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“We have to find Catherine. We have to tell her what’s been happening here. This whole thing must be a mistake. The Blue Bloods can’t have allowed this. . . . Michael and Gabrielle would never . . . Something has gone very wrong here.
“We’ll find Catherine,” Schuyler said resolutely. “I have a feeling she can’t be far. Lawrence thought she might be in Alexandria. He had meant to go there, but he’d wanted to check out Father Baldessarre first.” She put away her grandfather’s papers, and when she looked up, Jack’s eyes were bright.
What is wrong, my darling? she sent, and walked over to take his hand. We are safe. We will fight this horror.
“I cannot go with you to Egypt,” Jack said, gripping her hand tightly.
“What do you mean?”
“There will be more bounty hunters. We got lucky this time. But I cannot put you in any more danger. I must go back and face Mimi.”
Schuyler did not say a word, and held Jack’s hand even tighter.
“This is the only way, my love,” Jack said. “For the two of us to be free, I must face the blood trial. I could never face myself if you ever came to harm because of me.”
Schuyler trembled. “They will burn you,” she whispered.
“Do you have so little faith in me?”
“I will go with you,” she said, even though she knew she would not. She had to finish her grandfather’s work. She had to carry on the legacy. Innocent women and children were being slain in the name of the Blessed.
“No. You know you must not,” Jack said.
You said we would never be separated, ever again.
And we will not. Not ever. There is a way to be together always. Jack dropped to his knees and looked up at Schuyler with so much love. “Will you?”
Schuyler gasped and pulled him to his feet. She was ecstatic and devastated at the same time. “Yes. Yes. Of course. Yes.”
It was decided, then. Shuyler would look for Catherine of Siena and the true Gate of Promise, while Jack would return to New York to fight for his freedom. But before they went their separate ways, they would seal their bond.
FORTY-TWO
The Road to Hell (Mimi)
Mimi Force looked up at the Repository scribe sitting in front of her. “The Venators have crushed the coup.
There will be no disbandment. For now the Coven stands.”
“I heard. Congratulations.”
“They’re going to stick together and stick with me for now.” Mimi pursed her lips. “If they know what’s best for them.”
“I can’t imagine you had me fetched from the basement just to crow over your victory, as deserved as it may be.”
“You’re right; there’s something else. The Repository report came in on the blood spell that hit me.”
“And?”
“It was not sent by a member of the Conclave, nor from any vampire in this Coven.”
“No?”
“No—and it wasn’t from the Nephilim that Deming killed either.”
“Then who?”
“I don’t know. That’s what we need to find out. And there was something else,” she said. “When the report came in, I also got back the coat I was wearing that day. I found this in it.” She showed him a cross, monogrammed with the initials O.H.P. “It’
