Page 109 of Their Will be Done

I need to find out what the Brotherhood knows. I thought I’d still have a few days, but now…?

My mind is made up about Sisters of Mercy. I don’t belong here anyway—I can finish my senior year over there. At least I can make some friends there.

But I can’t leave without knowing.

Guess I’m going to have to bite the bullet. Much as I didn’t want to, I’ll have to track down Zachary and speak to him. I’ll probably have to trade a few spanks for the info, but I survived those last—

“—nity Malone, please come see me after assembly.”

Shock flashes through me. Did Gabriel just call my name?

A few of the boys sitting in the pew in front of me glance back in my direction.

Shit. What does Gabriel want with me?

Oh, right.

He wants totalk.

I cross my arms over my chest and hug myself hard, my mind like a kicked-over anthill as Gabriel runs through the last announcements.

I don’t join in for the Father’s Prayer, and that gets me more than a few scandalized stares from the boys around me.

Let them stare.

Gabriel knows I’m not a believer. It wouldn’t surprise him in the least to hear I sat this one out.

When kids stream past me on their way outside after assembly ends, I consider for a full minute what the repercussions would be if I just left but I’d just be delaying the inevitable. Plus, Gabriel would never let me climb on a bus tomorrow without talking to me.

I wait for the majority of the boys to leave, and then make my way to the front of the hall, fully expecting Gabriel to be waiting in the small room just off the stage.

He’s not.

So I head to the only other place he could be.

* * *

I’ve been knockingon a lot of doors lately. Would be excellent practice if I ever decide to become a missionary like my father.

There’s a grim smirk on my face when the door opens.

I stand there for a second, speechless, before I lower my hand. If Gabriel had been here, I’d have expected him to ask me to come inside, not to answer the door himself.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d come,” he says. His eyes dart past me, and then he waves me inside his apartment. “Let’s talk inside, child.”

I scrape up every spare bit of courage I still have left after his miraculous appearance. “No.”

He frowns. “I’m not going to talk to you out in the hall,” he says, his eyebrows drawing together. “This is a personal—”

“You’re right, you’re not going to talk to me.” I push back my shoulders and hold up my chin. He’s so much taller than me, but somehow it helps. “Honestly, I think you’ve said enough.”

He tilts his head a little, eyes flinching as if I caused him actual pain. My chest tightens at that, but fuck it. I’m not the one in the wrong here. Not even a little.

“I came because you’re the Provost, and I’d probably get detention or something if I didn’t. But I’m not here to talk, and I won’t listen to anything you have to say.”

Thump, thump, thumpgoes my heart in the sudden silence following my statement.

For a moment, I think he’s going to ignore everything I said and just drag me inside anyway. But then his eyes drop, and he lets go of the door handle.

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