Page 3 of The Sinner and the Priest: Part Two

The girls laugh. That’s when I notice jelly bits stuck in their teeth, and I gasp. “You found tasty candy!”

Famine’s mark on the quality of food this past week has taken its toll on many of us. When everything you put in your mouth tastes like ash, your appetite fades.

My stomach grumbles. The girls squeal and burrow deeper into the fort, disappearing beneath the sheet. Tawny goes all pale and stiff, then averts her gaze.

Wait. Is she still angry at me for joking with Cisco about her cupcake evil-taste-testing?

“Babe,” I say, voice soft. “I love you. Are you okay?”

She tenses and plucks at a pillow. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.” I tug at the habit’s veil. “I wish I could stay and talk, but unfortunately, we’re running late as it is.”

When she doesn’t answer, I get down on my knees and draw her in for a hug. She goes stiff and keeps her arms stubbornly at her sides. I’m around fifteen years older than her. Sometimes I forget how much more experience I’ve had than her, and how much of it has made me jaded.

“We’re going to be okay, right?” she asks.

I rub her back and whisper into her hair, “I promise.”

Something in those words breaks her, and she throws her arms around me, squeezing hard. My god, she’s trembling.

“Is Father Angelotti okay?” she whispers.

I don’t have an answer for her, but it warms my heart that she’s worried about him. “We’ll find out more about his family curse in Italy.”

She nods.

“Tawny.” I pull back and search her eyes, but she puts on the mask Sinners are all too aware of.

“You’re going to need to keep your blood sugar up.” She reaches into the fort and drags out a crackling plastic bag. The orphans whine and moan, but she tells them, “I’m just giving her one.”

Lucia pokes out her scowling face. But then she sighs and dips her hand into her pocket, handing me something. “For Father Angelotti.”

I look down. It’s a sweaty Twizzler stick. Tawny hands me a fresh one from the packet, too, but they hoard the rest. I don’t blame them.

“Thank you.” I tuck the sweets in a pocket. “These will definitely be appreciated.”

She gives a diplomatic nod and then disappears again.

“See you when I get back, girls.” I smile tightly at Tawny. “Can you walk with me?”

Her hesitation is so fleeting I almost miss it, but she climbs to her feet and accompanies me outside.

We’re almost to her room when I ask, “Did you get a chance to ask them about Spain?”

This morning, while Cisco showered, I told the team what he saw inside Jasmine’s sin and how he thinks Hannah is involved. They reminded me that the demon prince Beelzebub is associated with flies and promised to double down on translations and research on him.

Tawny volunteered to hang with the orphans and fish for information.

She stops and fidgets. “I couldn’t get much, but I think it’s as Father said. They weren’t hiding behind a corpse for three days. Everyone turned on each other, not just the Vatican representatives. There were lots of flies.”

“Did they mention Hannah?”

“Only that she wasn’t fighting.”

“But she was there as it happened.”

She nods.