Page 62 of Love At the Gates of Hell (The Seven Sinners Trilogy #1)

forty-two

Benny

“Benny, run —”

She was surprised by her own reflexes but grateful her body had better fight-or-flight instincts than her brain as she lurched away from Frank and the subsequent gunshot that pierced through his shoulder.

She had been too stuck in her own fear, too consumed by the ritual and by Frank’s promise to hurt the people who had so quickly become important to her to do much more than let him take what he needed from her. Would she be complicit in her own end?

After all the fighting, would she give up this easily?

But Gideon had given her an out, the ache in his voice snapping her out of an unforgiving nightmare, and she was going to take it. Even if she wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. She owed them all that much.

She stumbled to her feet, pushing past both Frank and Mack as she tried to find an exit. Or any kind of escape from these men and their hunger for her blood. Her power.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A vampire came from the wings of the nave, a gleaming glow in his eyes as he approached her.

He was big and bulky, and his eyes were a deep blood red as he bared his fangs.

Her hands went up instinctively, her fingers tingling with her magic, until she heard a distinct click right in her ear.

It was the unmistakable sound of the safety on a gun, and it was close.

Too close.

She blinked her eyes shut as she felt the pressure of it press against the base of her skull.

“Oh, she’s not going anywhere,” Mack said snidely. “Right, witch?”

Benny stood still, her chest heaving as she tried to steady her breath.

Mack wasn’t going to shoot her. He couldn’t.

Frank wanted her alive. As much as he tried to scare her, Benny knew that he was intent on using her.

That he was going to figure out a way to make her his own.

Whether it was her still beating heart in sacrifice, or as his own personal witch.

But that didn’t mean Mack couldn’t hurt her.

It was hard to think with a gun pointed to her head.

“That’s what I thought.” Mack chuckled, taking her silence for acceptance. “Jax, let’s get her tied back up until the boss is ready for her again.”

The vampire’s wicked smile brought a heavy feeling to the pit of her stomach as Mack pushed her toward him.

At the same time another rumble rippled through the cathedral and she tripped, falling heavily to her knees on the floor.

She winced at the impact, the hand that Frank sliced open raw and tender as she tried to catch her fall.

She could hear the vampire laughing and Mack cursing under his breath as she fumbled to regain her footing.

“Get up,” Mack growled. “Get up, or I will shoot you.”

Now or never, Benny.

She flattened her palms against the stone, ignoring the sting of the wound, her hands glowing with the heat that had been begging to come to the surface.

The floor grew warm under her touch, a quiet thundering working its way through the floor as she pushed herself to her feet.

She could make it look like she was just steadying herself.

She lurched forward, grabbing at the vampire for purchase, her good hand wrapping around his wrist.

“What the—”

Benny caught the surprise dawning in the vampire’s eyes as her grip tightened.

The red began to fade from the whites of his eyes as he struggled against her hold, but her magic was already seeping its way through his skin, the spot where she held him starting to bubble, his flesh turning blotchy and deformed.

It happened so quickly, neither he nor Mack could do anything before the vampire burst into a cloud of black ash.

“Fuckin’ Christ—”

Mack’s voice cracked as Benny turned, her eyes blazing with the same heat she now held in her hands. She inched closer toward him even as he aimed his gun directly at her. Was he shaking?

Good. She hoped he was.

She wasn’t going to be afraid anymore.

She reached for the gun, the only distance between them now mere inches. Benny could feel her heart beating, moving in rapid time, but she couldn’t stop now. She wrapped her hand around the barrel and let her magic work through the metal, turning it hotter and hotter until Mack was hissing in pain.

“Not so tough now, are you?”

He tried to hang on, but she could smell the burning flesh, could see his eyes watering. With a gasp, he released his hold on the gun, and Benny was quick to turn it back on him, her finger hovering at the trigger.

Mack stumbled backwards with his hands up in defense, and she could see the burn marks on his palm, his skin bright red and blistered. She grimaced, knowing that inflicting this kind of pain came with a price in her craft. But she would have to worry about that later.

“ Run ,” she told him.

His head was nodding yes as he backed away from her just as the doors leading to the cathedral slammed open.

But she was too deep into the church to see what was happening, hidden away in the back of the nave.

