Page 77 of Take Me to Church
About how dangerous it can be.
I can only imagine it's even worse when that dangerous man hunts a woman down and drags her into his car kicking and screaming.
Along with two somewhat innocent bystanders.
Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, Piper ends up thrown across the back seat along with me and Myra, the three of us squeezed in between my brother and my brother-in-law. My father climbs back into the driver's seat, huffing and puffing. There's blood running down his arm from where Piper did her best to take a chunk out, and a sheen of sweat glistens across his face from the first effort he's put into much of anything besides furthering his own ambitions.
But technically that's probably what this is too. He certainly didn't come to get Myra because he misses her and loves her and wants what’s best for her.
The soles of my feet sting and feel a little sticky against the mat beneath them, making me cringe at the damage I did trying to avoid landing exactly where I am. But it's nothing compared to what happened to Myra. She's conscious, but her eyes are glazed and unfocused and her head keeps lolling back and forth as the car races away. Hopefully it’s just shock, but, either way, any hope of escape rests squarely on my and Piper’s shoulders.
Unfortunately my partner in crime is new to this particular game.
Piper shifts around beside me, smacking at my brother as he tries to keep her pinned in place. "Get your goddamn hands off me you creep."
I brace, preparing for what I know is happening next, hating I can’t warn her fast enough so at least she’ll know it’s coming.
My brother slaps her across the face, the sound echoing through the interior of the SUV. Then he leans in, nose almost touching Piper’s. "Don't take the Lord's name in vain."
I want to grab her. Tell her to shut up. To play along. To be sweet. But I don't have the chance. In true Piper fashion, she winds up and lands a right hook in the center of his face, swinging her body as much as the confined space will allow. And obviously it's enough, because when it connects it makes a sickening crunching sound and blood shoots from both of his nostrils.
It's a deserved hit, but nowhere near as satisfying as the look of shock on his face. My brother has lived a life filled with agreeable women, so being faced with one who's not afraid of him must be one heck of a mind fuck.
"Keep them in line. If you can't control a woman, how are you supposed to lead a church?" My father starts spewing the nonsense fed to me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner my whole life. And somehow it flips a switch.
Maybe it's knowing Piper has my back. Maybe it's knowing if Myra was coherent she would too. Or maybe I just want to make sure Christian’s proud of me when he saves me. Because I know without a shadow of a doubt hewillsave me. He always has. He always will.
So I turn to my piece of shit brother-in-law and swing an elbow, catching him right in the cheekbone. I was worried the lack of wiggle room would work against me, but it actually ends up being pretty damn beneficial. Piper and I are significantly smaller than our adversaries, which means we get more momentum going. And when my brother-in-law manages to recover and tries to grab me, I'm able to get one leg up and kick, catching him in the forearm hard enough to slam his fist back against the window.
He yelps, face crumpled in pain, confirming that kicking is a great option. So I do it again, this time thrusting my scuffed and bleeding bare foot right at the center of his chest, using as much force as I can muster up.
I hear a scuffle beside me, but I'm twisted in my seat with my back to Piper, so all I can do is tell myself she's probably managing to accomplish twice what I am. And it seems like I’m accomplishing quite a bit because Matthias is clutching his chest and struggling to take a breath. I take advantage of his temporary incapacitation and knock the heel of my hand at his nose, just like I learned in the single self-defense class Piper dragged me to.
It's barely connected when the SUV jerks to one side, jumping up over a curb as my father spins in his seat, spittle flying from his mouth as he recites some sort of scripture meant to scare and intimidate me into submission.
It won't work. Not just because I refuse to let him intimidate me, but also because I can't seem to hear anything. There’s screaming and yelling and tires screeching and someone honking and it's all muddled together in one overwhelming cacophony that makes it impossible to decipher any one sound.
Until the car bounces again and comes to a sudden and violent stop.
Then everything gets very quiet. And very, very dark.
28
CHRISTIAN
I ROLL OVER in bed, disappointed Lydia managed to peel her body from mine during the night. I reach for her, intending to drag her back against me so I can finish waking up holding her close—and maybe with my hand between her thighs—but my reaching arm only meets empty sheets.
Squinting my eyes open to glare at the spot beside me, I sit up and press my palm into the still slightly warm bedding. She hasn't been gone long, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. She shouldn't be gone at all.
I kick away the blankets and get up, making a quick trip to the bathroom before pulling on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. It's not only Lydia and me in my house for now, so retrieving her in just my underwear isn’t an option.
Just as I finish pulling my T-shirt into place, the security system beeps, making the short alert it offers when one of the outside doors is opened and closed. I groan. If Jill has shown up again to steal more of my time with Lydia I'm going to—
I'm not going to do shit. I'm going to let her love Lydia the way she deserves to be loved. Her own mother was always entirely focused on seeing to her ass of a father's needs, so I can't imagine Lydia's ever had someone like Jill around to take care of her. If Jill’s smiling face greets me, I’ll suck it up and wait my turn.
Impatiently.
I open the bedroom door and start down the stairs, expecting the sound of female voices to carry through the hall, but my house is eerily silent. Too quiet considering I have at least three women under my roof.
