Page 301 of Sinister

“I will ensure you are reunited with your beloved in the next life,” Valerion suddenly says. “I will ensure he remembers you.”

“But you will still require something in exchange for your help, so is this not the same?” the friar drawls. “At least I can bring back your beloved now, not in any future life.”

“I will not require your soul in exchange for it, Sister Agatha. If you agree to his deal, you will be forever damned. This way, your soul will be saved, and you will meet your beloved again. I vow it,” Valerion intervenes.

I glance between the two of them.

One promises immediate results in exchange for my soul.

The other promises future results, but in exchange for what?

“And what will you require of me?” I ask in a soft voice.

“Yes, Vitry. Tell the nun what you’ll require of her,” Frey Antonio says with a laugh.

Valerion takes a deep breath. “Five evil souls of your choosing. Deliver them to me, and our deal will be fulfilled.”

Frey Antonio snorts. “Five souls. I’m asking for one.”

He’s right. What Valerion is saying . . . he’s asking me to kill people, isn’t he? I don’t think I am capable of that.

I’m about to shake Frey Antonio’s hand when Valerion speaks again.

“He is asking for one soul. Yours. And if you give it to him now, what will you give your beloved? He will be all alone in the universe, going through incarnation after incarnation without ever finding his person. Is that what you want for him?”

My lashes flutter in surprise. Something within me resonates with his words, and before I can make a conscious decision, I pivot and grasp Valerion’s hand.

“I accept the terms.”

He closes his eyes, pressing his lips together as if in pain.

“So be it. A deal is a deal.”

“You cannot do this!” Frey Antonio bursts out. The other friars join him as they confront Valerion. “You cannot steal our prey just like that.”

“Free will, is it not, Desmond?” Valerion raises a brow at him.

Pulling me behind him, he creates a sword from dark particles of energy. Before the other friars can attack him, he cuts each of them in two.

Right in front of my eyes, the friars disintegrate, their bodies becoming beacons of dark energy that funnel straight into Valerion’s palm. As he looks around the room, he snaps his fingers, and the other nuns enter a deep sleep.

I exhale loudly, a sense of relief overwhelming me. My mind instantly clears. My feelings are no longer in control, but I fear it is too late.

I glance warily at Valerion as I realize what I should have known all along. He is not human. He is a demon, too?

I just made a deal with a demon.

“I am sorry for everything, Sister Agatha. I should have known they would wander in here,” he says gravely.

“W-what were they?”

“Mid-level demons. They have their own physical form and different gifts. These three in particular had the gift of uncovering a person’s deepest desire, and they used that to exploit it and buy themselves souls.”

“But if they’re demons, what are you?”

He smiles sadly. “I did not want to introduce myself this way. I am not human, you are correct. But I am not a demon either.”

My eyes widen. He’s reading my mind?