“What is this devilry?” asked the man giving the sermon.
“We’ve come to shut down your church.”
“You will do no such thing. Grab them,” he pointed to a couple of men who sat near the door. The two men rose and descended upon us.
You will not touch us. You will go and restrain the man on the dais so we can question him.
Without a word, they moved up to the front of the church and seized the man by both arms.
Remove his mask.
One of the men grabbed the top of the man’s hood and yanked it off.
I grinned at him.
“Ah, my almost-father-in-law. It is so good to see you again, Mr. Yerdin.”
Roses rarely contain the names of powerful women who’ve changed the world. Sure, you’ll find roses named after all sorts of females, but there are no Joan of Arcs, Isabella Castiles, or Hapshepsuts. No, roses are traditionally named after women who didn’t change the status quo. Probably because most roses are named by men. From now on, when I breed a rose, I will name it after a powerful woman from history, so that those who follow me will have the strength and courage to make a difference.
I GATHERED MY SKIRTS AND WALKED toward him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, struggling against his captors.
“We are here to end this whole thing.” I waved my arms around the church. “And to find out information about the killings of the Guardians.”
Kai stepped up next to me. We’d already decided he would question the people and I would silently command them to answer. That way, it would look like he was in charge. I was already drawing a lot of attention; we didn’t need people making correct assumptions. With any luck, it would still appear as if my father were the Master and Kai was his second in command.
Kai faced the crowd.
“Is there anyone here who has information on any of the Guardian killers?”
If you know anything you must report.
A man in the back stepped forward. “I do.”
Kai beckoned him forward. “What do you know?”
“There is young man. Blond, running around with a red haired kid. They seek shelter at Destroyers’ homes. My brother from Tulsa hosted them last week. Said they were a creepy pair, kept talking about the next kill.”
“Your brother, what is his name?”
“Jared McWeen.”
“Very well, you may go. Go visit your brother and bring him to Aren’s house.”
I directed my thoughts only to that man.
Bring Jared to me.
The man flinched and headed out the back door.
If you know anything, you must speak up. Now.
A few of the men grabbed their heads, but nobody said anything else. I hoped that Jared had good information. Maybe he could tell us the boys’ names.
“Very well, the rest of you may go. Except Mr. Yerdin. You will stay,” said Kai.
“The women must all stay as well,” I said.
Kai looked up at me and then back at the crowd. “Yes, the women will all stay as well. The men may go.”
The men filed out, and I approached the women. I’d have to use other influences with them; they were not Destroyers and I could not command them to do anything. I tapped the first woman on the shoulder.
“You may all get up. I’d like for you to go sit in the pews if you don’t mind. There are some things you need to see.”
They all rose. Slowly, they made their way to the benches. A young girl of about thirteen approached me.
“Please miss, can I go? My papa will be very angry if I’m not in the car in time.” I looked at her face. Her lip was slightly swollen and there were dark lines under her eyes. She hadn’t been hit recently, but the evidence of abuse was there.
“What’s your name?”
“Sunday. Miss, please, can I go?” She rocked back and forth on her heels and I could tell she was terrified of what was coming.
“Sunday, how would you like to never go back to your father’s house ever again?”
Her eyes widened. “Miss, you don’t understand what he’s capable of. He’ll hunt me down. No, I have to go.”
“Sunday, a year ago I was in your position. Do you think I still get beat by my father?”
She shook her head.
“You’re Naomi, right? My mama said that you were a bad girl and ran away. I thought you were dead.”
“No, I’m not dead. I can help you if you let me. The first thing I need you to do is sit down with the rest of the women. If you do that, I promise you will never have to see your father ever again.”
She nodded. “Okay. Can I get purple hair, like yours?”
I smiled at her. “Of course. Now go sit with your mama. She’s here, right?”
The girl’s eyes swelled. “No, miss, she died a month ago. The Master punished her and she never recovered.”
“What did he do to her?”
“Well, when the Master changed, so did things here. We no longer felt compelled to confess when he asked us, so we all started confessing sins that we knew would be only a few lashes. But the Master got sick of doing those, so one day he just snapped. Beat a woman so bad that she had to be carried out of here.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“He burned her with hot coals. Her whole chest and torso were covered in white blistered skin. She wailed so hard from the pain that eventually my papa just put her outta her misery.”
My blood boiled. I would make sure Mr. Yerdin never did something like that ever again. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make him confess his crimes to the police, it would lead to too many questions. Social services would get involved and then I wouldn’t be able to protect the girls.
But he would be so sorry he ever touched a girl.
I made sure Sunday found a seat and then approached Mr. Yerdin. His eyes were wide with terror. He knew what I’d done to his son.
“What do you know about the Guardian murders?”
“Nothing, I swear.” Hmm. He had to be telling the truth. He wouldn’t be able to lie to me.
No matter. We’d have the names soon enough, when the Destroyer and his brother Jared arrive at our house in a few hours.
