Page 78 of The Sinner and the Priest: Part 1

Thankfully, before I must explain myself, Raven pulls out a marker from her pocket and bites off the cap. Strolling to the whiteboard, she points at Zeke. “How much?”

“Hmm.” he rubs his jaw, scrutinizing Cisco and then me. “Put me down for two hundred on the priest.”

“Same,” Leila says. “But Mercy for the win, of course.”

“What?” I gape. Has the entire abbey gone mad?

Raven scribbles their bets on the board, marking up a column for Cisco and me beside the breath-holding records.

“What the fuck is happening?” I hiss.

Raven calmly answers, “I had a vision about the match.” She feigns a shocked face. “My bad. I should have called it ‘the judicial trial.’ You know … because you asked the priest to prove his loyalty.” She slides her gaze toward Jasmine and Hannah, then back to Cisco. “If he refuses to fight, then it’s obvious they’re the sorts of people Jasmine fears they are.”

No, it’s not. This is stupid.

“I don’t fear them,” Jasmine spits. “I don’t trust them.” She glares at me. “You shouldn’t either.”

Hanna raises her brows as if to say, “She’s right.”

This is getting out of hand.

“Fine with me.” Cisco levels his stare on me. “If I win, you come to confession. Like you promised.”

“This is stupid,” I mutter, looking to the others for help. “What can he possibly offer that will make you trust him?”

“Whatever you want,” Cisco replies.

His words echo across the pool hall. Water slaps softly on the floating board, tiny waves meeting the wood. He’s looking at me, daring me to say no. So arrogant and sure of himself. He really has no clue.

“What if she wants to kill you?” Jasmine’s eerily calm voice cuts through the silence.

Cisco looks me dead in the eyes and enunciates, slowly and deliberately. “Whatever. You. Want.”

My heart skips a beat. What is this intensity? Does he … want me to win? The idea runs riot in my head, all the possibilities, all the things I could do to him.

“What say you, Mercy?” Raven’s suddenly the picture of judicial fairness. “Will you accept the terms so we can put this fucking drama behind us and get on with stopping an apocalypse?”

Shit.

Right. The apocalypse. That thing.

I get it. She had a vision. This will work to soothe Jasmine’s grudge. If I do this right, I’ll squash that dissent and even give the orphans a demonstration that girls can be as tough as boys. Children are remarkably sensitive to emotional vibes. At least I can prove that whatever violence they were subjected to in Spain, we’re more than capable of protecting them from it here.

I still think this is stupid. But also … I just spent hours interrogating those men. If Jaz and Hannah don’t trust my brain to prove their loyalties, then fine. They can trust my brawn.

“Okay.” I smile tightly. “But we’re not dressed appropriately for water sports. Let’s take a quick break to prepare.”

Cisco glances down at his attire and simply toes off his loafers and pulls off his socks. “I don’t need special clothes.”

“You sure about that?” Leila drawls, calm and with a hint of humor.

Zeke closes ranks with his leader and claps him on the shoulder, but his eyes are on his girlfriend as he says, “Raven, make it three hundred on Team Saint for me, thanks.”

“Mate,” Wesley growls. “You owe me three hundred dollars. Where are you going to get three hundred more?”

“Duh.” Zeke gestures at Cisco.

“Thought you were Team Sinner,” Leila points out. “Or was that just a ploy to get in my pants?”