Phebe shook her head, keeping her focus on the job at hand. “Sarai did not want me there. The prophet does anything she asks of him.” Her hand stuttered on my skin. Phebe quickly righted herself, and said, “So he discarded me from his side.” She breathed deeply. “I was nothing more than a frivolous fancy for him anyway. I was skilled in seduction and sex; that is all I have ever done for this commune. I have outgrown my purpose.”
A tear from Phebe’s eye dropped onto my skin. “A man, from the outside world, came to stand at the prophet’s side. I do not know where he is from, but he stays close to the prophet, along with Brother Luke, Prophet Cain’s right-hand man. The new man has no hair, and is very strongly built. I heard whisperings when he arrived that he was supplying the guns that will be used in the oncoming holy war.” Phebe released the rag and pointed at my tattoos. I understood what she was saying. The man had tattoos. “Though they are different.” From yours, I silently filled in for her.
“He . . . he took an interest in me during one of the Lord’s Sharings I was made to attend.” Phebe’s face paled. “He has since claimed me as his. He . . . ” More tears fell from her eyes and she struggled to breathe. I reached out and held her arm. She flinched again, even though she knew that I was no threat. “He expects me to do certain things with him that I do not want. But the prophet has ordered me to stay with him. He said he is important, essential for the coming holy war. I do not know his name. He makes me call him Meister.” Phebe leaned forward and whispered, “Prophet Cain is planning an attack on the devil’s men.” Her blue eyes implored me to understand. “He wants to attack them, before they attack us. That is why the people are training so hard. We are to bring the wrath of God to their gates. Prophet Cain has received a revelation that we are to strike as soon as the order comes from God. We must be ready.”
It took me several seconds to understand what she meant. A cold trickle dripped down my spine as I tried to decipher her words. When I understood, that trickle turned into a goddamn flood. “The Hangmen,” I whispered. Phebe nodded her head.
Her hand was shaking. “He said they are to die. All of them—women and men alike. No mercies. He preaches that they are all sinners and defectors from the faith. He claims that the revelation he received ordered we are to leave no sinner alive.”
“He wants revenge.” I sighed in frustration. He wanted revenge for them taking the Curseds from us. For their attack on our old commune. For killing our uncle . . . for fucking breathing. I replayed what Phebe had said . . . He said they are to die. All of them—women and men alike. They are all sinners and defectors from the faith . . .
Women and men alike . . .
He planned to kill Mae, Delilah and Magdalene too . . .
“My sister,” Phebe said almost inaudibly, tears building in her eyes. “He will kill her for her desertion from our order. For fornicating with evil. For the men he lost when the devil’s men came to take her back.”
My blood rushed so fast that my head became light. I tried to think of a way to stop it, to help, but I couldn’t. I was stuck in this fucking cell. I was always stuck in this motherfucking cell!
Phebe seemed to read my face. “It is hopeless, is it not? He cannot be stopped.” Her breathing hitched. “My Rebekah will die . . . ”
“You should run,” I said, so quietly that Harmony wouldn’t hear.
Phebe shook her head.
“Why?” I asked. “Get the hell out of this place somehow. Save yourself.”
She hesitated. “I . . . I need to protect someone. And the man that has me, Meister.” She shook her head. “He will never let me go. I can feel it. He . . . he has become obsessed with me.” Phebe’s tears ran thick and fast. “He scares me so much. It is over for me now.” Phebe finished off wiping my body. “I fear it is over for us all. Everything has changed since this prophet ascended. We can never go back . . .”
Guilt swarmed my stomach. Phebe gathered her things and stood. Just as she was about to leave, she turned back and whispered, “I once thought you the same as him. But now . . . ” Her shoulders dropped. “But now I see that you are not. You share different hearts and souls—one pure, one dark. It is just a shame that darkness always seems to prevail in this world.”
Phebe left the cell, the door slamming shut in her wake. I stayed still where I sat, stunned by her words. But the anger bubbling in my blood built higher and higher. Of late, it was the only emotion I seemed to feel. Pure fury at my twin and everything he was doing.
I returned to the wall. I lay down on my front and crawled to where I would see Harmony again. As soon as our eyes met, her hand pushed through the gap. My fingers wrapped around hers. I closed my eyes and let the solace of her touch calm the rage inside, just for a moment.
We lay in silence, but my head raced. What could I do? How could I stop this? I was still thinking hard when Harmony said, “Rider?”
“Yes?” I replied, opening my eyes.
She squeezed my hand tighter. “It may make me an eternal sinner, but one thought keeps occupying my mind. I keep praying for something that is savage and cruel . . . but I cannot stop.”
“What is it?” I asked in a rough voice.
Harmony took a deep breath. “I pray for death.” My muscles tensed. She wished to die? “For the prophet,” she quickly added, and I stilled. “I pray for Prophet Cain to die. I pray for our freedom from his enforced hurt and pain. And I think that could only happen if our leader died. If his cruel heart was no longer beating.”
I didn’t say anything in response. I didn’t say anything, because I fought with a greater internal war. A greater personal sin.
Because I was starting to pray for that too.
I was praying that Judah would be taken down.
I had started to pray that my own brother would die . . .
. . . and if those thoughts could only come from a sinner’s heart, then a sinner I was.
Chapter Seven
Rider