Constantine smiles, “I know, right?”
I give him a confused look, “Why are they here?”
Stella comes walking around the corner with a man in her arms and blood dripping from her lips, “They want to die. God told them to come to you for absolution.”
I stumble down the stairs, “I can’t help you. I’m sorry. God was wrong. I can’t kill you all.”
A man walks to me, “You are the sin eater; you must bless us and let us go to him. You are our redemption.”
I look around as the crowd starts to come towards me, “Why are you giving up? Why don’t you want to fight and save this place? Why not fight together to kill the horsemen and save the Earth from Lucifer?”
I look back at Wyatt. His jaw is set, I can see he is ready to fight. I shake my head, “We cannot sin.”
He smiles, “Self defense is not a sin.”
“Wyatt, I need the light of the world. I need it from my mother. I have to get into that garden.”
He nods, offering me his hand. He pulls me to him. Constantine looks around and then at Stella, “End them, sister. No one wants a bunch of cowards on the Earth anyway.”
Stella starts to laugh. I hurry back into the house with Constantine and Wyatt. My stomach is burning from hunger. I drop to my knees, pressing my hand against the door and leaning my exhausted head.
Constantine drops to his knees too, “We need to go now. We need to find that garden.”
Mona walks over, “I’m coming. I have a feeling I’m supposed to.”
I glance over at Michelle. She shakes her head, “No way. Not even for the road trip. I’m staying here. That’s the freaking Z-Apoc out there. You guys go ahead.” She has slowly become less of a human. I suppose not having a soul has ruined the person she used to be. The person I loved.
I look at Wyatt, “I’m taking Mona and him. When I ate from Constantine, you would have absorbed some of my evil; the taint will be on you. You’re not the sin eater, you’re just tainted.”
He opens his mouth but his mother comes forward from the couch, “She is right. The sin eater has reason for eating sin, you do not.” She smiles, “I need your help anyway.”
He is about to argue, but she shakes her head, “I have found the horsemen. I need your help.”
He looks back over at me and nods, “Okay.” I don’t like the look I see in his eyes. He looks at Constantine, “You keep her safe.”
He nods once.
I look at Mona, “I’ll fly you, and he can do his weird vanishing there.”
She smiles, “This is the right choice, trust me. I can feel it.”
Three
The gate comes when we least expect it. We have sat in the same spot by the stream for a day and a half. Mona has run out of her packed food, and Constantine has been eyeing her jugular up like it’s nobody’s business. I’m hungry in a way that can’t be helped. I push away the desire to suck Mona of every last drop. When I am lost in a thought about ending this all by any means necessary the gate materializes.
It looks the way it did in the dream. My feet walk before I’m actually ready. Mona grabs my hand, and I swear I’m in a fairytale. We get inside and look back as Constantine walks through. He closes his eyes and swallows hard as his feet cross the boundaries. He smiles wide, “Well, that’s that then, isn’t it?”
I laugh, “What?”
“A vampire has never entered the gates before.” His eyes twinkle, he’s always so cryptic. “We have too much sex, too much killing, and a general lack of a soul.” He winks at me, “But I am not a regular vampire.” He steps to me, “Let’s hurry.”
We cross the grassy field to the village. A woman in white walks towards us, the one from the dream walk. Her eyes lift and a fearful look crosses her face; we see her realize that we shouldn’t be there. We are not fae. She stops dead in her tracks, “How?”
I smile, “I’m the daughter of Lillith. I need to see her. She has summoned me.”
The woman looks around quickly, panicked. “You brought it right to them, after all these years and after all her hard work… You brought it right to them?”
I shake my head, “What?”
She sighs, “The weapon against the angels.”
I look at Constantine. He looks pissed. “What weapon?”
“The light of the world.”
He gives me a sideways look, “Where is it?”
Mona’s jaw drops, “Oh God, is it inside of her?”
My jaw joins hers on the floor. I shake my head, “That can’t be right. I have only death and badness in me. Not to mention, a bunch of other girls. There’s no way.”
