I follow her gaze and frown. There are women of all ages who seem to buy into Nathaniel’s charm, and what a dangerous fucking charm is it. While they all watch him, he watches them back. His assessing gaze drifts over the crowd. I know not all the women he’ll lure will join him. Some are worth more to him and his business partner on the black market. Standing up there, proselytizing for Ashfall or the New Eden’s Keep is Nathaniel Mercy. But when he drives away with a van full of women? That man is Richard McDonald. And my biological father taught him everything he knows.
“Lift up, oh lord, lift up the hands of those who believe in the word and wish to seek a higher meaning!” Nathaniel yells from his position at the front of the crowd.
I take in the crowd. Some leave looking disinterested while others raise their hands in the air, smiles on their faces, looking like they’ve found salvation. Out of nowhere, men dressed like frat boys in chinos and polos start walking through the masses. They head straight for the people with their hands up, speaking in low voices, accompanying them to somewhere off to the sideof the stage. Most of them are young, attractive women. I keep my eye on them, watching like a hawk as they speak with the women. Some have their phones out taking pictures and I have the biggest urge to rush over there and slap their phones out of their hands. I know without a doubt that any woman with her photo taken will be in the back of a van later.
My body jolts when my gaze catches on Damian’s face. Jaw tense as he stands with the polo wearing douche bags. He gives me a subtle head shake, and I realize that somehow he’s part of this.
“What the fuck?” I whisper to myself, body tense as I take in Damian’s tidy polo and chinos. He never did tell me why he was dressed like that.
“He’s been working on gaining their trust. All going well, he’ll be baptized soon,” Justice murmurs, the weight of his hand on my shoulder grounding me enough to not do anything just yet. “He’s almost in. This is his last test.”
Swallowing, my throat feels thick as I try to nod. Damian is a natural up there, smiling, flirting with the women as he gets them to smile while he takes pictures of them. I feel sick, but at least I know that Damian wouldn’t hurt them. Not like some of the other men he’s standing with. Each and every one of them gives off predator vibes. Shaking my head slightly, I draw my gaze back to the front, and the cold blue eyes that stare down at me.
“Today is a good day.” Nathaniel begins, “our brothers and sisters have taken on the word of our lord, and are willing to submit-” his chin dips as a cold smile spreads across his face, his eye contact never wavering, “submit to the shepherd that guides the lambs away from temptation and lust, to a higher purpose.”
The weight of Nathaniel’s words press heavily on my chest. Our lives have been linked since my father promised me to this monster. Since my father showed Nathaniel how to mix religionwith the activities of the devil. Our lives will remain linked until I break that chain. And I will, because my higher purpose is not to marry Nathaniel Mercy. It’s to wipe that mother fucker off the face of the earth.
Nathaniel’s gaze breaks from mine and he plasters a smile on his face, arms open wide as he moves off the short, makeshift stage he was on, and makes his way to the group of women to the side. Damian stands head and shoulders above everyone else, so it’s easy to catch his head movement, a quick jerk to the side telling me that if I want answers to where Takoda may be, now is the time to find them.
My little crew must all be on the same page as we move as one, past the crowd and into the edge of the supermarket parking lot. There, lined up, are five pure white SUVs. It doesn't take a genius to figure out this must belong to the God Squad.
“So, what's the plan? We gonna break into these or something else?”
“Well, I was planning on putting trackers on the SUVs.” I open my palm, holding four small, black devices.
“Where the hell did you get those?” Loyal asks, wide eyed.
“Jay and Theo. They have all sorts of goodies in their room.”
“And they gave them to you?” Joe asks.
“Meh, something like that.” I grin as my little team all shake their heads.
I move to step forward, ready to place these where they’ll never be found, when Justice steps in front of me, palm out.
“No! These are mine!” I fist them close to my chest.
“Swap?” Joe asks, with a grin.
I stare from Joe, to Justice who holds up a jar.
My brows pull in. “Did you have that on you the whole time?”
“You asked me to bring two. I could only fit one in my pocket.” Justice shrugs.
“Have I told you lately how much I adore you?”
He rolls his eyes as I step forward, taking the jar from him. He, Joe and Loyal all take one device each and scatter between the SUVs as I tilt my head, deciding which one to pick.
“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. You’re it.”
Skipping to the SUV that pulled the short straw, I drop to my knees, and twist the lid of the jar, tightening it all the way like Elio taught me. Some weird flakey stuff drops down into the jar, the way Elio said it would, so I drop flat on my belly and roll the jar gently so it sits as close to the center of the SUV as I can get it. I don’t wait to see exactly where it stops, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that we have 20 seconds to get out of the way.
“Elio said it’ll be a small kaboom, but we should get back anyway. We want them to panic then scatter,” I tell my friends, herding them away from the SUVs to somewhere we can watch.
The cars are parked at the far end of the lot, along a grassy bank, a fair way away from where Nathaniel is trying to woo the crowds. Once this goes off the public will go running. That should keep some of those women safe at least.
“How long did you say this would ta-”
