It wasn’t ice water I felt this time. It was fire. The fire of betrayal and doubt, and determination to save my family, which is what Julia had become while I wasn’t even looking. I didn’t know why Olexander would be harboring the only weapon that could harm us. Right now, I didn’t need to know. I carefully placed the dagger in the empty sheath on my belt. I had new resolve. I was done trusting anyone. I would perform the ritual the way I’d been taught on Rebecca, then I would go and find Julia, and I was completely prepared to kill anyone who got in my way.
I lit the seven candles in a circle around Rebecca’s body counterclockwise. I hated to rush, but time was of the essence. I lit the herbs one by one dropping them into the censer and began chanting. I placed the cross on her cold forehead and my dominant hand on her heart. I continued to chant the Latin very quickly. I was unsurprised how easily I remembered every word. This is who I was. I could feel her sins gathering. They were heavy, and she was much older than I had thought. I spoke the final words, Ne Cede Malis, yield not to evil, removed the cross and kissed her on the forehead.
It felt as if a hundred heavy boulders were crushing my whole body. I felt every sin screaming in my head. I was on the floor and my head felt like it would explode. I willed myself not to scream. I didn’t want an audience. Slowly the pain began to recede. I was lying on the bloody floor unable to move. Yes, I had seriously misjudged her age. Rebecca had been well over a thousand years old. I was lucky to have survived it. I’d never taken the sins of another Collector before. I lay there unmoving, trying to collect my thoughts until I felt I could get up. I slowly gathered up my things and returned them to their box. I caught sight of myself in the mirror, white as a ghost and covered in blood. I was focused for as weak as I felt. I also felt a trickle of new energy, as if some of Rebecca’s power had seeped into me. I went back to my room shoving the elaborate box into my purse, leaving it sit on the bed. I retrieved my riding jacket, to cover the blade on my belt.
I walked calmly to the deck and was surprised to see both Billy and Olexander already glowing bright. I wasn’t even trying but I could see their auras clear as day. Then I remembered what Rebecca had said. I wasn’t the only one who could see people’s true colors. I smiled pleased with the assist. There was only one problem. Both men were the same throbbing red. The sun would be rising soon and time was passing too quickly. Neither Billy, nor Olexander seemed to know what to say as they stared at me wide eyed. I may have had a bit more blood on me than I previously thought.
“What do we know?”
“I cannot seem to reach Nela. William has found a few hotels where the Castus could be hiding, but we have no way of knowing which hotel.” Olexander spoke as he paced back and forth.
“So in summation, we have nothing?” I felt the fury bubbling over. Every minute they had Julia and Thomas they were closer to death, and I wasn’t performing any more rituals tonight. No more people I cared about were going to die. I looked at Olexander and Billy. There were just too many variables, and I couldn’t risk trusting either one of them. I felt the tears behind my eyes and this time I didn’t stop them from overflowing. I rushed to Billy, hugging him tight around the waist. He seemed shocked by my sudden display of emotion, but still gripped me tightly. I took a deep breath and stepped back, the cool object encased in my hand.
“I think we should go back to the hostel and try to pick up the trail from there.” Olexander said with a hint of disgust in his voice. I nodded, and acted as if I was only now realizing my own appearance.
“I think I should change into something a bit less macabre before we go, it will be daylight soon.” I whispered.
“Yes, of course.” Olexander said, and Billy gave me a nod. I took one long look at both of them before I headed back to my room. I locked my bedroom door before opening my hand exposing the shiny silver cell phone. I was hoping it would be a while before Billy noticed it missing. I went to the call log, and dialed the unfamiliar number that was the only one stored. She answered on the third ring and I instantly recognized her heavy Italian accent.
“Billy what is going on?”
“Where are you keeping the little girl?” I asked. It seemed silly to waste time on pleasantries.
“Who is this, where is Billy?” The woman asked irritated.
“Billy is gone. It’s just me now. The man you took from the house, where is he?”
“Of course, it is you, Billy’s poco fiore. The man we took is dead and burned. We took the wrong one of course, but we kill any abomination despite the circumstance of how they fall into our laps.”
It all clicked into place. Billy hadn’t wanted Olexander and I to go into the house together, not because he feared for my safety, but because Olexander was supposed to be outside. He was supposed to have been taken, not Thomas.
“I want the girl back.”
“If you want your precious piccolo sorella back, you’re going to have to come and get her.”
“Just tell me where,” I seethed.
“Go to the Lavapies, the third alley past the fountain, it will be abandoned this time of day, come alone poco fiore.” I heard her phone click shut.
Come alone. It was almost funny seeing as how I couldn’t think of who I would bring with me. I needed to keep my priorities straight. I would find Julia, kill any Castus I could find, especially the Italian bitch, and then I would come back and deal with Billy and Olexander’s lies. I grabbed my purse, heavy with the bejeweled box and several more knives, and quietly climbed down the side of the ship, so no one would see me go.
