Chapter 23

Ihated being back in the Coalition’s clutches. It was different this time. I was older, wiser, and they thought I was one of them. There were people I was trauma bonded with the first time I was here. We escaped together, but once we were clear of that facility, they had no loyalty. They decided I was slowing them down because of my vision and left me to fend for myself.

But the two guys with me now were my coven, and I was their pack. We’d all get captured rather than leave someone behind. And I might not know her name yet or what she looked like, but we were getting our mate out of this place.

It was the distance. We were all powerless until we could get to the angel tears. I was housed in a completely separate building than everyone else. They were super paranoid about one of the demons jumping bodies, so their dormitory was warded, too. The bracelet the bearded man who refused to give us his name gave me still had enough juice to transfigure the walls where I had to sleep and eat to get rid of the silver so I wasn’t totally miserable.

I didn’t like being this far away from Benji and Cas even when we weren’t in danger of being discovered. And I wanted to transfigure this entire place to ash knowing my mate was in the basement being starved.

I wasn’t the type to sit idle and stew. I checked on my mate and she sounded like she was fading. We desperately needed to move up our timeline if we couldn’t get Hannibal to feed her properly. Benji said he admired the woman she killed, so he was probably going to punish her for a while.

Benji didn’t just give Hannibal anal leakage. Hannibal was insisting everyone drink the concoction, even me. I was provided with a glass at breakfast and dinner. I had to think on my feet and say back home, we took our meals in our rooms so we could pray and contemplate how we were going to help the unfortunate demon-possessed in our charge.

Benji’s plan was only funny if my asshole wasn’t leaking, too.

I had a whole-ass nuclear bomb on my cell phone. Father Nathan was a bit of an insomniac. Sometimes, he’d text, and I’d go down the mountain so we could hit up this twenty-four-hour diner. Father Nathan was immensely curious about the various creation myths, including ours.

I had a feeling he would be awake. I’d already checked this room for cameras and bugs. Hannibal was naughty. There were two in my room, but not the bathroom and they were cheap bugs. He didn’t know I knew about them or their range. I pretended like I was going to soak in the tub and went to call my friend.

“Hey, is it safe to talk?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m in the bathroom.”

“Gross.”

“Yeah, kinda. I emailed you some files before I called. You’ll know what to do.”

I was still speaking in code just in case. Everything here was pretty low tech because Hannibal was a cheap-ass sadist who spent most of their budget on torture shit.

“Holy mother, do you know what this is?”

“Just some patient files. I’m having some trouble with curing them. If you have any insight, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“I get it. I’ll sit on this until you’re out. Any idea when that will be?” Father Nathan asked.

“I’m making progress, but I’m not quite there yet. I’d love to be able to see the patients in the basement. I’ll keep you updated.”

If Hannibal was creeping in my bathroom, letting him think I was getting outside help from the Coalition and the basement might help.

“I’ll bet Benji and Cas are enjoying the Irish priest thing.”

I groaned.

“More than you know.”

“I’ll probably go to Hell for this, but keep the collar. Benji is probably going to come back with puppy dog eyes begging for it and if I don’t give it to him, he’s either going to steal it or I’ll end up like our poor, unfortunate Sheriff.”

Oh, goddess, I did not just have an actual priest tell me that. It was probably why Father Nathan and I were such good friends. I couldn’t stop giggling.

“Thanks. I’ll keep you posted. And if you have any insight on how I can better succeed at my new post, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“Will do. Be safe, Pax.”

Father Nathan was good people. There were plenty of humans who were. We just needed stop these bad ones so everyone could be safe and happy.