Hand In Ash

by Zoe Parker

  “You’re in the wrong century for what you expected.”

  “Maybe I’m just an old-fashioned whips and chains kinda girl, Devil,” she says with a wink.

  “I can help you with that if you wish,” Voss says, slowing to walk at her side.

  “So can a therapist, Voss.” She watches his men place each of the sin eaters in a separate room. “Who can I question first?”

  “Who said you could question them at all?” Annoyed and unsure if he’s teasing or not, she looks around the hallway, then behind her, and finally points at herself.

  “Me.” She’s going to get her way; otherwise, all the effort he puts in to question them will be for nothing.

  “Your sarcasm level grows daily, and the fact that I like that about you disturbs me.” He looks surprised that the words came out of his mouth.

  “That’s the only thing that disturbs you?” Devil asks, laughing when Sora swats at him.

  “Oh, I see now. I can blame the skull for it.”

  “You can’t blame me for you being an asshole,” Devil snarks back.

  “Would you two children stop arguing.” She grabs the doorknob of the closest occupied room. “I’m going in here first,” she says, ducking in before anyone can stop her.

  The sin eater, who appears to be twenty-something, looks like he has the worst hangover of his life is watching her with bleary eyes and sweating profusely. He isn’t handcuffed, but there is a beefy looking shifter standing close to him with what appears to be a cattle prod in his hand.

  That will definitely knock someone out.

  “You’re my kind,” he says, sounding hopeful. She sits in the seat across from him, staring at him until he squirms. To make it more uncomfortable for him, she props her elbow on the table and rests her chin on the palm of her hand. Looking unhurried and relaxed kills the look of hope on his face.

  “Why do you kidnap innocent women to sell into a sin eater baby-making factory?”

  His face blanches, and he leans away from her. His mouth turns down, and his face reddens. He’s angry and feeling a little bit guilty at the same time. Either he’s newer or not as committed to the cause as he wants to be.

  “They’re sacrificing for the greater good,” he bites out.

  “Keep telling yourself that. It doesn’t change the fact that you kidnap them, potentially rape them, and then force them to birth children they don’t want to bolster your future numbers.” She smiles blandly. “I need you to tell me everything you know about the Father and the spell he’s trying to cast.” She sees no reason not to move along in the discussion.

  “I ain’t telling you shit!” he yells at her.

  “That’s a shame, would’ve saved you some pain.” She touches her fingertip to the back of his hand. The force of her magic overpowering his locks him into place. She pushes deeper, seeing everything the pissant has done to other people and the tenuous hold he has on his sanity.

  What most sin eaters don’t understand is that the sin itself isn’t taken from the person who commits it, at least, not just from a sin eater feeding. All they do is remove the emotions attached to the sin. The guilt, shame, remorse, and sometimes even horror at the things they’ve done is taken. However, they still retain the memories and the stain upon their soul. Those are what she can access.

  In this case, he’s had his sins taken, so to speak. That false sense of security keeps him saner, longer.

  His lack of guardian is noticed, and in his memories, she discovers that there aren’t any for anyone. Tying into her theory that the guardians are dead. It’s unheard of for a sin eater to give up a guardian. Their destruction takes something precious from the sin eater. A piece of their soul.

  There are flashes of Cris in the memories, but this one is afraid of him, so avoids him. This gentleman has lied, beaten, even tortured people, but no murder and no glimpses of the man he reveres. There’s no point in pushing deeper. He knows nothing of importance. Not even where they take the women.

  “He doesn’t know anything useful. Let’s go to the next one,” she says, standing and turning towards the door.

  “How do you see so deeply? No sin eaters I know can do that!” The man demands, climbing to his feet.

