Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord-Chapter 264: Losing faith (2)

"You could never become a priest. I know your reputation quite well. You’re a man responsible for many of the deaths around the kingdom. You have no place being here. You belong in the underworld," said Bryce.

"I won’t be going to the underworld since I don’t intend to die. Tell me what your fellow priests have done to make the church this way, and I might spare you," Xavier presented an offer.

Bryce laughed. "You have some nerve trying to strike a deal with me. I would rather die than share our secrets with you."

"I can make that happen. It’s been a while since I killed anyone. For Cassandra, it hasn’t been long since she got blood on her hands. She tried to kill Gabriel with a holy weapon or was that someone else?" Xavier inquired.

Bryce was curious how Xavier knew about what Cassandra had done. He had long heard Xavier had eyes all over the town, but he didn’t think he was true.

Xavier glanced at the bag on the bed. "I am curious if you had a hand in it, so now you are running. Did you do something you shouldn’t have, and now you have to run? I know a place where you could be safe."

Bryce was smarter than Xavier had assumed him to be, so he wouldn’t take the offer, but it was annoying how he would be much safer in Xavier’s hands than the priests. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Bryce didn’t know what he had done to upset the priests, but he didn’t want to face their punishments. He had not lost his faith, and he didn’t want to be tortured to find it.

"I don’t have all day to wait for you to tell me what you know. Speak," Xavier ordered Bryce.

"I won’t-" Bryce stopped, startled by Xavier vanishing and appearing closer to grab the knife and bend it.

This wasn’t enough to make Bryce rethink his attack on Xavier, so he released the knife and decided to fight with his hands, but strangely, his hands would not move.

Bryce’s body went stiff and would not listen to his wishes. He soon started to panic, terrified of how still he was now. His body felt asleep, but he was very much awake. Losing control of his body was a terrifying experience.

"You are the devil," Bryce said, fearing for his life.

"No, I’m a Blackthorn," Xavier responded, picking up the bag Bryce packed and flipping it upside down.

Xavier watched as all of Bryce’s belongings fell to the floor.

"No holy weapon," Xavier noticed. "I thought a priest would be carrying around one when you live in a town filled with vampires. Did you think that little knife could kill me?"

Bryce didn’t respond to Xavier. He was busy trying to get control of his body, but the more he fought to gain control, the more it felt like he was losing his mind.

"I went through so much trouble to get my hands on a holy weapon. That reminds me, since only the priests know how to make them, it means someone on your side is selling them."

Bryce didn’t believe Xavier had a holy weapon. It was impossible. How could Xavier have a holy weapon when Bryce and the others following the church could not get one? Holy weapons were rare to come by, even for priests.

"You’re a liar," Bryce accused Xavier.

"I try not to lie. What is the point of it?" Xavier replied.

Xavier was quickly growing bored waiting for Bryce to speak about the church. He needed to solve the mystery of the church losing its power now.

Bryce’s eyes darted across the room, his hands itching to move to his throat as he started to choke.

"I can kill you right now. I have control to the point I can move around your insides. It’s going to be a slow, painful death, which I can stop if you speak. What are you running from?" Xaver questioned.

Bryce didn’t respond at first, but when the choking stopped and no air flowed into his body, he closed his eyes as tears started to fall. What Xavier was putting him through was torture.

"The priests," Bryce answered, gasping as he could breathe soon after he spoke.

"That isn’t enough. I should have taken that same knife and cut off your fingers with it. Speak while I am being nice," said Xavier.

Bryce knew he would find himself in deeper water if the others found out about this, but he wanted to live. "I am running from the priests, but I don’t know why. I have been avoiding them since Cassandra foolishly harmed Gabriel. She wasn’t to do that."

"Was she the one who stabbed him?" Xavier asked.

"No. Cassandra doesn’t own a holy weapon. Only the priests we follow have holy weapons. If Gabriel was stabbed with a holy weapon, then it was the priests doing it. I am not a real priest," Bryce confessed.

The real priests were the ones Bryce and the others followed, like Phillip.

"Have you hurt your kind?" Xavier asked, thinking it was a good reason for the church to be powerless.

Bryce’s lips quivered, his mind filled with the memory of when he attacked Lucinda. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, and it had haunted him since then.

"You have," Xavier realised without needing Bryce to say it. "When a church is run by someone like you, it’s bound to lose its power. You’ve been praying for others and giving blessings when your hands are not clean."

Seeing that Bryce was choosing to run from the priests when he claimed he did nothing wrong, this was enough for Xavier to piece together that the other priests were not so forgiving.

Xavier wouldn’t be surprised if the priests have been attacking their kind and placing the attack on vampires to have other humans all for the war. It had been tried before, and it was working now.

"You cannot kill the innocent and then pray over others the next day. I see now why the church no longer holds the same power. You have lost your way," Xavier found his answer.

Bryce hated what Xavier said because it was what was normally told to the others who lost their faith right before they were punished, and some were never seen again. He had gotten a glimpse of the punishment, which was why he chose to run.

Phillip was a terrifying man who would do anything to have his plans succeed.

"You don’t have any idea what you’re up against," Bryce warned Xavier.

Phillip was unlike any of the other priests the purebloods would have seen in their lifetime. His ways went against everything the church spoke of, but Phillip had succeeded in taking down many vampires so far.

Rather than be afraid, Xavier looked forward to meeting the person whom Bryce feared.