Chapter 15
I walked down the steep alley steps until I reached an old wooden door. It was, I assumed, the basement of one of the pubs or clothing stores lining the street above. I reached for the knob, knowing it wouldn’t be locked. I was a guest after all, and entered the damp stone room. It was very dark. Most people would have thought the room empty, but I could feel the sins there. The black scrim of murder filled my throat, as if I had inhaled smoke.
“Show yourself,” I said, and the bravery in my voice caught me off guard. I hoped that the woman would believe it genuine courage. Suddenly a fluorescent light flicked on. Dull at first and then glowing with intensity. A door across from me opened.
“No need to shout Collector,” said the woman with the thick accent. She was most definitely human, easily six feet tall, with a lean and toned body. Her hair hung loose and was very dark, almost as dark as mine was, but it had one or two grays. I suspected she was in her early thirties at the very least. Her olive skin tone complimented her brown eyes nicely. She was wearing black BDU pants and a tight knit turtleneck, as well as a black pea coat that hung down to her knees. The hood sat neatly on the top of her head, carefully tucked, so as not to mess up her hair. Anyone would have found the woman utterly stunning. I would have too if not for the thick black fog that seemed to encompass her.
“Who are you and where is Julia?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“I am Angeline. The child is safe for now, right down the hall if you must know. We have never had this particular problem before. She is human, but one day will not be. We haven’t decided what to do with her yet. How strange you really came all by yourself to meet me.”
“Yeah well, I have trust issues.” I said wryly. I wanted to know everything; I wanted to keep her talking. This was ending tonight. If I had to bleed her dry, I would find out who had stood against us. She looked at me with a curious expression.
“Don’t you have back up coming?” I asked, hoping I still sounded brave.
She chuckled, “they can be called if I need them.” She paced slowly as if she was studying me.
“You are very much like William was, at first.” She smiled at me then, and it made me sick to my stomach.
“What about William?” The thought of his traitorous deeds filled me with hatred.
“When we killed the woman, Clara was her name I believe. He had the unfortunate luck to have witnessed the whole bloody ordeal
. Months later, he stood right where you are standing now, thirsty for vengeance. Of course this was, about seven years ago now. He too was foolish enough to come alone, thinking our numbers were few and fleeting.”
She gave me another wicked smile. I had the desire to carve it right off her face.
“Our leader, Quinlan, wanted to kill him immediately, but I convinced him having a Collector on our side would be of great use. It only took a month of poking and prodding to break your William. Soon it was like having our own little bloodhound. He would sniff out a Collector and we would kill them, and in exchange he got to keep his life.”
She stopped pacing to look at me, trying to gauge if I was at my breaking point, if I was ready for the inevitable fight. I willed myself calm, there was still information I needed. She took a deep breath and began pacing again. Maybe I would start by breaking her kneecaps.
“We lost track of your William three months ago. We thought we’d lost him for good, until suddenly, just a few weeks ago one of our informants saw our missing bloodhound checking into the Fitzwilliam hotel with a beautiful dark haired woman. Connor is so young, and not our brightest recruit, but he blends in so easily, you probably don’t even remember him.”
I did remember him, the bellhop, but I remained silent, I wanted her to keep talking.
“I had to see for myself of course, and when I saw my little puppy I left a note for him at the front desk. It was a very colorful and persuasive note, describing in detail how I planned to kill you both and so he met with me that very evening.”
She was very pleased with herself. Maybe I would cut her heart out while it was still beating.
“He really is a sentimental fool, choosing to hide in Dublin. He helped us kill the boy that very night, what was his name?”
She stopped pacing and looked at me. I remembered the newspaper article spread out on Olexander’s table. I planted my feet and counted to ten. “Anthony, his name was Anthony.”
“Yes. Anthony.” She clapped her hands together remembering and began pacing once more. “With William helping us again, finding Anthony was almost too easy. Billy had no trouble tracking him after you both had the unfortunate chance encounter at the Pub.”
She halted abruptly giving me a devilish grin.
“You see little flower, William is our man. Let it never be said we didn’t train him well. He even knew enough to tie up his loose ends.” Angeline let out a giggle. “Well, he tied him up so to speak. He couldn’t let the silly librarian live. He had seen William and had spoken to Robert making him a liability. Then there was Robert. Poor curious thing really did just want a book. The Castus did not officially sanction his murder, but when William called and told me your plans to find a nest of Collector’s in town it all felt…preordained.
You were to die next but William insisted if we waited he could lead us to a whole boatload of your kind, and he really came through. The one with the silver hair was an especially inspiring conquest. We estimated her to be around eight-hundred years old at least. William had promised us the next oldest in your group, he didn’t seem as torn about turning him over.”
