Dylan spun toward me. “You, and I don’t know what fucking else. I won’t. I don’t have my damn phone!”
“I don’t understand,” I said to his back and broad shoulders as he turned again toward the window. On the wall I saw a clock, a quarter past one.
Pulling his other phone back out, Dylan swiped some numbers and turned toward me with disgust. “Damn circuits are overloaded.”
“Dylan, what happened?”
As I asked, the air filled with the shrill wails of sirens; though muffled by the walls and windows, they seemed to be coming from all directions. For a moment I prayed they’d be coming to us, and I might be saved, but that didn’t happen. Just as fast as they’d come, the sirens faded away, growing fainter with distance. I stepped toward the large window and watched as the dark Michigan sky filled with red and blue lights speeding toward the glow.
“I guess I won’t get my phone back or my car,” Dylan stated matter-of-factly.
“W-what?” I asked in disbelief. “That’s Father Gabriel’s—”
I couldn’t finish before Dylan turned back to me. “Go back to the kitchen. You wanted answers? Well, Stella Montgomery, you’re going to get them. Go sit the fuck down and listen.”
More sirens roared, only to fade into the general chaos occurring in the distance. Unsure what I had to do with any of this and why Dylan blamed me, I did as he said and went to the kitchen. He followed close behind.
After pulling a beer from the refrigerator, he turned a chair backward, sat, and stared. Once I sat, he took a long swig of his beer and began, “As I was saying, The Light is bigger than you think. The three campuses your husband”—each time he said husband he made a point of exaggerating the word—“told you about, that’s only a portion. The Light is everywhere. It’s not just about the followers on the main campuses. The Light needs followers in the field, in the Shadows, willing to do what it takes to bring light to the dark. Those followers are in law enforcement, like me. They’re in the medical field. They’re in every profession throughout the United States and Canada. The Light reaches beyond those borders, because only The Light can stop the dark.”
My heartbeat raced. I’d never seen Dylan like this. His blue eyes glowed with conviction, yet he wasn’t looking at me, but seeing things I couldn’t. In that moment I had no doubt he was part of it. “Why? Why you? How long?”
He shook his head and took another long drink from the brown bottle. Grinning, he said, “I bet good old hubby had a field day with your questioning. Did he get off beating your ass? I remember you having a mighty fine ass.”
I gritted my teeth. “Is Father Gabriel really your uncle?”
He nodded. “My mother’s half brother.”
“And when your parents died?”
“They were part of it. They died doing work in the Shadows for The Light.”
“So he took you in?”
“I lived with my grandparents, like I told you. But Gabriel and I had always been close. He never had any children.” Dylan shrugged and lifted a brow. “None that he let be born. He always wanted me to work with him, but I refused to be involved in the shit like you’ve been doing. I prefer the Shadows.”
“So those brides, have you ever . . . ?” I wasn’t sure I wanted him to answer.
“Hell no! They are, or were, his. They just know I’m a man with high ranking. That gives me unlimited power. I told you, I’ve never been into that shit. But, up until now, I never stopped it.”
“Until now?”
“Elijah. Shooting him. I’d given orders to keep you untouched.” Dylan lifted his shoulders and cocked his head dismissively to the side. “He disobeyed. When it comes to the Eastern Light, being Gabriel’s nephew, I hold my share of power. You said it yourself, earlier tonight, disobeying isn’t an option.”
“Those women . . . you said . . . were . . .” I swallowed the churning bile. “Are they dead?”
“Didn’t you see the fire? Did you feel the explosion?” he asked. “No one in that house survived.”
“Why?”
“Damn, Stella, have you lost your ability to comprehend? I told you. This all started because of you and the fact that Thomas Hutchinson was in the dark, making threats. There’s always been a contingency plan. Witnesses are too dangerous.”
Oh, God!
Because of me?
“Kool-Aid?” I whispered.
“Only at the Eastern Light. Uncle was confident the other campuses are too well hidden.”
Thank God!
No Kool-Aid at the Northern Light.
“What did you mean that Thomas was making threats?”
“He was part of the outside Light, a follower in the Shadows. But when he called his connection, he told him that he wanted out of prison, where the marshals had taken him. He knows The Light is capable of getting him out.”
“Will it?”
“The Light can do anything. Will it? No, and it’s his fault.”