Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“God, you’re so slow,” Stella sneered at Lilith as she stumbled down the pathway toward a wooden structure. A structure that was reminiscent of the hut she’d lived in for a year.

“Why are you doing this?” Lilith asked, twisting her arms in an attempt to loosen the rope that Stella had bound around her arms after they’d gotten out of the car.

Micah had already disappeared into the house, so he hadn’t seen what Stella had done. Something about the other woman’s actions raised further alarm bells in Lilith’s mind. Micah hadn’t been happy at all with Stella when she’d pulled out Lilith’s hair. In fact, if they hadn’t been in the car, she was sure that Micah would’ve tossed Stella out. He’d lectured her about how her behavior wasn’t what he expected of her. Stella had lowered her head and apologized, acting the way she should, but she hadn’t fooled Lilith with her sweet-as-pie act.

“Because I can. My place is by Micah’s side. I don’t know why he wanted you to be part of his dream, but here you are. I’m just making sure you know your place. You can be his little plaything. I’ll be okay with that, knowing that I will be revered, like Micah will be by our followers.”

If Lilith had thought there was a tiny part of Stella that was compassionate or aware that what Micah was doing was wrong, it was gone now. The woman was delusional. What she’d just said proved that Stella was as bad as Staunton Rello. As bad as Ralph Williamson. As bad as Micah, because Lilith had no doubt he was starting up a new cult. No way was she going to be a part of it. All she needed to do was remain calm, not antagonize Stella or Micah, and she would gain her freedom.

They stopped in front of the cabin. The smell of freshly cut wood filled Lilith’s nostrils, likely coming from the stack of logs by the door.

“This is going to be your new abode,” Stella said sweetly as she pushed opened the door.

No way was she walking in there. As if Stella could see her defiance, she grabbed Lilith’s arms and yanked her inside, the action causing Lilith to stumble and fall to the ground. With her hands bound behind her back, she had nothing to cushion her fall and she landed with a thump on her cheek on the wooden floor. Pain exploded in her cheek, and Lilith swallowed down the yelp of discomfort. Showing weakness in front of Stella wasn’t something she wanted to do.

“Nothing good will come of this, Stella.” Perhaps if she tried to reason with Stella, things wouldn’t be so bad. And Julian was going to storm through the door any second now. Neither of those things was likely to happen, unfortunately.

“Shut up, wench,” Stella huffed out, but peered at Lilith’s neck. “You know what? I think I’ll take this.”

Before Lilith could do anything, Stella grabbed the chain of her necklace and tugged. The necklace with her tracker in it. Nothing happened though. The chain didn’t snap, and Lilith scrambled away. The only reason she wasn’t truly freaking out about being taken was because she hadn’t taken the necklace off like she sometimes did when she got home.

Somehow, Julian would figure out she was missing. Whether it wasn’t until he got home from work, or sooner, he wouldn’t stop until they rescued her.

The fact the chain didn’t snap surprised Lilith because Stella had tugged hard. As hard as she had when the other woman had pulled Lilith’s hair.

“Give that to me!” she demanded, lunging again toward Lilith.

“Why? You don’t want this cheap trinket that I got from the dollar store.”

“What is going on here?” Micah thundered as he stepped into the cabin. Stella immediately stilled.

“The Voice you so often talk about spoke to me. It told me that this woman would bring you down before you received your greatness. She proved that by being defiant. Not getting out of the car. So I did what I had to do, and I brought her here for you to punish her.”

Lilith was impressed with Stella’s storytelling skills. The fact she was able to come up with something so quickly suggested this wasn’t the first time that she’d lied. Then again, that day at The Hopeful Sunshine, Stella had been able to convince Micah that Lilith was killing the plants.

Would Micah believe this story now? Or would he see through the ruse?

“It is not up to you to determine if and how Lilith is to be punished, even if you believe you heard the Voice speak to you. Which I doubt. You’ve done enough already. Richard will be here shortly. I expect you to do exactly what he says.” Micah gave Stella a pointed look, and the other woman’s countenance changed once again. Hatred filled her gaze, but Lilith suspected Micah was oblivious to it. Lilith recognized the look from the many times Stella had glared at her at The Hopeful Sunshine. “Come, Lilith. We have much to discuss.”

He gripped her bicep tightly and lifted her to her feet. Lilith didn’t look back at Stella as they walked out of the hut. They passed the driver of the car, the person Lilith suspected was Richard, and his lecherous look had her skin crawling. She may not like Stella, but the woman was about to be shown that maybe getting in with Micah again wasn’t a great idea.

