me is difficult to admit. “I’ve not forgotten that left hook.”
Smiling, I ball my hand into a fist, recalling my first successful punch. “If it makes you feel better, I practiced on Titus. Every one of my knuckles have been bruised for it.”
“Doesn’t make my jaw feel any better.”
The truck slows to a stop in front of the convent, whose brick exterior lies mostly hidden behind the vines that crawl over it. The place gives off an eerie vibe, almost haunted, the way its steeple pierces the sky like a rigid pillar of virtue. To think, this is where I was destined to spend the next five years of my life.
There’s a part of me that’s reluctant to go inside, uncertain of what’s to come. As many times as my father has come home telling stories of their surprise attacks on marauders, I’ve never personally felt the rush of adrenaline moments before. The fear of failure looming in the background. The smell of death waiting in the wings.
The thick, wooden doors of the convent open on the familiar face of Mother Chilson, who’s flanked by two sisters, and two Legion officers strapped with guns. I slide my satchel over my head, and the knives inside clack against each other. As I exit the truck, her eyes instantly fall on me, and I can practically see the images inside her head, the instant replay of that day, the last time I saw her, when she condemned me to hell for what I’d done.
She scoffs, making her way down the stone stairs, toward me. “Well, well. Look who it is. We thought you’d perished to the wolves.”
Hoped, I imagine. “Ah, well, you couldn’t be so lucky, I guess.”
Still cloaked in their blankets, the women hop off the back of the truck, and I notice they seem to be careful not to make noise with their weapons. The fact that the guards stand relaxed is a testament of the trust they’ve seen prior to now, a thought that only stokes my anger. How many women and children have been dumped here, only to fall victim to whatever happens within those walls?
“And who is this man you’ve taken up with?”
I glance back toward Titus, and recall what Lilith said earlier about looking distressed. “He … captured us. All of us.”
“Very good.” She nods toward Titus, who strides up to my side, settling my nerves only a slight bit. “You’ll be rewarded for returning her to us. I’ll have my officers load the back of your truck with food and supplies, as promised.
“Appreciate it.”
“As for the rest of you, welcome to the Sisters of Mercy. You’re safe here.” Twisting her pudgy form slightly, she gestures toward the women standing behind her.
When they step down, making their way toward us, the first crack of gunfire echoes, and all I see is red spattered across the front of their white neckerchiefs.
Mother Chilson’s eyes widen, mouth gaping for a scream.
Before the Legion officers can aim their guns, bullets explode across their faces, sending bits of skull and flesh into the air, before their bodies fall to the ground.
I turn toward Lilith, who lowers her gun, smiling up at Mother Chilson, and at her signal, three of the others in our group race after the nun, who attempts to hobble away. She’s tackled to the ground and dragged into the convent.
“The other guards will be here any second. I suggest the two of you hurry.” Cold steel hits my arm, where Lilith pushes one of her two guns toward me, urging me to take it. Beside me, Titus straps a gun, given to him by one of the other women, over his chest.
“I’ve not learned guns yet.”
“Today’s a good day to figure it out.”
With a firm grip on my arm, Titus yanks me after him, and the two of us scurry up the stairs and into the convent, where Mother Chilson screams and kicks, as the women haul her toward the chapel.
Footsteps approaching signals guards are coming, and as gunshots ring out behind us, we duck low and hustle toward the door at the back. The one we were told led to Purgatory below.
Titus places his ear to the door, and his jaw hardening, he pushes me out of the way and raises his gun. The moment Legion officers plow through the door, he fires.
Hands clapped to my ear, I duck behind one of the pews, peering around the corner to see him take out three officers, before he