  Her stomach tightens; she almost forgot to do something. Swinging back around to him, she grabs his arm, painfully. “I almost left without finishing what I started.” She bares her teeth at him. “You don’t deserve to have the power to see souls, you piece of shit.” Her arm ignites the dark flames as high as her shoulder. The darkness crawls up his arm until it’s engulfed in it. She pulls, and even as her stomach turns sour, continues to pull until there’s nothing left of sin eater magic in him. Just like Francis, he’s nothing more than a human being with some faded tattoos on his arm. She releases him.

  “No! Impossible!” he yells at her, lunging. She meets him halfway, grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

  “You lure innocent people into your fucked-up world. You shackle some, murder others… I have no pity left for you.” She gives him one good shake before tossing him back in his chair. He’s incredibly pale, shaking from the shock but remains conscious. She leaves him like that, looking lost.

  He deserves so much worse.

  Outside, Voss is waiting for her. “What did you do to him and the other one?”

  She considers lying then changes her mind. It’s pointless now. “There’s an old wives’ tale about sin eaters that no one thinks is true. Let not a betrayed woman touch you, is the first line of the tale. The story goes on to talk about an angry sin eater whose husband tried to sell her to a brothel. In her rage, she stole his Hand in Power.” She stops in front of the next door. “The tale faded into obscurity, but they shouldn’t have forgotten it. It wasn’t just a story. It was a warning. There are female sin eaters that can take the Hand in Power from another sin eater. Only females are born with that power, and only one or two every generation. It’s where the black widow legends came from.”

  “There’s a lot the world doesn’t know about sin eaters, isn’t there?”

  “Didn’t you say the same thing recently about shifters?” She raises her eyebrows, daring him to argue.

  “Point made. Are you going to do this to all of them?” He doesn’t sound unhappy about it.

  “Yes, is that okay with you?” She’s leaving them with their lives, that’s more than some of them deserve.

  “Do you think it’s kinda strange that a sin eater, who can take the power of other sin eaters, is born at a time when there’s a cult of them trying to take over the world?” Voss asks.

  “There are no coincidences in life. I don’t care what anyone says.” She jerks her head towards the closed door. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Chapter Twenty

  It’s nearing dawn by the time she drags her tired ass home. The sight of the lights of her porch revive her enough to at least smile and be happy she’s home. Then she gets the feeling that someone is nearby, she eases the car inside of the ward and gets out, Devil already at her side is looking around tensely. The wards are intact, and only she and Devil are inside of them, but there’s definitely someone outside.

  She turns at the sound of a scuff. A man walks into the light, but not just any man. It’s her Grandpa Eddie. She completely relaxes, and smiling, starts to cross to him, but Devil blocks her, pushing her backward.

  “What the fuck, Devil?” she demands, confused by his behavior.

  “Look at him, Sora! He’s armed and not alone. Him being here like this isn’t normal,” he whispers loudly, the magic in him ramping up. She opens her mouth to argue and ask if Devil has lost his brains in the dungeon when she sees the group of men behind her grandpa.

  There’s a mix of sorcerers and sin eaters fanned out behind him. All armed, all silent, and looking at her like she’s the enemy. They look like they’re waiting for something bad to happen. When Cris steps up to her grandpa’s side, the first shiver of apprehension races through her.


  “Papa? Are you okay? Are they holding you hostage?” She’ll kill them off if they hurt him.

  Her grandpa smiles at her sadly and steps closer to the ward, putting some distance between him and those with him. He shakes his head and says, “Sora, my dear, you were always too smart for your own good. Because of your actions tonight, I’ve had to change my plans, and I don’t like being delayed.”

  The roots of suspicion in her mind grow, blooming into what’s obvious in front of her face. She shakes her head, refusing to believe it. This is her beloved Papa; he would never do something like this. Never.

  “Papa, I don’t understand. What the hell are you talking about?” He can’t be part of this. He’s her champion, the one who bought her first bicycle. The one who stands up to her mother for her. Who loves her.

