“Please.” Her grip on my arm loosened.
“Uh, sure.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Sit down, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t have long. I gotta get to work.”
“Oh,” she said, “it won’t take long. I promise.”
I slid into the booth across from her. The diner was empty aside from the two of us. The breakfast rush had already passed, and lunch wouldn’t start for a few hours. Jimmy was behind the grill, and the waitress—Donna—was standing in front of the coffee machine.
Elli smiled. She brought her hands in front of her, folding them together. She looked down at mine as if encouraging me to do the same.
I slowly lifted my hands in front of me. The cuffs of my work shirt slid down my wrists a little.
“Dearest Father,” she said, eyes on me, “I am but your humble servant, and I seek your guidance. I have found myself in a moment of crisis. You see, Father, there are things in this world, things that take away from your natural order. Abominations that go against everything you stand for. I have been tasked under your will to strike these abominations down where they stand.
“By the power of your Holy Spirit, reveal to me, Father, any people I need to forgive and any areas of unconfessed sin. Reveal aspects of my life that are not pleasing to you, Father, ways that have given or could give Satan a foothold in my life. Father, I give to you any unforgiveness, I give to you my sins, and I give to you all ways that Satan has a hold of my life. Thank you for your forgiveness and your love.
“My Father, in your Holy Name, I bind all evil spirits of the air, water, ground, underground, and netherworld. I further bind, in Jesus’s name, any and all emissaries of the satanic headquarters and claim the precious blood of Jesus on the air, atmosphere, water, ground, and their fruits around us, the underground and the netherworld below.”
I moved to stand.
Her hand snatched out and grabbed my wrist again.
“Don’t,” she said. “You would do well, Gordo Livingstone, to stay where you are.”
“Okay, Gordo?” Donna asked as she brought a tray of coffees over to me.
I nodded slowly. “Just a prayer.”
The woman across from me smiled.
Donna looked unsure, but she set the tray down. “It’s already on the tab. You tell Marty he needs to square up by the end of the month, okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll tell him.”
Donna turned and walked away.
“Elijah,” I said quietly.
“Good,” she said. “That’s real good, Gordo. You’re so young.” She took my hand and pressed her lips against it. I felt the quick flick of her tongue against my skin. “You know only the ways of the beast. They have indoctrinated you early. It’s a shame, really. I don’t know if you can yet be saved. I suppose only time will tell if there can be a cleansing. A baptism in the waters of salvation.”
“He’ll know,” I said quietly. “That you’re here. In his territory.”
“You see, that’s where you’re wrong,” she said. “I am not an Alpha. Or a Beta. Or an Omega.” She cocked her head at me. “I am not you.”
“You know what I am.”
“Yes.”
“Then you should know what I’m capable of.”
She chuckled. “You are nothing but a child. What could you possibly—”
I reached up with my free hand and pulled back my sleeve.
She stared down at the raven surrounded by roses with something akin to awe. “I had heard, but—” She shook her head. “I am sorry for what has happened to you. That you didn’t have a choice in the matter.”