“No,” I argued. “You didn’t. I got out. Bella is safe and the Hangmen are coming. I’m just so fucking sorry y’all got hurt.”
“You got her out. That is all that matters,” Stephen said and gave a deep sigh of relief.
I nodded my head. “But we need to get you out. I need help getting the innocent out. We’ll need to stage a distraction or something, smoke out the guards. When the Hangmen come in . . . they’re coming to kill.”
Sister Ruth’s face paled. I searched around the cell for a key . . . for something to help me break the lock. “I need a key,” I said hurriedly.
“In the guard’s house,” Solomon said and pointed to a small hut hidden in the trees.
“I’ll be back.” I stood to move toward the hut . . . and I knew I’d fucked up. I felt the cold steel of a gun barrel press against my temple.
Whoever held the gun to my head moved in front of me—Brother Luke. Fucking Brother Luke.
I bared my teeth as I stared the fucker down. Then I felt another gun press into my back . . . and another press into my ribs.
“Looks like you are surrounded,” Brother Luke said. He tensed, and I knew who was coming.
Not giving a shit about the guns, I turned. Judah was pounding toward us, vicious eyes zeroed on me. I thought I had seen my brother pissed before, but I realized that he could actually go up another gear, or two. I had never seen Judah this angry.
Judah walked straight up to me and slammed his fist across my face. My head tipped back a fraction, but Judah was shit in a fight. There was no strength behind the punch.
“You are a traitor!” He ran his gaze over my leathers. “Here you are, once again dressed in the devil’s men’s attire.” He stepped closer. “You took our only chance at salvation from me. You are as much a devil’s whore as she is . . . as all of them!”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. I laughed right in Judah’s red face. But I quickly dropped my humor, and spat, “It’s all fucking false! All of it was created so our uncle could fuck kids, brother! There was no pilgrimage to Israel! There was no revelation given within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre! There is no Order, no quest for salvation . . . in fact, I’m pretty fucking sure that with everything we’ve done, we’ve all got a fucking one-way ticket to hell!”
Judah’s eyes widened. “You lie,” he snarled, spitting as his frustration poured from his tense lips. “You carry the serpent’s tongue! You are weak and have been possessed!”
“Wake up!” I roared. Judah stepped back. “Wake the fuck up! You ain’t no prophet! And we know you haven’t received one damn revelation from God, you lying sack of shit!” Judah’s face paled, and I felt the guards tense around me. They stared at Judah with worried frowns.
“You’re a joke, brother.” I went on. “We all are. And we all deserve to rot in hell for eternity for what we’ve done! We deserve to die for dragging innocent people down with us!” I sucked in a sharp breath. “They are coming, Judah. The Hangmen will be here in less than two hours and they will kill us all . . . all of us that run this sick fucking place of hell! We need to get the innocent out now. If there’s one thing we can do to try and rectify what we’ve done, it’s spare the innocent lives and finally set them free. They don’t deserve this! By meeting the Hangmen in a war, you’re only sealing their fates. They’ll die . . . they will all be slaughtered like pigs!”
Judah practically shook with anger, but I could see his brain was working overtime. I just wasn’t sure what the fuck he was thinking. Judah stepped back, then back again, and said, “You are right about one thing. And so wrong about another.”
A strange calmness suddenly came over my twin. That scared me more than his anger. Judah was never calm. He was reactive, explosive. This wasn’t fucking right. The way he was acting wasn’t fucking right!
“Judah,” I said coldly, but Brother Luke and the other guards moved their guns closer to my body.
Judah held up his hands, his eyes crazed. “You are wrong. I am the prophet! I feel it in my veins. I can feel God within me! I am the truth, the way and the light! The messiah of this time!” I closed my eyes in exasperation. Because I knew Judah truly believed that.
He was too far gone. His delusion was too strong to make him see sense.
“But you were also so right.” My eyes snapped open at his dark tone. Judah clicked his fingers at his guards and pointed to the cell.
“NO,” I shouted, trying to fight off the guards. But the blunt end of a gun slammed into my temple, causing me to see stars. Another swiped me across the face, and one in the ribs. I swung out my arms, trying to fight free. But before I knew it, the cell door was opened and I was pushed inside. I scrambled on my knees and slammed my shoulder into the steel bars; they didn’t budge.
“Judah!” I screamed, but my brother just stood there, watching me with a haunting, calm stare. “JUDAH!”
He stepped forward and met my eyes. “You were right about our people’s fates being sealed, brother. God told me, many weeks ago, what to do if the devil’s men prevailed. I always had another plan. God spoke to me, and I did as he told me. I prepared us well, just in case. The Lord would never let me—his shining light—ever fail. And now the moment has arrived.”
I froze, energy draining from me as he began to walk away. “What do you mean by that? What have you got prepared?” I asked to his retreating back, panic lacing my words. His guards followed. “Judah! What do you fucking mean by that?”