Page 180 of Redeemed

“Don’t kill him,” I plead. “Lucas, you can’t kill him.”

Isaiah is struggling beneath Lucas, but by now, Colton and Xander are holding him down. I drop the stick as reality sets in.

Isaiah doesn’t just want me home. He’s so fixated on dragging me back that he’s willing to go to obsessive levels to make it happen. It won’t, though. Not when I’m under Colton, Lucas, and Xander’s protection.

With all three of them holding Isaiah down, I feel safe enough to step closer. When I see blood staining Lucas’s sleeve, I gasp. “Luc, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine.” His eyes don’t leave Isaiah’s, and he presses the knife down just enough that blood wells under the blade. “You’re never getting anywhere near her, and if you don’t leave town today, you’re a dead man.”

My heart squeezes. I hope he doesn’t mean that last part, but I find it sweet that, despite my betrayal, he’s still more than willing to kill for me. Sweet, and…

No. No, don’t you dare go there, Haven. He’s a monster.

Isaiah laughs. “You’re never getting rid of me. I vowed to protect her, and I will, even if I have to protect her from herself. Andshevowed to serve me. That’s not something I plan on letting her run away from.”

“What the hell is he talking about?” Xander asks me.

I can’t bring myself to answer. My plan was for them to never find out about Isaiah’s true identity—or the parts of my past that I want to keep buried deep.

“Focus,” Colton says. “Luc, get him on his feet.”

With the boys distracted, I feel like I can breathe again. I know they’ll be pissed I kept this much information from them, but they won’t care that I’m married, right? Surely they can put the pieces together on their own. I ran away. Ileft.It’s as close to not being married as I can get.

But as Lucas drags Isaiah to his feet, his expression from earlier flashes across my consciousness. The confusion is warranted. The hurt, though? It was like he viewed this as another betrayal.

“Hold him,” Colton says darkly.

Lucas grabs on to Isaiah and traps his arms behind his back. Isaiah struggles in vain. He’s filled out since I ran away, but he’s still no match for Lucas.

“You want to go first?” Colton asks Xander.

“He’s all yours.” Xander steps back. “Do your worst.”

I jump when Colton’s fist collides with my husband’s face. Isaiah’s head snaps to one side, and he looks directly at me as he spits blood on the ground.

“Did you really think you could get away?” he asks me, which earns him another punch to the jaw. It doesn’t stop him, though. “God always looks out for his children. You know your time here is only temporary. You need to—”

Colton knees Isaiah between the legs. For a moment, the only sound in the forest is his pained groan, but then he’s at it again.

“You need to come back home,” Isaiah wheezes. “Your family needs you. Thomas learned to walk, and Hannah can read now. Esther finally perfected her sewing skills, and Jeremiah got married. And you’re missing all of it, Heaven. Ruth still tears up every time you’re brought up. You abandoned her. You abandoned all of us.”

“Isaiah—”

Colton drives his fist into my husband’s stomach, but still, Isaiah doesn’t stop.

“You have a purpose, Heaven,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Heaven?” Xander asks, and the surprise on his face quickly morphs into pity. Of course he’d get it. He didn’t grow up at Cornerstone, but he still grew up in church.

“You need to stop ignoring it,” Isaiah continues. “You’ve caused your family so much shame. You’ve causedmeso much shame. My own wife ran away from me. Do you know what people say about us? About you?”

Colton drops his fists, and his eyes lock on mine. His expression is blank. I can’t read him, and not knowing what he’s thinking terrifies me. What if this pisses him off enough that he pulls out of the deal? Xander and Lucas would follow him in a heartbeat. I know they would.

“We should have at least three children by now,” Isaiah says, and a muscle in Colton’s jaw ticks. “Honestly, we should have a third on the way. You’ve immersed yourself in a life of sin, and in doing so, you’re stopping me from fulfilling one of the most holy of callings. Procreation is our—”

“Please stop,” I say, but my voice is too quiet, and he keeps talking over me. Tears well in my eyes. Even protected, I’m reverting back to the timid, terrified wife who scrambled to obey her husband’s every command.

Anger sparks in Xander’s eyes when he sees my expression. “That’s it.” He pushes up his sleeves. “Let me at him.”

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