Chapter 18
Eighteen
Mercy
“Tawny nods. “Who’s first?”
I cover my eyes, then point at each of the four doors separating us from the men and sing Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe.
I end up on the one door I refuse to do first.
“Nope. He’s last.” Hands on hips, I glance at Raven. “Ideas?”
“What’s wrong with doing the priest?”
Tawny scoffs. “Of course she wants to do him.”
I poke her in the ribs. “For your information, he asked—nay, demanded to go first. Therefore, he will go last.”
“Serves him right,” she scoffs.
“Raven. Ideas?”
“Plenty. But none that are relevant to this.”
“Okay. Then … fuck it. Let’s just do Wes first, then Zeke, then the Saint, and Big Dick Energy goes last.”
“Sounds good.” Raven’s already stalking toward Wesley’s door.
“What’s the plan of attack?” Tawny scurries after us.
“I’ll be the lie detector,” I say, “and you two can do Good Cop, Bad Cop.”
“I’m the Good Cop, right?” Raven waggles her brows.
“What gave it away?” I intone and unlock the door. “The colorful hair or your winning personality?”
“Both.”
We file into the room, and I lock it behind me, slipping the key into my bra.
Wesley sits on the floor, surrounded by books. His blond hair is ruffled, his glasses are crooked, and his suit is crumpled as if he slept in it. He glances up.
“How’s Thea?” His knuckles are blanching where he grips the book.
“She’s doing fine.”
He exhales. “That’s good.”
Raven sits on the cot and pats the spot beside her, smiling sweetly. “Take a seat, Mr. Wesley.”
“I thought you were joking,” Tawny hisses at Raven. “I’m supposed to be Good Cop.”
Well, this is going swimmingly.
“Don’t be shy, Wes.” Raven pats again. Her grin is more shark than sugar.
“What the bloody hell is going on?” He gives the spot a dubious look.
“We’re interrogating you,” I reply. “Obviously.”
“Right.” He clears his throat, straightens his spectacles, and slowly gets to his feet, wincing at the stiffness in his joints.
I can relate, buddy.
He hands me a stack of papers. “Translated this last night. Some interesting new developments.”
“Thanks.” I hand the papers to Tawny.
“Wesley,” Raven snaps, punching the bed. “Here. Now.”
“I’m not a bloody dog.” He huffs and shuffles over.
“Good boy,” she coos.
He begrudgingly sits.
I kneel at his feet and hold out my hands, palm up. “Your wrists.”
He squares his jaw. “What are you doing now?”
“Lie detector.”
“Oh.” And just like that, he gives me his hands. “Right-oh. Ask away.”
I press my fingers over his pulse points, a little miffed that he acquiesced so easily.
Tawny stands at my shoulder. Raven leans into Wesley’s side, breathing in his personal space until he flicks her an awkward glance.
“Don’t mind me,” she purrs. “I’m checking your aura.”
“You can do that?”
“I can do many things, scholar.”
“Wesley.” I bring his focus back to me. “Tell me what you know of the Vatican’s plans for the Hildegard Sisterhood.”
“You know what I know. The official mission was to investigate you lot, gain your trust, and assess for a demonic infestation. Apart from that, it was to take over the heretical organization and to send all worthy relics back to Rome for safekeeping.” He clears his throat.
“And yes, they wanted you gone. But … not dead. As far as I know.”
His pulse stays steady.
Raven takes his glasses and inspects them. “So, you’re basically assassins with better laundry service.”
“Oi.” He tries to snatch them, but I hold him steady by the wrists. “Give them back.”
“Answer the question.”
“No, we’re not assassins.” He scowls. “Not for humans, anyway.”
“You sure?”
“Yes!” His lip twitches. “Unless you count spreadsheets as weapons.”
We girls deadpan.
“Do you?” Tawny leans in close, and I want to laugh because her expression is serious.
“Um. No?”
Raven gets up, kicks the desk chair closer, and straddles it backward, arms crossed over the backrest to face him.
“I don’t buy that’s all you know,” she declares.
“The priest is Entity. You said it yourself. You also didn’t even know he was a spy, while simultaneously working under another superior from their secret boys’ club.
Seems they’re playing multiple angles. Seems they’re hiding something big.
Something you might be afraid to say, knowing what they do to traitors. ”
The chair creaks as she leans closer to him, unblinking, staring.
