Free Covenant by Sabrina Benulis Page B

her.
    â€œIf I had my way,” the man whispered hotly, “you’d all be taken off this island and eradicated. Why does the Vatican still humor you?” He laughed. “Though it’s not surprising. I thought it would be the end of you all after what happened in St. Mary’s, with that witch—”
    Angela’s heart raced. She braced herself against the stone. “You knew about that?”
    â€œMy sister died in there,” he said between clenched teeth.
    Angela sensed him stifling a deep urge to throttle her.
    â€œSome demon killed her. A demon summoned by a person”—he pointed his pen directly at her—“like you.”
    â€œIt wasn’t me who killed her,” Angela whispered. Her mouth felt deathly dry. Her left palm burned where the Grail throbbed and throbbed.
    Sophia was noticeably angry, her gray eyes almost flashing. But the man was either too tipsy or too upset to care.
    â€œIt might as well have been you who killed her,” he continued hotly. “You’re all the same. One of you is the Archon and will be the Ruin of us all, yet we can’t stop you or get rid of you before you get rid of us. Do you know what it’s like to live in constant fear? This island is cut off from the mainland, from the whole world. We’re isolated, covered in more ice and snow by the hour, waiting for more angels and hell-spawn to arrive and turn everything upside down and backward again, and yet you and all the others continue to live like it’s all a game, or a Christmas miracle. Well, I don’t think there are any miracles,” he said, his tone so loaded with pain that Angela couldn’t even defend herself anymore. “So—what now? Still want to enter the party and have a grand old time?”
    â€œYes, actually.” Camdon stepped through the velvet curtain, slightly stooping as he entered the room. “Don’t you?” he said to Angela.
    Angela bit her lip and turned aside for a moment.
    Was she really the kind of person who needed a knight in shining armor to save her?
    Not at all. You know where that’s gotten you before.
    â€œYou know her?” The man gestured at Angela, clearly disappointed Camdon was a blood head and that he might say yes.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter,” Angela said. “Because I’m going inside no matter what you say. Come on, Sophia. Let’s not waste any more of our time.”
    â€œYes, she’s with me,” Camdon said wryly and eyed Sophia as well. “They’re both with me. Now if you’d excuse us . . .”
    Camdon grasped Angela by the arm and yanked her into the grand ballroom without another word to the fuming guard. Sophia followed only a step behind. Heat rose to Angela’s cheeks, mostly because she hadn’t gotten the chance to storm through the curtain on her own.
    She shook Camdon off and cornered him against the wall. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I had everything under control.”
    â€œSorry, sorry,” Camdon said, raising his hands. “It didn’t quite look that way to me. What was I supposed to do, just stand back and watch?”
    Angela let him have some breathing space. “Why do you want me here?” she murmured, trying to smile at the immense crowds of people. The gray marble ballroom was thick with shade and flickering candlelight. Garland and glass ornaments in the shape of globes and stars hung everywhere from the cathedral-style windows. This was the largest room in the Grand Mansion, but hundreds of men in fancy coats, tuxedos, suits, and even the frocks of the novices had overloaded it to capacity, and women in velvet and heavy furs suffocated whatever space remained.
    Angela’s midnight blue gown received both admiring and envious stares.
    â€œIsn’t it obvious?” Camdon said. “You’re pretty, and I wanted a partner to dance with.” He looked her over