Bara bowed dramatically. “Pleasure to meet all you fine ladies,” he said, sarcasm thick in his words. When he rose from his bow, he flashed his white-toothed dark grin in the redhead’s direction. “Especially you, little fire witch.”
“This is Sela,” Gabriel said. “But you’ve already made his acquaintance.” Sela raised his eyebrow at the Coven, but Gabriel could see the news of Auguste was still occupying his mind.
“You’ve met Diel,” Gabriel said. Diel’s head twitched and the collar began to hum. Diel closed his eyes, and the collar eventually grew silent.
“Next is Michael.” Gabriel looked at his brother, but his attention was on the floor. Gabriel wasn’t sure Michael had even realized the Coven were in the manor. Michael sipped at his blood—it was always about the blood.
“Is he drinking blood?” the Indian woman asked, shock clear in her voice. Gabriel cast a glance at Maria. The Coven may have been Brethren survivors too, but the Fallen were not merely survivors—they were more. They had always been more. The Indian woman seemed to gravitate toward the petite brunette, perhaps to shield her somehow. The brunette stared at Michael, a flush to her cheeks.
“Yes,” Gabriel said. “Michael is my brother. My real brother. Born from the same parents.”
Michael licked his pointed teeth, and Gabriel heard gasps. The small brunette watched as Michael bared his fangs. At the sound of her gasp, Michael lifted his ice-blue eyes, and they met the brunette’s. His head tipped to the side as he studied her. He dipped his finger into the blood and sucked it off his finger before looking back down at the floor, disengaged once again.
The redhead subtly checked the brunette’s forehead. Gabriel wondered if she was sick. Maria stepped beside Gabriel and said, “I am Maria, and this is my other half, Raphael.” Raphael was holding Maria’s hair in his hands, combing through the strands.
“What are you all?” Noa stepped forward, full of courage as she crossed her arms over her chest. She faced Diel. “Diel kills. We watched him do it. He wears a collar and fights darkness within him.” She looked at Michael. “He drinks blood, has fangs and looks like he belongs in a goddamn horror movie.”
“Shit, say it how it really is, pink witch,” Bara said.
Noa narrowed her eyes, then looked to Gabriel. “You’re killers.” Gabriel tensed, but then exhaled and nodded his head. Noa turned to Dinah. “Just like Priscilla.”
“Priscilla?” Gabriel questioned.
“Our seventh sister.” Dinah raised her chin. “She’s on her own path, but she’s still one of us.”
Dinah pointed at the Indian woman and the tall blonde, who were holding hands. “Candace and Jo. They’re together.” She moved to the redhead. “Naomi.” Dinah’s eyes hardened. “She doesn’t speak to men, so don’t dare try and make her.”
“Ouch,” Bara said, hand over his chest. “You wound me. It’s fucking enlightening talking to me.”
“Nothing personal, we just don’t have a real high opinion of men in this coven,” Dinah said.
Uriel smiled. “And you think we do?”
Gabriel felt the years of abuse wash over him. Being pinned down, being touched against their will, fucked, only for the priests to start again. It was all done by men.
Dinah raised her middle finger. “Fuck the Brethren patriarchy.”
“Amen to that.” Bara smirked. “We’re all about feminism in this family.” His attention swung back to Naomi. Gabriel saw the flash of challenge in Bara’s eyes, and he vowed to speak to Bara about keeping away from the timid mute.
Dinah pointed to the small brunette. “This is Beth.” Gabriel heard a clink. Michael’s long black fingernail was circling the rim of his glass. His body had shifted slightly in Beth’s direction, but his eyes remained on the glass of blood in his hand. Gabriel frowned, surprised to get any reaction from his brother at all.
“Lastly is Noa,” Dinah said. “But you’ll all know her by now.”
“And you’re the fearsome leader,” Raphael said, his hands still in Maria’s hair.
“Of sorts,” Dinah said. “And that’s the whole gang.” Dinah looked at Noa and nodded. Noa took a book from the bag she wore around her back. “How much do you know of the Brethren?”
“Right now?” Gabriel said. Dinah nodded. “Not much. We’ve only recently actively turned our fight against them.”
Dinah moved to the dining table and laid out the book. Maria and Gabriel looked at it. It took Gabriel a moment to understand what he was reading. His eyes widened when it became clear. “A ledger,” he whispered and caught Maria’s quick inhale. There were lists and lists of priests’ names, addresses, and the local parishes and churches they controlled.
“Where did you get this?” Gabriel’s excitement waned as he read name after name. “There are so many of them.” He closed his eyes and lifted his face to the ceiling. “There are so many of them in such a small vicinity …”