Chapter Forty
T he mission was simple. Meet with the former priest named Abraham and have him help decipher the prophecy. So why did we need a backup plan? According to Father Benedict, we were exiting blessed lands placed on the school grounds to protect staff and the students. Anything beyond the perimeter became dangerous and unpredictable, especially demon activity. Since we were still in training and leaving without supervision, it all came down to the skills Josh provided from his years of experience and my measly four days.
Baron and Chloe were on standby, the only other two allowed to know about the mission. Josh fought with Father about it, stating he trusted them more than any other member, but Father wanted it contained, especially from Captain Harrison, so I understood his hesitation.
We did receive word that Emilia made a full recovery but no other information on how the two other members died.
Josh voiced his suspicion with Father while getting ready. “I don’t care how well he’s trained or the years of experience he’s given the Order. Having two others die with him as leader doesn’t sit right with me.”
“I advise you to pay close attention to Cillian,” said Father.
Collin returned with my polished dagger. “Thanks,” I said. “I had a hard time removing the Magidoz residue.”
“A little pure acetone does the trick,” he stated.
Who would’ve thought?
Father wrote the prophecy on a piece of paper, giving Josh the job of keeping it safe. “I will pray for safe travels, and keep close to one another.”
Leaving the comfort of campus grounds, all we had was a prophecy and a hunch as Josh and I concealed ourselves, walking through a sea of people who had no clue we walked among them.
116th Street had the closest MTA, so the walk gave us some time to prepare and ease my stupid nerves. “Is he expecting us?”
“I assume so. I’m sure Father Benedict gave him the heads up,” said Josh.
“If not?”
“Then we’ll find out, won’t we?”
From the outside, it looked rather quaint, but upon entering, we noticed rather quickly that wasn’t the case.
A few lights were dim, flickering, trying to stay on for dear life. Josh took the lead, weaving through dusty furniture and debris from the ceiling. The living room was eerie, creating goosebumps underneath my cape and sending shivers down my spine. Dust covered every piece of furniture, right down to the silverware in the kitchen. Judging by the amount built up, nobody had lived there in months.
“I don’t get it. Father said he would be here,” I said, swiping a finger over the coffee table, a lump of dust on the tip of my finger.
“And yet,” Josh paused, blowing a heap of dust off the top shelf of a bookcase, a cloud of it filling the air, “nobody’s home.”
Patting the couch cushions, more dust puffed in the air, filling my lungs and making me cough. “You don’t say.”
Rolling his eyes, Josh motioned for me to follow, bow raised, arrow in position. I unsheathed my dagger, keeping a firm grip on the pommel, tagging closely behind his tall stature.
The further we moved through the house, the darker it became. Dust floated in the air from our steps on the carpet, tickling the back of my throat. “I don’t think Father Benedict told him we were coming.”
“Yes, I’m beginning to think that as well.” His tone dipped in sarcasm almost making me step on the back of his shoe.
Circling back to the front, we decided to ascend the stairs, taking our time and making sure no ounce of noise was made in the process. The walls were empty, just ugly wallpaper covering every inch of the second floor. Reaching the top, Josh leaned against the railing, lowering his bow, his brows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t get it. Everything is here. The furniture… even the dishes are stacked neatly, but the person who lives here is missing.”
From where we stood, the hall extended further down, showing a single window at the end, fading sunlight trickling in.
Suddenly, my dagger began to glow that same golden hue around the blade.
That was when the glass shattered, a body tumbling inside.
Weapons at the ready, before us stood something of human form, only its skin sagged, yellow eyes wild with rage, and blood dripping from its revolting set of teeth.
Drarkoth muttered Josh.
Patches of hair were missing on its scalp, bruises tatted spots along the cheeks, and its clothes were shredded and muddy from wherever it came from, bare feet stepping on glass from the window.
But nothing sent the hairs on my arms rising faster than the noise that came out of its mouth. A screech so terrorizing that my stomach turned inside out.
Remember what I said about them? quizzed Josh.
I nodded, reciting his words. The most human-looking abomination to walk the planet.
Yes. A ritual creates them, stripping them of their humanity until all they have left is an empty void inside their minds. They become mad and starve for blood, he informed. And he looks hungry .
Right on cue, the Drarkoth stalked forward, its pace picking up until it sprinted down the hall full-on, emitting a sound so horrific it could have curdled milk.
The fueled nightmare jumped, about to land mouth first, when Josh and I rolled in opposite directions. Josh fired an arrow, piercing its shoulder, and dark blood seeped from the wound. I watched it rip the arrow out, throwing it at my head.
I dodged just in time, and it barely missed my ear as it pierced the ugly wallpaper. “Well, that was rude.”
“Please, don’t have a conversation with that thing ,” complained Josh, knocking another arrow back.
It hissed, catching me by the cape, the sound of it tearing down my back. Driving my elbow back, the crunch of bone to its chin was enough to stun the foul thing. Dipping low, I kicked a leg out, knocking the Drarkoth on its ass.
Seconds from ending the fucker’s life, the same ear-piercing screech came from the first floor.
