Messiahs by Matt Rogers (bookstand for reading txt) 📕

… it’s a lot to handle right now. I didn’t know if I belonged here. Now I know I do.’

Maeve beamed. ‘That’s lovely to hear, Violetta. And really, there’s no need to be alarmed. I have a deeper connection to Mother Earth than anyone on this planet. When she delivers me a message, I listen dutifully. And she told me that your child is special. In more ways than you will ever know. He has warrior blood, warrior mana. A warrior spirit. He is the future of Mother Libertas, Violetta. That is what I was told. That is what I believe.’

Violetta’s head spun.

Does she know who I am? she thought. Does she know my real identity?

It was eerily coincidental if she didn’t. Almost too coincidental. The child of Jason King, one of the most devastating government operatives in history, coupled with Violetta’s athletic prowess and genetics…

If warrior blood was real, the baby growing in her womb had plenty of it.

But does Maeve know? Or is she making it up as she goes along?

Maeve said, ‘I’m afraid your place here is no longer voluntary. Your baby has been chosen by the Earth. It will be raised here, boy or girl, and it will lead Mother Libertas into upheaving society. It will bring a new world into existence, Violetta.’

Violetta needed air.

Now.

She got to her feet.

Maeve said, ‘Sit down, dear.’

Through sharp breaths, Violetta said, ‘I need some fresh air. I’m sorry. I’m panicking.’

‘Your head is panicking,’ Maeve said. ‘Your heart and soul see clear…’

But her words wouldn’t work this time.

Violetta knew if she kept playing along, she might very well be imprisoned until her baby was born. King and Slater couldn’t protect themselves from two hundred disciples with their bare hands, and if Maeve sent them into a frenzy, preying on their groupthink and tribalism, they would attack the newcomers with no regard for their own lives. In the face of those numbers, whether the disciples were trained or not, King and Slater would succumb.

This was the endgame.

If Violetta stayed and tried to play along, she could wind up in a cell, helpless.

Your child is in mortal danger.

It made her forget the risks, forget the cover. Nothing mattered but her baby’s safety, and it overrode her.

She walked away from Maeve without a second look.

84

King made it almost all the way up the trail before he realised there was someone waiting for him.

A tall lanky silhouette, standing with the restrained poise of a lifelong martial artist.

Elias stared at him as he approached. ‘Has Maeve requested your presence?’

King nodded. ‘Yeah. It’s urgent. Step aside.’

Elias shook his head. ‘If you were telling the truth I’d already know about it. I’m still the head of security, you see. Nothing from Maeve gets past me without my knowledge. What are you really doing here?’

‘Kid,’ King said, ‘if you don’t move, I’m going to beat the living shit out of you.’

Elias bristled. It was the first outward threat any of the newcomers had made, and although he’d suspected they weren’t who they seemed all along, the confirmation was still shocking all the same.

Elias adopted a Wing Chun posture, loosening his muscles. ‘If you really want to try…’

King sighed.

He didn’t have time for this.

And the unknowns were palpable. Dane was somewhere below in the commune, doing who knows what. Maeve was inside with Violetta. Alexis could be anywhere. Slater was still AWOL.

Fighting this moron would achieve nothing, and might end up making things a hundred times worse if Elias raised the alarm.

Then the front door of the farmhouse burst open and Violetta hustled out onto the porch. She was breathing hard, the colour drained from her cheeks.

King stared at her. ‘Are you okay?’

Elias said, ‘You two know each other?’

‘Shut the fuck up.’

Elias darted at King and threw a palm strike at incredible speed. King had underestimated Elias’ ferocity, because the kid came at him so fast he barely saw the strike before it whistled through the air at him. But he hadn’t pioneered a black-ops division for no reason. His reflexes were just as superhuman, and he sidestepped and shoved Elias in the chest. The man lost his footing and tumbled away from the house, tripping on a stray rock and collapsing into a ditch. He was more dangerous than King had anticipated, but following him into the ditch was a terrible idea.

With so many unknowns in the mix and the entire commune bristling like it was a pinprick away from bursting, every move had to be smart and calculated.

Which sometimes meant retreat.

King repeated, ‘Are you okay?’

Violetta’s voice was barely audible, but King read her lips. ‘She knows I’m pregnant.’

Ice ran through King’s veins.

He thought, Fuck.

He said, ‘Come on.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘We find the others,’ King said. ‘Then we get out.’

‘But the Riordans…?’

‘Your safety trumps the mission,’ he said. ‘Now let’s go.’

Elias was scrabbling out of the ditch, his clothes dirtied and his morale wounded, when Violetta ran down the porch steps and took King’s outstretched hand.

Maeve stepped out onto the porch behind them.

Her voice flooded the night. ‘Where are you lovebirds going?’

King ran with her, down the trail.

Elias and Maeve watched them go in menacing silence.

85

Elias turned to Maeve. ‘You want me to go after them?’

‘They have nowhere to run,’ Maeve said. ‘Dane will handle it. I want you to go find the other one.’

‘Slater?’

Maeve nodded slowly. ‘Now we know he’s King’s brother operative. We know their history. There’s no chance he ran away. He’s out there, at the perimeter, waiting for the Bodhi to wear off. Go find him.’

‘What do you want me to do with him?’

She stared down at him from the porch. ‘What do you think?’

He nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

He charged his ki, prepared himself to deliver a fatal strike.

It would mark the first time he’d used his skillset against a resisting opponent.

He couldn’t wait.

86

Brandon didn’t see it coming.

He’d anticipated many things, but Alexis being able to hold her own in a fistfight wasn’t one of them.

She tackled him to the church aisle, and