The unmistakable sound of bullets flying suddenly filled the space.

She could see the confusion working through Mack’s face as he turned on his heel, running back toward the altar.

Would she regret letting him go?

Maybe.

But killing him didn’t feel right.

“Benny?”

The sound of Gideon’s voice nearly brought a sob to her chest. She turned to find him rushing toward her, and the sheer relief she felt to be this close to him was overwhelming.

He was drawing her into his arms and holding her tightly, hands smoothing over her hair.

Her body sank into his, her arms wrapping around his shoulders, and she didn’t want to let him go.

But the gunshots going off around them were impossible to ignore.

A reminder of where they were and what they had to do.

“I’m so sorry about your dad,” she said.

He held her tightly. “I know. Me too.”

“You came,” she breathed.

“Always,” he said, pulling back, his hands settling on her shoulders. His eyes were warm and searching. “Are you okay? Let me see your hand.”

“I’m fine,” she told him, although it didn’t matter. Gideon was reaching for her, gentle as he turned over her palm, his thumb grazing along the jagged line Frank marked into her skin. Even now, he was so soft with her. “You know I’ll heal.”

“That doesn’t matter,” he said. “Fuck, Benny, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked. “I did this. I made this choice.”

“You never should have had to in the first place.”

“I’d make it again,” she said softly, when she noticed the faint red ring around his throat, barely hidden by the collar of his shirt. “Oh, Gideon, what did he do to you?”

He shook his head with a wave of his hand. “It’s fine.”

“Is that what we’re doing?”

“It works for you, doesn’t it?” he countered as he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and brandished a handkerchief. “Come here. We don’t have much time.”

Benny couldn’t help her smile as she watched him, studying the worry lines at his brow, the way his jaw tightened as he wrapped the cloth around her hand tightly.

She could love him if he continued like this.

She might already, the realization sudden and sweeping.

She pressed a soft kiss against his cheek, then another at his lips.

She didn’t know what tonight would bring, and she couldn’t fathom not kissing him one more time.

He sighed against her lips, his hand tucking around her waist as he drew her close.

“I have your shoes,” he said, his mouth against hers.

She drew back in surprise as Gideon’s skin flushed.

“You were wearing heels the last time we were together and I—”

But she was kissing him again, her hands cupping at the sides of his face. “Thank you.”

A boyish grin spread across his mouth as he dropped his duffle bag to the ground and pulled out her worn trainers before tossing the bag aside. She had never been so thankful to see a pair of shoes in her life.

Frank’s whole barefoot, virginal thing was just an added blow to this whole ritual sacrifice bullshit.

“So, what’s the plan?” she asked as she pulled them on her feet.

“We’re gonna fight,” he told her. “A gunshot isn’t going to slow Frank down. So we’re gonna throw everything we can at him. Take out his resources, leave him alone. Demon or not, he’s not invincible anymore.”

“And the others?” she questioned. She had a surprising amount of faith in Gideon and Luke but Frank had come armed with dozens of men.

“They’re here,” he said with a nod of his head, his eyes catching sight of something just beyond her shoulder. “And they’re not the only ones.”

She turned, unsure of what Gideon meant, only to see her father bounding toward her.

The vampire attempting to get in his way hardly had time to attack before Angelo took him out, the ash barely hitting the floor as he reached Benny.

She felt a swell of something in her chest, an ache knowing the risks everyone was taking to be here, the danger they were placing themselves in.

“Benedetta,” Angelo breathed as he looked her over. The rage and worry behind his eyes was so clear. “You’re okay?”

“I’m okay, babbo,” she said.

He seemed to not believe her, his face twisting up into concern. And maybe she wasn’t actually okay. But she was good enough. She had to be.

“Good, alright, we can take you out the back entrance. I have a car waiting.”

“What?” Benny felt her body stiffen. She was not going to let them force her out of here. Not now. Not when she could finally make a difference. “No. Absolutely not. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Markos isn’t going to let you go without a fight,” Angelo replied.

“So that’s what he gets,” Benny replied hotly. “I’m not going to run off while the people I care about fight my battle.”

Gideon shifted behind her, his hand curving around her shoulder. She almost leaned into his touch, marveling at the way he could ground her with even the slightest pressure.