“You didn’t tell me that.”
He lifts an eyebrow.“You didn’t tell me you found a traumatized girl behind a dollar store alone, until midnight.”
“But I did.”
“After you took care of it, I’m assuming.All alone.Ain’t smart.”
Fair enough.
I take a breath, steadying myself.
“We’re out of time,” I say.“Crowley ain’t just manipulating girls.He’s preparing them to be taken.Somewhere.”
Legend scrubs a hand over his face.He looks tired.Haunted.Older than he should.
“I didn’t think it was this deep,” he murmurs.
“It is.”I step closer, boots crunching in gravel.“And we need Becki back.If for anything, leverage.”
Legend snaps his gaze to mine, fury sparking.“No.Becki is done.She’s poison.She almost ruined us already.Royal, too.”
“She also survived whatever those monsters were planning,” I argue.“And she knows the Reverend’s twisted theology better than any of us.She sees the pieces we’re missing.”
“She’s still a threat.”
“She’s also your sister,” I remind him quietly.
Legend flinches.“The fuck she is.That’s sick, Sophie.A sick thought.”
Biting my lip, I know I said it to dig.He hates when people point out, he’s adopted and tied to them.“Okay, then.She’s family.”
The wind kicks up, cold enough to sting.The hollow behind the bar feels too empty.Too exposed.
“Sophie,” he says finally, voice low.“What if this thing is real?”
I swallow hard.“Then we hunt it.Or we hunt the man pretending to be it.”
He huffs a breath, half a laugh, half despair.“You always did hate false choices.”
I touch his arm gently.“We need a plan.A real one.And Royal needs to know about the girl we found, hear her story himself.He must be on to something.”
“I know that.Why do you think we haven’t hunted him down, yet?”
“He trusts Becki in ways we don’t understand yet.”
Legend’s expression darkens.“You think he cares?”
“I think he’s in love.They both are,” I say simply.“And that’s leverage.”
A long silence stretches.
Finally, he nods.“Full church meeting tomorrow.Every brother present.”
“And Becki?”I ask.“What’s her fate?”
He doesn’t answer for a moment.
“I’ll call them home.Royal will come.”