Wesley’s Adam’s apple bobs. “To be honest, I’m shit scared of what they’ll do to me for stealing Mary’s Gospel. You know that.”
“Okay,” she counters, “then tell us something we don’t know.”
Raven slides his spectacles back on his face—upside down. I don’t let him move to adjust them.
“Now you’re being ridiculous.” He shrugs. “How am I supposed to know what you don’t know?”
“Honey,” I purr, swiping my thumbs over his wrists. “We haven’t even begun ridiculous.”
Tawny nods emphatically, her ponytail bouncing. “That’s another tactic altogether.”
“You’ve all gone mad.” He lifts his gaze to the ceiling. “And I really do need to take a piss.”
“It sounds like, for a Vatican-educated scholar, that you don’t know much at all, Wesley.” I tilt my head. “Are you holding back information?”
Scratching at the door draws our attention. It stops. Starts again. A shadow darkens the gape beneath the door. My eyes narrow. “What is that?”
“Probably Jinx,” Wesley sighs. “Poor thing’s been trying to get in all night, but the door is locked.”
More scratching, this time wilder and insistent.
“I’ll get it.” Tawny swipes the key from my bra before I can stop her and bounces over to the door.
“Wait!” I shout, but she unlocks faster than sound travels.
The door opens. In bolts the mini, frilled speed-demon. She zips in and stops, then lifts her head, and fans out her fishy frills as if there’s danger. But with a quick look around the room, she relaxes. She pads toward Wesley, serpentine tail wagging, and then pounces like lightning.
“Dammit.” His wrists are ripped from my hands, and he falls back beneath the weight with the demon licking his face.
“Blech—Jinx.” His glasses topple as he turns his head to avoid more licking. “Love, stop.”
“Lock the door,” I growl at Tawny. While she does that, I grab the slippery animal and bring her face to mine. “Babe. We’re in the middle of serious Sinner business here.”
She hangs limply and has the nerve to look repentant.
“It’s those damn liquid eyes,” Raven coos. “Too cute. Aren’t you a cutie pie?”
We all freeze. Blink.
I stare at her. “Did you just use baby talk?”
“Shut the fuck up.” Her brows snap down. “Just leave the demon alone, okay?”
She looks like she wants to say more, but frowns and goes to look out the window.
I sigh and put Jinx down on the bed. “Behave, and you can stay.”
Once she’s settled and the key is back in my bra, I give Wesley my best smile.
It’s fine. We’re doing this on purpose. This is part of the plan.
“Now, I believe you owe us an answer, Wesley.” I press my fingers into his wrists. “Are you holding back information about your mission here? What aren’t you telling us about Father Angelotti?”
His pulse skips. “You think he betrayed us, don’t you? I hope not. I don’t think he did … but he’s a private man. He shares nothing with us, really, and he’s the only one who’s plugged directly into Rome. The rest of us are just soldiers. Pawns.”
“Continue,” I prompt when he takes a breather.
“We get our marching orders with little context. Honestly, we work in silos. It’s bloody frustrating how much secrecy is within those walls. Sometimes, no one knows why things are done except the Pope himself.”
I let him go, and he scrubs his hand through his hair. Tawny and Raven look at me, and I shrug. “It checks out with what I found in Cisco’s phone. All they do is ask questions, and each contact doesn’t seem to know what the others do.”
“See?” Wesley pulls his glasses off and wipes the lenses with his rumpled shirt. “It’s like the blind leading the blind.”
“I think he knows more.” Raven narrows her eyes at him.
“Do you?” I ask him.
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Maybe you’ll tell the truth after a full cavity search.” Raven offers a feral grin.
His eyes go huge. “Wha—what?”
Raven’s gaze drops to his waistband. “I can be thorough.”
He pulls his knees together. “Bloody hell. What’s got into you lot? I don’t keep any secrets from Thea. Not after, you know, I almost died so she could live.”
“What about what Jaz said?” I ask. “The massacre in Spain? The other Sisterhood chapters are closing because of Team Saint?”
He hesitates. “As I said, I knew about the closures … but what she said last night about the murder shocked me. I had no idea those ‘purists’ even existed. I went to the pontifical university, and still I never knew. Rome’s dirty little secrets tend to stay buried.”
After Wesley puts his spectacles back on, I take his wrists again. “Why would Jaz want to kill you on sight?”
“Don’t you think I’ve been asking the same thing all night?” Wide, haunted eyes meet mine. “Thea took a blade meant for me, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. Why would she do that?” His voice cracks. “She knows the staff won’t work on her. She could have died. Why?”
