Chapter Text
This was never supposed to happen.
When she had entered into the covenant at the dark abbey, there had been no denying just what drew her there.
Of course there was the aesthetic appeal and her always overwhelming urge to be of use- but never in a way that would serve the more conservative religions.
She had always felt a pull towards something darker and within this community she had managed to find camaraderie, education and a purpose.
What she hadn’t counted on however was an enigmatic pull in a very unexpected direction.
Secondo.
The second-eldest Emeritus brother hadn’t been one of the things that had ultimately sealed her fate within the dark organization that she now served.
Her eyes had been too focused on the charismatic Papa currently in power as well as the endearingly goofy head Cardinal that gave most of the sermons.
She hadn’t even given the two eldest a second-thought apart from the tenderness she felt at Primo’s perceived fragility and the whispered advice from others to steer clear of Secondo when he was in a foul mood.
Which she noted, appeared to be somewhat often.
The man cut a rather imposing figure- a fact not helped by the fact that he absolutely towered over her.
With her less-than-impressive height of five foot nothing this was not hard for most people to do, but the very first time she took her communion from him during a Black Mass she was struck dumb.
Even had he not been wearing his mitre he would have had over a foot on her and that fact was enough to linger somewhere in the back of her mind for the foreseeable future.
Heeding the warnings given by the other Siblings of Sin, she had given Papa Secondo a wide berth.
She never bothered him during his office hours, skirted around him in the hallways with the others and took the studies he doled out far more seriously than those handed down by the cardinals.
Beyond those lessons and the obligatory interactions during the masses she had no contact with him whatsoever.
Any time not spent devoted to her daily tasks was occupied by reading in the library, engaging in silly little ghost hunts through the older passageways with other Siblings, trying (unsuccessfully) to learn Italian and sneaking longing looks at Cardinal Copia whenever he crossed her path.
By the time she had been at the Abbey for six months her lascivious thoughts about Papa Terzo had cooled
She still liked him plenty, but he was frequently gone- the Ghost project acting as his number one priority and his time actually present often taken up by the ghouls and Siblings that he had known the longest and most intimately .
The Cardinal still provided a long-lasting and safe source of her daydreams- especially on the days that she had spent with him one-on-one.
Those intimate moments, while platonic, would always occupy the free spaces in her mind for days after, even if their interactions were nothing more than a shared discussion about coffee preferences or rats.
She had been urged repeatedly by some of her friends to seek out a lover to occupy her time, some of the bolder ones even urging her to make a legitimate pass at Cardinal Copia, but she had brushed them off, laughing self-consciously at the latter especially.
None of the Siblings housed within those thick stone walls held much appeal for her (though some of the Ghouls had ignited wicked thoughts from time to time) and while Copia had no shortage of admirers- she had become friends with the Sister most intent on capturing his heart and as such had elected to leave him be in that regard.
So for the last six months her roster of potential partners had remained surprisingly empty for someone housed within an organization that so prided itself on celebrating the sin of Lust.
She was pondering the current state of her love life one day while on the hunt for a new book in the library.
Sister Rachel had recommended a new addition about haunted houses that had recently been secured for the residents, but so far the search for it had been in vain.
I bet someone already snagged it, she thought to herself.
New books are still so hard to come by in here, especially fictions.
So she now idly wandered between the shelves, her thoughts turning as they often did lately to the subject of sex.
I guess I could start spending more time around the kitchens to hang out with Brother Oliver… She trailed a hand over the spines of books as she walked, no particular route in mind.
He’s a sweetheart and his forearms are like woah .
Turning a corner, she barely had time to register a dark form hunched over ahead of her before her foot struck something with an alarming amount of force.
She recognized two things simultaneously.
That the large shape ahead of her was that of Papa Secondo bending double to examine one of the lower shelves- and that she had just kicked a book at him.
Her mouth dropped open in horror as her eyes darted down to the now ruined pile of books at her feet.
Detecting movement she then quickly shifted her gaze up as Secondo straightened his spine, his painted face looming over her and looking for all the world like a scowling gargoyle.
He was dressed in the most casual manner she had yet seen him- rather than the papal robes or occasional expensive suit he was instead sporting a well-worn black henley and a pair of soft-washed jeans in the same shade.
She only had a second to register that she had been correct in her assumptions- he was well over a foot taller than her without the mitre- before he was closing the gap between them.
A startled gasp left her and she took a clumsy step back as he tilted his head down to note the scattered books between them.
His gaze stayed there for a moment, surveying the extent of the damage before he swiftly locked eyes with her.
“Sister” his voice rumbled up from deep within his chest, slightly raspy as though he hadn’t yet spoken a word aloud today.
“What do you mean by kicking my books like this?”
She held up her hands in a pacifying sort of way, not unlike how someone might attempt to coax a bear into rethinking mauling them.
“I am so sorry Papa, I didn’t mean to! I didn’t notice your pile there and I just wasn’t expecting-”
He made a noise of distaste, the click of his tongue putting an abrupt stop to her words.
“You know, I hardly ever even bother coming to the library because of all of the chatter from you Siblings and now I decide to make the trip down on a quiet day.
But instead of peace to do my work I find a fucking football star doing her practice in the stacks.”
She closed her lips in a thin line, her cheeks burning with shame and her gaze dropping to the ground, his curt tone making her feel very much like a disobedient child.