I turned to the women. “This man tortured you. Repressed you. Taught you that you had no power or ability to change your circumstances. I was taught the same thing. But I’ve learned that I do have a great power. A power that exists in every one of you.” It was true. Every one of those girls and women were Shades. I could feel it radiating off of them. None of them had the same power I had, and for that I was grateful. It was a huge responsibility that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Not to mention that, in the wrong hands, it could be terrifying like my mother.
They all stared at me like I was crazy. I turned to Mr. Yerdin. “It’s time to relieve you of your power. Where’s your son these days, anyway?”
Mr. Yerdin grinned. “Off getting revenge on you, you little bitch.”
I cocked my head. “Revenge how?”
“He didn’t tell me that. Said if he told me, I might accidentally spill the beans to a Master who compelled me. But he said he was doing great things.”
My palms began to sweat. If his goal was to unsettle me then he succeeded. I got in his face, touched his cheek with my palm. His skin was rough and scratchy.
“I’ve gotten better at this, you know. I can take most of your power, but leave just enough that you still have to do what I say. Are you ready?”
His eyes widened and he shook his head.
I smiled. “Too bad.” Then I pulled. Hard. His power came rushing into me. I left him with almost nothing.
I thought of all the things the Master had compelled us to do at church. All the horrible punishments he’d given us. So I cursed him.
“You are to wander the earth alone. You will not talk to or interact with other human beings. You will run or walk the other way whenever someone comes near you. You are not allowed to enter a building of any kind
; you must stay out in the wild for your remaining years. You may not use anything made by man in the last fifty years. No television, no phone, no computers. You are not allowed to take your own life. You will do everything you can to survive, short of interacting with another person. You will be utterly alone. Now go.”
He scrambled off and flew from the church. I looked at Kai. His face was pale and he took a couple steps back. Maybe I went too far.
I took a couple of deep breaths and then addressed the girls. “You all will be sent to new homes. Those of you that are adults will be given the opportunity to live on your own if you wish. If you want to return home to your families, please discuss it with me first.”
I approached Kai. “We should call Jason. He can get in touch with Puck, and we can get the girls to Guardian homes. We can bring them back to our place tonight.” Kai nodded.
There were around thirty women and girls. Three women approached us. “We would like to return home to our husbands. They are not cruel men, but they were under the influence of this church. Now that it is no longer a threat, we have no reason to fear them.”
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
No one else asked to leave.
I called Jason. “You need to come over. Bring ten pizzas with you.”
He laughed. “Okay. What’s this about?”
I explained to him what happened. “Wow. That’s a lot of people. Let me call Puck and see what we can do. I’ll also call the Major Guardian over the Ozarks. He can help us short term.”
I hadn’t noticed a small figure creep up next to me. I jumped when she slid her hand into mine. I looked down. “Are you okay, Sunday?”
She nodded. Of all the women here, her power was the strongest. I could feel it pulsing. I doubted she had any idea what she was capable of. If Alejandro had still been alive, I’d send her to him. Maybe Ginny could take care of her.
Kai shepherded most of the women out of the church. A few had cars of their own, and we all managed to caravan to my house.
I called Ginny before we arrived. She prepared coffee and raided the cupboards to find every possible snack we had in the house. She managed to set up the table like a Vegas buffet, and made it look like we’d been planning it for months. In spite of her grief she hadn’t lost her touch.
It was a somber affair. The women ate and talked in whispers. Sunday was attached to my side for an hour or so, then she disappeared. I was so busy I didn’t notice at first, but then I started to get worried. I asked around and one woman pointed to my garden.
Oh no.
I ran down the path and prayed that she hadn’t found the Destroyer rose. She had a lot of power and I’d hate for the rose to have taken it from her. I stopped short when I found her standing in front of the rose, fully engulfed by it. But to my complete surprise she was laughing.
She smiled when she saw me.
“This rose smells awesome. Did you plant it?”
I approached her with caution. “Yes, what are you doing?”
“Playing with it. It tickles me.”
“Have you touched the thorns?”
“What thorns?”
She was right, the roses dancing above her had no thorns. The blooms brushed against her cheeks and trailed up and down her arms. A normal person would’ve found this bizarre and disconcerting, but Sunday was far from normal. She lived in home where violent and unusual things happened every day.
The girl had on a thin dress and no shoes. The rose may not be hurting her, but she was underdressed for the cold weather.
I took her hand. “Come on, Sunday, we need to go inside. Your feet are going to get frostbite.”
She looked down at her toes and shrugged, but didn’t protest when I led her away. Before we left, the rose dropped a thornless bloom on the ground. Sunday picked it up.
“Can you put this in my hair like yours?”
“When we get inside.”
I made Sunday sit by the fire and I redid her hair. She had two braids that I turned into one and stuck the rose into the base of the braid. Like mine, it started twisting and turning and soon the stalk wove all the way down the long braid. Then it grew thorns that curved around the edges of the braid.
