Page 55 of Legion
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Intrigued, Naomi sat up straighter.“I take it this is about the clerics,” she said as the imp strode into the living area.
“Oh yeah.”Khloë plopped her butt on the other armchair, looking mighty pleased with herself.“I found—Whoa, is that a brand?”She leaned forward to get a better look at Naomi’s throat.“That’s, like, the furthest thing from subtle ever.Luka’s demons don’t fuck around when it comes to making statements, do they?”
“No, they don’t,” grumbled Tobe.“Back to the topic of the clerics ...”
“We gotta wait for the others to arrive,” said the imp.“I gave Grams and Ciaran a heads-up that I have some juicy stuff to share.You should contact your mom and Alfie, Naomi; they’ll want to hear this.”
Naomi telepathed Tia.You and Alfie might want to head to my place.Khloë has news.
Her mother’s response came fast.We’ll be five minutes.
Refocusing on Khloë, she asked, “Did you and Keenan enjoy your weekend vacation?”The imp’s mate was an incubus who belonged to Knox and Harper’s lair.
“Totes.We were both supposed to have today off work so we could do stuff together, but Knox needs him for ‘sentinel business’.Keenan felt bad that we had to cancel our plans, but I told him it’s fine; I’ll just spend the day relaxing and then have a quiet night at home.”
Resettling on the sofa, Tobe snorted.“No way Keenan would ever think you’re having a quiet night in.He’s probably just choosing to believe it because it allows him to function better while away from you.”
Khloë crossed one leg over the other.“Did you know that hestillmakes me promise not to blow shit up when he’s gone?Like I can’t be trusted to make good decisions if left unsupervised.”She shook her head, incredulous.
“You really disagree with that assessment?”asked Naomi.Shepersonally didn’t.
The brunette sniffed.“When I’m in the mood to be affronted, yes.”
Right then, Ciaran teleported Jolene and Beck into the living area.It wasn’t long later that Tia and Alfie arrived.Of course,everyonefelt the need to makesomecomment about Naomi’s brand-spanking-new brand.No one said anything negative about it, though—only Tobe had a real issue with it so far.
Once everyone had taken a seat, Naomi looked at Khloë and prompted, “So, you have intel.”
The imp grinned.“I sure do.”
“Let’s hear it,” urged Jolene, sitting on the sofa between Khloë and Tia.
“It turns out that the clerics are part of an old-time order called theLemures,” Khloë revealed.“It’s Latin for—”
“Ghosts.Specters.Phantoms,” finished Naomi.
Nodding, Khloë planted her hands on the armrests.“It’s alleged that—much like noncorporeal entities—these clerics move about unseen, undetected, and leave no traces of themselves behind.”
“Hence the name of their order,” Alfie mused, perched on a stool he’d taken from the breakfast bar.
“Uh-huh,” Khloë agreed.“It was founded by the first generation of Eliouds.It has a strict no-women-allowed rule, though the members aren’t celibate.They believe in continuing the Elioud lines; they just have no real use for females.Charming.They are devout followers of God and will do absolutely anything in his name, including kill.They’ll target any supernatural creature they don’t consider holy if they decide it’s God’s will.”
Naomi hummed.“Rather bloodthirsty for men of the cloth, aren’t they?”
“Indeed,” said Khloë, her tone prim.“They don’t see it as murder.In their view, they’re on holy missions.Their beliefs hold sprinkles of various religions—mostly Catholic.They consider themselves first and foremost to be tools of God.”
Jolene idly rubbed the pad of her thumb and forefinger together, her expression thoughtful.“So their beliefs are passed down from father to son.”
“Yup.Though they’re also suspected of abducting young boys and then fully indoctrinating them into the monkhood,” Khloë explained, her face tightening.“Presumably those boys are oblivious Eliouds who the clerics have managed to track down.”
Naomi bit out a curse.“And they dare consider themselves holy.There ain’t anything good and just about snatching and conditioning kids, no matter your reason.”It disgusted even her demon.
Khloë made a haughtymmm-hmmsound of agreement.
On the stool next to Alfie, Beck scratched at his sideburns.“Other than picking off whatever preternatural creature they deem fit, what else do they get up to?”
Khloë twirled her ankle.“There are whispers that over the years they’ve been responsible for the deaths ofmanypeople—like those who were attached to religious scandals, led Satanic cults, claimed to be Jesus reborn.Stuff like that.”
