Haatim clicked through the various websites, sleepiness creeping in. He had trawled through the information for days and had a mind-numbing headache from spending so much time in front of a computer. Yet, he had only managed to track down a few of the possible targets Nida might go after.
Four days had passed since he'd started coming to the library with Father Paladina, and the more time he spent working on this problem, the more insurmountable it became.
The trouble was, for most of the possible ancestors, too many possible descendants existed to narrow down anything. A quick search through ancestry related websites showed innumerable possibilities of people Nida could track down to acquire the blood she needed.
And that came from looking to defend only one bloodline from her attack. Worse, that bloodline they believed to have become extinct hundreds of years ago, which meant the records proved nearly impossible to parse through. No way could they possibly keep all of them out of Nida's grip.
But Haatim had developed a system. Cross-referencing the genealogical records with census data, he'd narrowed the two hundred possibilities to a cluster of forty-seven by eliminating branches that had clearly died out. The Otolan bloodline had a distinctive pattern—they tended to settle in port cities, generation after generation. Once he spotted that, he could cut another twenty names.
Still not enough. He needed to go further, and that meant getting creative. He pulled up immigration records, land deeds, marriage certificates—anything that could confirm or deny a living descendant. Each confirmed dead end crossed another name off his list.
No, he needed to narrow down the list to the most likely candidates, but that meant a lot of searching, cross-referencing, and guessing. His mind ached from the work.
But, he couldn't afford to stop. Father Paladina had gone out as well, chasing down leads and trying to find out if anyone knew more about the extinct-but-not-extinct bloodline. So far, that had turned into a dead end, too.
He hadn't heard from Frieda in a couple of days but knew she could be en route to help Dominick protect Jill Reinfer in Pennsylvania. The last report he'd received had said that Jun would be all right, but it would take a long while before he got well enough to leave the hospital.
From the sounds of it, the woman that Dominick had gone to protect seemed a likely target for one of these last two bloodlines, so Frieda wanted Haatim to focus solely on the Otolan line.
***
As well as searching for names from the Otolan bloodline, Haatim trained daily with the chained demon.
Each morning, a car picked him up. Father Paladina met him at the empty building in the Vatican slums. There, he confronted the demon and his own fear.
The first two days, nothing. He stood in that dank basement, face-to-face with a dead man rotting in front of his eyes, and reached for something he couldn't grasp.
On the third day, he stopped trying to force it. Instead, he focused on his breathing, clearing his mind the way he did before prayer, and let go of expectation. The moment he stopped grasping, it came—a heat blooming in his chest, imbuing him with a sense of purpose and rightness. A certainty that the demon could not hurt him unless he allowed it.
Like finding a door he'd walked past a thousand times without seeing. Once he knew where to look, he could find it again and again.
The power came in waves—there one moment and gone the next—but he could tap into it. The idea that he could recreate the power from Raven's Peak filled him with awe. He practiced reaching for it deliberately, each attempt faster than the last. By the fourth day, he could summon the warmth within seconds rather than minutes.
Father Paladina proved an excellent teacher, spending hours with him, letting him learn in a controlled environment. So far, he couldn't project the power outward—couldn't banish anything—but the priest said that would come. The hardest part was crossing over, making first contact with the Gift. Everything else would follow with practice.
"Think of it as a muscle," Father Paladina had said. "You've found it. Now you must strengthen it."
The ancient texts the priest gave him described channeling in detail—accounts from different periods in history when ordinary people had performed what others called miracles. Walking out of accidents unscathed. Surviving injuries that should have killed them. Healing people with a single touch. Even dragging demons out of hosts and dismissing them back to hell.
A few years ago, Haatim would have dismissed all of this as fantasy. Now, he knew better. He'd witnessed demons, rituals, and terrible occurrences, including the possession of his sister.
What struck him most was that these accounts came from everywhere—not just the Catholic Church. People from every background and religion described the same abilities through different lenses. Same powers, different language.
If he believed one version, he decided, he might as well believe them all.
***
A few hours later, Father Paladina returned to the library, weariness carved into the lines of his face.
Haatim leaned back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. "That bad, huh?"
"I spoke to my colleagues. No one knows anything about the Otolan bloodline, and I've been unable to verify any of the names on our list."
Haatim pulled up his spreadsheet. "I've been narrowing it down differently. Look—I cross-referenced the port city settlement patterns with modern census data. I'm down to twenty-seven possible descendants. Still too many to protect, but I found something else."
Father Paladina leaned forward. "Show me."
"Three of the twenty-seven share a surname variant—Ottoline, Otland, Otellan. Different countries, but the phonetic root is the same. If the bloodline tried to hide, they might have altered the name while keeping it close enough to remember."
