Braver than most grown men I know.
“You did the right thing,” I tell her, heart shattering as I help her stand.
“But that was years ago,” she says.
Knocks the wind out of me.
“I’ve got a safe place for you.”
I guide her into my SUV, still dusty from driving back and forth to Paradise Falls and crank the heat.She curls into the passenger seat, my jacket engulfing her like a shield.
On the drive, I call a nurse I trust.She meets us in my guest house, turned safe house now, takes Cider gently, whispers that she’s safe now.
I almost believe it.
But not fully.
Not with the way Cider watched the tree line like something waited there.
Once she’s settled, I get back in my car.My pulse hammers.The wheel creaks beneath my grip.I gun the engine and fly down the back roads toward Hell, Kentucky.Gravel spits behind me.My headlights carve through the dark like knife blades.
Legend needs to know.The club needs to know.And I need to look him in the eye while I say it.
I find him outside The Fire Pit, stepping out with Oaks and Rye.They’re mid-laugh until they see my face.Legend stiffens.His hand drops instinctively to the gun he keeps tucked behind his belt.
“Sophie?”he asks, stepping toward me.
“Now.”I grab his arm, dragging him away.
Oaks whistles.Rye mutters, “She got the fire in her again.”
Legend follows without a fight.We round the side of the bar, moonlight glinting off broken beer bottles and gravel.
When I spin to face him, my breath fogs between us.
“A girl escaped Pearly Gates,” I say, words sharp as glass.“She’s alive.Barely.And she says your preacher daddy has been running rituals.”
Legend’s whole body goes stone-still.
“What rituals?”
“Masks.Threats.Purification,” I spit.“She said they were preparing them for something.”
Legend’s jaw clenches so hard I hear something crack.“Did she name him?”
“He didn’t need naming.She described him.”I swallow.“And she mentioned the Demon Leaper.Said they’ve seen him.Heard him.”
Legend closes his eyes for one beat too long.
Then.
“I saw something too.”
My stomach twists.“When?”
“Week ago, or more,” he mutters.“Behind the chapel.At first I thought it was a man.Vanished when I shot at it.”
Ice slides down my spine.
