I pulled Phebe into my chest and held her while she cried. Truth be told, the embrace kept me from screaming out in rage. My brother . . . my motherfucking brother! He did all this. Everything had gone wrong.
“There’ll always be another one,” I said. “Mae, Lilah, Maddie, Harmony . . . now this little Delilah too. Even if we save all the Curseds in existence, he will always find another, brand another. He will always strive to keep this bullshit prophecy alive.”
Phebe nodded. “I . . . I think that too. He will never stop hurting these children. All because he finds it too hard to resist their beauty. He wants to own them, possess them, control them. Like he does us all.” Phebe stepped back and gripped the lapels of my leather jacket. “You need to get her out for me. Just get her out.”
“Where are Stephen, Ruth, Solomon and Samson now?” I asked, checking my watch. Fuck. The Hangmen would be coming in less than two hours. What the hell did I do now?
Phebe watched me closely. “They are coming . . . aren’t they? The devil’s men?”
I nodded. “I need to get the innocent out, Phebe. The plan has gone to shit. I don’t know what to do—”
“Judah has them in the public cells,” Phebe interrupted. “So all the people can see who was responsible for thrusting us into chaos. So they can see the souls that the devil polluted. They are in the cells that face the Great Plain.” The Great Plain—the area where Judah held his sermons.
“Fuck!” I spat. That land held no cover. It was exposed.
Phebe reached for my arm. “No one is gathered there at present. The congregation are loading guns into vehicles and are preparing everything for the attack, on the farthest side of the commune.”
I felt a flicker of hope. “Stay away, do you hear me? Wait here. Don’t come to the plain. The Hangmen will be coming through this way. They were coming for the guards and Judah. Take off your headdress and show them who you are. Ky, Lilah’s husband, is coming. He knows who you are, what you look like. They will protect you.”
Phebe’s eyes closed with relief. “Thank you,” she whispered.
I moved to walk away. Phebe began talking to the child, soothing her. I turned around. “Phebe?” Phebe looked at me. “Leave her in there and tell her to be quiet. No matter what, tell her to be silent. If something happens . . . ” I let that hang in the air.
“To me,” she finished.
“I will return for her. Or Sister Ruth will. I’ll make sure she is freed. Somehow. I promise.”
Phebe nodded, and as she glanced down at the little girl in the cell, I saw the love she had for her, the affection. I also knew she was trying to save her in place of Lilah. She was saving this child, almost the mirror image of the one she, in her eyes, had failed.
“What’s her name?” I found myself asking.
A smile stretched on Phebe’s face. “Grace,” Phebe said, reverence in her tone. “Her name is Grace.”
“I’ll be back for you and Grace. But try to get to Ky first. If we’re lucky, you’ll be back with your sister by tonight. As will Grace.”
With that, I raced up the hill, staying tucked into the line of trees. When the Great Plain came into sight, I saw that Phebe had been right. It was deserted. The public cells were on the far side. Checking no one was around, I darted over the manicured grass. I didn’t have time to circle the perimeter first. Too much time had already been wasted.
I ran as fast as I could, my chest blowing out as I pushed myself to the limit until I arrived at the cells. My stomach fell when I saw my friends sitting inside.
“Cain . . . ” Sister Ruth’s head rolled to face in my direction. She was badly beaten and was struggling to move. Something about seeing this sweet woman in this much pain tore a fucking lethal amount rage from me.
“Ruth,” I whispered back.
Sister Ruth tried to smile, but her lips were too broken.
Solomon shuffled painfully to the steel bars. He was black and blue. “We failed, Cain. Samson and I managed to cut the fence while the ceremony was happening, but this morning, Judah’s guards came for you and caught us. We had no choice but to own up. I showed them the hole in the fence you used yesterday, but kept the one you used today a secret.” He dropped his head. “I am so sorry. I failed you. I came here for one reason, and I failed.”
“No,” I argued. “You didn’t. I got out. Bella is safe and the Hangmen are coming. I’m just so fucking sorry y’all got hurt.”
“You got her out. That is all that matters,” Stephen said and gave a deep sigh of relief.
I nodded my head. “But we need to get you out. I need help getting the innocent out. We’ll need to stage a distraction or something, smoke out the guards. When the Hangmen come in . . . they’re coming to kill.”
Sister Ruth’s face paled. I searched around the cell for a key . . . for something to help me break the lock. “I need a key,” I said hurriedly.
“In the guard’s house,” Solomon said and pointed to a small hut hidden in the trees.
“I’ll be back.” I stood to move toward the hut . . . and I knew I’d fucked up. I felt the cold steel of a gun barrel press against my temple.
Whoever held the gun to my head moved in front of me—Brother Luke. Fucking Brother Luke.
I bared my teeth as I stared the fucker down. Then I felt another gun press into my back . . . and another press into my ribs.
“Looks like you are surrounded,” Brother Luke said. He tensed, and I knew who was coming.
Not giving a shit about the guns, I turned. Judah was pounding toward us, vicious eyes zeroed on me. I thought I had seen my brother pissed before, but I realized that he could actually go up another gear, or two. I had never seen Judah this angry.
Judah walked straight up to me and slammed his fist across my face. My head tipped back a fraction, but Judah was shit in a fight. There was no strength behind the punch.
“You are a traitor!” He ran his gaze over my leathers. “Here you are, once again dressed in the devil’s men’s attire.” He stepped closer. “You took our only chance at salvation from me. You are as much a devil’s whore as she is . . . as all of them!”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. I laughed right in Judah’s red face. But I quickly dropped my humor, and spat, “It’s all fucking false! All of it was created so our uncle could fuck kids, brother! There was no pilgrimage to Israel! There was no revelation given within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre! There is no Order, no quest for salvation . . . in fact, I’m pretty fucking sure that with everything we’ve done, we’ve all got a fucking one-way ticket to hell!”