Allison Brennan - Original Sin

“When did Pennington open his church?”

“He took over for Pastor Matthew at the end of the summer. His mother got very sick and he wanted to be with her. I miss him-I really liked him, though my mom didn’t. She adores Pastor Garrett, and I liked him too, until … “

“He’s no man of God.” Moira didn’t know if there were any left, but she didn’t say that. “What about your parents?”

“It’s just my mom. She thinks Pas-um, Mr. Pennington walks on water. Sunday services went from less than fifty of us to over three hundred. He’s a great speaker.”

If Ms. Ellis had been sucked in by the witch, then Moira couldn’t let Lily go home. She could very well be turned over to them, and Ms. Ellis wouldn’t even realize what she was doing to her daughter.

“Jared, I don’t know why they wanted Lily, but she’s important to them, which means she’s in danger. You can’t let her out of your sight. I have my phone. Call me, text me, do anything-but if she’s in trouble? Get me the message.”

She reached behind the dresser and pulled out the little.22-caliber Beretta she’d hidden earlier. Some things protected you against demons, but when facing human evil, nothing worked as well as a bullet through the head.

“We should come with you,” Lily said.

“No. Can I borrow your truck?”

Jared tossed her his keys.

“Thanks. Use the salt. Don’t open the door.”

She looked from Jared to the teenage girl holding his hand as they sat on the edge of the bed. They both looked so innocent … young … trusting.

They trusted her. They believed she knew what she was doing, that she could protect them.

Doubt and fear battled her need to be proactive. She couldn’t be trusted because she didn’t know what the hell she was doing; and as far as protecting them? She couldn’t even protect herself.

She gave them a half-smile. “If anything happens out of the ordinary-and for some reason you can’t reach me-call Anthony Zaccardi.”

Jared looked at her quizzically. “The guy rebuilding the mission? Why?”

“He’s your best shot at staying alive.”

There was a knock on the door and Moira, right on the other side, jumped and put her hand to her mouth, the other hand on her gun. She motioned for Jared and Lily to stay quiet. She was about to look through the peephole when there was another loud rap.

“Jared, it’s your father. I know you’re in there; open the door.”

Moira shook her head and mouthed no .

Jared looked stricken.

“Jared, dammit! Open the door or I’ll break it open and arrest you for leaving the scene of a crime after the fact, statutory rape, and anything else I can think of.”

This was Jared’s father? Moira was inclined to let him break down the door. She felt like shit after the beating Fiona gave her, but she knew some tricks-tricks that had nothing to do with magic-and she didn’t like Hank Santos. She wouldn’t mind practicing on him.

Except he was a cop, and the last thing she wanted was to be trapped in a jail cell again. Next time, Fiona wouldn’t let her survive.

Jared was torn, but Moira saw in his expression that Deputy Santos would break down the door if she didn’t open it.

Fuck fuck fuck .

She stared at the ceiling for a brief moment. She rarely prayed, but she muttered under her breath, “God, this is so not funny.”

She hid her Beretta and opened the door.

Deputy Hank Santos was several inches shorter than his tall, lanky son, darker in skin tone, with broad shoulders and a stance that radiated authority. His dark eyes assessed both her and the room quickly, then focused on Jared-who stood behind her-then on Lily, sitting on the bed. Finally, they turned back to Moira where she saw extreme dislike-some might call it hatred-in his expression.

Fine with her; she didn’t like Hank Santos either, not one little bit.

“Jared, Lily, come with me.”

“Dad,” Jared began.

Hank interrupted. “You’ve greatly embarrassed me. I had a call from another deputy that your truck was here, at this sleazy motel. The manager said you’ve been here a lot lately.” He stared at Moira, looking her up and down in such a vile way that she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Don’t make any assumptions,” she said, pissed off.

He diverted his eyes in disgust. “I know women like you.”

“You’re out of line, Dad.” Jared stepped forward. Moira glanced over at the young man. She saw strength of character she hadn’t seen in him before, protectiveness and chivalry. She didn’t know why she was surprised, but then realized she hadn’t really considered Jared-or Lily-as people as much as problems .

“You have a lot of explaining to do, Jared. I’m disappointed in you. Screwing around with women is one thing, you’re eighteen-but dragging your girlfriend into it, sleeping around, lying, sneaking out of the house-I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but your mother is turning over in her grave.”

The anger and intense pain in Jared’s face had Moira reeling. He had far more depth than she’d given him credit for.

“Don’t drag Mom into this.”

“You wouldn’t be behaving like an asshole if she were alive.”

“Mr. Santos,” Lily began, but the man ignored her.

Jared reddened and didn’t back down. “This is about you . You bully your way in here, insulting me, my girlfriend, my friend, jumping to conclusions because you have this warped idea that I’ve gone wild since Mom died. This is more about you than it is about me . You feel guilty because you’re dating again-”

“Do not change the subject and drag Nicole into this,” Santos said. “This is between you and me.”

“You’ve dragged my girlfriend into it!”

Santos looked pointedly around the motel room. Moira resisted the urge to wince. It was the type of flea-bag motel that looked the other way when hookers rented a room.

“And look where I found you.”

“Don’t change the subject. Mom died of cancer . She was dying for years and I hated every minute because I didn’t want to lose her, but I’ve accepted it. I hated it, but accepted it. And I am the man I am today because she told me to stand strong. I’m not wild, I’m not lying. The least you could do is listen to me!”

“Listen? You snuck out of the house-”

“I’m eighteen.”

“You’re still living under my roof and I demand you respect my authority.”

“You wouldn’t understand-”

“I didn’t know where you were last night! It turns out you were at the scene of a crime, left your friend dead! What if you could have saved her?”

Lily was on the verge of tears as Jared said, “Abby was already dead when Moira and I arrived, and Lily was in trouble.”

“And you didn’t call the police? Or take Lily to the hospital? The police station?” He stepped over the threshold and Moira twitched. Something had her instincts humming. A demon? Yet he’d crossed the salt line without hesitating or reacting even a bit. He didn’t even notice it. She took a step back, staying farther than arm’s length away from the cop. This situation felt … odd. Over the top. Maybe it was because he seemed so incredibly stubborn, but Moira was used to stubborn. It was more than his attitude. She watched him carefully, trying to keep her hands from shaking.

She’d never exorcised a demon by herself before. She’d never protected anyone from a demon. And exorcisms were safest under controlled circumstances, with a spirit trap to protect the exorcist and the victim. Here, without a safety net, she’d have to stab the victim with her knife-a very specific, very special knife-and hope she didn’t hit a major artery, hope she didn’t kill the innocent along with vanquishing the demon.