The house they entered wasn’t much larger than the cabin. It wasn’t new. The floral wallpaper was peeling, and the hardwood floors were scuffed, indicating the house had been well used in the past.

Why hadn’t Micah done anything to it? Not that any of that mattered. All she had to do was keep the peace, and pray that Micah wouldn’t decide to make use of the bed she could see through one of the doors to the left of the main living room.

“I know you don’t like the look of this place. I don’t like it either. But my Voice assured me that you would do what is expected, and ensure that it’s livable and looks appropriate for the leader that I am. Of course, everything you do will have to be approved by me.”

He spoke as if it was a forgone conclusion that she was going to be there long enough to renovate. Her hope was to be away from this place in a couple of hours, but she was prepared to be there for a few days, at the most. All she had to do was make sure that Micah kept his hands to himself. “Do you have any ideas?” she asked meekly, immediately assuming the role of a docile follower.

“Plenty, but first you will prepare me some food. I have a lot of planning to do. The first lot of candidates to join us will be arriving tomorrow. I need people to build my dream.”

God, was there a way she could warn those people to run as far away from this place as possible? Probably not, but again, maybe when they turned up tomorrow, there would be people there to redirect the innocent souls back to their homes. Although the people that Micah had enticed to this place were probably desperate for a new change. Or didn’t have a home to return to. Would the authorities help them? She didn’t know, but she would ask Julian if he could do something.

Julian.

She hadn’t allowed herself to think too much about the man who’d come to mean so much to her. No, that wasn’t right. She loved him. Loved him with everything she had, and it had been reinforced when she’d been swept into the car, and the fear of never seeing him again seemed to outweigh the fear of her being kidnapped.

Would she get the chance to tell him how she felt?

She assumed the tracker was working, but what if the battery had died? Then again, she had no idea if it even had a battery. She didn’t know how it worked, only that it did.

“Do not ignore me! You are mine to control. You don’t think for yourself.” Micah’s harsh words pulled her from her thoughts, and she looked at the man who’d spoken them. His eyes were wide, and he looked manic. It was on the tip of her tongue to yell at him. To lash out and tell him he was delusional if he ever thought she would obey him, but she controlled herself. Keep him believing he controlled her, all the while looking for a way to escape.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t ignoring you. I was thinking about what I could cook.” Lilith kept her eyes downcast, because if Micah saw them, he wouldn’t see an amenable person, but someone who was far from happy to be there. Perhaps she could act as well as Stella.

“The only way to cook is to get to the kitchen, not stand in the middle of this room. Now go. I want to eat in an hour. And then after Richard has performed the ceremony. . .” Micah trailed a finger down her arm and how she held in her shudder of revulsion she’ll never know, but she did. “We shall become one.”

Lilith kept her lips firmly shut. There was no point in agreeing or disagreeing. Micah would punish her if she responded. The only times she could speak were when spoken to, or when he hit her, and then she had to apologize for whatever slight he believed had occurred.

Except this time, she would have to speak, because she couldn’t cook with her hands bound. Through their short conversation, he hadn’t made a move to release the binds. “Micah,” she said his name softly and held out her hands.

It appeared as if he was going to admonish her, but then he saw her hands and sighed. “You needn’t worry. Stella will be punished for her insolence. She will learn her place,” he said as he untied the rope.

She may not like the other woman, but the punishment that Micah was referring to would be anything but pleasant for Stella.

Without the restriction, blood rushed to her fingertips, and a thousand pins pricked her skin. She shook them, hoping to alleviate the sensation, but it only seemed to make it worse. But she wouldn’t complain. Nothing good would come of that if she did.

Once the tingling had died down, she made her way to the kitchen. There was a basic oven. The fridge looked as if it was a holdover from the 1950s, and there wasn’t a dishwasher in sight—which didn’t surprise her. The cabinets were nothing pretty to look at. The dark wood was serviceable, and upon inspection, showed a sparse collection of crockery that looked as if it needed a good wash.

How long had it been since someone had lived in this house? Years and years by the looks of things. Not that she’d ask Micah, but she had to wonder how he could afford this place. Unless he’d done something to the owner and taken it over.

“Don’t think about that,” she whispered to herself. It was far better not knowing. “Just get through this. Help will be here soon.”

She had to believe it. Had to believe that soon all this would be over because if it wasn’t, she didn’t think she’d survive living in another cult. Even if it looked as if she would be Micah’s favorite. A thought she didn’t like at all.