“Do you repent yet, boy?”
That word makes me flinch. It’s the same thing my “father” called me every time he drank to put me in my place, which was the bottom of the pile of bastard children that lived in my momma’s trailer.
“Fuck. You.”
I don’t even brace myself for the sting of the leather across my back. Not anymore. I found after the first twenty or so lashings, the more I tensed, the more it hurt.
“See, the problem with your kind, the sinning kind, is that you think everything in the world belongs to you. That you can just have what you want. That you can contaminate the soft femalemind with dreams they could be more than what they actually are,” Nathaniel says from his seat in front of me. Perched in a big fucking chair, probably feeling like king of the world.
“Oh yeah? And what’s that? Property to be owned by depraved fuckers like you?” I snarl.
He sucks his teeth, staring at the healing wound on his hand from where Sage stabbed him. He flexes his fingers before his hand fists. “They’re but little lambs, to be led by the shepherd. If not for the shepherd the little lamb falls prey to the wolf.” He gnashes his teeth at me. “Lambs mistake hunger for love and safety. Just like women fall prey to a pretty smile.” He nods his head in my direction. “That pretty smile leads them into a life of lust, vanity, rebellion. That's why they need the steady hand of their father, then their husbands.”
“IamSage’s husband,” I growl, trying to move from my position, kneeled on fucking glass, Nathaniel’s goons holding me down.
“You’re an abomination!” Nathaniel’s mask slips as he screams, spittle flying out of his mouth. “You are a demon, twisting and turning Sage’s thoughts against us. She knows where she belongs, and when she returns I will hold you up before her, like a sacrificial lamb. Spilling your blood will free Sage from your bonds, purifying her for her one,truehusband as chosen by God himself.” A look of peace settles on Nathaniel’s face as he leans back in his chair, fully relaxed, high on the power that he has given himself. “Men, please recite the scripture to our guest. Start with my favorite Deuteronomy passage.”
Voices echo through the room as they recite “Neither shalt thou make marriages with them… for they will turn away thy son from following me,” in monotone voices.
I draw deep breaths into my lungs, closing my eyes and conjuring up Sage’s face. Her expressions so fucking vivid in my mind that it helps me stay calm as they try to break me. As longas I have a fuckin pulse I will fight tooth and nail to get back to my woman. I just need to bide my time.
Just need to fight a little longer, a little longer…
Damian
I don’t often have second thoughts, but I am damn well havin’ ‘em now. This was meant to be covert, watchin’ that Nathaniel guy, figuring out who’s really runnin’ things and who is just puffing up their chest. I’m doing all thatandtrying to keep Sage from goin’ postal on all these polo wearing assholes. I catch Justice’s gaze, tipping my chin in Sage’s direction. I know that Justice has my back, like I’ve got his. We may be from different worlds, but we’re brothers now and that’s all that matters.
Justice steps closer to Sage who's been dancing around like she’s got ants in her pants. She ain’t gonna be any help to us all jacked up wanting to spill blood, but I get it. It’s her man that’s gone missing.
“Sage, we got this, babe.” Sorrow crosses her face and I know I fucked up.
“That’s what Takoda calls me,” she whispers, bottom lip starting to poke out and it makes my chest feel all kinds of strange.
We gotta get her man back so she can get back to being my second best friend, not this broken woman.
I open my mouth but cut myself off when the man we been looking for takes to the mic. It’s show time.
Chapter Seventeen
Sage
There he is. There is that motherfucker that started this whole thing. Rage burns through my veins and I want nothing more than to raise my gun and shoot him in front of all these people, but that’s not going to do me any favors. I need to know where Takoda is, and dead men don’t tell secrets. I need to play this cool, but it’s killing me. Especially as he stands up there, with this smug doughy face, acting like God himself.
“He’s a decoy,” Justice says from his position behind me.
“What?” I ask, over my shoulder.
“Nathaniel. He’s a decoy. He isn’t the leader.”
“How do you know?” It irritates me that I don’t know these things.
I mean, I love that I didnt have to grow up in a fucked up cult, but in this situation I’m on the back foot. I don’t know enoughabout Eden’s Keep to be able to read these men like Justice and Loyal.
“He’s too vain,” Loyal answers, eyes glued to Nathaniel. “Look at him up there, he’s preaching to the masses, but he’s also revelling in it. The Prophet always preached that vanity was a sin,unlessit was instilled in one of his choosing as a burden to bear for the good of the flock. The Prophet taught that the flock is easier led by a shepherd people wish to look upon. It also makes the shepherd the target if something was to go wrong.”
“Like a public assassination,” I mutter. “Damn he’s butt ugly.” I’m repulsed by the bulging vein in Nathaniel’s forehead as spittle flies from his mouth.
“His soul is, but he’s conventionally attractive,” Joe says, eyes on the crowd. “Look at the young girls, swooning over him.”