The priest studied the screen, nodding slowly. "Clever. Very clever."
"It's still a guess," Haatim admitted. "But it narrows the field."
"We could defend a few of them, but I'll not send anyone out while our list remains this long. Keep working on it."
Haatim nodded. "Any word from Frieda?"
"She's meeting with Dominick to defend the Reinfer residence. Currently, she's in flight over the ocean."
"No attack yet?"
"No. But Frieda believes something will happen soon. Dominick reported the all quiet, but that doesn't indicate safety."
"Unless Nida has blood from the Reinfer bloodline already, and this is just a misdirection."
"True."
"I should be there helping."
"You're helping here. And your training—"
"I know." Haatim's jaw tightened. "But I can barely channel consistently. I manage it for a few seconds, and then it's gone."
"It takes time."
"We don't have time."
Father Paladina frowned but didn't respond. They sat in silence for a moment, staring at the laptop.
"Have you looked over the book I gave you?"
"I'm still not convinced I can do what those accounts describe."
"You've felt it, though. The more you use it, the more you can call upon it."
"So, it's like energy. I'm tapping into my energy."
"In a sense."
"What happens when I run out?"
Father Paladina stayed quiet for a moment. "Bad things."
"What do you mean?"
"It's more akin to tapping into your soul. When you deplete it …"
Haatim paused. "Point taken."
"In any case, now that you can cross over, you will grow stronger quickly. It is simply about directing it."
"The accounts in this book describe some incredible things."
"Not all of them are real. Some, the Church fabricated. However, I have seen powers before, similar to what you described, and I can sense them in you. You remind me of a man named Father Reynolds."
"What happened to him?"
"He passed away."
"How?"
"It isn't important." Father Paladina pursed his lips. "He was a dear friend."
Haatim changed the subject. "These seven families we've been tracking down … why are they so important? What's the demon trying to do?"
"Frieda hasn't told me."
"But you have some idea." The more time he spent with the man, the more he realized that Father Paladina put on an unassuming air while knowing everything going on. "I know you do."
The priest frowned. "They were the original seven from the Council of Chaldea. The founding group. The ritual linked their blood."
"Everyone keeps saying that, but no one will tell me what they bound. Frieda said it is a demon named Surgat."
Father Paladina nodded. "Except, not only Surgat. The demon was bound into a human, a vessel he attached himself with, and the vessel got trapped as well."
"So, they sent a human to hell?"
"More or less. Surgat has been accounted for throughout history, but no one has learned the demon's true name. From all accounts, what the Council stopped was a true integration."
"So, something bad."
The priest chuckled. "Yes, something bad."
They sat in silence. After a moment, Haatim reached forward and closed his laptop. He turned to face Father Paladina. "Why did Frieda send me here?"
"So you could find the next target of the demon."
"No, the real reason."
"What do you mean?"
"She sidelined me. I should be out there, helping Dominick keep Ms. Reinfer safe, but instead, she's got me here with you. Why?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do. You don't have to tell me, but at least stop lying to me. You've watched out for me since I arrived and made sure I don't try to leave."
The old priest studied Haatim for a while before standing. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
Father Paladina didn't reply. Instead, he turned and headed toward the exit of the library. Haatim slid his laptop away into his bag and followed, rushing after the old priest. He followed him out into the afternoon sun, blinking as his eyes adjusted from the dim library.
They went across the street to where the car sat parked and climbed in. The driver looked at them in the rearview mirror.
"Take a break, Mason," Father Paladina said.
The driver nodded, opened the door, and slipped out of the car. Haatim watched him walk down the street and disappear around a corner.
"What are we doing?"
"Some things are best discussed in private."
"What things?"
Father Paladina glanced at him. "Frieda did ask me to keep you here. She asked me to keep you safe."
"From who?"
"The Church."
***
"What?"
"Frieda doesn't want me to tell you this, but you have a right to know. Assassins are, after all, surviving members of the Order and Council, including Frieda and Dominick. You are not a member of either organization, and thus not a likely target, but Frieda was afraid that you might get targeted by association if you stayed out there with them."
"Wait. Back up. What do you mean that they're after Frieda and Dominick? Church assassins?"
"Yes."
Haatim's hands clenched on his knees. "Why?"
"I don't know the full details. After the Council got attacked, an order went out. I stalled it for a few days to give Frieda time. That's what I've been doing these last few days. Now, I've reached the end of what I can help with. She's on her own."
Haatim shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. Why would the Church want to kill the Council? We were the ones that got attacked."
"They, not you," Father Paladina said. "I wish I knew. Frieda knows, I believe, but she refused to elaborate when I asked her."
"So, she sent me here?"
"And I'm not supposed to let you leave until this finishes," Father Paladina said.
