Allison Brennan - Original Sin

“Got it.” He started up the stairs.

Matthew walked over and felt Ari’s pulse. “She’s okay, but we should call a doctor.”

“Can you stay? I need-”

“Well, hello,” a voice bellowed from the top of the stairs. “I’m-surprised to see you both here.”

Garrett Pennington walked down the stairs, pushing Jared in front of him.

Matthew stepped in front of Moira in a protective gesture. It gave her the opportunity to quickly assess the situation. Pennington didn’t have a weapon in hand. That gave her the edge. Though a woman, she played dirty when warranted. And three against one? Was Pennington a fool? He had witchcraft on his side, but the numbers benefited the good guys this time.

“Who are you?” Matthew demanded.

Pennington raised his eyebrows and touched his chest mockingly. “You don’t know me ?”

“Are you the bastard who did this”-Matthew waved his hand toward the altar-“to my church?”

“Church? If you want to call it that.”

Matthew stepped toward him, and Moira put her hand on his arm. “Watch it. He’s a witch. Or, I suppose, technically a wizard .”

“I prefer magician,” Pennington said.

“I prefer you get the hell out of my way,” Moira said.

“You’d be insane if you thought I’d let you walk out of here. Fiona will be thrilled to see you again.” He continued down the stairs, pushing Jared hard to the ground.

Moira said to Pennington, “Listen to me. We have a problem here. Ari created an energy vortex and it’s still here.”

“She’s unconscious,” Pennington said. “It’ll dissipate soon.”

“No, something else is drawing it in here and it’s probably something in your office or behind your altar, asshole, or she created a loop of some sort, because I feel it. If we don’t stop it, a hole is going to be punched into the underworld, and I don’t think Fiona wants to spend her time battling wayward demons celebrating newfound freedom when she’s trying so desperately to recapture the Seven.”

For a moment, Pennington waffled. “How do you know that will happen?”

“What good are you if you don’t know? Seriously, how do they train you guys? I’m not even using magic and I can feel the charge! Dammit, I’m not fucking with you! Call Fiona if you don’t believe me!”

“Let’s go, then.”

“We can’t leave her here,” Moira said, pointing to Ari.

“Why not? She created the problem in the first place. She should have to suffer the consequences.”

“I’m not leaving her.”

“Yes you are.”

Pennington made a move toward Moira, and he wasn’t using magic. Just brawn.

A street fight. Just what she was waiting for. Moira almost jumped for joy. She’d take this kind of physical battle any day over magic.

The fake preacher didn’t bluff well. He feigned right-it was so obvious that Moira anticipated his real move, countered effectively, and flipped him. He lay there on the floor twenty seconds after he’d made his first step.

Moira said to Jared, “Can you carry Ari?”

He nodded, ran over to the petite teen, and picked her up.

Pennington tried to stand, and Moira kicked him in the ribs. He began to cast a spell, but Moira hit him on the head with the butt of her dagger to shut him up. He tried to get to his feet, stumbled, and collapsed.

“Up the stairs!” she commanded Walker and Jared.

They ran up and outside, and suddenly Moira was face-to-face with a woman she’d never seen before. A witch, based on the protection spell Moira sensed surrounding her. But the witch knew her limitations, because she also held a gun in her hand.

“I don’t have time for this,” Moira said.

She was on the verge of attack when Jared said, “Ms. Donovan? What are you doing?”

Donovan? Moira searched her memory and then realized she was the high school teacher.

“You’re the reason they all died,” Moira said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Donovan sneered.

“You were on the cliffs.” Out of the corner of her eye, she sensed more than saw Matthew Walker edging away from her and toward Donovan.

The woman rolled her eyes. “Apparently that’s not much of a secret anymore.”

She was the connection. Donovan and Ari Blair, but Donovan was the neighbor to the guy who killed his co-workers last night. Moira was finally beginning to make sense of how the demons were operating. All those on the cliffs must have become catalaysts for the demons. What about Lily? Rafe? Jared said, “You’re dating my dad! Was that all a lie?”

“We all do what we have to,” Donovan said.

“That’s why Hank Santos is marked,” Moira muttered.

“What?” Jared said, turning to her. “My dad? What happened to my dad?”

Shit, Moira, that was smart . “Jared, we’re trying to find a solution, but we really have to get out of here. Now.”

Donovan said, “I’ve got other plans, and you’re all coming with me. No one is going to stop it this time.”

Matthew was only feet from Donovan, who was focused almost solely on Moira. No surprise; Fiona had probably offered a sweet reward for Moira’s heart in a box. To distract her away from Matthew, Moira said, “You know, Nicole-right? Nicole Donovan? It’s over. We know who you are, and no one at St. Michael’s is going to let you get away with imprisoning the Seven Deadly Sins-if every last one of us has to die to ensure it.”

“Good to know,” Donovan sneered.

Suddenly, with feline grace, Matthew leapt onto the woman and they tumbled to the ground. He grabbed her wrist and slammed it on the cement walkway. She screamed and cursed, and Moira ran over and grabbed the gun, aiming it at Donovan.

“Shut up or you get a bullet in the brain, and I don’t think you’re a good enough magician to stop it.”

Donovan screamed in frustration, and Matthew got up with the witch, holding her wrists.

Moira told Jared, “Take Ari with you. Get to one of her altars as fast as you can and break it apart. Destroy all three and then head to Skye’s house and stay there. If Ari gives you shit even after what she’s been through, tie her up, I don’t care. Just don’t let her do anything stupid.”

“My dad-”

“I’ll find a way to save him. I promise. He’s acting weird, but he hasn’t done anything wrong.” Yet . “Go.”

Jared carried Ari to her car and Moira breathed slightly easier. “Thanks for your help,” she told Matthew, who stood contemptuously next to a weepy Nicole Donovan. “If you want to call the police, tell them Pennington is a con artist, whatever you want. But you might not want to mention what happened here. No one would believe it.”

“You can say that again.”

Donovan started crying in frustration. “You can’t do this!”

Moira ignored her. “I have to go. They hurt a friend-” She stopped. Matthew had helped her, but he didn’t need to know details.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

“Fine.” She pulled out the papers to the property where she felt Rafe was most likely to be. She hoped and prayed that the ritual Donovan spoke of was nowhere near this place. She looked around for Jared’s truck. “Shit.”

“What?”

“I don’t have a car.”

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

“No-”

“Please. I would feel better. After tonight-I’ve never seen a … a demon … like that.”

“Neither have I.” Not the black ooze, anyway. “But this is going to be dangerous. These people don’t play nice, and they’ll condemn you just for helping me.”

“Just a ride. And maybe a little backup? You might think I’m a male chauvinist, especially since you can obviously take care of yourself.” He grinned, revealing boyish dimples that clashed charmingly with his square jaw. “But I don’t like the idea of you going off by yourself and fighting anyone, human or … not.” He lost his smile.