Chapter Forty
Echo
Three words.
What. The. Fuck.
They’d made chicken and rice for everyone that unsurprisingly still sat on my and Rose’s plate, completely untouched. A weird, super late-night dinner had happened, and that wasn’t even the strangest part.
Robert had been a patient of Nathan’s before he met Sarah and became pastor of the church, having been inspired by Nathan’s past and how he overcame his shadows.
And when I say shadows, I meant a black abyss that consumed every ounce of his sanity.
Nathan was raised in a heavily religious home. His mother used to blood-let him every night to free him from sin. Then to make matters worse, when he turned sixteen, his powers came into fruition. Yeah. Nathan was a freak like the ones he despised so much. But he didn’t embrace it, and in return, it turned on him, the powers of divination so intense they bordered on madness. His mother ended up dying, and I knew deep down she was the reason he stuck to killing women. The men just happened to be there when he went after their wives. He believed the voices in his head were whispers from God, telling him to do his bidding and set the gifted free. He worked with what he knew, the bloodletting.
In the hospital, he met many of his patients who thought they were going crazy and then hunted them down through his religious aspects.
The church daycare Beth brought her kids to, and the others, were all connected too. He’d been there, talking to these women and become trustworthy. It was the link I knew had been there but hadn’t been disclosed in any of the old case work.
Robert looked at him like a brother, with adoration in his eyes.
Sarah, at least, had the decency to look sick beyond belief while Nathan told his story.
Rose wasn’t much better. As a psychology major, I could tell she was reading into his story as much as I was. Mine was strictly from a criminal background, hers was academic. My eyes met with hers, and I willed her to see that I would handle everything. Crazy people or not, they were no match for me.
“You’re the boy that told my parents about me.” I’d guessed it when he talked about his family traveling around to spread the truth about Christianity.
“Sometimes the whispers are more like shouting. I can’t keep them in, and your mother was the most beautiful angel I’d ever seen. I was disappointed to learn about your future gifts and that she had some, as well. I see so much of her in you.”
The way he said that made my stomach churn.
“I need to finish what I started that night, Echo; the voices have been relentless ever since—a never-ending need to use the tarot cards to channel my divination to see you. I promise that Rose will not die tonight, if you let me set you free, free to fly with your mother and fight on heaven’s side in the eternal war.” Nathan stood and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
“Let her go first,” I told him with complete confidence.
He shook his head in refusal, and Robert chuckled.
“We let her go, you’ll turn into some beast and slaughter us all. You first, then I swear she will be free. My pet Rosalie will escort her back to Seahill. She can find her way after that.”
Rosalie?
The poor girl from the hospital stepped into the room from around the corner. What the hell was she doing here?
Nathan held out his hand for hers, and like the good submissive she was, she came to him and placed her hand in his.
“So, let me guess, you had him kill Amanda to get her out of your way, since he was fucking her?” I was sort of pissed that she was helping this psycho. Nathan looked at his—for lack of better word in my head—dog. She turned to face me.
“We were both fucking her. Taking her innocence while she screamed soothed his voices. I would do anything for him. She tried to use her powers on us, but she was not equal to us. His power and my magic together are unstoppable. She outlived her purpose when she started lying there without any fight in her.” Her voice was steady and without remorse. She moved her free hand around, showing me the air swirling inside her palm. She was an energy wielder, like Asher. Maybe even part of his ignored coven.
“You raped her! You sick son of a bitch.” My voice was low, and my hands were shaking. All thoughts of leaving these in jail to rot went out the window with her words.
“Let’s get on with this. Sarah and I would like to celebrate the New Year right this year.” Robert yawned and went to touch Sarah’s cheek. She didn’t flinch, but tears started to gather in her eyes. Over my dead body. Sarah was an innocent in this. No way in hell was she leaving with these people.
I looked over to Rose, and she nodded subtly at me. We would protect Sarah and get out of here alive. Together. She’d been trained by warriors of old and new. She could handle herself without getting stabbed by the drug, and I could take care of the others.
Time to act.
“Let’s get this over with.” I repeated the pastor’s words, and Nathan’s creepy smile grew.
