Backing up toward the door, I kept my eyes on the priest and yelled to the guys. “You better get out of here. Now.”
I heard them scrambling around behind me. I didn’t have to tell them twice.
Now it was just me and the priest. He stood between the two windows with candelabras with a crazed look in his eyes.
“I was right about you.” Picking up the branding iron, he twirled it around in the flames once again. “You’re not going anywhere, little girl.”
“Who are you calling little girl?” Anger stirred in my gut, making the balls of lighting grow exponentially larger.
The priest lunge for me again, and something inside me snapped. I thrust my hands at him, sending the lightning shooting right by him. Fire grazed his shoulder, but the lightning struck the curtains behind him. In an instant, the drapes burst into flames.
The man’s black pants caught fire. He screeched like the hounds of hell were after him. The ghoulish sound ripped through the air, even as tongues of fire scorched the room.
Racing for the door, I didn’t look back.
Acrid smoke billowed behind me. As soon as I cleared the doorway, Bryan and Tony slammed the door shut. Tony dumped a still-unconscious Lenny at my feet and doubled back to help Bryan barricade the door.
I bent down to examine Lenny, who lay stiff as death. Did I have any kind of angel healing powers? I put my hands on Lenny’s forehead, but he didn’t stir. I glanced up for help, any kind of help. God, please get us out of here alive. Only framed pictures of the parish priests stared back at me, one drawing my attention. The photo labeled Father Patrick was of an older man, but he was bald, no gray head of hair. So who was the “Father Patrick” we’d just met?
Lenny’s chest hadn’t moved a millimeter in minutes now. My heart stopped. Was he still breathing? I had to find out. I slapped his face, and a moan escaped his lips. I almost jumped for joy.
“Thank God,” I breathed, then an idea seized me. I flipped down the blade, calling out to Bryan and Tony. “Catch.”
Tony caught the pocketknife with one hand. “What am I going to do with this?”
I threw up my hands. “I don’t know. Shove it in the door jamb or something.”
He mumbled things at Bryan, but I didn’t have time for that.
I sank to my knees next to Lenny. “You okay, buddy? You need to get up. We have to get out of here.”
“What happened?” He rubbed the goose egg on his forehead. “Are you okay?”
How could he think of me first at a time like this? I smiled and helped him up. “I’m fine. Now let’s get you out of here.”
Faint sirens blared in the distance as I limped with Lenny across the tiles.
“Okay, we’re coming.” Bryan yelled down the hall. “Get ready to run.”
I pinched Lenny’s cheek. “You ready?”
“Sure.” His eyes glazed over like he couldn’t focus.
The guys’ footsteps thundered behind me. I pedaled my feet with Lenny under my arm, but his weight was like an anvil on my already worn-out shoulders. Tony and Bryan rushed to my side, snatching Lenny’s arms.
“Start running,” Bryan screamed at me, his eyes wild. “The cops can’t find you here. They could be on the Nexis payroll.”
Scrunching my forehead, I opened my mouth to ask questions. I’d never seen his eyes like that—full of fear, even pleading. Desperate.
“You can’t be caught. You’re too important, okay?”
With a quick nod, I raced down the hall and out the front door. I almost tripped over Laura and Brooke on the steps sipping Cokes.
Laura turned her head. “We were just about to come back—”
“Not time for that. We have to get out of here.” I shot them the wild-Bryan eyes. One look at my face and they dropped their Cokes on the sidewalk.
We took off down the street, sprinting in the opposite direction of the sirens, past dark doorways and storefronts until we hit the end of 104th Street. My lungs burned as if I were still back there, in the fire. But I had to keep going.
Then we rounded the corner and ducked into the First Avenue Deli.
“What happened back there?” Brooke panted and pressed her face to the window. “We went outside to look at the stained glass, then we found a guy selling soda. Before I know it, you’re running out of the church like it’s on fire. Where are the guys? Are they okay?”
“It is on fire. I don’t know what happened. He just attacked us.” I gulped and heaved at her side. “That priest came back with a branding iron, shouting crazy things. But even worse, I don’t think that priest really was a priest. His picture wasn’t even on the wall.”
“What?” Brooke gasped. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, something really strange is going on here.” I grabbed Brooke’s hand, then Laura’s, turning my wrist over for them to see. “The guy wasn’t a priest in that parish. And he tried to brand me.”
Their eyes widened in unison at my extra-crispy skin.
“That’s a Watcher symbol.” Brooke’s words came out as a strangled gasp. “And our brothers are back there, taking the heat for this.”
My eyes clouded up at the thought of those brave guys being arrested. “Bryan insisted. He said I couldn’t be caught.”
Laura pulled us into a booth and stared out the window. “They’ll be fine.”
“They have to be okay. They just have to be.” I closed my eyes, water pooling and stinging as I pressed them tighter to keep the tears at bay. I squeezed Laura’s hand, then Brooke’s, saying my own silent prayers.
~
Neon lights burned into my eyeballs. The flashing billboards of Times Square glowed brighter as the night grew later. I could almost feel the New Yorkers’ stares as they wove around us, like they knew we’d almost burned down a church. Like they could see the horror cloaking us.
Laura