  “Because of my love for you, my girl, I came to see if it’s possible to persuade you from the path you’re taking now. For you to join our revolution and help me achieve the freedom we deserve as a people. My dream is to see us all live equally in the world, appreciated for the suffering we endure for others.” He’s talking with her Papa’s voice, smiling at her with his smile. The love in his brown eyes is the same, and she can even smell the scent of his tobacco pipe from here. But that can’t be her Papa.

  She blinks several times in shock, praying it’s all a bad fucking dream.

  “Come on, girl, you’re not dense. Stop pretending to be. I know you’ve put everything together in the minute I’ve stood here, flapping my gums.” He sounds irritated now, and it snaps something inside of her.

  “You’re the bad guy.” She takes a step backward.

  “To those people you’re working with, perhaps. To our people, I’m a savior.” He holds his hands out with an entreating look in his eyes. “Come, my girl, join me.”

  She shakes her head, taking another step back. “They’ve done something to you, haven’t they? Torture? Magic?” But she can taste the falseness of her words on her tongue. She knows better now, and it’s killing her.

  “Come now. I grow impatient. Take your rightful place at my side and help me lead our people into a better future.” The kindness melts off his face, exposing the irritation directed at her. Love and kindness quickly return, but she saw the slip.

  She’s nearly at the porch by the time she stops walking. She can’t take her eyes off him, standing there with the face of the man she loves most in the world, but the sins of a monster on his shoulders.

  Devil’s heat washes over her. She looks at him, pleading silently for him to tell her it’s a hallucination or a bad dream. “No, Sora, this is all very real. You need to call Voss. There’s too many of them, and I’m not sure we can take them alone.” She looks back at the group of silent men, all watching her, waiting.

  The minute Eddie realizes she’s going to say no, the look of love on his face drops to be replaced by something so cold it makes her almost cry. The memories of him carrying her on his shoulders while singing songs, kissing her boo-boos, and putting colorful bandages on them are brutally replaced by the man standing before her. Black clothes from head to toe, guns at both hips. Looking at her like she’s nothing to him and never has been.

  Her Papa is gone and in his place is an extremist who thinks he can change the entire world by murdering people.

  “Our people are nothing but dirt to the world. That perception needs to be changed by any means necessary. I will not die and leave the world while our people suffer in silence because the church says it must be so.” Seeing her unmoved by his speech, a trickle of sadness enters his eyes. “If you can’t stand with me, Sora, then as much as it hurts me, you’re the enemy. You will need to be removed as an obstacle.”

  Anger breaks through her shock, giving her back her voice. Tears slide down her face as her magic comes to life. Her Papa is a murderer, and she has to stop him.

  “You know me well, Papa. No, not Papa. You no longer deserve that title from me.” She shakes her head. “Eddie Suen, you helped raise me, and the man that I knew would never condone what you’re doing.”

  “You’re fooling yourself if you believe that. The wheels were set in motion a century ago and are finally now bearing some fruit.” His mouth pinches. “I groomed you to be the champion of our cause, but I see that has failed. My time was wasted. You’re too much like your father, too soft to do what needs doing.”

  His time was wasted? Is he saying that all the love and time he gave her was to shape her into his tool? Anger and hurt become rage, and Sora gives in to it.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Eddie. You are too blinded by the memories of the girl that no longer exists. The woman I’ve become will stop you. All of you,” she vows.

  “Our movement is too big for one foolish girl to do more than cause an annoyance. You’re fighting on the wrong side in a losing battle, and if you keep interfering, it will cost your life.” The last bits of her heart shatters. Her Papa is threatening to kill her, and he means it.

  She holds her hand up, letting her magic free until it grows so dark it dims the lights around them. “You can try, old man. But I’ve learned a few tricks since you saw me last.”

  He clicks his tongue. “Parlor tricks, nothing more.” He shakes his head again. “I thought sending Cris might convince you. I meant him to be your soulmate. When that failed, I hoped coming here myself would convince you to cease any further actions against us, but I see that was a misguided choice. War is coming, Sora, and once the spell completes, they will recognize us for what we are.”

