Chapter 26 #2
Lilith’s gaze fell down my waves of dark hair. Her tone was soft when she asked, “How am I supposed to believe you?”
I pointed in the direction of the church. “I’m not in there trying to convince her of anything, am I? It’s not Reverend Mother Veilentine’s pack on my shoulder, is it? I’ll go with you to Silent Damnation, Lilith. I love Howl Moor, I love this church and everyone in it, but I’ll go with you.”
Lilith took a small step forward. Sucking in a small breath, she tugged off her veil and shook out her blond hair. “What would possess you to do such a thing? To give up so much?”
“Because I… I think I…” The words lingered on the edge of my tongue, taunted forward by the depth of her blue gaze. My palm found her jaw as she reached to fidget with a long lock of my hair, twisting it around her finger.
Lilith’s eyelashes fluttered as she leaned forward on a heavy breath, our lips so close, I could feel the pulse of air between us. I stepped backward, my back hitting a tree, as Lilith put her hand on the bark above me, pinning me in.
Hair down and free.
Tunic covered and vowed.
Half holy.
Half woman.
Sliding my hand from her jaw, I lightly gripped her throat and pulled her forward, lips to mine, our bodies flush to each other.
The soft sound that fled her throat lit my soul on fire. My tongue darted into her mouth, flicking against hers, tasting in appreciation and awe. As our embrace deepened, she touched my face, pushing her kiss deeper, which I accepted greedily.
But then, her hand slicked against my cheek, leaving something wet and cold. When her touch retreated from my skin, I blinked my eyes open, in a daze from the lingering of her taste on my mouth. Lilith’s brows furrowed as she inspected me before quickly looking at her hand.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked in concern.
Lilith shook her head, her face growing pale.
“Say something,” I urged, reaching for her waist.
In a quick motion, Lilith flipped her palm over, revealing a shock of crimson red from fingertips to wrist.
Goosebumps chilled down my spine. “Is that… is that…”
“Blood,” Lilith answered lowly, as if for fear that someone, or something, could overhear us. “It’s on your cheek now.”
Reaching up, I touched my face, pulling away my fingers to behold the stain of red. Spinning around, I assessed the tree, pressing my touch into the grooves of the bark, finding blood etched into its surface. “Blood on the tree.”
“Just like that day at the lake,” Lilith answered. “What does it mean?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know… it’s dark, we should get back to Lost Souls.”
Lilith shook her head. “I can’t go back there. Not after what just happened. Not after all I’ve done… all I’ve hidden.”
“If you come out of hiding for me, if you trust me enough, I’ll move heaven and hell to protect you, Lilith.” I held up my palm. “Bloody hands and all.”
Lilith let out a shaky breath. “No, I can’t. There are people depending on me. I can’t let them down. I have to—”
A howl tore through the forest.
Lilith and I froze.
My pulse beat in my ears as I scanned the forest for the direction of the sound, waiting for the next horrifying bellow of the beast.
It was then another sound called out, only this wasn’t a howl—it was a scream. A guttural, wrenching scream, and it sounded close by. Way too close by.
My red-stained fingers wrapped around Lilith’s wrist as I dropped her bag. “We have to go—now.”
“I can’t—”
“You can and you will.” Yanking her down the path, she fought against me.
“No, they won’t take me back, Jezebella.”
“I’m not letting you die in the forest.” Another howl tore across the air in the distance. “It’s heard us. It’s closer.”
Lilith shook her head. “Let the monster have me.”
“What about a demon? Can a demon have you?”
Lilith’s face scrunched confused, before glancing nervously over her shoulder. “Sure, let the demon take me.”
“Okay,” I agreed, grabbing onto her waist.
“Wait, what—” Lilith beat her fists against my back and squirmed as I hoisted her over my shoulder. “Put me down!”
“You said a demon could have you, well, this is the demon you got.”
The wet bellow of a man echoed in the distance. I didn’t wait to assess from what direction before I took off running down the path. Lilith wiggled and fought, hitting against my back, but my only concern was getting us out of this godforsaken forest intact.
Stepping over gnarled tree roots and dodging stones in the dark, all while a pissed off barn cat of a nun writhed over my back, would have been amusing at any other time.
Finally, I reached the blessed exit, falling into the field and being crushed under Lilith’s weight.
She sat up, incensed. “Why did you do that?”
“Because you were about to be monster food! You’re welcome for saving your stubborn, wiggly ass.”
A voice spoke in the nearby distance. “Monster food? What do monsters eat?” Sister Delilyx asked, holding a wicker basket of flowers on her arm.
“What the hell are you doing out here in the dark?” I panted, pulling myself up to stand and brushing the grass off my tunic.
“Where’s your head coverings?” she asked.
I huffed. “They must have fallen off as we fled demons, sorry for my lack of proper nunnery.”
“You don’t have to snap, I’m just asking. Wait, there are demons in the woods?” Sister Delilyx kicked across the overgrown field to meet us.
Lilith crossed her arms, a long stalk of straw sticking out from her hair. “No, just a demon here in the field.” She glared at me as she said it, and I rolled my eyes.
“Apologies for saving your life, princess nun.”
“I’ll walk back with you guys,” Delilyx said, gripping her basket. It was then I noticed the rag tied around her knuckles. So did Lilith, and we glanced at each other the instant it caught our focus.
“Are you alright?” Lilith asked carefully.
Delilyx huffed. “I’m not the one running through the woods hollering about monsters and demons. Yes, I’m fine. Are you two over your fight yet? I need a baking buddy tonight. I want to bake muffins to pass out in town tomorrow.”
As we all trudged forward towards the beacons of red stained glass in the distance, I raised a quizzical eyebrow in Lilith’s direction. Who shrugged, as if to say she didn’t know what to say next. “Your hand, Delilyx. Did you hurt yourself?”
“Oh.” She glanced down. “I cut myself dicing walnuts for the muffins tomorrow. I got distracted by two nuns loudly arguing in the hall.” She shot us both an accusatory glare.
Lilith cringed. “What I said about… about Reverend Mother and Jezebella… I…”
“Don’t try to back down now,” Sister Delilyx said. “We all heard it. The whole church heard it.”
“God, I hope not the whole church. Did Father…”
Delilyx shook her head, moving her basket to the crook of her elbow after a small wince of pain, freeing up her injured hand.
Chopping walnuts, huh?
Delilyx continued. “Father Benedict stayed in his rectory all evening. You’re safe… well, from him at least.
I let out a sigh. “Right, Reverend Mother is going to have my ass for this one.”
“Literally,” Lilith joked.
Both Delilyx and I stopped, eyeing the nun, before letting out a laugh.
After drying my eyes, I said, “Well, if I’m about to die at the hands of a prioress, I’m glad we can at least joke around about it.”
I held open the iron gate, letting the two nuns in ahead of me. Lilith stalled a moment and asked Delilyx, “Did you not hear the sounds from the forest? Did they not frighten you as they did the other night when we were in the attic?”
Delilyx clutched her basket of flowers, hesitating for a moment. “We don’t know what we heard the other night, we were all very tired. Now, if you don’t mind, I have dozens of muffins to bake.” She stopped at the top of the stairs. “Care to join me?”
Lilith and I exchanged glances as I stepped up one porch step. I extended my palm. “Coming?”
Her eyes looked up towards the steeple of the big church before glancing back to the forest for a moment and finally looking up at me. “Okay.” Her palm landed in mine as we walked back into Lost Souls.