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Since he didn’t ask mine, I didn’t provide it. Six corridors and a spiral staircase later, we reached a door. I took a steadying breath in as Bruce knocked on it and then pushed it open without waiting for a reply. This was the true test. Everything else up to this point had been child’s play. Anderson wouldn’t be a fool. But then I didn’t need to be the cleverest person in the world. I just needed to be cleverer than he was.

Inside, William Anderson sat at a long table with a young woman straddling his lap. Bruce showed no surprise. I allowed myself only the barest flicker, figuring it would be more authentic than no emotion. Too much reaction would be dangerous.

The robe hid enough that I couldn’t tell what stage their coitus had reached. I assumed—hoped—that she was one of his wives. Maybe not, though. Maybe we’d interrupted the audition process for the newest one.

I took him in at a glance. Early forties by my calculation. Dark hair graying at the temples. Brown eyes. A slightly crooked nose that suggested a past break. Thin lips. Handsome in a slightly oily way, although the position we’d found him in, that he didn’t seem to give two hoots about, was influential in that impression.

Bruce bowed. “You said right away, Father.”

“I did.” The faint alien twang in Anderson’s voice reminded me he’d come from overseas. It wasn’t an impossible feat, but it was unusual. “Stephanie needed some counseling.”

Counseling! It was all I could do to keep a straight face. Who counseled someone with their dick?

Anderson leaned forward to whisper something in Stephanie’s ear. She nodded and then climbed off. I averted my gaze as he readjusted his robe, pretending to offer discretion. The real reason was having no wish to see his dick. Not erect. Not flaccid. Not at all.

She disappeared through a back door I assumed led to his bedroom. Once she’d gone, Anderson dismissed Bruce with a flick of his hand. The big man retreated, but only as far as the corridor, the door staying open. Wise of him. It told me Anderson was a cautious man.

“So,” he said, leaning back in his chair. A faded emblem that must have been quite magnificent in its day hung on the wall behind him. “Bruce says you’ve come to offer your services.” He left a deliberate pause to see if I’d fill it. I didn’t. “I’m listening.”

I weighed what little I knew of him against what I didn’t want to do. If this was going to work, it was all or nothing, and nothing wasn’t an option.

Rounding the table, I dropped to my knees and bowed my head. “Thank you for seeing me, Beloved Father. The Lord sent me here to be of assistance. I am nothing but a servant in his divine plan.”

Silence. He chewed my words over while I kept my gaze fixed on the floor, the subservient pose making me feel slightly nauseous.

“I understand you have visions.”

“I do.”

“Of what?” He shifted in his chair. “You may look at me.”

So fucking kind. I lifted my gaze obediently. “Visions of your good work. Your fight against corruption. How you spread His word. The battle to stay pure. Your actions please the Lord.”

“But?” I feigned confusion at the question. “If he is pleased, then why send you?”

“To help. To be of counsel. To be a messenger.”

He studied me, expression unreadable. “How about we start with your name?”

I almost chose Tobias Breeze. I’d grown oddly fond of that name. But that was a reason not to use it. It was better to start afresh. “Grayson Henry. People call me Gray.”

“What people? Do you have a family, Gray? Wife? Parents? Dog?”

“I have no one.”

Something about that amused him. “So you come seeking a family?”

“I do.”

He leaned forward in his chair, his expression intense. “Do you know how we test purity here, Gray?”

So, it was a test now, was it? Last week, a punishment, this week, a test. It was hard to keep up in this place. “You send people out into the rain. If they survive, they’re worthy. If not, they become dark servants.”

“And would you accept such a test?”

I did a quick calculation in my head. It was another choice that straddled the line between success and failure. “I would. But it would be a pointless endeavor.”

“Oh?” The slight frown said he wasn’t following.