Chapter 23 - Azrael #2
I could feel the anger burning on my left side like a bonfire in the sand. “I don’t have favorites,” I clarified icily.
She must have realized her mistake because her eyes flicked towards Scarlett before she straightened. “You’re having her lead the meeting?” she asked, changing the subject. “Why not just lead it yourself?”
Movement on my computer screen caught my eye, and when I looked over, I saw a congregation in my lobby. So many people. I stood, Scarlett quickly joining my side. “I wish I didn’t have to use this cane,” she signed before grabbing her cane again.
Ignoring Red, I looked over Scarlett. She couldn’t push herself too hard or it would make things worse, but she did need to heal. “Focus on healing,” I told her just as the rose rejoined us, sliding her phone away.
“Jeremy says he’s been hearing chatter, just as I suspected. We weren’t fast enough. We were never going to be fast enough.”
The moment I heard of Beckett’s plan to exterminate everyone he could, I knew it would never be fast enough.
There were hundreds of Initiates out there, and while some were loyal to the cause, others were far more loyal to the man who trained them, which was why we were dealing with this problem in the first place.
“Let them talk,” I replied, heading for the door.
“They can’t stop what’s happening, not even with our father’s help. ”
“He has too many connections, Az,” Red called. “Him finding out now would be detrimental.”
“We still have our secret weapon,” I tossed back, opening the door for Scarlett before following right after her.
“Who’s that?” Red asked.
“My wife.” He didn’t know her name. He didn’t know what she looked like or where she had come from. So long as he was too busy to visit the Elders…
I slowed on our walk to the elevator, causing Scarlett to look over.
We had been married for nearly four months now. The ceremony performed at the church, documents signed, witnesses. I had used my ‘real’ name, Kaz, when I signed the documents, but once a habit was formed, it was difficult to break.
“Az?”
I looked up, finding Red’s eyes. She, the rose, the dog, and Alaric were all looking back at me in question.
Of course, they were. They were smart. They were taught by the best to some people’s standards.
“Has anyone spoken to father dearest in the last four months?” I asked, looking between the two of them. “Any of you?”
Red looked over to the rose, her eyes on me. “Um…a few times.” She shrugged. “No more than usual, no less. Assignments, updates. Why?”
Because why would the Founder of the church not know who got married to who, especially regarding the Chosen One? Even if he didn’t look over the records, humans had a nasty habit of talking.
I turned to Scarlett. “Garrett speaks to the Elders.”
Despite the fact that I didn’t ask a question, she considered her words carefully before she leaned her cane against her hip and responded.
“It was rumored that he had correspondence with them,” she explained.
“Emails and letters. As far as I know, there was never confirmation of that or of any response.”
“How else would the Elders know what was happening in the church?”
“I thought you were sent by them,” she said in answer. “To make sure we were following the rules.”
“Did they do that often? Send spies?”
She thought about it. “The Favorites whispered about it when a new member came to the church. There were always questions about it. Nobody knows who they are, so they could have sent people, or they could have come themselves if they wanted. They would be invisible among the congregation. As far as I know, not even Pastor Masters has ever actually seen them.”
“Azrael,” the rose spoke, taking a step back towards me. “Are you worried he knows about Scarlett?”
Scar glanced at the rose and back in question.
Red’s eyes widened. “If he knows who she is then you really can’t send her to Absolution,” she stated. “You can’t, Azrael, they’ll kill her.”
Scarlett immediately stepped away from me, her eyes hardening as they met mine. “I can go,” she told me, her cane falling against her hip. “Don’t you trust me?”
“It is not I who has doubts,” I hummed icily.
She turned to Red who was burning with the need to make Scar understand what I knew she already did.
“I don’t know exactly what they did to you in that church, but I know what they’ll do to you there,” she tried.
“Scarlett, they will shred you. They will beat you mercilessly, rape you. The church was controlled, but from what little I know of Absolution, it is Hell. True Hell. You can’t go. You won’t come back the same.”
Scarlett straightened. “We need to know where it is. There are people there who need saved too.”
“We’ll get the answers some other way. Save them when we take the church.”
“And let them get raped and beaten while they lie in wait to be killed once word spreads about our attacks? Let their bodies be tossed away like trash? Like they were nothing?”
I repeated what she said and Red’s eyes widened. “Your life—”
“Is not more important than theirs.”
I repeated her words, but the lie felt bitter. Perhaps her heart still held some warmth, as for me? Yes, it would be tragic if they died waiting to be saved, but if I had to choose between she and them?
I would choose her above all. Always.
My heart thudded. Always.
My hand tightened. Always.
The rose’s eyes found mine, hard and unwavering. She knew the cost and yet held her tongue.
Red shook her head. “We know who founded the church, we’ll find out the location from him. Trust me, they’ll know how to locate the building. They located the compound; they can find that building too.”
“It took them three months to find Olivia. Absolution has been growing, thriving, since the mid-90’s. With one call, I will be on my way there in as little as an hour. I could know the location before the sun rises tomorrow. If Azrael can’t even locate it right now, what chance does Jack have?”
She shook her head, her eyes glistening. “And then what?” she breathed out after I relayed it. “We go pick you up?” she asked, her eyes finding mine.
I lifted my chin. “She would stay and get information on the Founder, on the Elders. Any and all the information she can hold in that head of hers before I extract her.”
Red released a breath, her eyes finding Scarlett’s again.
“You’ll die, Scarlett. They shoved their cocks into your mouth at the church where there were rules and regulations, cameras.
What do you think they’ll do to you when you don’t have any of those safety measures?
When they can rule however they see fit? ”
“I’ll go see Azrael,” she replied, her motions sharp.
Red looked between us, her eyebrows pulling together. “What?”
“I’ll go see Azrael. I always go see Azrael and he is always there waiting for me. Always.”
“She dissociates,” the rose said, fire in her words. “That’s what she’s saying. She leaves her body and retreats into her mind. They can’t hurt her there.” She lifted her chin. “They couldn’t hurt me there either,” she told Scar. “Ev was always waiting for me. We should go.”
Without another word, she turned for the door, her dog following her.
Red looked between us a few more times before shaking her head and walking after her.
It took us a few seconds longer to follow them, Alaric still behind me.
What the wild rose failed to mention was that, despite the fact that the mountains had always waited patiently for her within the walls of her own mind, she still forgot his face.
Forgot his voice. Forgot who he was. For a very brief time, she forgot everything.
Did I trust Scarlett? Yes. She could handle her own just fine without me. I had made very sure of that.
Did I still want her to go?