Moira took his hand and kissed it. “And you did.”
“I don’t know.”
“How did you send them to the afterlife?”
Rafe hesitated, and this time Moira brought his hand to her lips. “It was another one of those memories,” he said. “I wonder, have I been speaking in tongues? So rare, but there’s nothing else to explain how I know the right exorcism at the right time. The languages-I’m okay with languages, but nothing like Anthony. Yet I spoke Aramaic like it was my native tongue, and I did not know what I was saying. I understood it in one way, but I wouldn’t be able to translate. I had control-it wasn’t a possession-but in some ways it happened on its own. I could stop it-but I couldn’t direct it.” He took a deep breath, then let it slowly out. “I’m not making sense.”
“You’re making about as much sense as my visions-especially what I saw yesterday.”
“I-” He hesitated. There was so much he wanted to tell her, but right now wasn’t the time. He couldn’t explain exactly what happened with Julie Schroeder, or how he fought her spirit after she took over his body. He couldn’t explain even how he got himself off the wall when the demon had him pinned. It was with another prayer, and not for the first time he was terrified. Of the unknown, of not knowing whether his words came from above … or below.
“Rafe?”
“I thank God that you’re alive,” he said, looking deep into Moira’s eyes. “That we’re alive.”
“Me, too.” She touched him again, as if to confirm his words.
He kissed her again, lightly, on her lips, her chin, her neck, back to her lips. He murmured, “My love,” before he realized he’d spoken.
“Where’s Nicole-?” he asked.
“Probably long gone. She wanted Wendy dead. I wonder how much of what happened tonight was partly Nicole’s doing.” Moira slowly rose to her feet.
“Don’t-”
“I have to. The font, Grant-there are going to be serious consequences. We’d better call Skye and clue her in.”
Rafe steadied Moira as they walked out of the sanctuary.
Jackson’s church was filthy, the pews half destroyed, the altar smashed. The only thing intact was the cross hanging from the ceiling.
Rafe and Moira approached the baptismal font cautiously. The glass had fused together and turned black. Moira’s heart quickened. “It’s in there.”
“But the chalice-”
“No-the demon is trapped in that glass ball.”
Jackson and Nina walked back in. “Jackson,” Moira said, “can you get that iron box you had for the chalice?”
“It’s in the sanctuary,” he said as he handed Nina the first-aid kit.
Teary-eyed, Nina looked from Moira to Rafe. “Thank you seems trite.”
“Don’t,” Moira said. “Thank you for your help.”
“Is-are-well, after everything I hate to ask, but …”
Rafe took Nina’s hand. “George’s last wish was for me to tell you he loved you and he’ll be watching to make sure you’re happy.”
Moira’s head whipped around to Rafe. She stared at him, eyes questioning.
Rafe said quietly, “When the souls left, I had a sense of their final thoughts.”
Nina said, “Grant, Jeff, and Julie are on the portico outside. Jackson called an ambulance. I don’t think Julie is going to make it.”
Jackson returned with the iron box. Moira found Rafe’s shirt stained with her blood. It was still damp. She wrapped it around the glass ball and carefully placed it in the box, leaving the shirt inside with it. Jackson added the melted chalice, then closed and locked it.
“Put it in your vault until Rico can retrieve it,” Moira said.
“Nina?” Jackson asked. “Could I ask you to get the doors for me?”
Nina handed Rafe the first-aid kit and left with Jackson, while Rafe and Moira went to the portico in the front of the church.
Grant was sitting on the ground, his back against the stucco, holding Julie in his arms. Tears streamed silently down his face. Jeff sat several feet away, his head between his knees. The neck of his shirt was covered in blood, and he had a nasty welt on the side of his face from where he’d hit the pew. But being unconscious probably saved his life.
“Where’s the ambulance?” Grant asked. “I called and called and it’s not here. She needs help.”
Julie was pale, her aura nearly gone. She was dying.
Moira knelt next to them. “You saved him, Julie. You helped save all of us.”
Grant pushed Moira. “Leave her alone!”
Julie’s eyes fluttered open. “Grant-” She swallowed. “Please.”
“Don’t talk,” Grant told her.
Julie touched his face with one shaky hand, but said to Moira, “Thank you. I understand better now-what you said this morning at the hotel. I–I’m so sorry for the pain I’ve caused. What I did was so wrong.”
Moira wished she could do something. “Rafe-can you help her?” Moira pleaded.
Rafe said, “I can give Julie last rites.”
Moira kissed Julie’s hand, then stood and gave Rafe some room. She walked to the edge of the portico and wiped away tears.
Rafe knelt next to Julie. “The ambulance will be here-I hear it.”
Julie shook her head. “I-there’s a lot broken inside.”
Rafe anointed her head with oil and prayed.
“No! She’s not going to die! God, no!” Grant cried, holding Julie close.
“Grant-” Julie coughed. “It’s okay.”
“No, we’ll make this work. I promise. I love you, Julie. I love you! I’m so sorry for everything-please, let me make it up to you. Let me-”
“Shh. Please, Grant. I’m dying. I want to do one thing to help someone.”
“I can’t let you die.”
Julie swallowed; her voice was weak. “I have a favor.”
“Anything.”
“There’s a girl at the morgue. She’s been there for years. They don’t know who she is-her name is Amy Carney. Find her family; let them bury her. Her family doesn’t know what happened to her, and the morgue doesn’t know who she is. She just wants them to know what happened.”
Grant’s tears fell on Julie’s chest. He held her close. “Julie,” he sobbed.
Rafe finished the last rites, then took her hand. “Rest in peace, Julie. God is a forgiving God.”
“I hope so,” she said, a hint of fear in her eyes. She coughed and looked at Rafe, her eyes unfocused. “Thank you for letting me share your body. I explained everything to Grant; you and Moira should not have any problems.” She coughed again. “Come closer.”
Her voice was so faint he nearly missed it. He leaned over, his ear to her mouth. She whispered, “I wasn’t the only one in there.”
Moira slipped away to the far side of the church when she saw the ambulance pull into the parking lot. Cops would soon follow, and she wasn’t confident she wouldn’t be spending the night in jail. All she really wanted to do was go home.
But she didn’t have a home. It hurt, an empty, hollow pit in the center of her chest. When she told Rafe she wanted to go home, she’d simply meant go with him, anywhere.
Rafe had changed all that. She’d found a place with him that wasn’t a place at all, but a person. She’d found the one person on earth who wouldn’t judge her, doubt her, or use her. The one person who could love her unconditionally.