  “A bunch of terrorists who think murdering innocent people will change the world,” she argues.

  “Sleep in peace tonight, but tomorrow you become an enemy of the cause and will be hunted. As will anyone connected to you. Good luck in your useless struggle, my girl.” He turns away, and a sorcerer portal opens behind him.

  “There’s a saying you once told me that stuck with me all these years. The man in the rear is always the toughest because he’s the one that has to keep his eyes forward while knowing there’s always something lurking behind him.”

  “Who do you see yourself as, Sora?” Eddie asks, pausing at the lip of the portal.

  “I’m always the one in the rear, Papa,” she whispers. He nods his head with a small smile on his face before stepping through the portal. The others follow single file behind him. When the portal snaps shut and they’re all gone, she sinks to the ground and mourns the precious grandfather she’s lost, the childhood that was a lie and the only future she sees before her.

  One of them is going to die by the other’s hand.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  She’s unsure how much time has passed when Devil snuggles up against her. She’s still wearing the damn dress, and it’s wrinkled and dirty, but that doesn’t stop her from using the hem to wipe her face off.

  “I’m sorry, Sora,” Devil whispers sadly.

  “I didn’t even imagine that he was the Father, Devil. It never once entered my mind.” Out of all the people in the world, he is the last person she would’ve picked. If at all. The man she thought she knew was kind, patient… loving as he taught her about life and what it is to be a sin eater.

  “Are you sure you can stand up to him?” Devil’s question forces her to look deep in herself for that answer. Can she? Thinking of all the travesties he and his cult have committed, the murders, the awful, terrible things… she finds the answer.

  “With everything that I am. What he’s doing is wrong, Devil. It’s so wrong that I can’t stand by and let it continue.” She’s mentally exhausted, grieving for the loss of her precious Papa. Torn apart by the realities of the world she now lives in.

  “You can’t fight him alone.” The strength of Devil seeps into her, soothing her battered soul. The one who is always there, always at her side. Always on her side.

  “I’m never alone. I have you.” He kisses her cheek. “I also have a pissed off Alpha Supreme on my side, and with him comes an army.” Her resolve s
tarts to harden, then firm into place. The determination to be strong and fight for those who aren’t strong enough to do so themselves is a good motivator.

  “There will be traitors among them that we need to suss out.” His words of caution only make her more determined. He’s right, but that doesn’t mean they can’t fight back because of it.

  “There will be traitors everywhere…” Her words trail off as she remembers what Eddie said about anyone connected to her being hunted too. She jumps to her feet and digs her phone out, scrambling to dial her mom’s cell. It goes straight to voicemail, something it never does. She dials her father and gets the same result.

  When she starts walking towards the car, Devil stops her once again. “Sora, you can’t go to them until we have a plan. You need to stay behind these wards, safe because more than likely, it’s a trap.”

  “But it’s my parents!” she protests loudly.

  “And more than likely they’ve already been taken! He said that there would be a target on your head first thing in the morning, your grandfather said that. Who can say whether or not he’s telling the truth? As this Father person, has anything else he’s done been honorable?” Devil demands, continuously blocking her as she tries to walk around him. “Call Voss!”

  “Why do you have to be fucking right?” The anger she has evaporates, and her mind clears enough to see that calling Voss is the smart thing to do.

  So, she does. “Yes, Miss Suen?” he answers pleasantly.

  “My… my Papa is the Father, Voss,” she barely gets the words out before choking. Biting her lip, she fights to stop the fresh tears that want to fall. Several seconds of silence pass, and she looks at the phone to make sure the call is still live.

  “How did you come to this conclusion?” he asks, breaking the tense silence.

  “He showed up at my fucking house and told me, Voss!” she shouts and fights again to control herself. In a much calmer tone, she continues, “I need you to come here, please… and send someone to my parents’ house to get them. They’re in danger.”