“Alek!” Tor roared, catching his brother just as he toppled forward.
There was no response.
“What’s wrong with him?” Pan asked, casting his eyes around as the ghosts crept ever closer.
“I don’t know,” I gritted out, already fearing the worst. “But we can’t wait around and figure it out.”
Tor gave me a terse nod and adjusted his hold, slinging his brother over his shoulder. Alek didn’t crumple but remained stiff as a board.
I picked up Pan, holding him in my free arm as I took off at a dead run. Tor was hot on my heels as we made our way to the exit, the spirits’ screams near deafening as we approached freedom. I didn’t dare look back.
Relief flooded my veins as soon as we were across the border, Tor and I sharing matching looks of astonishment that we’d survived. The mission hadn’t exactly gone smoothly, and things were only going from bad to worse.
As if I had tempted fate with the thought, Pan began seizing in my arms.
“Fuck.”
With a final burst of adrenaline, I slammed into Tor, teleporting our group back to our sanctuary. We arrived in a tangle of limbs, the four of us hitting the floor. Hard.
There was a flurry of movement as people gathered around us. Snapping my head up, I caught the dark blue eyes of the priest.
“Help us.”
Chapter
Twenty-Three
CALEB
My lips moved near silently as I repeated the words of the prayer, my fingers drifting over the well-worn wooden beads of my rosary.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” The words were all but swallowed up by the noise of the room, but I’d claimed a space for myself in the corner of the main living area, needing something to do to calm my mind while we waited for the others to return.
“Blessed art thou among women.”
It may have been decades since I served as a priest, but the words and the ritual never failed to ground me and offer peace.
“And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”
The sound of footsteps approaching was impossible to ignore, as was the shadow that passed across my eyelids, but I did my best.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.”
There was a snicker, followed by a voice that immediately set me on edge. “I do believe this is what one might refer to as ironic.”
“Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
I opened my eyes to find Lucifer smirking down at me.
“Amen,” he said, the lone word filled with irreverent glee.
“What do you want?”
I tucked the rosary away and stood to my full height, bringing the two of us eye-to-eye. The devil was not intimidated, but I didn’t expect him to be.
“Why are you praying to Him? You know he’s not there. We’ve all told you as much.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”