Pastor Hans called me the next day, asking for my help. A vana had possessed someone from his church, and I was the only one who could save them. Ha! Though Pastor Hans hadn't said it, contacting me was his way of admitting faith magic was useless, like I had told him back at Mama Joni's house. Some people loved learning their lessons the hard way.

Getting out of the auto-rickshaw, I stepped onto the dirt road; the sun blasting me with its hateful rays like we had beef, forcing me to cover my face with my hands. Days like these made me hate the fact I was on call twenty-four-seven. Maybe I should do business from nine to five? Argh! I hated being broke. Also, why didn't I carry an umbrella? I didn't want to swim in my own seat.

In front of me was The Church of Miracles surrounded by a massive perimeter wall. I never thought I'd live long enough to be invited to an enemy's territory without my life being on the line. And yet, here I was.

"Binti Nasra," a voice called me from the gate. Turning, I saw Pastor Hans standing in front of the open metallic door, wearing a black two-piece suit and a white clerical collar around his neck.

"That's my name," I replied.

He frowned. "Follow me."

Kha! You'd think he'd be glad to see his knight in shining armor. Mxiu! The manners on him.

Stepping through the gate, my ears popped before the whooshing sound of wind filled them again and a wave of chatter followed. From the outside, it looked like nothing was going on inside. I had assumed everyone was relaxing while waiting for the boring Sunday to end, now that the morning mass had finished.

I was wrong and naïve to think so—two things I couldn't afford to be in my line of work.

Clearly, the church had erected—ha!—a sound barrier, preventing those on the outside to hear what was going on inside. A smart move. Too many nosy Nancy's out there.

Six buildings with multiple floors made up The Church of Miracles. One stood in the middle while the rest surrounded it, forming a star shape. The church had male and female members, using the titles pastor and pastoress while being led by a reverend.

"Can you tell me more about the possessed pastor?" I asked Pastor Hans.

"I never said it was a pastor."

Ha! He caught me. But now I knew it was a pastoress. Still, what would the demon want with her? Vanas mocked pastors and pastoresses as much as occult detectives did. Could it be doing the same here? Possessing her to show them how weak they and faith magic were against it? I mean, we are talking about the members of The Clergy here. They'd blame someone or something else for why they couldn't exorcise the demon, rather than admitting the truth.

"I don't know why you won't tell me. What are you hiding?" I asked.

Pastor Hans stopped walking, and I bumped into him. "There are too many eyes and ears here." He glanced at the other pastors and pastoresses staring at us from the sides, all dressed like him.

My mouth formed an O-shape. Oh, shit. The other members didn't know about the vana. This level of secrecy meant the demon didn't possess a pastoress. Instead... I gulped.

"I don't feel welcomed here," I said, not liking the glares directed my way when I was there to save the day. Did they think I wanted to be here and be the center of attention? If so, then yes, they were right. I loved being delusional from time to time, thinking the world revolved around me.

"You shouldn't feel welcomed. This is a one-time thing," Pastor Hans said before he resumed walking.

"Ouch." I placed my hand on my chest, pretending his reply hurt me.

"You get rid of the vana and leave. Don't worry though, they won't hurt you."

"Who? The vana or your fellow members?"

"Hopefully, both." He smiled.

That was what it took to make him smile? The thought of me getting beaten up? Hmph! And he called himself the lord's servant. He wasn't doing any servanting right now.

The other members still glared at me like I was a wild animal they wanted to kill but couldn't because they were ordered not to. It wasn't like they could harm me. I could whoop their behinds with both hands tied behind my back. Still, letting them think so was fun.

I smiled and waved at them. With my mind, heart and soul now clear and acting as one after witnessing Baba's sacrifice, I was ready to take my place among the elite sorcerers in the world, standing at the front of the line as The Antichrist unleashes his minions on us.

Pastor Hans led me inside the middle building—I assumed it was the main one, as it was bigger than the others and looked better taken care of—and greeted the receptionist, who responded. When I said hi, she frowned.

Really? Even the receptionist dunked on me? Damn. What a cruel world.

We entered the elevator at the end of the hall, and Pastor Hans pressed the big red button below the numbered ones. It descended downward, and I stared at him with wide eyes. The Church of Miracles had a secret base like a supervillain? I hadn't seen that one coming. This was some Dr. Evil shit. Did the other churches have one too?

When the door reopened, a chill ran over my body, making me shiver. This wasn't any ordinary cold—it was magic energy. Powerful one, at that. A bright light came from the end of the hallway, illuminating the empty and sad path surrounded by metallic walls.

