“No, please. If she’s near, the Prophet will sense it. He’ll know where she is and take her.”
Ophelia’s face pales, and now I want to fucking throttle Daisy. This is tapping right into all of Ophelia’s deepest fears. Screw that.
I clench my jaw, trying to keep my anger under control. “This is fucking insane. He’s not going to sense her. He’s not some all-knowing entity with supernatural powers.” As soon as I speak, I realize my mistake when Ophelia flinches. Shit.
In saying that, I’ve basically called Ophelia insane, too, and that’s not how I meant it. Daisy is making everything worse with her dramatics, and I don’t want it to result in us having to leave Ophelia behind. It’s also more than a little hypocritical for me to say that when Roman believes in the supernatural, and we’ve joined him during his rituals, but Daisy isn’t to know any of that.
“Umm, I am here, guys,” Ophelia says, holding up both hands and shooting me a hurt, angry glare. “Don’t you think I should have a say in whether I stay or not?”
Daisy snatches up her hand again, holding it to her and squeezing it. “You’re staying here, right, Ophelia? You wouldn’t put yourself in the way of the Prophet again, would you?”
I wait, breath caught in my throat. Will my words affect what Ophelia does? I hope not. I hope she understands how much I care for her.
Ophelia blows out a long breath and shakes her head at Daisy. “I can’t stay here, Daisy. I have to go wherever the guys are. They’re right when they say we’re not going to be separated again.”
Daisy’s eyes fill with tears. “No, you can’t. This is a terrible mistake.”
Roman steps in. “Ophelia, why don’t you take Daisy upstairs to get ready to leave? Maybe let her see if there are any other clothes she wants to borrow? Perhaps some sweatpants if you have any, and a sweater or two? It might get cold while we’re away.”
Because she ran away from Camile, Daisy never did choose any clothing, and she’s going to need more than the dress Ophelia has lent her while we’re at the compound.
“Really?” Ophelia asks. “You’re just going to send me off upstairs and overrule me? Make the decision without me?”
“We need to talk about this. In private,” he adds more firmly. “Trust me, please.”
He’s asking her to take Daisy out of the equation, which is a good thing because I don’t want her pale, watchful face looming over us as we try to talk about this. I just hope Ophelia understands that whatever decision we make, it’ll be made with her best interest at heart.
“Fine,” Ophelia huffs, “but if I don’t agree, I’m not doing it. I have a voice now, too.” With those final words, she pulls a worried looking Daisy out of the room with her. A moment later, we hear the hollow thud of footsteps on the stairs. Ophelia’s are louder than usual, and I’m sure she’s stomping a little.
Cain sinks down onto the couch, his elbows on his knees, his fingers steepled at his lips. “My vote is that we do the opposite of what Daisy is suggesting. I don’t trust her. Maybe that makes me a complete asshole, but it all just feels too convenient. She arrives here and then tries to separate us? I don’t like it.”
“I agree,” Roman says. “She seems desperate for Ophelia to stay here. Is that because the Prophet has given Daisy instructions to make Ophelia stay, so he knows exactly where she is?”
I take a couple of paces, shaking off some pent-up energy. “If that’s the truth, then he’ll be sending people here to take her. That takes some big balls. Daisy was right when she said we have armed guards here. We always said Verona Falls was the safest place for Ophelia to be.”
Roman jerks his head toward the window. “Yeah, but that was with Cain’s father’s men here. We’ll be taking them with us.”
I rub my hand across my mouth, thinking. “Which means Ophelia coming too makes more sense. With both us and Cain’s men, how could she be safer here? We know Verona Falls isn’t impenetrable. There have been security breaches before.”
Roman lets out a sigh. “I hope we’re wrong and that’s not what’s going on. It would break Ophelia’s heart if she found out Daisy betrayed her.”
“We don’t know for sure that’s the case, though,” Cain replies, “and maybe Ophelia will never need to learn the truth, even if it is.”
Rome clenches his jaw and winces in pain. “Secrets are never a good idea. That kind of shit can backfire real quick.”
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Cain says. “Borrowing trouble. We don’t know if Daisy is lying. Until we do, let’s just go with whatever is safest for Ophelia, because I think we can all agree that the Prophet can’t actually sense her, so she’s safer with us.”
Roman clears his throat. “I’m not sure I’m as blasé as you two are about the idea that the Prophet can’t sense her. I shouldn’t need to explain to you both that there are powers in this world we can’t fully understand. It still doesn’t change the fact, however, that I agree she’s safer with us. We will protect her with our very last breaths.”
I look between my fellow Preachers. “We’re all in agreement, then? Ophelia comes with us, and Daisy, too. We all stick together?”
“Agreed,” they say in unison.
I’m relieved because it could go so wrong if we leave her here alone. In my mind, I can see the Prophet and his men closing in on Verona Falls while we are far away. Of course, if the Prophet is coming here, we won’t find him at the commune either. Our journey will be for nothing. No, I believe it’s far more likely he’ll send others to do his dirty work. If Daisy has betrayed Opheliafor him, his men probably have instructions to bring Ophelia back to him. Men like the Prophet prefer to be on their own territory where they feel protected.
“Until we’re certain, we don’t say anything to Ophelia about our suspicions about Daisy,” I warn the others. “Nothing is going to drive a wedge between us quicker than claiming the girl she thinks of like a sister is going to betray her. If she takes Daisy’s side, which she may well do, we’ll only be risking her safety more.”
Cain gives a curt nod. “I agree. We keep this to ourselves.”
