Page 65 of Unholy Fate

“Evelyn? What’s wrong?” She took in my bag, the tears on my cheeks, and quickly stood. “What’s going on?”

“I’m leaving the convent,” I said, the statement just as daunting a declaration the second time around.

“You’re leaving?” Serena repeated, voice trembling. “Why? What happened? You’ve been so… different lately.”

I fumbled for the right words, managing a shaky, “I just… I need to figure some things out. I can’t explain it, Serena, but this is something I have to do.”

Her grip was a vise, her sharp fingernails digging into my skin, leaving crescent-shaped imprints. “Don’t go. Please. This isn’t you.”

“I’m sorry. I have to,” I said, pulling away gently while my vision swam with tears, each a hot, painful drop.

I hefted my meager bag onto my shoulder as I hastened down the sidewalk. Pride spurred me down several blocks of the street until a motel’s flickering neon sign, casting a lurid glow on the rain-slicked street, beckoned like a beacon, offering the anonymity I craved.

Though physically near the convent, it was a world away, perfect for solitude. Right now, I didn’t want anyone’s company.

Inside the small, dingy lobby, a bored clerk barely glanced up from his phone as I approached the counter. I cleared my throat. “A room, please. Just for a night or two.”

He named a price and I counted out bills from my tiny stipend, my life’s savings. It left my purse distressingly light. With a grunt, he slid a key across the laminate. “Room 6, ’round back.”

The room was sparse, with peeling floral wallpaper revealing patches of faded plaster beneath, a threadbare comforter draped across the bed, and a rickety chair. But it was clean. I dropped my bag and sat heavily on the bed, the events of the day crashing over me. More tears pricked and my throat ached with unreleased sobs. What was I doing? Had I thrown away my life, my vocation, my faith? For what?

Lost in my decision, I almost didn’t notice the sudden shimmer of light in the center of the room. I blinked, thinking it a trick of my tears, but the glow intensified, coalescing into three distinct shapes. Figures. Men.

In an instant, Aziz, Levi, and Ian stood before me, their expressions hard and disapproving as they scanned the room.Levi’s lip curled in disgust. “There is no way we’re letting you stay here.”

My mouth fell open. I sputtered, “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

Levi snorted, flicking his gaze over the faded curtains and water-stained ceiling. “If your goal was to disappear, you’re not doing great. This place is a dump.”

I bristled, my hands clenching in the duvet. The shock of their appearance was quickly overtaken by indignation. How dare they just materialize, intruding on my privacy and passing judgment?

“I’m not looking for five-star accommodations,” I said, temper flaring under the intensity of their stares. “What’s wrong with this place, anyway? That it’s clean?”

Dramatically, I pulled back the bedspread, displaying the clean sheets underneath. “Look. No bed bugs, no stains!”

With a barely perceptible lift of his perfectly sculpted eyebrow, Aziz expressed his doubt, “You can hear the highway from here.”

Ian crossed his arms, a grim expression on his face as he stated flatly, “And it smells like semen.”

“There is no smell.” I rolled my eyes.

Ian sniffed the air with a flourish, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled. “Trust me, my sense of smell is better than yours. It smells like semen.”

Levi shook his head, taking in the small room disdainfully. “This room is a non-starter. You’re coming with us.”

Putting my hands on my hips, I leveled a furious glance at each demon. “I refuse to be trapped in some gilded cage where you decide what I can and can’t do!”

Aziz smirked, an infuriating curl of his lip. “You’ll be free to come and go as you please. You’ll have access to cars, clothes, whatever you need.”

My vulnerability crept in as I hesitated, the cold reality of my empty wallet replacing the heat of my pride. I was more than aware the motel stay was unsustainable, the ticking clock of my dwindling funds a constant pressure. The small amount of money I had remaining from the church’s stipend this quarter wouldn’t last long. I could approach my parents for help, but frankly, three demons from hell seemed easier to handle than my parents’ disapproval, and the bitter sting of their condemnation.

After careful consideration, I begrudgingly agreed. “Fine. But this doesn’t mean you’re in charge of me.”

Before I could reconsider, Levi reached out, his hand warm against mine, and the room swam, shapes and colors blurring together in a dizzying kaleidoscope. I squeezed my eyelids shut, stomach lurching as the ground seemed to fall away beneath my feet.

When the vertigo subsided, and I was able to take in my surroundings, I found myself standing in a hallway that oozed wealth and refinement. Marble floors stretched out before me, so polished I could see my reflection. Crystal chandeliers dripped from the ceiling, their light refracting into a million sparkling prisms across the wall of windows, revealing the glittering city lights far below.

Ian strode ahead, purpose in his every step, and pushed open a heavy wooden door. “Hello? Homeowners? Where are you?”

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