“Or we could just give up on the church,” I said, voice so quiet I wasn’t sure if she would hear me.
But no…she definitely heard me.
June whipped around in my arms faster than I could have ever expected, a deep frown furrowing her brow.
“Silas, no.”
“But—”
“No buts,” she said, pressing herfinger to my lips. “The people here…they need us to make sure the Remnant doesn’t come back. We’re building something here, Silas.”
“I don’t wanna lose you, June.”
She reached up to curl her fingers against my jaw, her thumb gliding over my cheekbone.
“This is how people like him win,” she said. “They make us afraid, make us think they’re gods. And the thing is…they’re not. They’re just frightened, small-minded men.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, leaning into her touch. “Well…Abel is a frightened, small-minded man who’s now tried to kill you twice.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Amelia tends to show up when you’re in danger.”
June went quiet, chewing on her lip. “Silas…remember last year when all that shit was going on with Willow and Rhett and Willow’s ghost? How terrified they were? What did we do?”
“That was an exorcism,” I argued. “This is a living, breathing person?—”
“That’s not my point,” June said, and the conviction on her face…it was on the brink of convincing me this was possible. “Y’all looped in the family, pooled your resources. So that’s what we’re gonna do.”
I frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about.”
“We’re going to bring our people to his territory,” June said. “And we’re going to show him that we’re not afraid…and we’re going to sendWhit and Delilahto track down evidence.”
I stared at her, blinking like I hadn’t heard her right…because as far as I knew, I hadn’t.
“You want to walk into his tent revival,” I said slowly, “like it’s a Sunday potluck.”
June nodded. “Exactly like that.”
“June.”
“Silas.”
Jesus Christ, she was serious.
“You just ran through the woods barefoot, soaking wet, after seeing the ghost of my dead fiancée and escaping the man who might’ve killed her,” I said, my voice rough, hands tightening around her waist. “And now you want to go back? Not even to our church…to his. Surrounded by his people.”
“I want to finish this,” she said simply.
The fire behind her eyes hadn’t dimmed. If anything, it had only grown brighter since I scooped her into my arms and brought her inside earlier tonight—drenched, furious, alive. There was no shaking her once she’d set her mind on something…I knew that.
God, I loved that about her.
It scared the hell out of me.
“You really think they’ll let us poke around?” I asked. “You think Abel won’t see us coming?”
“He’ll see us,” she said. “You and me and your brothers and the church ladies and anyone else who’ll come…and that’s the point. He thinks we’re scared, that we’re gonna fold like this townused to. But Willow Grove isn’t his home anymore. It’sours.”
