Chapter 20 Elias
ELIAS
Ilock a pouting Jules in my trailer, letting her go through the files again with the lights on and not skulking in the dark. I’m only halfway to the Big Top, where I’ve gathered my brothers, when I start feeling an ache of withdrawal.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter to myself. When did I turn into such a pussy?
“Talking to yourself?” Marek asks as he falls into step beside me. “I thought I was supposed to be the odd one.”
I wrap my arm around his shoulders and pull him close. “We live in a carnival,” I say with a smirk. “Being weird comes with the territory.”
“They won’t be happy,” he comments neutrally as I push aside the side entrance flap. “Well, Jonah will silently feel relieved.”
I scoff. “That’s an understatement.” Spotting our brothers sitting in the front row, I turn in that direction. “How about you? How do you feel about it?”
Marek is silent for a moment. “She’ll be good for you,” is all he says when we reach the others. He sits next to Jonah while I lean against the guardrail.
Silas is standing as well, facing me, and it’s him I turn to first. “Go on, then,” I drawl, crossing my arms and mimicking his pose.
“You don’t need me to say anything, Elias,” he begins. “You know she shouldn’t be alive right now. She’s probably halfway to the nearest police station right now.”
I sigh, disappointed even though I expected the backlash. “She’s locked in my trailer. And even if she weren’t, the carnival’s still locked down. More importantly, she’s considering joining us.”
“Joining us?” Cole asks, his eyebrows hiding behind his floppy black hair. “I didn’t know we had a membership. Are we a knitting circle now?”
“Very funny,” I mutter. “Join us on our mission to eliminate the remaining Prophets.”
Logan barks out a laugh. “She has you twisted, man. She’s going to turn tail and bail. Chicken out.”
“She can prove it,” Rowe says quietly, surprisingly going against his brother’s stance. “Bring Ezekiel in early. Let’s see how she stomachs our ways.”
I blink at him at the same time as Silas speaks up.
“This is insane,” he growls. “Kill her and be done with it. Stop thinking with your dick, El.”
“I’m not thinking with my dick,” I protest before reevaluating when his eyebrows pop up. “Okay, I’m not just thinking with my dick. She means something to me. Let this play out. If it’s the wrong move, I’ll kill her myself.”
Saying the words makes me nauseous, and I don’t want to dwell too long on the thought.
Silas blows air out of his nose, like a father tired of a teenager’s antics. “Fine. This is on you.”
“Let’s go get him,” Logan says gleefully, jumping to his feet.
Whatever happens with Jules, Ezekiel Moore’s life is about to get very unpleasant.
???
Ezekiel Moore is the type of man who worries what his neighbors might think. So all traces of the graffiti art we gifted him on our previous visit are now erased. Like they never were. Too bad we’re about to give the good Prophet a nightmare he will never wake up from.
“Knock, knock, motherfucker,” Cole says gleefully as we burst into Moore’s bedroom.
The man of the hour sits up in bed, eyes wide, breaths audible. God, he’s aged but… he hasn’t changed that much. Not enough for me to look at him without wanting to bathe in blood.
“Recognize us?” I ask mildly as we form a circle around him.
“Where’s your wife, Prophet?” Silas asks, making Moore flinch.
“I—I’m not a Prophet anymore,” Moore stutters. “And Mary’s visiting her sister. We didn’t think it was safe for her here.”
Logan leans down so he’s in Moore’s face. “Only person it isn’t safe for is you, Prophet.”
“Stop calling me that,” Ezekiel snaps, his face turning red.
“There he is,” I drawl. “This meek thing you had going on? A bad cover.”
He puffs himself up. Pretty funny for a man in a sleepshirt. “Leave. Leave right now, and I won’t call the police.”
Even Jonah’s deep laugh joins ours, filling the bedroom like ghosts of the past.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to make any commands, Prophet Moore.” I nod at my brothers. “You’ll be coming with us now. We have a very special trailer in our carnival for sinners like you.”
“You’re the sinners!” Moore sputters. “You were abominations as children, and you’re abominations now. Threatening a godly man in the middle of the night in his own home.”
Silas gives him a slow clap. “Very passionate. A plus for the drama,” he adds before tilting his head. “But I don’t think you’re appealing to the right audience.”
“Yeah, we know you, Prophet,” Cole says, practically bouncing on his toes with eagerness. I know he’s already imagining his knives cutting into Moore’s sagging flesh.
“You don’t know anything!” Moore hisses, spittle flying. “Rich, powerful people will—”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Logan says, grabbing Moore by the throat and ending his tirade. “I’m done listening to this crap here, where I can’t make him burn.”
“We’ll all get a turn,” I say, already turning on my heels as Jonah steps forward to knock Moore out.
“Even your reporter,” Silas adds.
I clench my teeth. “Yes, Si. I think you’re underestimating my jewel. She has a darkness inside her.”
Once we’re outside, I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh pre-dawn air.
“I think you see what you want to see, Elias,” my brother says quietly as we watch Jonah unceremoniously dump Moore in the back of our van.
I slap his back. “One day, you’ll meet a woman who makes you want to chase her. I’ll remind you of this conversation then.”
Silas snorts, though at least his shoulders ease a bit.
“Not gonna happen.”
“Never say never,” I hum. “Come on. Let’s get the Prophet settled in his new abode.”