason. Martin Truxel informed me that the sheriff retrieved the prophet and the prophet somehow cured Zaccardi. He’s been at the mission all night and morning.”

“They have my prophet?” Serena exclaimed.

Matthew shook his head. “The prophet is dead.”

“How?”

“I’m unsure, but he died after curing Zaccardi.”

“This isn’t good.”

“It’s not bad.”

“Where’s Raphael?”

Matthew didn’t say anything.

“Tell me.”

“Tiffany said he showed up in Anacortes.”

“What? That is unacceptable! We have to keep them separated! Dad, maybe it’s
your
arrogance that’s interfering with our mission.”

“I assure you, we have the upper hand. We have Kyle, we have Lily, we control four of the Seven Deadly Sins. I took the liberty of preparing each corner of the triangle long before anyone could have known what we were doing. As long as we’re all where we’re supposed to be when we’re supposed to be there, we will succeed.”

Fiona walked into Martin Truxel’s office in the courthouse without knocking.

“Fiona,” Martin said, his eyes darting around like a rodent.