He turned to see the same priest who'd commanded him to show up. "Good evening, Bishop."
The man dropped his eyes to the phone. "Are you in a hurry?"
"No." Laughing softly, Thane silenced it before shoving the phone into his back pocket. "Just checking the time to make sure I wasn't late."
"I see. Well, come with me." He turned for the secular entrance on the far side, making Thane look back.
"Bishop? I thought a confession was expected."
"It is. In my office."
Yeah, he wasn't going to get out of this easily. No simple "forgive me, Father, for I have sinned" and a few prayers. They wanted something else from him, and he had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't going to like it.
From inside the sanctuary, it was a long walk to the Bishop's private office. Thane couldn't help but wonder if the Cardinal had ordered this. Knowing his luck, the man would be sitting behind the Bishop's desk, waiting.
Thankfully, when they reached the office, he wasn't. Thane was directed to a stiff leather chair. The Bishop took his usual place in the luxury of fine leather and padding. Thane half expected the man to pull out a decanter of scotch next, with how smug he looked. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Thane was here at the man's command. The least the Church could do was make it painless.
Finally, Bishop Daniel spoke. "What you did last night couldn't have been easy. Did you want to tell me about it?"
That was his opening line? Either this bastard was sadistic or a pervert. Possibly both. Thane shifted, trying to find a comfortable position, but the chair wasn't willing to give in. Well, at least he didn't need to worry about appearing too comfortable with the whole ordeal.
"I honestly didn't expect anything to happen." He tried to keep his face calm. "I followed the ritual. Initially, nothing did, so I tried again, thinking I must have made a mistake. A little over halfway through, the hands of death grabbed me."
Steepling his fingers, the priest bounced them off his lips. "I see. What did you do, then?"
"Kept going. When she kissed me - and it's a little bit terrifying to have something invisible shove its tongue in your mouth - was when I stopped reciting her name."
"Uh huh. So when were you able to see her?"
He took a deep breath, thinking about that. The truth was his eyes had been closed. As soon as Dahlia's hand grabbed his dick, he'd forgotten all about the stupid ritual. She'd felt real when he hadn't been looking.
"Just after she, um..." He made a vague gesture toward his lap. "Climbed on me."
"And you let her?"
"You told me to!" He sat up, staring in shock. "I was told to call her and do whatever it took to get her in that cell. Bitch is strong, too. Finally got her back on the wall and she bit the shit out of me." He pointed at the scab on his neck. "She drank it like a vampire."
The very edge of the man's mouth was twisting up. "So how did you get her locked in there alone?"
Thane couldn't help himself. He leaned his elbows on the edge of the desk and looked right into the Bishop's eyes. "I made her come so hard she prayed to God, then left her in a puddle of her own mess. When I dropped the illusion and slammed the door in her face, she was a little pissed."
"Do you miss her?"
Thane huffed and shook his head. "There's a dozen slutty blondes at any club, every night. If that's the best Satan has to offer, then God has nothing to worry about, Father."
Nodding his head, the Bishop leaned back. His fingers were still in the same position, held up by his elbows on the arm rests. Like a metronome, his hand swayed to an invisible beat, the motion distracting.
"Do you wish you could do it again?"
"Have sex with a dead girl? I wish I hadn't done it the first time." Wrenching his eyes away, Thane forced himself to look at the entire room. The shelves were lined with more than just Bibles. "I woke up this morning thinking she'd come back for me. She knows my name. You realize that? When she solidified, or whatever you call it, she recognized me. When I locked her behind those bars, she told me she'd make me pay, and now the bitch is free again."
"We'll catch her."
"How?" Thane swept an arm at the contents of the tiny room. "Pray? Will that stop her before or after she strangles me in my own bed? I don't know if she's a damned vampire, succubus, or some twisted combination of the two, but she's after me. How many priests has she killed? How many times have you all said that we'd get her this time? Once again, that woman is loose, and she's pissed at me!"
The Bishop patted the air with his hands, trying to look calming. "I know, my son. Facing the evil in the world is not for the faint of heart. We will protect you. It's just going to take some time. It appears that we can't immediately call her back."
So they'd already tried. He nodded, attempting to look nervous. In truth, he was, but not for the reasons this man suspected. "So that means she can't come back on her own, right? Or is she already here, trying to find me?"