Don’t hesitate! Kill it now! ordered Josh.
Just as the tip of my blade pierced skin, the second Drarkoth came into view, and two more appeared seconds after. The others were just as homely. One even had a missing eye, both wearing the same battered clothes, blood staining their faces.
Three against two.
Finishing the job, I worked in the limited space, catching the eye of a second Drarkoth at the top of the stairs. Josh had already removed himself, firing arrows left and right, hitting different limbs.
I got the last two. Don’t keep your eyes off the one in front, instructed Josh.
Got it.
My dagger glowed triumphantly, and wielding the blade in close combat, I battled the next Drarkoth, slicing its throat two seconds into our fight. Blood oozed from the wound, and it began choking dramatically. I kicked the ugly son of a bitch over the railing, its head smacking on the floor.
But when one fell, two more took its place.
I kicked another in the chest, my boot creating a dusty imprint. We’re going to get overrun.
Josh grunted with each arrow that was fired. Well aware . We need to find Father Abraham’s prayer room.
I stabbed another Drarkoth, this time in between those ghastly yellow eyes. I didn’t know priests had them in their homes.
Do you trust me? An arrow flew into its eye, blood squirting everywhere.
Do I have a choice?
His answer never came because he was too busy retrieving one of the makeshift bombs in his quiver. Fighting back as much as I could, Josh turned it on, lights flashing, beeping noises coming from the contraption.
Duck!
In a matter of seconds, Josh tossed the bomb right into the mob of Drarkoths, hitting one directly in the head. He dragged me with him until our backs hit the window at the far end of the hallway.
That was when the bomb went off.
Covering our heads, debris flew in every direction, body parts in pieces scattered throughout.
That was our chance to move.
Josh searched vigorously, for what I had no idea, but I watched his hand glide against the wall, almost as if he were searching for some secret knob to get him out. I stood frozen, afraid to even try and help, figuring I’d distract him, when a light tap came from his knuckles, indicating a hollow surface just beyond the wallpaper.
“Yes,” he whispered in triumph. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a switchblade, cutting a perfectly neat square and revealing a small brass handle. Josh pulled with just enough force to unstick the door, where an even smaller room with a dirty window sat untouched.
“We’ll hide until the coast is clear,” he said, rushing inside.
I hesitated for just a second when another bang shook the walls. Not wanting to see what was coming, I dashed inside; Josh shut the door quietly and propped an old wooden chair against the doorknob.
“What kind of room is this?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“Monks would have secret rooms to pray in if they lived away from the church. Although, this room seems pretty empty and unusual,” he explained.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Because no one is allowed in but them, not even family.”
“But the rest of the house…?”
“Yeah, I can’t make sense of it either.”
The space was a lot smaller than I’d anticipated. Josh and I were almost chest to chest, with just enough room to move to the window and just enough late afternoon light to illuminate the space, and that didn’t include the tiny desk pushed up against the wall by the window.
“The window is sealed shut,” he whispered. His minty breath fanned my face.
“Great,” I replied a little too loud. Josh covered my mouth again, smiling.
I stifled a laugh under his palm, my body shaking from my muffled giggles. He rolled his eyes at my attempt to stay quiet, removed his hand, and hissed.
“Shit.” A deep gash oozed on his left arm, and some of the fabric of his shirt was missing.
Not thinking twice about it, knowing my cape was already damaged, I tore a piece off with my teeth, wrapping the wound. “Better?”
He smiled, dust on his cheeks. “Much.” Then he took a piece of debris from my hair. “I’m so proud of you.”
Hearing him say those words, out in the open, not in my head, made my heart swell. “For not getting us killed?” I joked.
Josh tapped the tip of my nose. “No, silly. I’m proud of you because you’re becoming someone I knew you would be.”
“And that is?”
He tucked my hair back behind an ear. “Someone of strength and courage. All those doubts and fears of the unknown that plagued your mind, I barely hear them anymore.”
“Might be because I’m good at shutting you out now. I almost shit myself when the Drarkoth screamed.”
Josh chuckled, leaning his forehead against mine. “So brave, so fierce .”
His words caressed my heart, filling it with pride, matching the tempo of our rhythmical breaths. Suddenly, my focus wasn’t on the dangers outside the room. Instead, it was on his eyes. Blue as the ocean, swirls of darker hues burned into me like a white-hot branding iron. Josh’s hands slowly descended from my shoulders down my arms, giving me a sensation like no other. All this time, training, studying, and our time together seemed so insignificant, yet at that moment, for the first time, he was all I wanted. At that moment, I felt something much more powerful than the Lord himself.
Because even at the height of danger, I wanted only him to protect me.
“Fuck this,” he breathed.
