“But not impossible.”
The final pieces were moving into place, but it would take all her concentration, all her magic, to ensure victory for her and her people. “With us,” Fiona smiled slyly, “nothing is impossible.”
He held her eyes with a promise of the ecstasy that awaited them. “I love you, Fiona. Now, we must leave before the police arrive. We have a long journey.”
Moira sat in the back of an ambulance while a paramedic picked small pieces of glass out of her hands and arms. “This is a nasty scar,” the guy said, pointing to where Fiona’s pet demon had bit her only a few hours ago. The injury looked months old. “What happened?”
She just shook her head. Anthony and Rafe spoke in hushed voices just outside the doors. Anthony still held the tabernacle. They were discussing where to put the box until they figured out how to send Envy back to Hell.
They’d caught only three of the witches, including Elizabeth Ellis. That gave Moira a small satisfaction. She really didn’t like that woman.
Fiona, Serena, and Matthew Walker had escaped. Skye had sent patrols to the house where Rafe had been held captive, and the other two properties Moira had identified, but there was no sign of them.
Without Father Philip, nothing was the same. She felt desperately alone. Her eyes burned; she thought she had no more tears, but they came, hot, fast, unstoppable.
Without Father Philip, she had no one who loved her. No one who cared what happened to her. No one to love. He was her anchor, the reason she could get up every morning and continue the battle. For him.
He was gone.
Never had Moira felt so lost since the day she ran away the first time, before she’d met Father Philip. When all she knew how to do was run.
She’d made her stand and failed. Father Philip was dead.
Rafe climbed into the ambulance and sat next to her. “Is she going to be okay?” he asked the paramedic.
“Yes,” Moira responded, blinking back the tears, unable to look at Rafe.
The paramedic said, “I want her to go to the hospital, but she’s being stubborn.”
“I’ll take care of her.” He looked her in the eye and she saw he meant it.
Maybe she wasn’t completely alone.
Rafe turned to the paramedic. “Our friend Anthony has a nasty cut-can you take a look at it?”
“I’m not done here.”
“Five minutes.”
The paramedic sighed, then left Moira and Rafe alone.
He frowned at her hands. “It was pure madness in there,” he said quietly.
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why Fiona let the demon out of the circle. It could have attacked her or any of them. But it went right for you.” She considered that. “Fiona knew it would go for you. It wanted you, Rafe, specifically. Why?”
“I wish I knew. Was it something I said?” he half-joked. “Or did? I don’t know. Anthony said that Fiona is a powerful magician.”
“With Walker by her side, she’s even stronger.”
Rafe made her look at him. “What did she do to you?”
She didn’t want to talk about it. But she owed Rafe an explanation. “She turned a memory of mine, a nightmare, into vivid Technicolor slow motion. I couldn’t get out of it. I tried, but I couldn’t.”
Rafe touched her cheek. “Come here.” He put her head on his chest. The paramedics had given him scrubs to wear, reminding Moira of when she found Rafe two days ago.
“I have to do this again. And again.” She closed her eyes. “I’m not strong enough.”
“You’re stronger than anyone I know. But you are not alone.
She hoped so. The world was a dangerous place without the Seven Deadly Sins making it deadlier.
“We’d better get started. They’re not going to wait around for us to get our act together.”
“Sleep first,” Rafe said.
Rafe looked at Moira’s arm and the bite marks. There had been so much blood, and the acid dripping into Moira’s cuts, her cry of pain. He would never forget what happened in that room. The bite … Moira’s pain … the demon’s dying scream. And now … he looked at the cut he’d made on her hand.
“How did you know?” Moira whispered.
He shook his head. “I remembered how when the Cerberus bit you, it died. I hoped … maybe your blood …” He stopped, not knowing what he was going to say because he couldn’t get his mind around it. “I just knew.”
“Like you knew the magic words.”
“Magic words?”
“How you slowed him down. The exorcism or whatever it was you did. It was the language Serena was speaking. Is that what you did on the cliffs the other night?”
He didn’t know. “Moira, I’m sorry, I wish I had answers-I don’t.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“How did I earn your trust?” It mattered to him, greatly.
“I don’t know, but-we’re in this together. All of us.”
Anthony appeared, joining them inside the ambulance. “I agree,” he said. “Together.” He looked at Moira’s arm as well. “Are you sure it was a demon that bit you? I’ve never heard of anything like a demon dying from biting a human. I’ll research it.” He didn’t sound hopeful.
Rafe smiled woefully as Moira dozed off. “Let’s keep it quiet. There are a lot of people who don’t like Moira.”
Anthony nodded. “I’ll be discreet. Skye’s wrapping up the explanations.”
“Which are?”
“I’m not sure yet, I think she’s winging it. She knows how far she can go.” He put his hand on Rafe’s shoulder. “As soon as she’s done, we’ll go back to my place. You-and Moira-need sleep.” He left.
Rafe looked at the sleeping beauty beside him. Her expression was uneasy and she moaned. He pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll do anything to protect you, my love,” he whispered. “Anything.”
