Roland frowned, but looked to be biting back a smile. “Claire’s a bear. They’re bears. Who better to help her prepare?” he asked very seriously. Was he rhyming on purpose?
Claire burst out laughing, and I slowly turned to face her. “You’re not helping,” I growled.
She was clutching her belly. “You were right, Roland. She really does love me to a fault.”
I blinked back at her, and then slowly turned to Roland, my mind catching up with a dark suspicion. “Wait, you two already decided on this outcome, didn’t you?”
Roland finally flashed his teeth at me. “Pretty much. As long as you didn’t kill any of them, I told her it would be best if she spent some time with the bears. I’ve spent some time around them. The only variable was what you would do when you ran into them. If, for example, you found one of them guilty and killed them. Well, then we probably wouldn’t be open to sending our delicate Claire over there for at least a day or two. But this really is the only option, don’t you think, Callie?” he asked in an overly sweet tone.
I threw a bible at Claire. She squawked and ducked, letting it fly over her shoulder to knock over a lamp on Father David’s desk. He didn’t even flinch, and I realized I had actually forgotten he was present.
Because he had been silently staring at us the entire time, shaking his head slowly as he repeated sections of our conversation with an open, but silent mouth, as if not believing any of this was really happening. He still had some cuts on his face from when Johnathan had put him in the hospital, and complained often about his ribs, but he was healing well.
“Well, pick it up, Davey!” I snapped.
He flinched, realized he had zoned out, and scrambled to pick up the lamp and the bible, finally finding his fire again as he glared at me for throwing the Holy Word at my friend.
“You okay?” Claire asked him.
“Bear…” he repeated dumbly.
Roland let out a tired sigh. “He didn’t believe me when I tried to explain it to him,” he admitted with an amused glance at Father David.
He sparked up at that. “It’s not that I didn’t believe it was possible, it was that I didn’t believe the situation was true. You all look way too casual about this. Isn’t it some sort of crime? In fact, the only one who seems upset is Callie,” he finally grumbled.
I locked eyes with Roland, catching the fire hidden in those depths. And I knew. He was definitely furious, but he was purposely playing everything cool, even pranking me, to keep Claire at ease. He nodded slowly, and I turned to Father David, feeling much better about being the brunt of the joke after I realized it had all been for Claire. “Oh, it’s most definitely a crime. I’ll take care of that part.” I shot a scowl at Claire. “Thanks for leading me on, asshole.”
“Must be my baser instincts kicking in,” she jibed. Although she seemed much better, I could still sense the undertone of anxiety in her posture. She was scared, but using humor as armor, which was really the only thing left to her. That was the thing about Claire, something that I had learned from her only recently. She could be terrified to the bone, but once she spent some time to compartmentalize that fear, she simply pressed onward. Still scared, but not letting it fuel her actions. She simply embraced that she had been thrown into the deep end of the pool, floundered in it for a moment, and then started to swim back to the shallows to get her feet back under her, and be scared there instead.
It was a pretty incredible feat, in my opinion.
Not an immediate, instinctive sense of self-preservation, but at least she got there eventually. The world typically consisted of those who flailed about in the pool, screaming about the world being unfair, and those who were so jaded that they weren’t scared. I had never met someone who straddled the two ideologies.
Claire Stone was the only one.
This insight had actually helped me overcome some of my own fears recently, and since that time, I hadn’t had a single nightmare about my past.
Roland interrupted. “My flight is tonight—”
He was interrupted by a polite knock on the door. As one, we all turned to face it as Father David called out, “Come in, please.”
The door opened to reveal Sister Agatha. At least that was her birth name. I made it a goal to learn all the Sisters’ birth names, using those over their newer, religious names. Agatha was one of the few who found it endearing.
She dipped her head at us politely, and then stepped to the side to reveal three figures waiting patiently behind her. They murmured gratefully to her as they walked into the room. I shot Roland a look, but he was busy studying the newcomers with a disarming smile.