She was really enjoying this.
“Between us girls, I think he was a bit jealous. Sadly, as you know we took the wrong male. If it makes you feel any better my little flower, we killed it quickly.”
“He was not an it,” I said, as my heart pounded against my chest.
“His name was Thomas and he was more human than you could ever hope to be.” I looked at her with disgust. Try logic before violence, I read that somewhere once. “You kill us therefore we are forced to kill you. None of my people seek to harm.”
She stopped pacing again to look me in the eyes. “What a funny thing to say.” Her words sang with a tone of amusement. “It appears as if you actually believe that.”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
Screw it. This was not the crowd for logic. I yanked one of the knives out of my back pocket and threw it at her chest. She dodged it expertly. Of course, she would be skilled. She had been trained to defend herself as I’d been trained. This was who we were. I pulled another knife as did she, hers being the large curved blade that would definitely have the power to draw my blood. I suddenly wished I had bothered to bring a gun. Killing her at a distance sounded very appealing. I knew that if given the chance to stab me, I would be incapacitated like a fly caught in a spider’s web. Wounds from a Castus blade healed ten times as slowly as a human injury. I wondered why she didn’t call for help, but I saw it in her eyes. The thought of losing this fight never even crossed her egomaniacal mind. We circled each other and I took note of her impatience. She charged at me. I managed to narrowly avoid her blade while slashing at her cheek. A thin line of crimson formed and she touched her face stunned.
“Baby’s not so pretty anymore. Don’t worry, you’ll always have your personality.” I gave her a wide grin. Antagonizing her to do something stupid seemed like my best bet. Her eyes flashed with rage. She rushed me, quickly, but I was faster. She went for my chest, but I grabbed the blade with my bare left hand. The pain was searing, but I held on as I shoved the knife in my right hand straight through her heart. I pulled the knife out and she stumbled back into the wall, collapsing in a heap. I took off my jacket and ripped out some of the lining to wrap around the cut on my hand. I shoved her Castus dagger into the back of my belt covering it with my shirt. I heard someone approaching the door from the alley. This room was seriously lacking in cover. I crouched next to the door. At least I could sneak up behind whoever came in.
His hat saved his life. Seconds before I plunged the dagger between Olexander’s shoulder blades I recognized the silhouette of his fedora hat. He spun around ready to attack.
“It’s me, it’s Lily,”I said in a hushed tone. He let out a gust of air, and grabbed me in a tight embrace, kissing my forehead for a long moment. He was fighting back tears and holding me with all his strength.
“I thought I’d lost you. I don’t know what I would have done, if they had…” He let his thoughts trail off. Standing there with him, safe in his arms, feeling his heartbeat I felt something I hadn’t known for a hundred years. I felt home. No teal houses, or white picket fences, I had been fantasizing about the wrong thing all these years. My home wasn’t a place, it was simply him. I looked into his eyes and pulled his face closer to mine. I kissed him hesitantly at first. I couldn’t be sure he wanted this as much as I did, but he kissed me back with the fervor of pure love. The kind of love borne of sacrifice and forgiveness, the type of love that doesn’t hit you at first sight like fireworks. It was the kind of love that grew quietly.
I pulled away slowly. We still had things to do here.
“Where is Julia?” He asked, as he brushed the hair out of my eyes.
“The woman said she was down the hall, but I don’t know what stands between us and her.” Thinking of the woman made me think of Billy. “Where is Billy?”
Olexander was pulsating a crimson red.
“He disappeared while I was on the phone with Nela, which is how I knew where to find you.” He was still holding me tightly as he spoke.
I backed away hoping to clear my mind of the desire for him and focus on the job at hand.
“Did you bring any weapons?” I asked excited at the prospect of having a gun.
“I don’t believe in guns Lily, you know that.” He said it so seriously it actually made me want to laugh.
“There’s a time for everything under the sun Olexander, even violence. Even guns.”
“I don’t think that’s how that particular passage goes.” He said smiling at me.
“Yeah well, I ad lib.” I pulled the Latin inscribed dagger out of the sheath hanging on the front of my belt. “Well at least we have this, this will kill everything.” He took a step back.
“Where did you get that?”
I looked at him confused.
“I found it in your office, with your Collector things, in the drawer wit
h the fake bottom.”
He looked just as perplexed as I felt. “Lily I’ve never seen that before in my life. Is that a Castus dagger?”
“Not really, but it’s a damn good knock off of one.” We both turned to see Billy walking through the far door, tossing a dagger of his own up in the air and skillfully catching it. “Of course I didn’t want you to have a real one, that would be quite dangerous. Yet, I thought finding that with Olexanders’ things would force you to go looking for the chatty little girl all by your lonesome. Especially since the red folder already had you questioning his loyalty. You really are quite predictable LiLi.”
The Sin Collector Page 12