Sunset to Sunrise (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7.5)

We stood outside the first address on the list. It was a beautiful church, massive and made up primarily of red brick. Silver steeples topped with crosses graced the rooftop.

“Yeah, that’s it. For now.” Brook leaned against my car, arms crossed. “I doubt we’ll find anything, but since we’re here, we might as well humor Shya.”

I frowned, biting my tongue so I wouldn’t tell him to get the fuck off my car. It wasn’t often that I worked with him. If I wasn’t with Jez and Alexa, I preferred to go it alone. At least Brook seemed to share my intent to appease Shya by going through the motions.

“Don’t scratch my car,” I warned before circling around the church to the back. Getting inside wasn’t hard. I’d been picking locks and frying security equipment as long as humans had been using them.

The church was just as impressive inside. Rows of wooden pews lined up in four separate sections. I walked between them, pausing here and there to scan the walls and ceiling.

I didn’t really know what I was looking for. Shya had given me instruction to seek any item that could be the scroll he sought or even a hiding place for it. He was insistent that if I found it, I would know it immediately. The thing must have a hell of a mojo.

Making my way to the altar, I picked up random objects and put them back down. Bibles, candles, statues. All of it was pretty run of the mill church stuff. Truth be told, I was hoping like hell I wouldn’t find a damn thing.

After walking the building once more, I slipped out the way I’d come in, leaving the place otherwise undisturbed. Brook was right where I’d left him, looking both bored and vicious.

“Nothing?” He said, almost more of a comment than a question. “Figures. Shya’s the most clever asshole I know, but I don’t think he’s thinking this one through.”

I agreed but wasn’t stupid enough to say so. One didn’t say more in front of demons than absolutely necessary. They could twist the most harmless of comments into something deadly that could later be used as a weapon.

“Let’s go to the next one. It’s not like I have anything better to do.” I got into the car and waited for the demon who shrugged and got in on the other side.

“Now this place I can go into,” Brook proclaimed when we pulled up at the next address. “Good. It’s going to be a total bore if I have to wait in the car all night.”

He strode up the front walk with an air of pride. The sound of ruffling feathers was loud in the stillness despite the fact that his wings were not visible to me. I hung back, reluctant to go through the front door.

“Let me in the back,” I said. “We need to keep a low profile.”

Without a response, Brook disappeared. A minute later, he was waiting for me at the back door, opening it from the inside. Though I didn’t envy his role in this world, that was certainly an ability worthy of respect.

“So what makes this one different?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. “Why can you come in here but not the last one?”

Brook’s black gaze landed on me with suspicion. He studied me as if trying to decide how much damage the truth would do. Ultimately he decided it was very little.

He shrugged and began to walk about the vast interior. His voice echoed in the dark quiet. “There’s no angel here to protect it. No one here to wield divine power against me. So I can come and go as I please.”

I went the opposite way, picking up books, looking in potted plants, feigning interest in Shya’s damn relic. “Is that how it works then? Angels protect churches?”

“They protect a lot of things. Many churches have a protector. Usually the ones with the most to guard.” He turned, hands raised to the vaulted ceiling, eyes closed. He sucked in a deep breath. “Which means there is nothing here for us to find.”

I wanted to keep him talking, knowing I wouldn’t get much more from him. “So what about Hounds of God and other beings like that? They’re not angels, but they still seem to have something to protect.”

Brook snickered, a low, evil sound that caused my skin to crawl. It had been a long time since anyone had made me so uneasy with such little effort. “The Hounds of God were made to protect humankind. They were mortals, human themselves, turned wolf. It was a gift.” Brook paused near a statue of the Virgin Mary, gazing into her lifeless eyes. “Of course, we hunted and killed most of them. Their numbers are few these days.”

Our eyes met, and he smiled. I knew what he was thinking. It was only a matter of time until Alexa became another casualty.

“If angels are protecting the churches with the most to guard, what makes Shya think I can walk in and find the object he seeks? Wouldn’t the angel stop me?” Something didn’t feel right. I was starting to get the feeling Shya had sent me on an errand he knew I might not come back from.

“Possibly,” Brook answered, tapping out a few macabre notes on the organ. “It’s more likely that they would silently watch you pass right by, unaware. Only another creature of light can retrieve it.”