“That book that you sent flying is one of the only copies we have left containing the correct steps for the tenebris flores ritual- that book is so valuable that if it were to ever be damaged beyond repair we would be out centuries of knowledge.”
He barely even paused to take a breath as he continued to admonish her.
“Not that it matters to you, I’m sure since its not some Top Ten Bestseller from fucking Oprah or whatever the hell nonsense it is that you even bother to read-”
She clenched her shaking hands into fists, staring daggers at the ground as her words bubbled up without another thought.
“If it’s such a valuable book then maybe it shouldn’t have been on the ground in the first place!”
In the deadly silence that followed she tried her best to steady her breathing, hating how close she was to crying whenever she got mad enough.
As the seconds ticked by, alarm bells began to sound in her brain and she felt her once burning cheeks suddenly grow cold.
You absolute idiot you just talked back to Papa Secondo.
Summoning the courage, she finally lifted her gaze to meet his and felt the chill work its way down her spine.
He stood stock-still before her, as unmoving as if he were carved from stone and with a hardness in his eyes to match.
She had always gone out of her way to NOT catch his eye, but now here she was with his full attention and for a very bad reason.
Without warning, her survival instincts suddenly kicked into gear all at once.
She found herself both attempting to smooth things over by stooping down to pick up the books and scrambling to move backwards to put some distance between herself and the powerful man that she had insulted.
What resulted was a clumsy sort of cower that would have planted her squarely on her ass had he not shot out a hand to grip her arm like a vice, yanking her roughly back up and placing her squarely under his nose.
He kept her there, wobbling on her toes as she fought to not tread on the seemingly forgotten books.
In a blink his other hand shot up to bury itself in her hair, tugging roughly enough to elicit a pained yelp as he forced her head back far enough for their eyes to meet.
“I don’t know who you think you are talking to me that way, piccola peccatore ” he sneered down at her as he tightened his grip.
“But you can bet it won’t go unpunished. The mistreatment of the books or that fucking mouth of yours. Actually-”
The ghost of a grin curled at the corners of his lips and she suddenly saw the spark of something besides fury in his Luceferian eyes.
“Non è un brutto pensiero…”
Frustrated at her continued inability to understand the language that the senior members of the clergy all spoke, she was startled when he released her arm in favor of cupping her jaw.
Just as he pressed the rough pad of his thumb against her bottom lip, they both heard voices headed their way.
Time stood still as she watched the dawning realization flit over Secondo’s face, his scowl returning.
He gave her hair one last sharp tug, earning another cry from her even as he leaned in close to her ear with a growled “ Pick up those fucking books .” Before releasing his hold on her and stepping back.
Just as she was dropping down to the floor to carry out the command, a pair of Siblings rounded the corner and stopped their gossip short, giving flustered formal greetings to Papa and glancing down curiously at her lowly position.
Greeting the pair smoothly, Secondo held out his hand for the stack of books as she quickly scrambled up, task now complete.
“Good afternoon Siblings. Your Sister here had a bit of an accident with some of the books while helping me research one of our upcoming rituals and was just tidying up.”
Turning back to address her with a benign expression, he continued.
“As far as those passages you were asking about Sister, they're far too valuable to be kept here among the common tomes.”
She felt her cheeks redden at the mocking glint in his eye.
“I have a gap in my schedule tomorrow just before the Friday Black Mass. Come to my office at eleven and I will educate you.”
Giving her a curt nod and saying his farewells to the other two Siblings, he turned and left the library without a backward glance.
Suddenly feeling as though all of the energy had drained from her body, she sank back to lean against a bookshelf, running a hand wearily through her hair.
The Siblings, Sister Paula and Brother Kahlil quickly rounded on her.
“Are you okay?”
“What did you do ?”
“Are you in trouble?”
“Girl you’re fucked .”
She did her best to reassure them that everything was fine, giving them the easiest version of the story without divulging too much.
At her admittance that she had accidentally kicked a valuable old tome they made sympathetic noises, clucking at the prospect of an unavoidable punishment and speculating on what that might mean.
“Maybe it’ll be extra cleaning duty- I hear Secondo’s office is a hoarding nightmare .”
“Pfft. More likely he’s going to give her a spanking.”
“Paula! ”
“Oh what! Would you be surprised? The senior Siblings say he’s a pervert- well every Emeritus is except for old Primo- Nowadays anyway. And besides that, Secondo is mean .”
Brother Kahlil made a noise of equal parts mirth and disgust while she did her best to come to grips with her situation.
Rubbing her arm absently, she remembered the power behind those hands and the brief glimpse of the heat in his eyes as he manhandled her.
Despite the brief language barrier she was now suddenly certain she knew what thought had crossed his mind when his focus had locked on her mouth and she couldn’t quite suppress a shiver.
She couldn’t seem to work out how she felt about the prospect of an… unconventional form of punishment at his hands.
On the one hand, he scared her. He was intimidating, aggressive and he had made her feel dumb.
And yet…
Why did she suddenly feel a whisper in the back of her mind and a dark humming somewhere in her center?
Was it the leftover adrenaline of an unexpected confrontation?
Or was it the danger of what tomorrow would bring?
Why was she suddenly so curious to know what fate awaited her?
The thought that she had some idea now of what Eve must have felt like after her meeting with the serpent would not leave her for the rest of the night.