I took a deep breath and let it out. He was right. I didn't believe this man was god, but if I were Jake, and I did believe, I'd want to go. And maybe it was best that I go with Jake. He needed someone with a level head beside him. Someone who could look at the situation rationally and talk him down if he climbed too high on the crazy tree. Jake needed me. Still.
I mentally grimaced. Jake was alive and well. It was a miracle. And yet, he still needed me. My life still wasn't my own. Which meant that I had to go. I had to see this through. The thought was steadying. It implied an end. And, dear God in Heaven—the real one—I needed an end. If for no other reason than to have a new beginning. Hopefully, that beginning would be with Jake. But to be completely honest, I had resigned myself to losing him months ago. If I lost Jake now, not to death but to anew life, I'd be content with that. My heart would recover. Funny how death made a difference.
“All right,” I said. “I'll go with you. I'll give it a week. If I'm not convinced by then, I'm going home.”
Jake beamed at me. “Thank you. You won't regret this.”
I winced. Those were words people said when they knew it would be the opposite. But I pushed aside my doubt, squeezed Jake's hand one last time, and took a bite of my cake.
Oh, yeah. Chocolate cake for breakfast. Nothing beats it.
A few bites in, when Jake was all grins, I reached for his phone and said, “Oh, I'd better call the office now. Before I forget.”
Miraculously, he let me. Why miraculously? Fuck if I know. I was back to feeling like a hostage. But if I was a hostage, I was suffering from Stockholm syndrome.
Chapter Five
“Holy shit,” I whispered as Jake drove us down a long, winding driveway.
It was more like a road than a driveway. We'd been stopped by a soaring metal gate where Jake spoke into a box with a keypad, and some guy on the other end opened the gate for us. Then we'd gone down the driveway, past two huge rustic homes. And when I say rustic, I don't mean run-down or cheap. I mean two-story mansions with a log cabin theme. Something a millionaire would vacation in. And there were two of them. Neither of which was the main house.
People were going in and out of those mansions. A lot of people. If this was a cult, and it was looking more likely, then it was a big one. Just how many people had Silas healed? Were they all like Jake? And by that, I mean, were they acting strange? I peered at them through the window, but they looked normal to me. Just regular people, no Amish hairstyles or clothing. No guns. No packs of kids running around, sired by Silas.
Jake pulled around the back of an enormous version of the first two mansions. If those were mansions, this was a palace. Four stories, wrap-around balconies on the upper floors, and a fucking tower. What kind of log cabin has a tower? The kind that's actually a palace pretending to be a log cabin.
I said a quick prayer to the real God that I wouldn't get locked up in that tower.
We parked beside a row of vehicles behind the palace. A lake was back there too, off to the left. There were a few boats on it. Across the lake were trees, then a mountain. I got out to stare at that mountain. At least the state name wasn't false advertising. Then I shivered. It was cold. Like snow-cold. In October. Aw, fuck. Sure, it was autumn. It was cold in a lot of places. But not that cold. It was a good ten degrees colder than it was in Spokane. Cold enough that I popped back into the car for my jacket.
“This is amazing!” Jake said as he got out. “Isn't it, Indie?”
I pulled on my jacket. “Yeah, it's . . . big.”
He came over and took my hand. “Come on. Let's get inside. It's cold out here.”
I grimaced at him—my told-you-so face.
Before we got to the door, it opened, and a bunch of people rushed out. A good twenty or so. They ran over to us. No, not us. Jake. I was eased aside as the group surrounded Jake. I stood off a few feet and gaped as they welcomed him to his “new home,” telling him how everything was prepared for him. And then they fucking knelt. They knelt to my Jake! Yup, too crazy for my blood.
I backed toward the car.
“Come on now. You're making my girl nervous,” Jake said, his eyes strangely wide. He glanced at me pointedly, thendid a double take when he saw how I was easing toward the car. “Indie.” He held his hand out to me.
I shook my head. “What the fuck is going on, Jake?”
Jake sighed and waved the people to their feet. “Come inside and I'll explain.”
“Nope,” I said. “You can explain right here.Afteryou toss me the car keys.”
Jake stared at me.
“Jake!” I snarled. “I have had enough! You give me my keys right the fuck now!”
He dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out my keys. “Just let me explain, Indie.”
“I think I can do that better than you,” someone said from the backdoor.
I looked over to see a man step out of the palace. Average build, brown hair, and Caucasian. Nothing special about him. But then he stepped into the sun. It had only taken us six hours to get there, including stops for food and to use the restroom. So, it was still early afternoon. The sun was high. And that sunlight was playing tricks on me. It made it look as if the man glowed. He drew closer until he was abreast of the crazy group of people who had knelt before Jake. And that's when I realized it wasn't a trick of the light. The man was actually glowing.
