“What?” Benedict’s head snapped up. “Why do you ask?”
“Just because he said he was coming... and he’s been overseeing my medication,” I reminded him faintly.
Benedict’s eyes stared deep into mine, and a rush of unease went through me.Crap.The good father really wasn’t feeling like himself. He was volatile and dangerous.
I wished Massimo was here. Suddenly, I was afraid.
“And? I’m the head of Hallow Hall, as of a few days ago, when some people decided they couldn’t handle the responsibility. I don’t need anyone interfering with my patients.” Benedict’s eyebrows drew together. “Come to think of it, all the problems started when Father Lucciano came here. Everything was fine before. Then that man arrived, and now everything is falling apart.”
He glanced around, a wild look in his eyes. He jerked open a drawer and pulled out a bottle and syringe.
Fuck.
“What did Pavol say you called Lucciano when you first met him?” Benedict rambled. “Lucifer?” He chuckled. “Maybe you were right on the money, Katarina. Let’s test that hypothesis.”
“Father, I think you should call Pavol or Massimo. You don’t seem well,” I said, trying to calm him.
His eyes widened as he processed my words.
“Massimo?” he repeated.
Oh no.I’d slipped up and called him Massimo.
Benedict stood abruptly, his chair screeching hard against thetiles. He dropped the bottle into his pocket, as well as the capped syringe, and went back to rooting around his drawer.
My heart hardly had time to calm before he took something else from the drawer.
A gun.
I stared at it in disbelief. Sure—was a gun really that surprising considering Benedict was a man who trafficked babies and sold organs on the black market? Not really. And yet, and yet... I was still shocked to see the weapon clutched in his hand.
“I think it’s time to test Father Lucciano’s allegiance.”
My heart seemed to jump to my mouth when he pointed the gun at me. “Get up. Now. You’re coming with me.”
Benedict marchedme through the infirmary wing of the institute, and we didn’t see a single soul. Not that anyone could have helped me except for Massimo, and he was nowhere to be seen.
We neared one of the operating rooms, and I came to a stop.
“Go on, go in.”
I shook my head. I had a terrible foreboding that if I went into that room, I’d never come out.
The gun pressed into my back, and Benedict spoke in my ear.
“Now. Or die right here.”
Vargas had told me that I was off-limits and that was why they hadn’t just gotten rid of me. And I’d believed him, because why else would they have kept me here alive for so long? But Benedict wasn’t acting like himself. I had no idea what to expect.
“Father!” a surprised voice said behind us.
Sister Vera. If there was anyone who wouldn’t help me here, it was her.
“Bring Father Lucciano, now,” Benedict snapped at the nun.
Whether or not she could see the gun pressed into my back, considering Benedict’s robes, I had no idea, but she scurried off anyway, presumably to follow his orders.
“Let’s see who Father Lucciano really is,” Benedict said, and pushed me toward the doors.