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“Where the hell did you come from?” Chris asked.
“I second that,” Meredith said.
She shrugged. “My magic’s restricted. Van’s isn’t.”
Not exactly an explanation, but it was as good as we were getting out of her. She nudged Van, who took a step forward. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you all so rudely last night. You may call me Van. I’ll be your ally as long as Cosette is.”
Cosette rolled her eyes. “By that, he means he looks forward to fighting with us.”
“That’s great,” Chris said, his voice rasping a little, “but I’m still stuck on where the hell did you come from?”
“We were nearby, watching.” Cosette gave a vague wave. “We didn’t feel the need to ride on your roof rack.”
No one could blame her for that. She’d showed when we needed her and that was all that mattered.
I turned back to the wooden doors. The carved handles were works of art on their own. I hated that Luciana had turned such a pretty place—a sanctuary—into something evil, but the scent of demon and death, combined with the slimy feel of her wards, couldn’t be ignored.
“Can you guys just beam us in, or whatever it is you do?” I asked Van.
“That wouldn’t be wise.” He narrowed his silver eyes at the door. “However we cross the line, it will release what’s being bound. Better to go through the door and fight it face-to-face.”
That made sense. It sucked, but it made sense. “So, what now? We just can’t leave a demon in there waiting for someone to stumble in and let it free. And if Luciana has killed again…” It didn’t feel right leaving bodies here. The last thing we needed her to do was use them to make more demon-zombies like Daniel.
“I’ll check the perimeter,” Donovan said. “Might be there’s a window we can peek through and see what we’re really up against.” He tromped through the shrubs, disappearing from view.
Van went the other way, apparently wanting to check things out on his own, and the rest of us stepped back from the wards.
I moved closer to Cosette. “You okay?”
She shrugged. “Things could be worse.”
That wasn’t an answer, but at least she didn’t seem hurt or pissed. I had more questions about to bubble free.
Dastien moved to my side before I could open my mouth. I don’t think it’s any of your business.
I suppose, but it’s my fault I didn’t warn her about the guy. I can’t help but feel bad.
Donovan stumbled from the other side of the chapel, ending the chance I had to ask her anything.
A stray branch caught Donovan’s cheek. “Damn it all,” he said as he wiped off the blood. “There’s nothing back there but woods. The walls are solid. Not a window or door besides this one.”
“We can break through the ward,” Cosette said. “But Luciana could be waiting for us to do just that.”
“Maybe we should just go,” I started. “I mean, is it worth—”
A soft scream echoed from inside the church.
We all froze.
“Please tell me there’s no one alive in there.” Because if that was a human, then we had to go in. Screw the wards. Screw the circle and whatever was inside it.
“Help me!” The woman’s voice rasped. “Please.” She was so hoarse, my throat burned in sympathy. “It’s going to kill me.”
Before I could do anything, before I could even think about how to go about this without setting off any traps, Raphael was moving. Any one of the Weres could’ve stopped him, but none of us really wanted to. There was someone in there who needed our help. We couldn’t ignore that. No matter what we might face inside.
He ran up the stairs, threw open the door, and froze. “Oh, shit.”
I started after him, but a wave of energy blasted me back.
