Within fifteen minutes, Lilah had made pancakes, bacon and coffee for us both—our usual.
My old lady brought it all to the table, sat down right beside me, held my hand in hers and began eating her food…
And never once asked me permission to do so.
*****
New Zion, Texas
Prophet Cain
I paced the floor in the meeting room where Judah, Brother Luke, and I were meeting with the Klan. And not just any Klan. Johnny Landry and Governor Ayers, the Grand and Imperial Wizards of the famed Texas KKK.
It was about fucking time. My depleted council was going crazy over the latest attack.
“We want those devil worshippers wiped out. We want them killed, slain, and their bodies impaled on spikes to warn any other man threatening this commune not to fuck with the Lord’s chosen people!” Judah hissed and I held up my hand to speak.
Weeks had gone by since The Hangmen had taken Delilah and killed two of my council members in the process, hell, not killed, mutilated and marked them with huge fucking H’s! And I was done with it all. The assholes were fucking up everything for me here at the commune. My people had started to doubt my leadership and I had yet to receive a revelation from the Lord. Nothing was going as planned. Nothing that was fated for me was coming true.
And now my people wanted blood.
I needed to regain their faith. I needed to be the prophet I was always destined to be. I had nowhere else to go. Nothing else to do. This was all I had in my life!
Facing the Klan leaders, I said, “I want the Cursed back, from which they will never escape into the outside world again. Then I’m going to marry the prophesized Cursed sister of Eve and fulfill Prophet David’s prophecy. I must marry Salome, and join with her in the Lord’s Sharing. I need her returned no matter the cost. It is essential for my people’s future.”
Slamming my palms down on the table, I stared into the eyes of Landry and Ayers. “Your men fucked up. Someone leaked the location of New Zion. This place was supposed to be off the grid, off all records, it’s meant to be impenetrable for fucks sake! Only an insider could have revealed this information to the Hangmen.”
Landry glanced at Ayers, and Ayers sat forward, resting his chin lightly on steepled hands, looking every inch the politician he had trained himself to be.
“You are correct, Cain—”
“Prophet Cain!” Judah and Brother Luke emphasized in unison, interrupting the governor, admonishing his lack of respect for a Lord’s messenger. Brother Luke’s son Micah had been killed in the most abominable way, a manner that just reeked of Flame. And he was beyond pissed.
Ayers held up his hands and smirked. “Prophet Cain. My apologies.”
Landry grinned at Ayers and crossed his arms, but their humor soon faded.
“We have a suspect, a deserter from our high officers who we believe stole vital information from Landry’s office. And we have reason to believe he hides amongst the Hangmen. He hasn’t been seen since the day of the raid, so it leads us to conclude he has joined forces with them.”
My fists clenched until they ached. “Then he must be caught and dealt with!”
Ayers held up his hands again. “Prophet Cain, I have known of the Hangmen for many years, under quite a few presidents, I might add. And I’ll tell you this now, these men are powerful. You lived with them for five years, so you know this. They have an international reach. They have more connections than me and all of the Klan. Hell, more than the damn president of the United States and I’m guessing more than any of you. So we have to be careful in our planning, meticulous with our attention to detail. We have to leave no page unturned.
“It will take time. But I remain a firm believer that in the end, we shall prevail. With the supply of your arms business to my Klan for the race war that is no doubt coming to the U.S., our relationship will be strong. The Lord’s white Christian dream will be realized.”
I glanced at Judah and he shrugged. I could tell he agreed with them. Ayers obviously caught this and said, “This is a marathon, Prophet Cain, not a sprint. Let us ensure all our assets are in place before we strike… And we will strike. And it will be destructive to the MC.”
I moved to the office window, staring out at my commune and took a breath. It might not be now, it might not be tomorrow, but before long, I shall have the Cursed back, back where they belong, and Mae in my bed. And the Hangmen?
Burning in fucking hell.
The End