An elderly man stepped in first, looking kind, wise, and weathered. He walked with a slight limp, and had a twinkle in his eyes that was full of cheer. Two middle-aged adults walked beside him, smiling politely, but seeming meek – a nondescript man and a woman. I reached out with my magic to sense them, gauging their danger, and relaxed. Total Regulars. Roland shot me a dark look, and I lowered my eyes guiltily.
I hadn’t meant anything by it. Just trying to protect everyone from a secret demon or monster of the night. And I was being chastised? I lifted my head to shoot him a look of my own, but he wasn’t looking, offering his chair to the older gentleman with a polite smile.
Father David spoke up. “Pastor Benjamin Flood, welcome. Make yourself comfortable, and introduce me to your friends.”
Pastor Benjamin chuckled lightly at Roland as he walked in. He placed his liver-spotted hand over Roland’s scarred knuckles, and then sat down into the chair with a pleased sigh. “Thank you, son,” he said. Roland dipped his head, shrugging off the words as unnecessary.
I stood. “Claire, we probably need to get going,” I began.
“What is your name, child?” Pastor Benjamin asked, smiling kindly at me, as if my answer would be the most interesting thing in the world, and that it would be the rudest thing imaginable to deny him such a simple request. There was nothing magical about it, he just exuded kindness.
I smiled back. “Callie Penrose.”
He beamed. “Well, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you, Callie. Is that short for Caroline, by chance?”
That was a new guess. “It isn’t, actually,” I said back with a wink. “But good guess.”
He snapped his fingers in defeat. “Drat. I guess I’ll have to think on it,” he grinned.
I nodded. “You do that.”
“You don’t have a tricky name, by chance, do you?” he asked, turning to Claire.
She beamed at him. “Claire Stone. And speaking of stones, this brutish lump of rock is named Roland Hav-tard.”
Roland prickled at that, and I really had to force myself not to burst out laughing. “Roland Haviar,” he corrected, scowling at Claire, who shrugged with a devilish grin.
Pastor Benjamin roared with laughter. “What spunk!” he chuckled, nodding to each of us. “I hope we didn’t interrupt,” he said, frowning to David. Then he remembered the other two behind him and looked suddenly mortified. “My apologies. That’s what you get for letting old men ramble on. This is Brigitte Thompson and Desmond Kline. They’re the ones doing all the real work for our new church down the street,” he said, motioning them forward.
“Pleased to meet you,” Brigitte said with a shy smile, as docile as a mouse. She wore a modest dress, thick glasses – which she had already adjusted twice – and had her dark hair was tied back in a bun, which made her look older than she probably was. I would have guessed her to be in her early forties.
Desmond rolled his eyes at Pastor Benjamin’s attempt at being humble. He had buzzed hair, was as skinny as a twig, and tall enough to loom without trying. The crinkles at his eyes made me guess late thirties. “It’s very nice to meet everyone, but I think we all know when we’re standing knee-deep in—”
Pastor Benjamin shot him a very pointed look, and Desmond smirked back at him. Then he winked, and everyone laughed. I wasn’t the only one who liked to press butto
ns.
“I remember when elders garnered respect,” Pastor Benjamin complained, shooting a pleading look at Father David, who was nodding in agreement, but smiling all the same.
“Just be thankful the Lord didn’t saddle you with these two,” he said, indicating Claire and I.
I nodded back in complete agreement. “The Lord does not give a burden that cannot be managed,” I replied in my most official tone.
Father David let out a sigh, motioning to me as if I had just proven his point.
Pastor Benjamin chuckled. “Well, I think they’re delightful,” he said, flashing us a grin. Claire and I accepted the compliment, and then simultaneously turned on Father David with expectant looks.
He slapped his table with the palm of his hand lightly. “See? You’re only encouraging them!” he said, mock judgment on his face as he glared at Pastor Benjamin, who only shrugged good-naturedly.
“You’re opening a new church?” I asked, switching gears. I wanted to get out, but at this point, I thought it may appear rude.
