The Confessor: Finnegan #1 (The Midnight Defenders) Read online

  “It’s over,” he said with a gasp.

  I nodded.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “I know,” I said.

  He said, “Thank you,” closed his eyes, and I read him his last rites.

  ***

  I’d been sitting at the coffee shop for twenty minutes when Terry sat down. I looked up at him with a faint smile and said, “Thanks for coming.”

  “Sure,” he said. “You said it was important, and…” He stared at me intently. “Austin, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m not a priest anymore.”

  “What?”

  I nodded. “The Changeling…wasn’t. He was human.”

  “I don’t get it. How?”

  “He was the real David White. The original. He was taken by the Fay, replaced with one of their own, and raised by them. For whatever reason, they didn’t tithe his soul, but they raised him as their own, raised him under the Teind, and by the time he realized he wasn’t actually bound by it, he…well, he kind of became bound by it. He couldn’t stop, or he’d be damned, and because he’d been doing it for so long, he felt the compulsion.”

  “And the Changeling?”

  “When the Teind kicked in for him, he slaughtered his host parents and was sent to an orphanage. He died in a fire in ’88.”

  Terry was speechless, holding uselessly to the paper cup in his hand. “How do you know all this?”

  “The Hand sent in a clean-up crew. I did good work by them. Human or not, he was a supernatural threat, and he needed to be dealt with, but because he was human, I’m in violation of my confessional oath.”

  “Austin…”

  I didn’t say anything. I just took a long drag of my coffee and felt the too-hot liquid scorch my tongue.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  I shrugged. I must have been in shock. I was just…numb. Everything was so surreal.

  “I’m sure if you just explain what happened to the bishop…”

  “The only person who can overturn this kind of excommunication is the Pope himself.”

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  I shrugged. I’d been up all night, first with the cleaning crew, and then with my thoughts. I was so sure that God had put David in my path for me to help him, but if that were the case, why did he punish me? I’d spent the rest of the night in prayer, and the only thing I could think to do was attempt to plead my case to the papacy. “I’m going to Rome.”

  He was silent a moment, and then he said, “Just like that?”

  “What else would you have me do?”

  “When do you leave?”

  “Soon. I sent an email to a contact I have in Vatican City, Cardinal Glass.”

  He stared at me blankly, and then he shook his head. “I can’t believe this. I feel responsible somehow. Like the information that I gave you was wrong, and …”

  “No,” I told him. “This is me. You’ve been a good friend, Terry. Just watch over things here while I’m gone.”

  “Are you coming back?”

  “I don’t know,” I told him. “I talked to Hunter. He agreed to let me work as a field agent, even agreed to go easy on me. I’m taking off in the morning. Hopefully I’ll hear back from the Cardinal soon, but either way… I can’t stick around here.”

  “Do you think the pope will see you?”

  I shrugged. “It’s worth a try, right?”

  “Austin, I…”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  After a moment, he nodded.

  We filled the time with idle chat, but it was awkward. Terry felt bad, or I did. Either way, things had already changed between us. After a half hour, I excused myself. We stood and hugged, then I headed for the door. The bell jingled as I opened it. I took one last look back at my friend as he started to speak, but I couldn’t face it, whatever he had to say. I headed out into the morning.

  “Good luck.” His last words followed me out of the door, and I was gone.