Sin of the Saint

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: SHOCK AND SURPRISE

Again, she waited a few moments for Cupid to show up. But this time, she kept her chest out and eyes high. He couldn't hurt her—after all, tonight wasn't about them.

It was most likely about Holden...and either Toby Rasmussen, Marie Reynolds, Rose Mendez, Leah Briggs, Milo Yeates, or Daniel Graham.

"Ah, my love. It's nice to finally see you again," Cupid said as he appeared through the mist directly in front of her.

"Cupid," Caritas nodded. "Nice to see you, too."

"Ooh—I like how you said that," he said, rolling his shoulders as if to brush off a chill. "Tonight should be good...really good."

"What makes you say that?" Anything he could reveal would be helpful.

"Tonight's fight will be a lot like yours and mine," he said, winking, "it involves lovers. Evidently, there's a love triangle going on here and your Saint got caught up in it."

"Interesting. Care to tell me more?"

He hummed for a moment and then leaned into her personal space. He whispered in her ear, "Nice try, but no. You'll see for yourself sure enough. Once you do this job for a bit, you'll get better at identifying your comrades and enemies."

"So, you must know who I am by now, if that's true," Caritas commented.

He arched an eyebrow, "And what if I do?"

"You haven't made a move yet. I find that strange," she said, folding her arms and observing him from the nearly nonexistent distance he stood away. "If you know who I am, then shouldn't you be taking me through a penitence? Or are you waiting for a more opportune time?"

He grinned.

"Or, you're just bluffing," Caritas said, looking forward at him. "That's the most likely scenario."

"Are you willing to bet on that?"

She dropped her arms and smirked at him as she turned away from him, "No. Because I can't be sure if anything that comes out of your mouth is true."

"Keep in mind, my love...that I barely said anything at all," Cupid warned, and she turned to him. "Be careful not to get caught up in your own theories...or you may just miss your one and only shot at me."

She arched an eyebrow at him and turned again, creating space between them for the battle to take place. She was right—she couldn't trust anything that he said. Even that. But what if this was a rare time where he may have actually told something truthful.

She'd have a shot at him? Just one?

Any amount would do—even if it was just one chance...she would find it, and she would seize it.

After all, she wasn't the scared, grieving girl she once was.

Cupid was a force to be reckoned with, but now, she was too.

And if he doesn't accept that, then that would be his downfall.

The Sins and Saints began to emerge from the mist—one after the other—all in their altered physical state so she couldn't recognize who they were. She didn't even know how she could recognize Holden beyond the golds and whites of the Saints' garb.

Caritas watched the Sins closely and noticed that the line they formed was short...there was someone missing.

Not just Libidine—Caritas knew her mortal form, Felicity Tyler was put away somewhere.

Someone else was missing.

Minute after minute with no sign of the sixth Sin, Caritas' heart began to pound.