He nodded excitedly. “Technically, we’re already open, but we wanted to reach out to our neighbors and say hello.”
Desmond stepped forward, approaching me like a stork, extending a familiar-looking flyer my way. “I saw one of those at a coffee shop this morning. Three older women were handing them out,” I said, accepting the flyer, and then taking a step back from him.
Desmond’s smile looked crooked, likely wondering why I had stepped back. Rather than make an issue out of it, I read over the flyer as Desmond turned to hand one to Claire, Roland, and Father David.
“You met the Abominable Three,” Pastor Benjamin chuckled, showing his teeth. I smirked automatically, finding his sense of humor contagious. I knew very well what he meant by that name, but I pretended not to. “If they spoke to you, there must not have been a man around.”
I nodded. “There was, actually. They kind of attacked him like a pride of lions.”
“He’s lucky he’s not already married off, then. To one… or all three!” he exclaimed, slapping his knee playfully. “They are very devout with their beliefs, but they are even more interested in finding their next husband.”
I smiled politely, knowing the type. He was spot on about them. I flipped to the second page of the folded pamphlet, and blinked as I read some of the words. Then I looked up casually, waiting for Roland to read it. To anyone else, his face didn’t change, but to me, it was a shout. He nodded absently, and continued reading.
Well, I wasn’t one for political correctness. “You believe in monsters, Pastor Benjamin?” I asked lightly, pretending to continue reading, but in truth, I was finished reading this toilet paper disguised as a religious tract.
Pastor Benjamin leaned forward in my peripheral vision, and I could tell he was nodding. “Oh, yes. But monsters can take on any shape and size, so I’m not just hammering away at those conspiracy theories about wizards and whatnot.” I looked up, acknowledging him politely, my face a polite mask. I ignored Roland’s very discreet warning looks over his shoulder. “The Bible has many references to beings that obviously aren’t human,” Pastor Benjamin continued, “whether it’s referring to demons, monsters, or those touched in the head,” he admitted with a sad smile. “I put it in there because any kind of worship of such an ideal, whether real or not, only leads people further from God’s Word. An era that idolizes demons and monsters, or really, anything, higher than God, needs to learn the error of their ways.”
“If you aren’t sure you believe in it, why put it on your flyer?”
“Oh, that is a long conversation, of which I would very much like to discuss at some point, but the short answer is that… well…” he faltered, as if not wanting to speak it out loud.
Desmond chimed in excitedly. “It’s a conversation starter,” he offered. I turned to look at him. “Everyone is talking about it with all the recent crimes, so we thought it best to have a stance on the issue, to help lead the conversation back to God.”
I blinked at him. “This is pretty… ambiguous, though, isn’t it? It seems that it could be taken as a call for violence,” I said politely, managing not to grit my teeth. Roland and Father David looked genuinely alarmed, using their eyes to tell me to shut my mouth.
I ignored them, focusing on Pastor Benjamin. Desmond began to answer, but I held up a hand. “I’m sorry, Desmond. That question was for Pastor Benjamin,” I said tightly.
I actually heard Desmond’s teeth click shut.
Pastor Benjamin nodded thoughtfully, not noticing, but I could feel the bubbling energy from Desmond. He was ready to debate, not in a hostile way, but as anyone who was passionate on a topic would want to do. And practically fidgeting at not having the chance to speak his mind.
“Desmond is right. Everyone has an opinion on it, and we thought it best to include in the flyer. To give those seeking answers a path back to the light.”
“Suffer not a witch to live…” I read aloud from the flyer. “Although accurate, that’s kinda hardcore for a new church.”
He nodded back. “But it is God’s Word,” he answered, sounding invested. “I’m not condoning violence, and although I know the words sound that way, I am simply shedding light on the topic with God’s opinion on the matter.” His eyes grew distant for a time. “I’m sure you can see it, everyone does,” he said solemnly. I felt my skin beginning to crawl with the blood boiling in my veins. He was talking about people like me. “I should have been born during the Crusades. With a body like this?” he said, patting his mildly pronounced belly with a deep chuckle. “Lucky for the infidels, I wasn’t,” he winked. It was very obvious that he would have been a statistic during the Crusades, and he was trying to use humor to ease the tension in the room. He would be a good pastor. Looking at him, it was hard to remain angry.