Arriving at the end of the hallway, we entered an oval arena with floodlights covering its top. It took my eyes a while to adjust to them, but the powerful magic energy from before had grown, making me breathe heavily as it blocked my senses.

Since I was a child, I always had this sixth sense that activated whenever people were staring at me. And at that moment, I could tell there were many of them looking at me, explaining the overwhelming wave of magic choking me. It was like I was stuck inside a burning house, inhaling all the smoke, and I would look weak if I tried to escape.

I punched my palm once, activating my sense magic. A coat of energy covered my body like a second skin, protecting me from the assertive magic energy, and reactivating my senses.

Once I was back to being myself again, I stood straight and gazed at the stands. Thirteen pairs of glowing eyes looked back at me while the shadows hid their bodies. There was only one group of sorcerers that had this much raw magic energy surrounding them: The Supreme Leaders.

"Are they...?" I asked to make sure. Though, I knew I wasn't wrong.

"Yes," Pastor Hans replied.

Shit! Just being in The Supreme Leaders' presence made me tremble like I was standing naked in the middle of a blizzard. And I wanted to take them down for misusing their powers? Ha!

"What are they doing here?" Had they found out I traveled to the past? Finding out what had happened to Baba? Deep down, my stomach sunk and my guts twisted and turned like shoelaces. Time travel was fucked up, and the rules imposed on travelers prevented them from interfering. They could watch as much as they wanted, but the moment they got involved, it would alert The Travelers' Bureau—an organization that monitored the timeline, stopping travelers from messing with past and future.

Pastor Hans glanced at the stands, then back at me. He pointed at someone bound to a chair in the middle of the arena, with a sack over his head. "That's your target—Reverend Francis Kobelo."

"Excuse me?" That couldn't be. According to The Clergy, reverends received divine protection from angels, protecting them from possession and mental control or manipulation. It kept their actions independent, which was required to lead such organizations.

Pastor Hans said:

"No one knows how, but the vana possessed him, even with divine protection. We've tried everything we can to exorcize it, and failed." Before I spoke, he raised his hand to silence me. "Faith magic doesn't work. We've known that for years. In its place, we've been using divine magic to exorcize vanas. And it has worked... Until now.

"The last time we met, you thought Mama Joni had called you because she knew you. She didn't. I had ordered her to. Over the last few weeks, there has been a rise in vana cases possessing reverends, and we could not exorcise them. Just when we thought we finally had them, it seems they have evolved.

"Every pastor and pastoress had to call an occult detective during an exorcism and see if they can exorcise it. Sadly, at Mama Joni's house, the vana we encountered hadn't evolved yet. It was why I didn't bring you in sooner.

"When word got out to The Supreme Leaders about the Evolved Vanas that even occult detectives couldn't exorcize, they offered to help."

I gaped. "Don't tell me..."

"Yes. They also failed." He took a deep breath and rubbed his face, as though recounting what he had gone through pained him. Having to put their hate aside and ask for help from occult detectives must've hurt The Clergy. Sometimes enemies had to put their beef aside to fight a common foe. "Then I remembered you: Binti Nasra, the Moon Whisperer."

"Not a bad nickname," I said.

He continued. "Even though you're Lucifer's mistress-"

"I'm not."

"Your moon magic might be the only thing capable of stopping the vana."

I crossed my arms. "And if it doesn't?"

"Then we go to option two: we kill the reverend."

Wow. "How many have you killed?"

"Too many. The vanas are targeting them, knowing death is the only option. We can't afford to lose anymore. The Clergy has hidden it from the other members, but if more reverends keep retiring, then it'll only be a matter of time before they find out what's truly going on. For now, when they ask what your kind is doing here, we tell them you're here to answer for your crimes against the church."

"And they believe it?"

"I hope so. And even if they don't, what will they do? Question the clergy? That's heresy."

"It's only heresy when a few are doing it. But if it's all of them? It becomes a problem."

"A problem we're trying to avoid." He rubbed his hands together. "Now, please go exorcize the vana." He leaned in and whispered. "Don't show off, though. Remember, they failed. Doing so will look like you're undermining their power, and it'll put a target on your back."

"Understood. Just don't go back on our deal."

"If you succeed, I'll give you what you want and more."

I smiled. "Excellent."

In return for helping him with the vana, I had asked Pastor Hans to find me information on The Fellowship and The Supreme Leaders. With The Clergy behind him, he had access to people and books that Brenda couldn't reach. I wanted to know everything these two groups had done and planned to do, their former and present members—their strengths and weaknesses too—and their relationship to world governments.

I knew it would take time for him to get it. Hopefully, by the time I was done with Esther, he'd have it ready for me so I could launch an attack.