Chapter 4
Riptide
Abead of sweat rolled down my temple as we made our way out toward The Silverbells. Ethan had contacted me like we’d hoped he would and I’d met with Jacob at the designated spot. It hadn’t taken long to load my—other Derek’s—shit into the pickup and head out into the desert. It was beginning.
Luckily other Derek hadn’t known much about these guys because I’d had precious little time to study the information he did have. I was going into this almost as blind as other Derek would have.
The drive was filled with tense silence.
I knew other Derek would have been babbling like a magpie after the first twenty minutes, but I remained quiet.
It gave me time to think. I needed to somehow pull this first meeting with Ethan off.
If I could do that, I might make it out of this alive.
If I failed, well… I wouldn’t live long enough for it to be much to worry about.
“We’re almost there, Brother Derek.”
I cringed at the title. Listening to myself being called Derek for who knew how long was going to be bad enough, but Brother Derek? Jesus fucking Christ. The biggest danger might end up being me eating my own gun after being called that shit nonstop.
Everyone had called me Riptide—or Rip—for so long I almost hadn’t responded when Jacob had called out to me when we’d met up. I was going to have to get over it.
My eyes narrowed as Jacob angled the truck onto a little two track that cut west toward the mountains.
It was about half a mile south of where Sherry Holden’s vehicle had been found deserted.
We’d always stopped there and hiked back to the compound.
We couldn’t use their roads in and out of this place, but knowing where they were was going to be useful as fuck when the time to came to exterminate them.
The fence and buildings came into view. I leaned forward to peer up at the guards who were standing near the top of the fence.
That scaffolding was new. Before they hadn’t had the high ground like that, making it easier for us to spy on them.
It just occurred to me that with every passing day their fortifications would get stronger.
The longer I took in here the harder, and more dangerous, it would be for us to assault this compound and take these guys out.
We’d agreed—much to Lockout’s displeasure—to stop watching the compound while I was here.
We’d stopped sending men out here the morning we’d voted to send me in.
There was too much risk if someone was caught.
I was the newest member and it would cast too much suspicion on me. I was truly alone out here.
We got out of the truck once Jacob pulled through the gates—also new—and I pulled my duffel bags out of the back. I tossed them over my shoulder, looking around as I did.
What struck me first was the clothing. All the women were in dresses, or skirts and blouses, while the men were in what looked almost like old western wear. They were all heading together like a herd of cattle.
Where the fuck were these people shopping? Pioneers ‘R Us?
“Brother Derek! Welcome!”
I turned and faced the man who was striding across the village.
His arms were held out and there was a beaming smile on his face.
I’d have to be a fucking idiot to miss the calculating look in his eyes, and I wasn’t stupid.
I took stock of him. Blond hair, blue eyes, about six-foot with a wiry frame.
Nothing special. According to Butcher these guys weren’t usually superior physically.
Their talents were in their ability to bullshit people into believing anything they wanted.
“Thank you,” I told him in a normal tone once he got close enough. I’d play the game, to a point. I wasn’t a good enough actor to try to play the over the top, excited believer.
The flicker of awareness in Ethan’s eyes told me I’d chosen correctly.
Other Derek had mentioned that Chet would have told them a little about me.
I wasn’t about to act like the fucking coward other Derek was, but if I’d shown up giddy Ethan would have put a bullet in my head.
The cool reservation I was projecting had just gotten me past the first test.
“Follow me,” Ethan told me, the smile on his face turning malicious.
Great. Nothing like jumping directly into the fire inside the lion’s den.
He led me to the middle of the compound. There was some kind of fucked up altar up on a stage and bleacher-like seating surrounding it in a half arc. The seats were packed.
Looked like everyone had shown up to see the new guy. The hairs on the back of my neck rose like they tended to do in dangerous situations. I didn’t need my instincts to be screaming at me like this. I could see that this could be a potentially threatening scenario all on my own.
“I’ll take those, Brother Derek,” Jacob told me.
Letting him take my bags, I pointed to one.
“Careful with that. It’s got all my equipment in it.