But I was pretty good at keeping my anger stoked and ready to flame at any moment. Whether it was a girl thing or a wizard thing, I wasn’t sure. Then again, Nate seemed pretty skilled in the anger department, so maybe it was just a wizard thing.
I nodded slowly, but before anyone could continue, I folded the pamphlet and placed it on the desk. “Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Benjamin.” I turned to the other two. “Desmond, Brigitte,” I said, smiling with my face, but not my eyes. “We should probably leave, Claire. We have your appointment.”
Claire slowly nodded, setting down her own pamphlet, a very thoughtful look on her face as she made her goodbyes. I ignored Roland as I walked from the room, barely keeping myself together.
Claire caught up with me in the hallway outside, and I heard the door close behind me. “Callie, where are you going?” she asked, her footsteps pattering to keep up with me.
“I need to go hit something. Let’s head back downstairs for a few minutes. I just remembered this sword Roland had shipped here. I’ve been wanting to test it out.”
Claire clasped my hand and let me tug her along. Her palms were sweaty, and she was silent for a few moments as we made our way back downstairs.
“Maybe I can try out that sword as well,” she said under her breath, sounding distant and conflicted.
I nodded, realizing that this conversation must have been a severe wake-up call for the innocent Claire Bear. She was no longer a Regular. She was theoretically one of the monsters Pastor Benjamin was referring to, now.
I realized we were all very lucky that the fucking flyer hadn’t sent her over the edge and caused her to shift in self-defense. And by we, I meant Pastor Benjamin and friends.
But there was always tomorrow…
Chapter 11
Claire was napping in the corner of the training room, using a rolled yoga mat as a pillow as I sat in the center of the room, meditating. I’d spent about thirty minutes working on a heavy bag, deciding not to tempt myself with a sword in hand. At first, Claire had joined in, and I had shown her a few movements to practice. She had lasted about ten minutes before staring down at her knuckles, frowning, and then decl
aring she wanted to take a nap.
I had teased her about it as I continued working my bag, but it hadn’t deterred her from curling up in the corner of the room to sleep. I worked until my muscles burned, and my breath panted, feeling much better.
Then I had plopped down in the center of the room to meditate.
I had a lot on my mind. I needed to get Claire to Armor and his bears, and I needed to track down the third wolf and Yuri. Knowing the two were tied together by the strange God is dead creed, I was nervous about these new friends he was supposedly spending time with.
Because it meant the fundraiser tonight could actually be a den of vipers. A creed meant a system. And if his new pals were going to a fundraiser, they had deep pockets. People with money typically had big agendas, and liked to use middle men to do their dirty work. If rich people had befriended Yuri, maybe there was a bigger game afoot.
Then again, maybe I was being irrationally angry after seeing the stupid flyer.
No wonder Mr. Light Eyes from the coffee shop had seemed so annoyed with the old women.
Religious tracts were typically written to elicit an emotional response. I knew that, but this one in particular had struck home to me. Maybe this was what it felt like when a gay person read one of those flyers that denounced their lifestyle. It sucked.
In that dark moment, a new thought hit me. What would happen when Pastor Benjamin’s new church came face-to-face with the possible God is dead gang? I shivered at the thought.
Knowing I was angry, frustrated, and possibly too close to the situation, I had decided to vent my physical frustration out, and then to hopefully clear my head a little with meditation.
Because one thing had plagued my thoughts since a few weeks ago.
Something had… happened to me.
I had been helpless, tied to a cross with chains that blocked my magic, tortured, and forced to watch as a freaking Nephilim was murdered in front of me. But just when I had thought all hope was lost, something incredible had happened.
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