Page 8 of Our Sins in Silver (Coven of Sin 3)

Every single nun and monk dropped to their knees. Not in prayer, though. They were kneeling before the demon.

“God, forgive them,” I muttered beneath my breath. “They are frightened, and they do not wish to be torn apart.” At least there was one saving grace in kneeling to the monster: They would not be slain. Hopefully, now, our aggressor would be satisfied with that and leave.

But the demon only dropped the headless body that was still in his arms to the ground and grabbed for another—a nun this time. “Good. You may be cowardly, but at least you are wise. Now, madam, how about a kiss for your new God?” He arched down as if to deliver a kiss to the nun’s neck, then paused with lips hovering over the milk-white column of her throat.

My stomach curdled. The damned creature was reveling in the way his victim thrashed, quaking violently in his embrace. I flinched when his needle-sharp canines descended and slammed home into her body.

Blood spewed from her throat, rapidly drenching her habit in red.

Everyone tried to stumble to their feet, realizing that the demon had no intention of granting them mercy, despite his promise. They stampeded over one another to escape the lion in their den as he ripped out another victim’s throat with one swift bite.

He’d lied. Of course, he’d lied. He was of the devil. The only thing from his mouth that I believed was that he was about to tear my world to shreds.

I couldn’t save them all. I doubted any of us would see the light of day at this rate. But maybe I could get Elijah out of here. If I saved just one…

I searched the chaos for my apprentice, turning to the place where I’d seen the young monk last. He was nowhere to be found—lost in the madness. I searched the sea of flailing limbs, fumbling over bodies and slipping on the organs of my friends.

Fear of the most absolute purity lurked up my spine, threatening to take me. But hope, as weak as it was, tamped the invading shock back down when my gaze landed on blonde hair peeking up from behind a barrel not far off.

Catherine.

A fire lit in my belly at the sight of relief that washed over her face when our eyes met.

I wanted to find Elijah, but the demon was slaying my brothers and sisters with unholy speed and terrifying precision. The longer I remained here, the less likely I was to save Catherine. I had to get her away before he noticed her.

I thrust my way through the chaos and, by some miracle, got to her without being noticed by the devil. He was too absorbed in his feast, gorging himself blind. I scooped the sobbing girl up in my arms and bolted down the cloister toward the abbey’s dining hall.

She clung to me like a screaming babe, calming only when she felt my heat swaddle her like a blanket. “Shh, I’m here now. I’ve got you, Sister. I won’t let him hurt you.”

I clutched her to my chest like she was a precious doll I was intent on keeping in one piece. My legs still suffered from the toll of the scriptorium punishment, but adrenaline paired with Catherine’s frail form made it easy for me to sprint into the room where the monks took their meals.

“Where are we supposed to hide in here?” she asked, her voice spiking with panic. I didn’t blame her for questioning my choice of rooms. Of all the places in the abbey, I’d thrown us into a room that was almost completely bare. A large table sat in the middle, a crucifix mounted to the wall, and a tall wooden cupboard sat at the end of the room. Only the senior monks knew that within the cupboard—behind the shelves of wooden plates we used for meals—was a hidden door leading into the place we stashed our silver. As a large, thriving abbey, we had a long history of bandits attempting to breach our walls to steal our valuables. None of them had ever succeeded, but the cupboard had been dragged over the closet door anyway. We then had a panel built into the back for secret entry, just to be safe.

Wrenching the cupboard open, I set Catherine inside and instructed her to stay still. She gave me a dubious look, but didn’t argue. I followed her, closing the cupboard door behind us before hauling her back into my arms. Carrying Catherine once again, I led us through the back panel and into the secret room.

“Brother...” Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks once she registered where we were. “Forgive me for doubting you. Y–you saved m–me.” She broke down into another fit, her body wracked with wave after wave of unbridled sobbing.

Drawing her close to my chest, I sat us down on the floor among the shelves that teemed with silver candleholders and serving dishes. “I know you’re frightened, Catherine, but you have to be quiet. This room may be hidden, but it is not soundproof. If the demon comes looking for us, he will hear you.”

That quieted her immediately. Her chest heaved with silent simpering, though she didn’t make a peep. We sat in the darkness, shaking in each other’s arms for what felt like an eternity.

“Brother?” the nun whispered after a while. She raised her head from my chest to gaze at me, her eyes straining through the murk of our hiding place. “Do you think this is my fault?”

There was something in the young woman’s tone that made my heart ache. “How could you think such a thing? How could a devoted woman of God bring about a scourge like this?”

Her lower lip quivered. “Because I strayed from the light of the Lord. I went to your room and tried to sway you into the dark with me. Surely this is a punishment for my sins.”

I caught her face in my hands. “This isn’t your fault.” I swallowed and closed my eyes. “If anything, it’s mine.”

Another span of silence stretched. This time, it was tenser than ever. I opened my eyes to see Catherine crying again, tears streaming down her swollen cheeks. “Oh, Brother. You are too good. First, you stood up to evil by altering the texts under the abbot’s nose. You spoke against Brother Peter and his self-harm sermon. When I was weak and tempted by delights of the flesh, you remained strong and kept me from ruin. Then I saw you, Brother Godfrey. I saw what you did. You looked the devil in the eyes and recited scripture to him. You even showed him kindness as he drank your blood like some kind of leech.”

Averting my gaze, I couldn’t bear to look her in the eye and see the adoration there.

I didn’t deserve it. This was all my doing.

I’d dared to tamper with the Word of God. Even worse, instead of showing any remorse, I’d challenged Lucifer to curse this place. Sure enough, the demon had shown up at our gate with the abbot’s body parts a few hours later. That was no coincidence.

My friends and colleagues were dying grisly, barbaric deaths…

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