The woman shakes her head, “You must leave now! Back to the gates before they see you.”
Constantine steps towards her, “Why are you helping us?”
Her bright-blue eyes flash, “Not everyone wants the world put back the way it was before God changed everything. Not all of us believe in genocide.”
Mona looks at me, “What do you want to do?”
My jaw sets in typical Rayne stubbornness, “I want to free her. She is expecting me. She wouldn’t have called me here unless there was no other way.”
The woman smiles, “You know she is captive here?”
I nod, “We suspected. That or she was in league with my father.”
“She would never help him, not ever.”
Constantine gives me another look, “We need to turn back. This could be a trap. I don’t know enough about the light. I assumed…”
I snap at him, “We all did. My mom and Fitz both thought it. Everyone thought it was in her—Lillith.”
Constantine laughs, “And all this time, those Van Helsings have had you in their grasp, forever seeking the light for his holy pain in the ass.” His laugh makes us all laugh. I’ve never seen him so free.
I scowl, “Don’t talk about God like that.” I don’t even know why I’m defending him. The guy has never done me any favors.
Constantine scoffs, “Not God—Michael. God would have nothing to do with this.” He starts to laugh harder. He bends forward, almost taking a knee.
The woman in white laughs, “The garden takes your cares. You are like a child again. The effect will wear off.”
I shake my head, “I don’t want it to. Look at him. He’s free.”
She speaks over Constantine’s howling, “You have to flee, sin eater. They will kill you and steal your light. They will use it and send everything with a soul back to heaven. It’s the reset button. The fae will take back the world, the fae and the witches and the creatures.”
I shake my head, “I have to kill Lillith first. The gate may never show itself to me again. I have to use this chance. We only got through because the nixie helped us.”
She bows subtly, “Please reconsider.”
I squeeze Mona’s hand, “Sorry.” I look at Mona, “Can you take my friend back though? She’s human.”
Mona scowls, “I’m staying.” She gives Constantine, who is still laughing, a look. “Maybe we should send him back though. He’s a mess.”
Constantine grabs my other hand, but doesn’t stop snickering. “Let’s go do this. I need to get out of here. I’m cramping up.”
I smile at the woman, “Thank you.”
She shakes her head, “Don’t thank me, I should force you from the garden. But I too desire her free, I suppose. Go around the town. Avoid the people. Take the back steps and avoid eyes. Yours are obvious.”
We walk to the village but stay on the outskirts. Constantine looks around as we sneak about the dense forest. “When I say fly, Rayne, you fly as hard as you can. You fly hard for the gates and kill your mother just outside of them. They cannot keep you here without a bargain. No matter what, do not deal with the fae.” He’s back to being crabby and serious. I’m actually relieved. His constant laughing was weird.
He whispers, “We will not have an argument about this. You will make me a promise on this now, or I will carry you like a child back to the gates.”
I can’t reach my fear of this place, but I know I’m terrified so I nod, “Okay.”
He stops me, looking into my eyes, “Do you promise me that you will do whatever it takes to end Lillith outside of the gates?”
I nod, “I do. How do we kill her with no weapons in here? Can you bite the fae?”
He laughs, but it’s his usual bitter one. “No.” He looks around, “They must have weapons somewhere. We don’t need to worry about killing the fae. They won’t fight us. They’ll use cunning. Besides silver is the only thing that can kill them. We only need a knife to kill Lillith. You separate that head from the shoulders, just outside of the gate. That’s the plan.”
I look at Mona, “You should go to the gate or hide.”
She shakes her head, “I have a bad feeling that I have to stay with you.”
Constantine sighs, pulling us towards the castle. I look at the town below us when we get to the other side of the castle “Why do they hate us?”
Constantine leans in, “They don’t hate. They’re perfect, they don’t have negative emotions. They can be worried or cautious but they don’t hate or even dislike. They are not fighters. Why do you think they have never defeated the humans? They have never fought them. They would win in a heartbeat, but they do not resort to violence.”