"So, basically, you can't tell me anything else?"
"No. I'm sorry. That's the extent of what I know."
Haatim sighed. "Then, what can you tell me?"
"What can you tell me?" Father Paladina asked. "I know little about what happened out in Switzerland."
"I wasn't there, but when the demon controlling my sister came through, she spared no one. They killed everyone except for Jun Lee."
"Did you confront the demon?"
"No," Haatim said. "Will I be able to?"
"Maybe, eventually, but not yet."
Haatim sat in thought. "But, you mean I will be able to banish the demon. I could send it back to hell, and then my sister …"
He didn't finish the thought, seeing the frown on the old priest's face. "No, Haatim. I'm sorry. Your sister is gone."
A surge of hope crested and broke against the priest's certainty. The thing was, from everything he'd read in the accounts, if he banished the demon, the host could recover. It had even been reported to happen with people thought to be dead.
Maybe, he could rescue Nida.
"Haatim, if the demon completes the unbinding and lets loose Surgat, things will go badly fast."
"Why isn't the Church trying to stop all of this? Shouldn't they help Frieda stop this instead of hunting her and Dominick?"
"We are trying to stop it, but through different avenues."
"What do you mean?"
Father Paladina rubbed his eyes. "The odds of Frieda and Dominick succeeding at keeping Jill Reinfer safe from the demon look slim at best. We have agents trying to locate the demon instead and stop it from doing this. Some of our best operatives are dealing with this threat directly."
"By hunting down the demon?"
Father Paladina nodded. "I apologize if that offends. I know it has possession of your sister."
"It doesn't offend me," Haatim lied. "I came to terms with that a while ago. Now, I just want to put her to rest again. Do you know her location?"
Father Paladina hesitated. From the tightness around his mouth, Haatim could tell that he hid something.
"What? You know?"
"Maybe."
"But you don't want to tell me?"
"Frieda asked me not to. In any case, we're not certain that the demon is there."
"I'm getting sick of Frieda deciding what I should and shouldn't know. Tell me, please."
Father Paladina nodded. "I understand. We aren't sure, exactly, where Nida is, but the feeling of the Church is that it will be where we find the person hunting her, and our last report places that person on a flight into Cambodia at the Capital, Phnom Penh."
"Cambodia?" he asked, shaking his head. "Why? What's in Cambodia?"
Father Paladina shrugged. "I have no idea."
Haatim froze. "Wait, you said the person hunting her is the one you're after. Who's that?"
"That's what Frieda asked me not to tell you. She doesn't want you to know our other target."
"What do you mean? Who is it? Who is your target?"
"Abigail Dressler."
***
A gentle breeze could have knocked over Haatim. His jaw dropped open, and he almost fell out of his seat.
"Abigail?"
"Yes."
"She's alive?"
"Yes. Frieda didn't want you to know for the same reason she wants to keep you here."
"Because you're hunting her."
Paladina nodded. "Yes. We have operatives on their way there to deal with her now."
"What?" Haatim pushed back his chair. "Why would you kill her?"
Father Paladina shook his head and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry. You knew her?"
"She was—is—my friend, and she's saved my life countless times. I … I thought she'd died."
"So did the Church. Until recently. After the attack on the Council, we took Frieda at her word that Abigail had perished in the train wreck, but recently, we stumbled upon evidence to the contrary. Abigail remains alive, and what's more, we believe that she's hunting Nida."
"Did Frieda know?"
"I don't believe so. I told her a few moments ago, and she seemed genuinely surprised by the information. She forbade me to tell you."
"Yet, you told me."
"You have a right to know," he said.
Haatim took a moment to digest the information. Abigail alive? He'd been certain she'd died in the crash. How could she have survived?
And, if she did survive, why didn't she come back to them and let them know? Why didn't she call or contact them in some way?
The questions flooded through Haatim's mind, but he already knew the answer: she didn't want them to know she lived.
She didn't want him to know she lived.
"Why did you tell me?" Haatim asked. "You have to have some other motive to break your promise to Frieda."
"First off, I never promised," the priest said. "But, you are correct, I do have an ulterior motive."
"Which is?"
"I'm not one of the people who agree with the Church's decision to exterminate the Council. We have operatives in place to deal with Abigail, but I believe there exists a better way of handling all of this."
"What way?"
"You could bring her back here."
"What? If I bring her here, they'll kill her."
"I believe that if she turns herself in, I can keep the Church from executing her. At least, not without a formal trial. But, if they catch her outside the Vatican, they won't hesitate."
"Her last trial didn't end well."
The priest ignored him. "Will she trust you?"
Haatim hesitated. "I don't know."
"Well, let's hope she does because you offer the only chance she has of staying alive."
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