” Judging by the clothes, I had a feeling that most of the items in my bags were destined for the trash.
But I needed the computer and hard drives.
They were my connection to The Order's finances, and my only connection to the outside world.
I followed Ethan up onto the stage. We stopped in the middle and I cast a look around.
The last of the people had come into the area and were watching me.
My eyes stopped on a pair of eyes as blue as my favorite cove back on the Long Beach Peninsula.
My breath caught in my throat as I watched her speak to random women as she moved through the crowd toward the dais.
Graceful as a ballerina she stepped around people, avoiding all contact with men, but gifting the children with her heart stopping smile.
Our eyes locked again, and my dick hardened.
Her beauty was like a punch to the gut. This was her first time seeing me, but I’d been dreaming of her for weeks.
Seeing her in front of me was the culmination of weeks’ worth of preparation.
Getting to the compound, meeting Ethan, seeing the other people in the community hadn’t made it real. She did.
My lungs burned, forcing me to take the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Sloane had slowed to a stop, looking almost as surprised as I was.
Her eyes were clear and bright and the look in them turned from confusion to animosity.
I had to bite back a grin. It didn’t bother me that she was suspicious as to why I was staring at her.
Time had slowed, so I couldn’t tell you how long I’d been watching her, but it was enough that the younger girls who’d come to stand near her were giggling and shooting blatant looks between her and I.
Here I stood, ready to take Sloane out of here, and she was looking at me like I was a pile of garbage and all I could do was smile at her courage and willfulness.
I could understand the mistrust. Even though I knew I was leaving this place with her, I wasn’t sure I could trust her yet.
It would depend on how brainwashed she was.
So far, I liked what I saw. In more ways than one.
Berry colored lips parted in shock as one of the girls whispered something to her. She shot the girl a chastising look, then ducked her head, breaking our eye contact. She didn’t leave though, and every once in a while she peeked up from beneath her lashes to see if I was still watching her.
“Brothers and Sisters!”
I gave Ethan a disgruntled look as he bellowed directly into my fucking ear hole. It broke my focus on the beautiful woman nearby. As soon as he glanced over at me—probably feeling my urge to punch him in the side of the head—I pasted an innocent look on my face.
Fuck me, it’s hard to act weak and intimidated.
“We’re here today to welcome Brother Derek into the fold!”
Did he have to do everything at the decibel of a scream?
Fucking hell. I moved slightly away from him just to preserve my damned sanity and so I wouldn’t give into the temptation to end him here and now.
I remembered what Butcher had said. Killing him would have disastrous effects.
I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for the show to end so I could figure out how to navigate this place.
After getting just this glimpse of the way these people were living I was in a shitty mood.
“Brother Derek has joined us from the world of demons! He wants to walk the path of purity. Of morality. He’s come to see the lie that the people of the Sky God tell and knows that the only way to salvation lies with The Order of The Earth!”
I bit the inside of my lip to keep from grinning at the pure fucking bullshit spewing from Ethan’s mouth right now.
We’d heard plenty of this when we were watching them.
It wasn’t new. It was different as hell hearing it in person though.
And seeing the men in the crowd nodding and starting to call out in agreement. The women were silent, eyes downcast.
The men are a bunch of fucking nutjobs.
Except that I was one of those nutjobs now.
I had to play along. More than playing along, I had to sell it to them.
If I keep calling them wackos, even in my head, I was going to fuck up and get caught.
I shut my eyes tight, focusing. Opening them, I looked over at Ethan like he was God incarnate. Which, I suppose, was the point.
Sell it. Your life, her life, depends on it.
“Brother Derek knows that the only way to heaven, to true enlightenment, lies within the Earth God. I alone can grant you eternal life!” Ethan turned toward me.
It was like a hyena stalking toward a lion.
He was a slimy, weaselly, piece of pond scum.
But I had to put up with him, with the game, in order to obtain my objectives.
If I didn’t fully immerse myself into this role—if Ethan didn’t believe it—I was fucked.
“Do you, Brother Derek, submit to the initiation?”
Say what?