Messiahs by Matt Rogers (bookstand for reading txt) 📕

it have to be like this?’

‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘unfortunately.’

Real fear outweighed the performance, and when she spoke it came from her true self, not the role she was playing. ‘Is this it?’

He said, ‘Not just yet. Maeve wants answers. No use killing you if she finds out the other bitch knows nothing.’

He winked at her.

She said nothing.

He said, ‘You could be the mastermind, after all.’

‘You’re not going to believe me,’ Alexis said, ‘but you’ve got this all wrong. Someone’s fed you bad information. The truth will come out eventually. Don’t do anything stupid until then. And trust me, I’m not mad at you for this. I understand you’re suspicious, but I’m not who you think I am.’

She spoke with conviction, and it actually made him hesitate. By reversing the confrontation to make him appear the guilty party for training a gun on an innocent woman, he was shocked out of automatic behaviour. He had to think hard about what he was doing.

But she couldn’t make a lunge for the weapon, couldn’t take advantage of the confusion.

Not with his finger inside the trigger guard.

He said, ‘Get up. Come with me.’

‘Where?’

Anger flickered in his eyes. ‘You don’t get to ask questions.’

She was already dressed, unwilling to strip to her nightwear in a place as alien as this commune, so she simply got up and slipped into her shoes and let him lead her out of the bunkhouse.

He said, ‘To the church.’

It loomed over them, the spire piercing the night.

She trudged toward the building with her head bowed.

She didn’t know what to do.

81

King saw Dane Riordan walking through the commune in the early hours of the morning.

The tall man moved slowly between buildings, and King only caught a glimpse of him out his bedroom window, but it was enough.

It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

He decided to abandon his cover.

He was done with games. Slater hadn’t returned from the cabin, his bunk lying empty all night, and he couldn’t go check on Violetta and Alexis without drawing the attention of half the commune. There’d no doubt be watchers, disciples tasked with keeping a keen eye on the newcomers before they could be trusted, and they’d raise the alarm the instant they saw King approaching two women in the early hours of the morning.

To hell with it, he thought.

Dane was here, and Slater wasn’t. That alone was reason to raze Mother Libertas to the ground. If Dane had somehow got the upper hand on Slater…

King would tear this whole place down.

He stepped out of his bunkhouse and made a beeline across the commune, weaving between buildings. He felt naked without a pistol at his waist, but there was no chance of finding where the Riordans stored their arsenal, let alone breaking in and acquiring firepower. For now, he’d have to get this done with his bare hands.

Cortisol flooded his system as he walked hard for Violetta’s building.

Crunch time.

The door leading into their bunkhouse was already open, and he went to walk straight in.

Dane stepped out into the weak light.

King came to a halt, facing the spindly man. ‘What are you doing here?’

Dane said, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Get out of my way.’

‘You sure that’s a good idea?’ Dane said. ‘Think about what you’re doing.’

King hesitated.

Dane said, ‘Do you really understand this place? What it is. What sort of resources I have access to. Have you ever fought two hundred people at once?’

King backtracked immediately. ‘What are you on about?’

‘You tell me. You’re the one that decides what this is.’

‘I need to piss,’ King said. ‘The toilet’s clogged in our bunkhouse.’

Dane smiled knowingly. ‘Is it?’

‘You want to go see for yourself?’

‘I just might.’

‘Be my guest. In the meantime, let me relieve myself. I don’t know what you’re on about, but I’d watch your mouth. I’m your new head of security, remember?’

Dane’s smile dissipated into a slight smirk. ‘Are you?’

King didn’t like the atmosphere one bit. He didn’t respond.

Dane said, ‘Don’t use this building. You’ll wake everyone up. There’s a bathroom in the mess hall. I’ll take you to it.’

‘No thanks.’

Dane raised an eyebrow. ‘No?’

‘You heard me.’

Dane gave him the once over with his gaze, and came away satisfied. ‘You’re not armed.’

‘Neither are you.’

‘But you’ll still do as I say. It’s not a request. It’s a command.’

‘No one in this place is commanding me to do anything.’

‘You work for me.’

‘Do I?’

They were going round in circles, and they both knew it. Skirting around the unspoken truth.

Does he know? King thought.

Dane sure seemed different.

All that was left to do was take a risk. ‘I need this building, not the mess hall. Violetta wanted to speak with me.’

Dane hesitated before responding, letting the words hang.

‘At four-thirty in the morning?’ he said. ‘What on earth about?’

‘I don’t know. That’s why I’m here.’

‘How did she contact you?’

‘We spoke at dinner.’

‘You’re new here. This isn’t the right timing to be sleeping with the disciples.’

‘She’s not a disciple yet,’ King said. ‘She’s as new as I am. And I’m not sleeping with her.’

Dane smiled. It was sinister. ‘Everyone here is a disciple, my friend.’

‘I’m going to need you to get out of my way,’ King said. ‘Respectfully.’

‘“Respectfully,”’ Dane parroted.

He left it at that.

King said, ‘Dane.’

Dane said, ‘Jason.’

‘You know what I’m asking.’

‘She’s not here,’ Dane said. ‘She’s up at the farmhouse. Speaking with Maeve.’

Now it was King’s turn to parrot. ‘At four in the morning? What on earth about?’

Dane said, ‘That’s not your concern.’

Make a decision, King thought.

He was done with games.

He said, ‘Yes, it is.’

He turned and strode for the trail leading to the farmhouse.

Dane didn’t call after him, or protest, or give chase. He just watched quietly as King walked away, which was somehow more uncomfortable than if he’d become angry.

King felt eyes drilling into his back all the way across the commune.

82

Every footstep in the empty church echoed.

Brandon walked Alexis down the central aisle and directed her to sit in one of the pews. Then he stood over her, keeping the gun trained on her face.