arms to embrace him, but Gregorio stepped back, meeting his gaze with a cold stare. He tasted bile in the back of his throat. Every muscle in his body tensed. “You betrayed me.”
Father Jayme shook his head, his eyes pleading. “No, Brother Salvador. I saved you. Satan himself made you love her and caused you to stray from your faith. She tempted you until you broke your vows. I protected you when you could no longer protect yourself—” Gregorio’s fist connected with Father Jayme’s face before he realized he intended to hit him. When the robed man fell, Gregorio grabbed his arms and yanked him up.
“I gave you my confession, and you used it against me. Did you know the soldier you paid to kill her also raped her?” He shook him like a rag doll. “Did you?”
The priest sobbed as blood trickled from his misshapen nose. “I do not know what you are talking about.” Gregorio threw him to the ground. The priest cried out in pain.
“Once I called you my brother, and now you lie to my face? I saw him running away from her dead body, Luis! He took my ring that hung around her neck.” He grabbed the priest’s hand and twisted his finger. “This ring that is now around your finger! Tell me the truth.” Father Jayme stammered his response. “You should not have given it to her. I corrected a mistake that you never should have made.”
Gregorio leaned in close and spoke with clenched teeth. “By killing an innocent woman?”
“A heathen! Satan in the form of a dark-skinned woman stole you from your true calling. Stealing you from God. I saved you.” He stared into the priest’s eyes, fighting the urge to rip the man’s head from his body and sickened at how the scent of the priest’s blood tempted him.
Night Walker 53
“If Satan exists, Luis, then I am looking at him right now.” He removed his signet ring from Father Jayme’s finger and slid it back onto his own. “You broke your vows by using my confession to harm another, and God Himself will judge you for that sin.” Unable to bear the temptation of being so near Father Jayme’s bloody face, he turned away from the priest. With a nod from him, the native warriors moved in. As Gregorio walked away, short screams punctuated the thuds of sticks and knives as the natives beat and stabbed Father Luis Jayme to death.
It would not bring Tala back, but it felt justified. A life for a life.
But the guilt he felt for trusting Father Jayme with his confession would linger forever.
He and Tala met secretly for months before he finally made that fateful confession. He made a fatal error to confess his secret love and his desire to give up the priesthood. Why had he done it?
But he already knew.
From the first moment he kissed her, he had known he loved her.
After they lay together, guilt weighed on him until he could no longer bear it. He wanted to give up his missionary robes forever. When he learned Tala carried his child in her womb, he took it as a sign from God that he would become a husband and father. He actually believed Father Jayme would absolve him of his sin and bless their union.
How wrong he had been.
Gregorio moved on through the thick smoke, his revenge not yet complete. He needed to find one more man. Within minutes, three guards stumbled away from the inferno that devoured the mission.
He recognized Tala’s killer instantly as the man he’d seen riding away from her body, clutching Gregorio’s signet ring. Fury lit through him.
Using his heightened speed, Gregorio knocked the man to the ground and roared in anger.
The guard gasped, struggling to escape. The terror in his eyes reflected the fire in Gregorio’s. The Old One warned him not to allow others to see his sharpened teeth, which now resembled fangs. They should only be used to feed on animals and heal mortal wounds, not 54 LISA KESSLER
to strike fear or inflict harm.
But as he looked into the guard’s mind he saw Tala, her long hair tangled with brambles, her
Father Jayme shook his head, his eyes pleading. “No, Brother Salvador. I saved you. Satan himself made you love her and caused you to stray from your faith. She tempted you until you broke your vows. I protected you when you could no longer protect yourself—” Gregorio’s fist connected with Father Jayme’s face before he realized he intended to hit him. When the robed man fell, Gregorio grabbed his arms and yanked him up.
“I gave you my confession, and you used it against me. Did you know the soldier you paid to kill her also raped her?” He shook him like a rag doll. “Did you?”
The priest sobbed as blood trickled from his misshapen nose. “I do not know what you are talking about.” Gregorio threw him to the ground. The priest cried out in pain.
“Once I called you my brother, and now you lie to my face? I saw him running away from her dead body, Luis! He took my ring that hung around her neck.” He grabbed the priest’s hand and twisted his finger. “This ring that is now around your finger! Tell me the truth.” Father Jayme stammered his response. “You should not have given it to her. I corrected a mistake that you never should have made.”
Gregorio leaned in close and spoke with clenched teeth. “By killing an innocent woman?”
“A heathen! Satan in the form of a dark-skinned woman stole you from your true calling. Stealing you from God. I saved you.” He stared into the priest’s eyes, fighting the urge to rip the man’s head from his body and sickened at how the scent of the priest’s blood tempted him.
Night Walker 53
“If Satan exists, Luis, then I am looking at him right now.” He removed his signet ring from Father Jayme’s finger and slid it back onto his own. “You broke your vows by using my confession to harm another, and God Himself will judge you for that sin.” Unable to bear the temptation of being so near Father Jayme’s bloody face, he turned away from the priest. With a nod from him, the native warriors moved in. As Gregorio walked away, short screams punctuated the thuds of sticks and knives as the natives beat and stabbed Father Luis Jayme to death.
It would not bring Tala back, but it felt justified. A life for a life.
But the guilt he felt for trusting Father Jayme with his confession would linger forever.
He and Tala met secretly for months before he finally made that fateful confession. He made a fatal error to confess his secret love and his desire to give up the priesthood. Why had he done it?
But he already knew.
From the first moment he kissed her, he had known he loved her.
After they lay together, guilt weighed on him until he could no longer bear it. He wanted to give up his missionary robes forever. When he learned Tala carried his child in her womb, he took it as a sign from God that he would become a husband and father. He actually believed Father Jayme would absolve him of his sin and bless their union.
How wrong he had been.
Gregorio moved on through the thick smoke, his revenge not yet complete. He needed to find one more man. Within minutes, three guards stumbled away from the inferno that devoured the mission.
He recognized Tala’s killer instantly as the man he’d seen riding away from her body, clutching Gregorio’s signet ring. Fury lit through him.
Using his heightened speed, Gregorio knocked the man to the ground and roared in anger.
The guard gasped, struggling to escape. The terror in his eyes reflected the fire in Gregorio’s. The Old One warned him not to allow others to see his sharpened teeth, which now resembled fangs. They should only be used to feed on animals and heal mortal wounds, not 54 LISA KESSLER
to strike fear or inflict harm.
But as he looked into the guard’s mind he saw Tala, her long hair tangled with brambles, her
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