Smoke billowed around me, bullets ricocheted off trees, but I had to reach my sisters. They will be trapped and frightened. I had to free them, then I had to find Styx.

The sounds of people’s screams tormented me as I ran quickly to the cell and I rejoiced as the path began to narrow; the cell was just ahead.

“Help! Help us!”

Maddie and Lilah’s frantic screams pushed me to double my efforts. Speeding into the clearing, I spotted the claustrophobic gray cell in which Maddie and Lilah were confined. They scrambled to reach me through the bars.

“Mae! Mae!” Lilah shouted as I skidded to a halt and began pulling at the bars. They did not move.

“I need a key. Where is the key?” I yelled, desperation coursing through my veins.

“The guards locked us in!” Maddie exclaimed, fear written all over her sweet face.

“I cannot open it. I cannot open it!” I cried as my hands grew numb shaking the thick bars.

Helpless, Maddie and Lilah sat back as I worked for several more minutes trying to open the gate. But it was hopeless. I dropped my head as two hands reached through and grasped mine.

“What is happening, Mae?” Lilah asked in a quiet voice. “Are we being invaded?”

A small smile ghosted across my lips. “It is my love. He has come for me.”

Maddie gasped. “The man from the outside?”

“Yes. He has brought his men to free us.”

They both paled.

“We cannot leave commune,” Lilah whispered. “It is too dangerous out there.”

“We must. There is no other choice,” I pushed.

“But the teachings, the prophecies!” Lilah stressed. Beads of sweat formed on her head in the sweltering summer night and Maddie began rocking in fear.

“You will have me. We will survive. We will all survive.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Every inch of me froze.

I slowly turned my head, only to see Gabriel, Noah, and Moses. All three stood, towering over us, covered in blood, gripping their rifles. Vehemence was clear in their stares.

Standing up, I spread myself to cover the gate, ushering Lilah and Maddie with my hands to withdraw to the rear of the cell.

“Gabriel, be gone. They will be coming for you,” I warned, but my voice broke, betraying my fear.

The three elders approached. “Do you know what your sinner and his butchers have done?” he asked in a deep, gruff voice.

Darting my eyes around the line of trees, I shook my head and whispered, “No.” Gabriel knew I was lying. I could see it in his murderous glare.

“He killed Prophet David. He murdered our Messiah!” Gasps of shock burst forth from inside the cell and dread seeped into my bones. The elders were beyond furious and their wrath was aimed at me.

“Prophet David gave us one final revelation: if he is to be taken by force from this Earth, his people must follow.”

I stopped breathing and my eyes widened. They must kill us all.

Reaching forward, Gabriel grabbed my arm, pulled me to the center of the clearing and threw me to my knees. He lifted his gun, loaded a magazine and hissed, “Say hello to Jezebel, Satan’s whore.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Styx

It took about ten minutes and the interrogation of a whole lotta guards to finally get a sound lead on Mae after Rider hauled her the f**k away. Two hundred yards north in the forest, we found the ring of flowers she’d had on her head caught on a low branch, and her tiny footprints in the dried dirt path.

She was close. And so was Rider’s death.

Holding up my fist, the brothers came to a sudden halt behind me.

Mae.

Mae was at some kinda holding cell and the elders were closing in on her as she knelt on a patch of grass. She had a f**kin’ terrified expression on her face and that bastard Gabriel was pointing a gun right at Mae’s head. The other two bearded f**kers stood beside him, smirking.

Where the f**k’s Rider? I signed. My brothers scoured around, but he was long gone.

Fuck!

Then I heard Gabriel speak aloud. “Say hello to Jezebel, Satan’s whore.”

My blood boiled and I f**kin’ broke.

I’m done dealing with this cunt.

Lifting my 9mm, I open fired at the sadistic bastard; two bullets, one through each of his knees. Screaming like a f**kin’ baby, Gabriel hit the deck as Flame and Ky ripped outta the forest cover to tackle Noah and Moses to the ground. The Hangmen easily took control. Ky held Noah by the neck; Flame held Moses by the hair, his switchblade braced at Moses’s throat.