Page 65 of Sinister

“No? Unacceptable!” he exclaims. “You’re extraordinary. So beautiful.” He tilts his head. “My eyes almost hurt from looking at you.”

I blush and turn away. I’ve never been the object of so many praises—of any praises at all. I don’t know how to respond, especially when he looks at me like that . . . Like he would like to . . . devour me.

“We should talk about why I came.” I clear my throat.

“Yes, please,” he says calmly, though I feel anything but calm. Inside, a storm is raging—not just because of how close he is, or the fact that I’m alone with him, unveiled, exposed, but because of what I’m about to say.

“I overheard my father speaking with one of the men from his congregation,” I begin slowly.

“About me?” His brows lift slightly.

“Well . . . I think it was about you. And your mentor.”

He doesn’t speak, just waits.

“They believe you’re planning something. In two days. On the night of the full moon.”

Still no reaction. Just that steady gaze.

“They want to stop you,” I say. “They want to hurt you. Maybe even kill you.”

He continues to watch me, unreadable. Not a flicker of surprise.

“You don’t seem shocked.”

“No,” he says simply. “It was only a matter of time before your church tried something drastic.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

He shrugs. “What I am is . . . grateful. That you would risk so much to come warn me. To try and save me.”

“I—I didn’t do it just for you,” I stammer. “I’d do it for anyone. Killing isn’t right, it doesn’t⁠—”

He cuts me off gently. “Doesn’t matter. You did it for me. That’s how I’ll remember it.”

“But—”

He smiles faintly. “You snuck out of your house, in the middle of the night, knowing what could happen if you were caught, just to come find me. You have no idea what that means to me.”

I flush again. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry,” he says. “Now that you’ve gone through so much to warn me, the least I can do is make sure your effort wasn’t in vain.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll have to speak to my mentor. We’ll plan accordingly.”

“But is it true? What they’re saying? That you’re going to perform a ritual to summon . . . something? An entity?”

He hums. “What do you know about demons, Petra?”

“Not much,” I admit, shivering slightly. “Only what I’ve read in the Bible.”

“Then you know nothing,” he replies. “The demons in the Bible and the demons that exist in our world are not the same.”

“Exist in our world?” I echo. “You mean they’re already here? They’re not in hell?”

“Come,” he says, beckoning me.