I hurry out of the water tower, but Ophelia isn’t here.
One of the armed guards steps in. “Is everything okay, sir?”
“Which way did the girls go?”
“East,” he says. “Do you want us to follow?”
“Stay behind me,” I tell him. “Only step in if necessary.”
I don’t think it will be necessary, but who the hell knows in our crazy world. I picture this being some kind of trap for Ophelia—that Daisy has just been acting like a prude in order for this moment to happen—and now she’s run away because she wants Ophelia to chase her straight into the Prophet’s arms.
“Cain?”
I turn at the sound of my name to find Camile bursting through the trees. What the hell had Camile been doing to let Daisy out of her sight? I thought she’d understood that we’d needed some private time with Ophelia.
“Is Daisy here?” she asks.
“Yeah, she kind of saw some stuff she shouldn’t and took off. Ophelia’s gone after her.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” Camile’s dark eyes glisten with tears. “The dean asked to speak to me, and there were some guys being rowdy farther down the hall, so the dean shouted at them. Anyway, the next thing I knew, Daisy had slipped away, and when I got outside, she had run off. I think maybe the guys, or the dean, scared her.”
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. I’m more worried about Ophelia than Daisy.”
“Go,” she says. “Don’t let me stop you. Get them both.”
I take off in their direction. I’m wearing only my running shorts and sneakers, and, despite my recent glut of exercise, I’m still fast. Far faster than either Daisy or Ophelia, especially when neither of them is dressed for a run through the woods. My feet crunch on fallen leaves and small twigs, but I’m not trying to be quiet.
I hear them before I see them.
“Daisy, please wait.” It’s Ophelia’s voice, begging through the trees.
Daisy can’t keep running forever. She’ll tire out at some point, and unless she trains a lot, which I doubt, that point will be sooner than later.
I catch sight of them soon enough. Daisy is still running through the woods, Ophelia hot on her tail. With both girls in long skirts, hiked up a little to allow them to run, their long hairspilling down their backs, they remind me of something out of an old novel.
I speed past Ophelia, then overtake Daisy and draw to halt, blocking her way. She lets out a little scream.
“Stop, Daisy. Where the hell do you think you’re running to?”
“Away,” she gasps, flinging out an arm.
Ophelia is bent in half, her hands on her thighs, catching her breath.
“Away where? You came to us for help, remember? You don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“I came here before I understood what was going on between the four of you,” Daisy says. “I’ve been led into a house of sin. I can’t be here. What I saw was … it was an abomination.”
I grind my teeth. “There’s no such thing as sin. It’s a lie your Prophet made up to control you.”
“You’re the one lying,” she throws back.
“Think about it, Daisy,” Ophelia says, a pleading note to her tone. “Why is it okay for the Prophet and some of the other men to have multiple wives, but not for a woman to do the same and take multiple men? It’s because the men want to have multiple women, and they don’t want the women to think they’re entitled to the same.”
“They’re fucking hypocrites,” I mutter.
Daisy shakes her head, but she doesn’t respond. Her gaze darts between me and Ophelia.
The trouble is that as much as Daisy has been the one who came to us for help, we’re the ones who need her. Without her, we’re not going to find the Prophet, and I don’t think we can ever move on unless we take that son of a bitch down.
