Page 122 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“Never mind.” He chucks the vial back in his drawer. “If holy water blessed by the pope himself won’t work, then what will?”

“Who is this pope?”

“The head of the Church,” Mine explains. “He resides in the Vatican.”

“I have never heard of him. He must not be very good then.”

Mine blinks. “What?”

“I would have heard of such a person if he were important enough to the fight against demons. But I was not briefed about any pope or Vatican. That means they are useless.”

“Right. Well, if the pope and the Vatican are useless, then whatisuseful?”

“I don’t know,” I reluctantly agree.

Letting out a loud sigh, I take a seat on the bed and fist the material of my skirt.

“The special division is the only one who’d know how to deal with a greed demon. This type of literature was not in my curriculum.”

“Then where can we find that type of literature?”

“Aperion.” I take a deep breath. “I wasn’t planning on going back anytime soon, but I might have to.”

“What do you mean?” He frowns.

“The demon is getting stronger. Every single day, he’s one step closer to gaining a physical body. Once he’s no longer reliant on Holloway, there’s no telling what he might do. The military base is only the beginning.”

“But surely there are other ways?—”

“No.” I shake my head. “I’ve tried to make contact with my brother again, but he’s done something to block me from accessing his sigil. I can’t contact anyone else to ask for help because I don’t have any spiritual energy left. With how fast the demon is getting stronger, Imustgo back and notify the special division.”

There is also the fact that not only will I not get a commendation if I don’t do my best to stop the demon, but I might even get punished for not trying hard enough to stop him—or at least aid those whocanstop him.

It would become negligence on my part, and that is punishable under both the Aperite law and the military one. I would be getting two sentences. And though they might help me avoid a match with that clown, it will also ruin my professional reputation—so much so I might never be allowed to fight demons again.

That is simply unacceptable.

“What happens if you go back without your powers?” Mine asks.

I startle. I hadn’t thought about that.

“It would be best if it’s not found out,” I add slowly as I consider the issue. If my parents find out I’m powerless, they will certainly lock me away someplace until the wedding. The clown himself might decide to pay me a visit and teach me a lesson for the way I publicly embarrassed him last time. And the other warriors…they would laugh at me.

And I hate it when people laugh at me.

Damn it! I’ll get in trouble if people find out about my lack of powers, but I’ll get in evenmoretrouble if I don’t do anything and let the demon run amok.

This is quite the conundrum. And I…don’t know what to do.

“Can you evengoto Aperion in your state?”

“I can if I find the portal to go back.”

“Find? You don’t know where it is?” He stares at me.

I clench my fists.

“There are very few immutable portals. Most are always changing locations. I can detect their energy signature when I have my powers. But without them…”

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