"Special," Benedict finished for him. "From the sounds of it, she's definitely special to you. Just remember the bond between a guardian and his angel is a chaste one?"
Sin huffed out a laugh. "You do realize she's a walking sack of cloth, right?"
"There is more than a body to lust after, my boy. Often, a brilliant mind traps a man harder than a woman's amazing curves. Your first duty is to get this girl safe from whatever threats she's under." And he passed over the drive.
"About that..." Sin accepted the object and paused to push it into one of his pockets. "Benedict, I want to get her out. I'm well aware OutLink will try to get her back. I also know we cannot use the Legion as sanctuary because of the conflict over the first precept. It's possible I may have a hideout, though. If that happens, I will need to go off the grid for a while."
"I assume you will stay in contact with Brother Trent?" he asked.
"All of them, actually," Sin admitted. "They're helping me with this."
Benedict just smiled. "And what do you call yourselves again?"
"The Fallen," Sin mumbled, wondering how the Praetor even knew about that.
"Ah, yes. That's right. After the bar beside the apartment complex you share." He flashed Sin another knowing smile. "No, it's not divine knowledge. Sister Julie is simply more willing to talk than the rest of you. She also showed me the pendants. Ionly have one question. Are you not doing the exact same thing you're accusing the other side of?"
"Making a split in the church?" Sin asked. "No, I don't believe so. Our pendants are a backup plan. A way to know who we can trust if a divide happens."
"And yet you're already dividing, Sinclair. The five of you make plans on your own. For the good of us all, you say. So is Joshua. To move the church forward, he claims. What's the difference?"
"That we," Sin said, "are looking for those willing to sacrifice themselves for those who cannot help themselves. Joshua seems to be looking for those he can sacrifice when he cannot help himself."
"That's the right answer," Benedict assured him. "Now go. Joshua wants to know about this altercation last night, and yes, he has every intention of bringing it to a formal inquiry." Leaning forward, he placed his aged hand over where Sin's rested on the arm of his chair. "Trust God, my boy. Joshua may be prosecuting you for this, but I will be directing the defense. God will make it clear that you are innocent."
"Thank you," Sin told him. "I'll make sure the Ingénue gets your question."
"Destroy that drive when you're done. There's a reason I don't want a record of it. She can pass you the answer herself."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After leaving the Praetor's office, Sin headed straight to the cathedral. His path brought him in the same door where Benedict had led him out last time. There, just before him, was the closed eye and lifted wings of his God. In truth, Sin had no idea how tall the statue was, but he knew it was taller than a man. Since that space was reserved for the Praetor and Censor, he'd never gotten close enough to know how much taller.
Still, he moved to the edge of the stairs and knelt, pressing two fingers to his brow. "May I serve only the power of God, and do Your will as only You can see best," he whispered. Then he added, "Although it would be nice to get a little guidance in what that is." The words were soft, spoken only for himself and his God.
But they were no more than out of his mouth before another knelt beside him to whisper his own prayer. Sin stood, glancing over to see the face of none other than Joshua. Even worse, Sin had a funny feeling the man had sought him out. Since he might as well get this over with, he waited politely until the Censor stood.
"Just the man I was looking for," Sin said.
"Imperator," Joshua greeted him, using the title for the head of the Legion selection committee. No one else ever did.
Sin dipped his head slightly, accepting it. "Censor. I learned that last night I may have killed a priest."
"Learned?" Joshua asked, sounding unimpressed. "So you're saying the murder was accidental?"
"It was in the defense of my angel, and the killing was very intentional. As you know, a guardian is sworn to protect his angel at all costs. I felt that men shooting at us counted. I also didn't know he was a priest until later."
"How could you not know?" Joshua snapped.
"Because the men who attacked us all wore some form of face covering. Sadly, I have not memorized the eye color of every priest in the Legion. I can't even promise I know all their faces. When they're dressed as common lower-city punks? Well, it certainly doesn't make it any easier."
"I see," Joshua drawled, gesturing for Sin to move with him to the side. "So this had nothing to do with your Stabiltrol dosage?"
And there it was. Of all the people against the use of cybernetics in medicine, Joshua was one of the most emphatic. Granted, the man had a reason. He'd become a priest at a young age, sending his weekly stipend to his parents in an attempt to help them make ends meet because their own Stabiltrol costs had been so high. It hadn't worked, and with him out of the house, he hadn't been able to save his younger sister from his parent's rage.
Sin knew all about it. Joshua's story and his were much too close. They also weren't unique. Too many families had suffered because of the high cost of the drug. The difference was that where Sin blamed the laws which allowed big corporations to get rich on life saving medication, Joshua blamed the enhancements themselves. The pair had spent many evenings debating the best way to deal with the problem, right up until Sin had been injured in the bombing. That day he'd received his own implants.
"So you know," Sin told him, "I take Stabiltrol every four days. My next dose is tomorrow, so no. If I was suffering fromthe effects of cybernetic rejection, I'd be shaking long before I exhibited mind-altering emotional outbursts."
