Chapter 1: Francesca
I was on my knees before the cross. My hour of punishment was almost over. Sometimes, I wish I’d learned to mind my own business, but I just couldn’t stand watching fellow luci act all superior.
“Did you think about our values before the lord?” my Chant Master asked me when he returned. He looked pure and dashing in his snow-white suit.
All the high-ranking luci had modernised and switched out their robes for fancy suits.
“Yes, but chant master, it’s not our job to judge,” I said with my gaze lowered to the floor. He had let me off very mildly today. Not a single lash.
“We purge the world from corruption, my dear. The kind of corruption Diana brought into our ranks can simply not be allowed,” my chant master replied, stroking my hair.
I felt repulsed by the touch, but I kept quiet.
“If you understand, you may rise, my dear,” he said when I didn’t reply.
I sighed as I rose to my feet on stiff legs. I didn’t understand. I thought only God could judge.
“Good girl, I have a job for you. There’s a corrupted spirit haunting a restaurant by the colosseum. Go deal with it,” he commanded, his voice cold.
“Yes, Chant Master,” I replied unenthusiastically and turned to leave.
“Francesca, don’t sympathise with the fallen. They only have themselves to blame. They don’t deserve your compassion.”
I turned to him from the door with a cold smile. “Who I pray for is none of your business.”
I had felt numb ever since I graduated and started working. Ever since I realized the sickness in our ranks. The obsession with staying pure—and the plans they had for me.
I went to my apartment inside our headquarters and switched out my simple black dress for a white pantsuit. I braided my thick pink hair and put my little white and gold book of psalms in my pocket.
I clenched my rosary in my hand to gain strength while I left my living quarters.
I passed the portrait of Diana, the Corrupted on my way out. I stopped to look at her. It always gave me comfort before a mission. Like she could fix everything that was wrong.
I clenched my rosary harder before praying.
“Diana, may your spirit find its way back. Spread your healing corruption within our ranks. They all need to grow hearts,” I whispered to the portrait.
“You consider Diana a saint?” a man asked. My heart took a leap from his voice.
Startled, I spun around to look at the man who’d heard me. He was very handsome with black curly hair and intense red eyes. His skin was too pale for the living and he was dressed all in black.
“What’s a reaper doing in our halls?” I asked, recognising his kind even though I strangely enough didn’t feel his spirit. Still, something about him breathed life back into me.
“Oh, me? I’m just looking for a luci who wants to join me on a quest to find the guardian. Interested?” he asked with a boyish, mischievous grin.
“Lucius abandoned us, reaper,” I sighed, ignoring the warmth spreading across my cheeks and continued walking down the hall.
This reaper had no business making a mockery of my faith.
“So you don’t want to bring him back. Make him take control of your councils?” the reaper asked, stalking after me.
“What? As if little me could drag him back by the ear?” I joked while I walked out on the courtyard. Not sure why I indulged him.
I picked up my book of psalms and began to chant, quickly summoning my wings.
“Oh wow, those must be the cutest, feathered wings I’ve ever seen,” the reaper said, looking at my pale pink wings.
My face heated as I frowned. I hated my wings. I already got bullied by the other girls for looking like a doll. They insisted that nobody could take me seriously and that our chant master was only kind to me because I was cute.
I ignored him and kicked off the ground. “Want to meet the spirit of Diana, Lucius’ mother? She could drag him back by the ear,” the reaper laughed, floating alongside me.
“Yeah, yeah, like you have that kind of power. She’s likely with the Lord,” I replied, soaring through the sky toward my goal.
“I do, but she’s not with the lord. She’s reborn.”
“Only the guardian of your kind could know that for sure,” I snorted, not believing a word he was saying.
“I forgot to formally introduce myself. How rude. I’m Ari, the guardian of the reapers,” he smirked, mischievously.
He got me laughing. He was cute, but I shouldn’t have those thoughts.
“Don’t believe me?” he asked and removed a ring from his finger.
The energy that flowed through him made me gasp in shock. I accidentally retracted my wings and was falling.
The next thing I knew, I was in Ari’s arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Where were you heading?” he asked. His energy was gone again.
“The colosseum,“ I mumbled, stunned.
I couldn’t help the heat spreading across my cheeks, being so tightly pressed against this beautiful man’s chest. I’d be kneeling before the cross again if my Chant master saw me—or worse.
But he truly seemed to be the guardian, and that meant he might actually speak the truth. I wasn’t sure I dared to let myself hope.
“Don’t be so nervous, I won’t bite, and I certainly won’t sully your reputation,” he chuckled. Probably noticing my rapidly beating heart.
The next thing I knew, he was putting me down on the ground, right where I wanted to be. Strange since I hadn’t been specific.
“You’re sent to deal with the poltergeist, aren’t you? I can sense them too,” he said, guessing my thoughts again.
I nodded, looking at the recently abandoned restaurant. The entrance was wide open but no guests dined and no staff seemed to be present.
I swallowed hard before pulling out my book. I summoned a string of light and went inside. I was relieved Ari followed me.
“I hate working alone. My Chant Master makes me do it to punish me,” I confessed while broken glass cracked under my feet.
“Why would he punish you?” Ari asked, all the humor gone from his voice.
I wasn’t listening, though. My eyes were focused on the long black hair hanging down from the vent.
I started shaking when it moved, making unnatural twists before a pair of big black eyes stared at me from a deranged and twisted face.
The poltergeist crawled out of the vent with lightning speed. I twirled the string of light, letting it twist around the spirit.
Without hesitation I opened my book with trembling hands, trying to find the correct page while the spirit was screaming and laughing at me.
I ignored it best I could and began to chant, cleansing it of all corruption.
“Thank you,” an old man’s voice said when I was done. I looked up from my book to look at the spirit.
“They changed my menu. They promised they wouldn’t, but they did. I couldn’t stop myself, but I never meant to hurt anyone,” he said.
“It’s alright, death is here to take you home,” I said and looked at Ari. He didn’t move. He just smirked at me.
“It’s alright, guide the spirit home, my friend,” he said, nodding at the spirit.
“Yes, my lord,” an unknown voice said before the spirit disappeared, in a flash of blue light.
“I can’t guide it when I still have business with you,” he explained, looking strangely determined. It made it impossible for me to calm my heart.
“What business? Were you serious about wanting to find Lucius?” I asked, confused and a little scared. What if this was some kind of trick to out me?
“Very, and I’m sure, you are exactly the luci we need.”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” I asked, unsure of what to make of it.
“I’ll take you to see Diana straight away. That should be proof enough?” Ari asked.
“I suppose so,” I said cautiously. I would be in trouble again if I missed my curfew, but I was running out of options and in desperate need of a miracle.
“Let’s go then? She’s not that far away,” Ari said playfully, nudging his head for me to follow. It was strange how someone with such red eyes could be so unthreatening.
I went with him like he was my puppeteer. Hope pulled the strings. And I followed.