His distraction from my lips disrupted my attention, and as if the stars finally aligned, his mouth crashed on mine. His hands left my arms to grip my waist, pulling me closer to him as if the small space between us tortured the need for one another. Reaching for his face, our lips matched, perfectly in sync, and the explosion of my emotions overwhelmed me in the best way. Breathy moans filled the air, and the heat of our bodies plastered together. Josh held me tight against him; not getting enough of my touch seemed to intensify our kissing. Pulling my hood back, he intertwined his hands through my hair, fully controlling my mouth. I found myself gripping his shirt, and if that chair wasn’t propped against the doorknob, we would already have been on it. Every ounce of me knew how wrong it was, but my heart screamed something else.
Josh’s calloused hands made their way down my waist, where he took it upon himself to hoist me up on the small desk. Our kisses became frantic, and his tongue invaded my mouth, the sensation curling my toes and engulfing my already heated core.
“Josh,” I moaned, only for him to snuff it out with more kissing.
He devoured me until my head spun. “I can’t stop, Remi.” His words were breathless as if strained from holding back.
I needed him like the goddamn desert needed the rain.
And more.
More?
I nearly lost my shit when his voice filled my head. When I didn’t answer right away, he continued, his tongue claiming mine. Tell me what you want.
But how could I when he was seconds away from swallowing me whole?
Catching on, he slowed down, giving us a second to get some air. “Tell me what you want more of. Tell me…” he paused, his throat bobbing from a hard swallow.
I guided his hand to the front of my belt, making sure he knew exactly how I wanted more. “I want you to touch me.”
With half-closed eyes and swollen lips, he undid the buckle, pulling it free from the loops and tossing it aside. Kneeling before me, he reached for the waistband of my pants. “Lift that perfect ass.”
I did as he said, using my hands to keep balance on the table while he tugged down my pants and underwear to my ankles.
Josh inhaled sharply. “ Remi. ”
Breathing heavily, I spread my legs a little wider, his pupils were blown out, mouth hanging slightly open. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not the prophecy, not the Order, not even the demons possibly lurking outside the tiny room.
All that mattered was us.
Still on his knees, Josh began to trail kisses up my right inner thigh. Rolling my eyes, I gripped the edge of the table for support, breathing erratically and moans escaping my swollen lips.
Slow and torturous, he moved to the left, stopping, a sensual smile almost sending me over the edge. “Josh, please. ”
“So needy,” he purred, blowing cool air where I wanted his mouth, making me squirm with need. Fisting his hair, I tried to push his mouth closer, but he only laughed, fighting against me.
Panting, Josh slipped one finger in between my folds, trailing down my entrance until that one finger slipped inside, and then another, until three were inside me. “That’s my girl, already so wet.”
I nearly folded then, my wetness soaking his hand as he pumped in and out. I rocked against his palm with each thrust of his fingers, that intense coiling sensation beginning to form in my core, tightening by the second.
Using his thumb, he circled my clit, heightening the sensation, electrifying my nerves, my skin aflame with desire. That was when his mouth took over.
His tongue swirled while his fingers worked, the combination so deadly that I rocked faster, the desk slamming hard against the wall behind me. Leaning my head back against the windowsill, I moaned, never letting go of his hair, getting lost in the way he took control.
He growled from my whimpers. “You taste exquisite.”
“Don’t you dare stop,” I warned breathlessly.
He chuckled, swirling his tongue once more, my clit throbbing, begging for release. Pressure built faster this time, bracing for that tight coil to snap.
As I ground against his mouth, he removed his hands from inside, only to lift me by the ass until I perched on his strong jaw. Squeezing and kneading my ass, along with that fucking tongue, my control snapped, the coil springing free into an intense orgasm, my shouts of pleasure filling the small space we shared.
I most likely blew our cover, but I didn’t care, not after what we had done. What he did.
Coming down from the high, Josh gently put my underwear and pants on; he even funneled the belt back through the loops and buckled it. His mouth was glossy from my wetness, and I brushed my thumb over his bottom lip, cleaning the leftovers, only for him to stare right into my soul, licking the fingers he used clean, my mouth slightly agape.
I could have come again after that.
I ran my fingers through his curls, his eyes closing, sighing deeply. He looked so peaceful. “You touching me is like—”
“Josh? Remi?” yelled Chloe.
Suddenly, the world seemed to shatter beneath our feet, causing a catastrophic disaster.
We pulled apart, realizing what we had done.
I tried to regain control of my breathing and smoothed down my clothes and hair, afraid of making it even more apparent.
Josh readjusted himself before peeking through the door crack, then slowly removed the chair.
“In here!” he called.
Baron entered first, hugging Josh. “Dude, you’ve been gone for two hours.”
Chloe surveyed the small space, her eyes eventually landing on me, suspicion on her face. “Quite a mess you both made out there.”
“Never leave the campus without a bomb,” laughed Josh, avoiding where I stood.
“I’m guessing no sign of Father Abraham, then?” questioned Chloe, never taking her eyes off me.
“No,” I managed to say, my voice somewhat hoarse. “Empty upon arrival.”
“We should probably head out before any more show up,” Baron advised.
Josh didn’t look my way when he left with Baron, and my heart sank further into my stomach.
I couldn’t take back what I’d done, but I also couldn’t bask in the glory of how it felt, not when he still belonged to Nickie.