Page 99 of Their Will be Done

When I face forward again, Gabriel is waiting at the end of the hall for me. I come to a stop but the hallway keeps moving as if I’m standing on a conveyor belt.

Whether I like it or not, I’m headed straight for him. He opens his arms—a handsome, charismatic, modern-day Jesus with his short hair and dark eyes. His clothes flicker—priests robes, jeans, slacks—and then he’s just wearing a loincloth.

His body gleams. Sweat? Oil?

A crown of thorns appears on his head.

They pierce deep. Draw blood.

A hot breath warms the back of my neck. I turn around. Now the hallway streams backward and it’s Zachary I see. But I’m racing away from him, and he’s reaching for me.

I’m a sinner.

I hear his voice even though his mouth doesn’t move. In the blink of an eye, his face contorts into that of a maniac’s—mouth twisted in a sadistic laugh, eyes wild—before smoothing into the mask of a saint.

Just like you, little girl.

Terrified, I spin around and start running away. The hallway zooms past in a blur.

Gabriel streams toward me. Dark, wet blood masks his entire face, the whites of his eyes too pure in contrast.

He tends to his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart—

I try to scream, but the sound stays lodged in my chest, burning.

Burning.

Gabriel’s skin catches alight. He doesn’t seem to notice. The only thing he cares about is holding me.

Comforting me.

Bringing me to the light. But if I so much as touch him, I’ll be consumed in flames.

Zachary breathes on the back of my neck.

I spin around, body convulsing with horror.

He reaches for me, face flickering from saint to demonic sinner a thousand times a second, until it’s nothing but a smudgy blur.

A hand clamps over my mouth, and muffles my terrified yell.

My eyes fly open.

A dark figure ducks down and slowly transforms into Apollo.

“Shh,” he murmurs, putting a finger over his mouth. “It’s just me, pretty thing.”

I watch him with my heart thundering away in my chest.

He crouches beside my bed and puts his head close to mine, nuzzling the side of my throat.

But I can’t shake the feel of Zachary’s hot breath on the back of my neck, and that leaves me paralyzed.

“About that raincheck?” Apollo whispers into my ear.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Trinity

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