Free Sealed in Sin by Juliette Cross

sign!”
    “How do you mean?”
    “He must know the war is near. He’s shown up because he knows you are the one. The one to give the Light the upper hand in the war.”
    I’d been told that the prophecy circled around a Vessel, the Vessel who somehow would begin the war between the two forces of Light and Darkness. This Vessel would also serve one or the other, giving one side a distinct advantage.
    I pulled out my cell phone and scrolled through my notes app to find the translated prophecy. Well, the part of the prophecy we had anyway. I read aloud.
    “ Beneath the orb that circles round, while hosts of fiends and foes abound, the Vessel-born shall walk upright, fall from Grace, lose her light. ”
    “That’s referring to all the Vessels before you,” interjected Kat, excitedly. “The ones who either fell to demon possession or death.”
    I gave a stiff nod, remembering Jude’s painful past. His mother was the first Vessel, choosing to die rather than become a tool for Danté to use. I swallowed the lump in my throat and read on, skimming ahead.
    “ When wickedness will rule on land, and all seems lost to mortal man, One Great War shall begin, upon the hour, she stands within a ring of wordless, mighty breath; amidst the clutch of endless death. ”
    I paused, remembering why I suddenly felt the need to reread the prophecy. “Endless death. Jude called the soul collector, Acheron, this name. The one who appeared when I was attacked by one of Bamal’s lower demons. He gave the demon the option to choose endless death or to obey him. That means one of the soul collectors will be present at this final moment, this Hour the prophecy mentions.”
    “You’re right. Why had I never realized that? Few people refer to them as endless death. Only the old ones. I think I’ve only heard it mentioned once in all my time as a hunter.”
    “One of the old ones like Jude,” I pointed out.
    “Like Jude.” Kat scooted close to me, reading over my shoulder.
    “ Two great sons of Morning Star; divided, until death will mar. One will woo the warrior maid, one will cut her to a shade. We know that’s Danté and Bamal. Danté’s now out of the picture, but I don’t know what that means that Bamal will cut her to a shade . A shadow? A ghost? How?”
    “I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head, trembling for not the first time tonight. According to our interpretation, the her would be me. I picked up from where she left off.
    “ Two sisters of the Vessel Light, blood to blood, will evil smite. So, Vessel sisters will combat each other. Blood may be spilled, I guess. And Light will smite evil. This is why Bamal wanted me dead.”
    “Yes,” agreed Kat. “But then he changed his mind, remember? The demons he sent to the Crescent City Masquerade Ball had orders to capture you alive, not kill you. And they were definitely hired by Bamal.”
    “Right,” I said, “and the break-in at the Vatican happened around that time, if you’re sources are correct.”
    “They are.” She smirked. “I have some helpful friends.”
    “I’m sure you do.”
    My mind drifted back to the scene with Bleed, where he practically drooled on Kat’s boots, begging her to torture-pleasure him. “Kat, why do they all call you Domina?”
    She lifted one slender shoulder in a shrug, her lips compressing for a second. “I guess because I’m a Mistress of Demons, not a Master.”
    “Are there other female hunters?”
    “Only two, actually. One works in Russia, the other is in the Far East. I’ve only met them on one or two occasions. Demon hunting is a busy business,” she said, absently peeling off the beer bottle label.
    “Bleed was working himself into a frenzy around you.”
    Focusing on peeling off the label in one piece, she said, “Yes, well, pain and torture turns them on.” Her speech was terse and clipped. She ripped off the label, tearing the edge, and tossed it aside. “Speaking of Bleed,” she added, changing the subject,