Page 97 of The Cult

The Wolf rolled his eyes and shook his head when Orcus wasn’t looking. He scanned the crowd, his expression twisted with disgust as he examined everyone’s faces.

“Fuck!” I cursed when his eyes locked onto mine. The slightest tug of a smirk told me he knew exactly who I was. I matched the intensity of his glare. The Wolf might be lethal, but so was I.

Slowly, he turned away and walked off with Orcus and the other fighters. The rest of the guards dispersed like scattered shadows, each of us moving with purpose. I watched them disappear into the fog. There was no turning back. Adrenaline took over and I sprinted back to my room.

“Wait up,” Sterling called, but I kept running. “Toby!”

The echo of his voice urging me to stop faded as the distance between us increased. The corridors blurred past me as I raced forward, my breath coming in ragged gasps. The men matched with the trainees were here, and one of them was an assassin. Who knew what the others were. The Wolf was probably ratting me out to Orcus right now. I reached my room, slammed the door shut, and beelined for the bathroom, my heart pounding in my chest like a bass drum. I closed the door behind me and retrieved my cell phone from the floor. Dozens of text messages, missed calls, and voicemails from Archer and Zero bombarded the small screen.

YOU NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUTTA THERE. Archer’s message flashed in all capital letters. I read his next message: Answer your damn phone. His frustration was evident.

Leave that place now! a text from Zero read. She also sent me a copy of the photo of the metal boxes that I’d sent her days ago, and below it were the words, Call me dude. This is bad news.

What the hell is going on?

After clearing their messages, I pressed play on Archer’s voicemail. “We’re coming. Orcus and his cult are with The Firm. It’s a farm for assassins.”

The final message delivered a chilling revelation that sent a jolt through my senses. The words hung in the air like a death sentence, their implication sinking in with horrifying clarity. So that’s why The Wolf is here.

I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, my mind racing with a million thoughts per second. The situation was dire, but I couldn’t afford to panic. I had to act fast, to make a decision that could mean the difference between life and death—not just for me, but for Abel, his family, the rest of the guys, and Sterling.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself with every ounce of resolve I could muster. I pressed The Reaper’s name.

“Where the fuck are you?” Archer answered. “We’ve been fucking played, man.”

“How bad is it?” I only had myself to blame. This was the very reason why I never involved myself with anyone. Emotions clouded your judgment, making you blind to the dangers lurking in the shadows, waiting for you to let your guard down. Never again.

“Terrible,” he answered. “But we’re coming. We’re two hours away.”

“I can get us there in an hour,” Heath said in the background.

All I wanted to do was grab Abel and his family and get out of here now. That would be a monumental task, since I’d likely been outed and Orcus probably had people watching my every move. “What else do you know about The Creed?” I asked.

“I’ll put you on speaker. Zero can tell you,” Archer said.

A brief silence hung in the air before Zero’s voice carried through. “Hey, Tobias,” she said, her voice steady despite the circumstances.

“What do you got for me?” I asked, trying to keep my own voice level.

“Remember those pictures you sent me? The metal crates with serial numbers?”

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me through the phone.

“Those numbers are from The Avalon. The—”

“The group that supplies The Firm’s guns, ammo, and bombs,” I interrupted, finishing her sentence. Goddammit! What else had I missed?

“Exactly,” she said.

“Not only that, but your guy Orcus also runs a pretty lucrative underground fighting and gambling ring. The Firm pays him for sending their young men to be recruited and trained as assassins,” Archer added. “They’re using the families they left behind as collateral, threatening to kill them if they don’t comply.”

The sound of keyboards clicking preceded Zero’s words. “Orcus usually sends them five guys a year, but a bunch of them were entered into the system two days ago.”

That explained why the rest of Abel’s friends were missing. “Do you know where they took them?” There were five camps where they took new recruits to turn them into killing machines.

“They’re taking them to the West Coast,” Zero answered.

There was only one camp on the West Coast, located in a forest in Washington State.

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