“Because she loves you, Wes,” Tawny murmurs.
“It was stupid!” he growls, and I feel the truth of it in his pulse. “She was a fool to risk her life for me.”
He looks away, but I catch the glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes.
I let go and sit back, glancing at the girls. Tawny shrugs. Raven flattens her lips.
“Huddle.” I gesture for them to join me near the door. We put our heads together and I whisper, “What do you think?”
“For a scholar, he knows nothing,” Raven mumbles.
“He’s too whipped to be our enemy,” Tawny adds. “It’s obvious.”
“Agreed.” I sigh. “Thea is irresistible. It’s definitely love.”
“And this is getting nowhere,” Raven says.
“Let’s give it one more crack,” I suggest. “Tackle this from another angle. Ideas?”
“We haven’t actually done Good Cop, Bad Cop yet.” The hope in Tawny’s eyes is too hard to resist.
“Or cavity searches.”
I stare at her. She’s serious. “Your obsession is unhealthy, Raven.”
She grins. “I’m just getting warmed up.”
I thrum my fingers on their backs, thinking. “Okay, what about what we did that time in Constantinople with the Sheik?”
Tawny raises her brows. “You mean the ‘Three-Two-One’ or the ‘Why So Serious?’”
“Why So Serious.”
Raven shrugs. “I mean, he is kind of acting constipated.”
“Let’s do it then.” My lips curve.
“Yes.” Tawny stomps.
Raven claps. “It’s on.”
Jinx lifts her head at the sound. We break and return to Wesley, looking as serious as ever, but the instant I take his wrists, we bombard him with ridiculous questions.
“Be honest,” I say. “Do you use that posh accent in bed or does Thea just laugh at you?”
He coughs. “What?”
“Do you ever wish you were actually interesting?” Raven asks.
Tawny leans toward him. “Do you practice looking like a lost puppy in the mirror, or is this just your default face?”
I always knew Jinx was one of ours. She senses the energy and joins the chaos, leaping from Wesley’s lap to run laps around the room. Without skipping a beat, we continue our tirade.
“On a scale of one to heretic,” I say, “how Vatican-approved were your last Google searches?”
Raven holds up a Bible. “Explain this. Why does it have smudged lipstick and a phone number on page sixty-nine?”
“Where?” He reaches for it. “Show me.”
Tawny gets in his face. “You ever used the phrase ‘for research purposes’ and actually meant it?”
Wesley stares at us as if we’ve entered another dimension.
“Answer the question,” I demand.
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
But before he can, I ask, “Is Father Angelotti here to murder us?”
“No!” he answers truthfully. But then he scoffs.
“Do I think he’s capable of it? Absolutely.
He’s the most dangerous man I know.” He goes quiet.
“But as I said, he keeps everything locked down so tight, I wouldn’t be surprised if his secrets have secrets …
but—” He shakes his head, eyes downcast. “He would never agree to murder innocent people. He went to prison to avoid doing that.”
I let the silence hang. It’s heavy, awkward, and kind of disappointing. Sensing the shift in the mood, Jinx slows to a trot, panting softly.
Raven finally sighs. “You’re boring, Wes. I expected more from you.”
He shrugs, resigned. “Sorry.”
“You really are one of the good guys.” Tawny scrunches her nose.
“Alright, you’re off the hook.” I give Jinx a quick pat and then walk to the door.
Wesley looks like he might faint from relief. “Can I take a piss now?”
“Sure.” I pull the key from my bra and unlock. “Next time, try to have a scandalous secret.”
“Or at least brush your hair.” Raven cackles.
Tawny gives his arm a little squeeze, as if she can’t help herself. “Go see Thea … but don’t collect two hundred dollars when you pass Go, okay?”
He frowns. “You lot are actually barmy, aren’t you?”
“Certified.” My face deadpans.
He looks between us, unsure if this is still an act.
“Um. Right. I’m just going to … yep, leave.”
“But not the country,” Raven reminds.
He side-eyes me on the way past. “We’ll talk about those new prophecy lines later.”
I stop him, click my fingers at Tawny, and she hands me the papers. I hand them to Wes. “First, talk it over with Thea.”
I see it in his eyes that he knows what this really means. He’s one of us. We trust him. Decision made.
When he’s gone, I turn to the others. “Time for the next sacrificial lamb.”