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Authors: Nancy Holder, Debbie Viguié
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they weren’t. Antonio firmly slid his fingers around hers and squeezed. Her throat tightened, and she had to shut her eyes to keep the tears away.
She didn’t squeeze back.
She expected Father Juan to start with a prayer, as he usually did. Instead he asked, “What am I going to do with the two of you?”
“Pardon?” she asked.
“Padre?” Antonio said.
“You heard me right. You spent two years at the Academia pining for each other, neither admitting your feelings. But I knew, I watched you, and every time I sent up a prayer or cast the runes, the answer was always the same.”
Jenn sucked in her breath, terrified of what he would say.
“The two of you belong together.” The priest laced his fingers together in demonstration. “Spirit. Mind. Body.”
Jenn was shocked. And strangely hopeful. Happy. And then dizzy with fear. Antonio was a vampire, and nearly a priest.
She felt Antonio move beside her, leaning toward Father Juan. He let go of her, and she tried to fold her hands quietly in her lap. Instead she clenched them, determined not to lose her composure.
“But I’m a Cursed One,” Antonio murmured. “And I have lost my soul twice. I can’t be trusted. Ever.”
“But according to the runes, God trusts you,” Father Juan said.
“Runes are magick,” Antonio protested, “and I’m a Catholic.”
“My son, look at the Bible. God doesn’t choose the mightiest, the most virtuous to carry out His grand plans. He chooses the weak, the flawed, the outcast. He chooses those who are willing to do as He asks even when it seems impossible.”
And this is why I don’t believe, Jenn thought. Antonio was right. He couldn’t be trusted. He’d turned his back on her. He believed his rampage in Las Vegas was a result of losing focus, and he’d rededicated his body, mind, and soul to the Catholic Church, which had turned its back on him .
Antonio dipped his head. “But in this case . . .”
“This is no different,” Father Juan interrupted him. “We are living in terrible times, and great things will be asked of us all if we are to survive. But the greatest thing God requires of you is faith, and even more than that, love.”
Jenn’s throat tightened. Father Juan was practically forcing Antonio to declare that he didn’t love her as much as he loved his Church. Please, Father Juan, just shut up.
Unaware of her turmoil, Father Juan laid a hand on each of their heads. “I know you think it is a fool’s errand to go to Romania. But nothing He asks is foolish. Antonio, you need to overcome your vampiric urges. And Jenn, you need to find your faith. Only then can we win this war. Only then will you, too, find the love God wants for you.”
Jenn didn’t know which task was more impossible, finding faith or being with Antonio. Maybe it was time for her to throw the runes. Because she sure wasn’t going to pray for guidance.
“You must find a way, or you will be lost. And the world will be lost too. Now go in peace.”
“Peace? That’s a joke, right?” Jenn asked, as the priest lifted his hands from their heads.
Beside her, Antonio crossed himself and pressed his lips against his thumb.
CHAPTER FOUR
What is Father Juan trying to tell us? I don’t understand. But I hope . . .
. . . I can’t even write it down.
Because it’s impossible.
—from the diary of Jenn Leitner,
retrieved from the ruins
E PPING F OREST , E NGLAND
S KYE
Skye had walked these forests since she was a small child, and she’d always had a sense of wonder. Now it felt like some dead, decaying thing. The trees were still green, the animal tracks in the ground fresh, but the vitality, the joy, were gone. And just beneath the surface, evil twisted and turned, growing ever stronger.
They’ve done this to us, the Cursed Ones, she thought bitterly. They’ve slaughtered humanity and poisoned the Earth herself.
Skye thought of her parents, her sister, and all her kin. They let it happen. They should have
She didn’t squeeze back.
She expected Father Juan to start with a prayer, as he usually did. Instead he asked, “What am I going to do with the two of you?”
“Pardon?” she asked.
“Padre?” Antonio said.
“You heard me right. You spent two years at the Academia pining for each other, neither admitting your feelings. But I knew, I watched you, and every time I sent up a prayer or cast the runes, the answer was always the same.”
Jenn sucked in her breath, terrified of what he would say.
“The two of you belong together.” The priest laced his fingers together in demonstration. “Spirit. Mind. Body.”
Jenn was shocked. And strangely hopeful. Happy. And then dizzy with fear. Antonio was a vampire, and nearly a priest.
She felt Antonio move beside her, leaning toward Father Juan. He let go of her, and she tried to fold her hands quietly in her lap. Instead she clenched them, determined not to lose her composure.
“But I’m a Cursed One,” Antonio murmured. “And I have lost my soul twice. I can’t be trusted. Ever.”
“But according to the runes, God trusts you,” Father Juan said.
“Runes are magick,” Antonio protested, “and I’m a Catholic.”
“My son, look at the Bible. God doesn’t choose the mightiest, the most virtuous to carry out His grand plans. He chooses the weak, the flawed, the outcast. He chooses those who are willing to do as He asks even when it seems impossible.”
And this is why I don’t believe, Jenn thought. Antonio was right. He couldn’t be trusted. He’d turned his back on her. He believed his rampage in Las Vegas was a result of losing focus, and he’d rededicated his body, mind, and soul to the Catholic Church, which had turned its back on him .
Antonio dipped his head. “But in this case . . .”
“This is no different,” Father Juan interrupted him. “We are living in terrible times, and great things will be asked of us all if we are to survive. But the greatest thing God requires of you is faith, and even more than that, love.”
Jenn’s throat tightened. Father Juan was practically forcing Antonio to declare that he didn’t love her as much as he loved his Church. Please, Father Juan, just shut up.
Unaware of her turmoil, Father Juan laid a hand on each of their heads. “I know you think it is a fool’s errand to go to Romania. But nothing He asks is foolish. Antonio, you need to overcome your vampiric urges. And Jenn, you need to find your faith. Only then can we win this war. Only then will you, too, find the love God wants for you.”
Jenn didn’t know which task was more impossible, finding faith or being with Antonio. Maybe it was time for her to throw the runes. Because she sure wasn’t going to pray for guidance.
“You must find a way, or you will be lost. And the world will be lost too. Now go in peace.”
“Peace? That’s a joke, right?” Jenn asked, as the priest lifted his hands from their heads.
Beside her, Antonio crossed himself and pressed his lips against his thumb.
CHAPTER FOUR
What is Father Juan trying to tell us? I don’t understand. But I hope . . .
. . . I can’t even write it down.
Because it’s impossible.
—from the diary of Jenn Leitner,
retrieved from the ruins
E PPING F OREST , E NGLAND
S KYE
Skye had walked these forests since she was a small child, and she’d always had a sense of wonder. Now it felt like some dead, decaying thing. The trees were still green, the animal tracks in the ground fresh, but the vitality, the joy, were gone. And just beneath the surface, evil twisted and turned, growing ever stronger.
They’ve done this to us, the Cursed Ones, she thought bitterly. They’ve slaughtered humanity and poisoned the Earth herself.
Skye thought of her parents, her sister, and all her kin. They let it happen. They should have
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