Page 20 of The Cult

“Are you coming, or should I drag your ass there? Cuz I will. Don’t think you’re too old to follow, boy.”

Boy. Why did that turn me on? I knew I should follow him—he was one of the guards, after all.

He grabbed my arms, his rough grip and calloused hand making my dick perk.

“Okay, okay,” I said, swatting his hand away. “I’m coming.” I didn’t need another reason to salivate over my father’s straight best friend. He led the way and, as much as I detested giving in to another demand, I followed.

Tobias and I stared at each other. It appeared that neither one of us wanted to be the first to speak. I wasn’t going to. I had nothing to say. Actually, that was a lie, I had so many questions for him, but he summoned me here. He would need to do all the talking.

“What happened to your elbow?” Tobias took my hand then twisted my arm to examine me, his frown deepening when he saw the bruise. I hadn’t noticed it, but it was probably from the blow I took being brought down to submission during yesterday’s training.

“From training.” I yanked my hand from his tight grip. I didn’t need his fake concern. “What are you doing here? You were back east the last I heard.”

He leaned back against the tiled wall, his expression guarded yet curious. “How did you know that?”

I shrugged. Dad often talked about Tobias, telling me stories about him. Stories I crammed into my head.

“Keeping tabs on me?” he ventured.

“Not exactly.” Yes exactly.

“Then what exactly?”

I ignored his question. “Why are you here?”

Tobias stepped closer, once again staring at my face. Although this time was different. He was … drinking me in. Heat crept up my neck and redness flushed my cheeks, which was a first—it took a lot to fluster me. His stare traveled to my lips as I waited for him to speak. If I hadn’t known he was married to a woman, I would’ve thought he liked what he saw. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat, and brought his eyes back to mine. “Where’s your dad?”

“Dunno,” I answered.

“Abel, I don’t have fucking time for messing around.” He rubbed his face in frustration, his trimmed beard rustling from the friction against his palm.

I didn’t remember him having a short fuse, but what did I know? “I really don’t know,” I answered.

“What do you mean, you don’t know? Isn’t he here?”

“He was, but he left more than a year ago.” A surge of uneasiness washed over me at the thought of my dad.

“What about your mom? Your sister?”

His questions warmed my heart; a balm to an open wound. I was delighted to hear that he cared about my family. Nobody around here did. Still, I suppressed the sentiments and ignored his question.

“Are they somewhere safe?”

Was he insane? “Safe? Here?” A maniacal laugh escaped my mouth. “Oh, absolutely! They’re having the time of their life being imprisoned in the middle of … well, nowhere. But don’t worry, a knight will come save us. Wait, is that you?”

“This is serious, Abel.”

“Don’t lecture me about being serious.” I pushed Tobias’s chest, and he let me, which caused him to stagger back. “I’ve been living this hell long before you arrived out of nowhere. Do you think I like being beat up? Humiliated?”

Tobias narrowed his eyes. “Who did it to you? Tell me!”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Abel.”

I would have enjoyed the sound of my name coming from him if the circumstances were different. I shook my head in response. Tobias had to go. He was a distraction I couldn’t afford to have around.

“We need to get you and your family out of here,” he said, undeterred by my action. That pissed me off even more.

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