So weird.
My cat jumped in Sunday’s lap and curled up. I left her there and went to check on the others. I found Ginny in the kitchen.
“What’s going to happen to all of them?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I’m sure Puck will take care of them.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “Alejandro would’ve taken care of them if he were still alive.”
I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
“Yes, he would’ve. You see the girl sitting by the fireplace?”
Ginny nodded.
“Her name is Sunday and she needs a place to stay. Her mother is dead. She needs someone like you. Any chance you could take care of her?”
Ginny was quiet for a few minutes. “Okay. But I’m taking her back to Vegas.”
“You can’t go back there. They think you were involved.”
“No, I talked to Puck yesterday and he said they resolved it. I’m going home. Puck is going to stay with me at Alejandro’s house. I’ll be okay. Besides, it would be better for Sunday to get out of here.”
A couple of hours later, the cars descended. They came from every direction and soon my yard was filled with fancy cars and trucks. I’d never met many of the Guardians who lived in my area. Devastatingly handsome men, and their gorgeous wives. The women in the house were going to feel incredibly intimidated.
Once each woman had a place to stay, the Guardians were gone. I knew they would take good care of the women and girls they accepted into their homes.
The only one left was Sunday. Ginny booked the first flight out in the morning. We’d have to get up very early to get them on the plane.
I found Sunday in my room playing with Lincoln.
Sunday looked up. “This is what my mother would’ve looked like if she’d survived.” She was right, her mother’s skin would’ve been puckered and scarred from the coal burns.
I nodded. The girl’s eyes filled with tears and I wrapped my arms around her. When she was done crying, I made her look up at me.
“Ginny has lost somebody very close to her as well. Will you help her when she’s sad?”
Sunday nodded.
“One more thing. When you and Ginny go back to Las Vegas, do you think you could take this cat with you? I don’t have a lot of time to spend with him and he likes you.”
She grinned and squeezed the cat. He glared at me but purred for her. I sat with Sunday until she fell asleep.
When I went back out to the living room, Kai frowned at me.
“You did a good job with the girls, but you overstepped with Mr. Yerdin.”
I sighed. “I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let him confess to the authorities. A life of solitude seemed a fitting punishment.”
“That is going to come back and haunt you someday.”
I shrugged. “He’d done horrible things to those girls.”
Kai sat on the couch and patted the seat next to him. “Come here.”
I sat down and he pulled me close to him. “Do you think we’ll ever get to have a normal relationship?”
I laughed. “You mean one that’s not tainted by Guardian and Destroyer drama?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.”
“Probably not.”
I rested my head against his chest and we just sat that way for a few minutes. I knew I should feel guilty for leading him on. Technically, since he wasn’t the Master Destroyer, he didn’t have to stay. But I needed someone. Since Puck was the Master Guardian, he couldn’t be that person. We were already in so deep, I didn’t see the harm in prolonging it for a few more weeks.
He stroked my hair and I let my eyes drift shut. It’d been such a long day.
A banging on the door woke up both of us.
&nbs
p; Kai jumped up and opened the door. Standing there was the man from the church who went to Oklahoma, and his brother Jared.
“I have brought him to you, as you requested.”
They moved into the house. Jared looked nervous, but resigned. We all sat down at the kitchen table. I was a little groggy.
I rubbed my eyes. “Tell me about the two Destroyers who came to stay at your house.”
Jared fidgeted with his coat. “They were creepy. Different. Dangerous, I could tell. Young though, too young to be so jaded. They were mostly quiet, but late at night, when they thought I was sleeping, they talked. So I listened.”
I nodded. “Keep going.”
“They talked about a Guardian they had killed outside of Las Vegas and how they came here to deliver a present.”
I gripped Kai’s hand. He squeezed back.
“But then they mentioned that something had happened and they couldn’t kill anymore. Said they could make others do it, but where was the fun in that. They also said they had a plan to fix that. There was someone near here that they had to find. They seemed certain that would fix their problem.”
I frowned. That didn’t sound good.
“Did they say anything else?”
“Yes. After they were finished here, they were going to head to Orlando.”
“Why?”
“Dunno. They were just talking and they mentioned Orlando.”
“Do you know their names?”
“Yes, the older one was named Romeo and the younger one was Hayden.”
Romeo and Hayden.
Guardians. Why would they do these things? Romeo was always kind of arrogant and I was surprised we’d kept Hayden around at all, but to turn like this? Puck trusted Romeo. I had to warn him.
I’m not sure what I like better, Friends Forever or Best Friends. Friends Forever are large, magenta, full of petals and smell exactly like a rose should. Best Friends are more subtle, orange and yellow, with a sweet scent. Either way, I was thrilled to have my Best Friend back Forever.
THE AIR IN FLORIDA WAS heavy with humidity. We had humidity in Arkansas too, but it was still middle of winter. Here in Florida, it was almost hot.
“Orlando is a big city. How are we going to find them?” I asked.
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