Page 10 of Our Sins in Silver (Coven of Sin 3)

“Don’t touch her!” My legs were still weak, but I forced myself back up. Silver fell from the shelves as I fumbled forward, reaching for Catherine. “D–don’t touch her, you bastard!”

To my amazement, the demon paused his assault and quirked a brow. But I wasn’t paying attention to him. “Look at me, Catherine,” I instructed the shivering woman, keeping her attention fastened to me so she wouldn’t look at the blood-smeared monster poised between her thighs. “I’m not going to let him hurt you.”

She sniffled, her thighs trembling so badly that her knees knocked against the devil’s hips. “P–p–promise?”

I nodded. “Yes, I promise.” It was a lie. Lord knew I’d lied enough to know what one tasted like in my mouth, the weight of it on my chest as I swallowed it down. Still, I lied. Even though I suspected she knew it was a lie, too, little Catherine—the nun with stars in her eyes—was able to calm herself. If I couldn’t give her anything else, at least I could bring her some peace in her last moments.

The demon called Thomas made an exasperated noise like I was inconveniencing him. “Perfect virgin’s cunt, gone to waste. My mate made me soft. I can’t bear to claim this woman when you look at me like that, Priest. It spoils the whole thing.”

He wasn’t going to rape her. But there wasn’t time for me to feel relief or anything at all. As the demon arched over Catherine, my nerves shut down.

I went numb.

The stone floor bit into my flesh as I crumpled to my hands and knees. I held my hand out to her. Reaching, reaching...

When the monster’s teeth made a savage descent into her throat, I was still reaching. She screamed for me. Blood bubbled from her lips, and then her arm was reaching right back for me. Our fingers touched.

“Julian, don’t let him hurt me. Please, Julian. Julian.Julian.”

Over and over, she repeated my name. She’d never used my first name before. I thought if she ever did, it would sound light and happy on her smiling lips, not shrill and fraught with unholy terror as her bloody mouth contorted with a scream. She chanted my name as if it were an anchor—the only thing keeping her grounded on this earth.

“I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t let him hurt you.” Over and over, I said those words to her, even though he was doing just that—draining her of her life just within my reach.

When the nun fell limp against the crate, my world dulled.

I couldn’t feel a damn thing.

Not when the light went out from Catherine’s eyes.

Not as the demon slunk over to me and pulled me into his lap.

Not when he bit me.

Not when cool darkness dragged me down into unconsciousness.

It was only when I came to that I regained my senses. I was so cold, yet so hot all at once. My clothes were drenched from sweat, and I was shivering. Why did it feel as though I’d been dunked into an icy lake and then tossed into a lava pit? Did I have a fever?

A hand smoothed over my brow, and a gentle shushing ribboned around my ear.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing that came into focus in my field of vision was a silver crucifix sitting prettily among the rest of the silver collection.

The second thing I registered was a set of death-black eyes.

He was still here.

The skin-wearing demon, who’d ripped my world to shreds with a bloody smile, cradled my head in his lap. He stroked my hair with tender motions. “Welcome to the other side, Priest.”

“Y–you said you’d spare them.” My voice was as dry as sand, and I was in so much pain that even moving my vocal cords was torture.

“Uh-uh,” he tutted with a wag of his finger like one would scold a child. “What I said was that I would grant mercy to those who knelt before me. And I did. I made their deaths quick. Now they are all in the Kingdom of God. That’s a happily-ever-after for you people, isn’t it?”

I gnashed my teeth, glaring hot daggers at the monstrosity, which made him chuckle. “You aren’t afraid of me, are you?”

“I was afraid for my friends. Now that their suffering is at an end, I fear nothing. You can do your worst, but you’ll have to kill me eventually. When that happens, the last thing I’ll see is my Savior.”

The demon looked down at me. Shadows covered his face, so I couldn’t make out his expression.

“You’re wrong.” His voice changed. It came out demonic and void of all amusement. “I’ve turned you into a vampire, Priest. That is your punishment for refusing to kneel before me. Your brothers and sisters get to meet your God while you will be forced to walk this land forever.”

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