Page 41 of Savage Hate
Not for long? What the hell doesthatmean? I’m still questioning it when I hear someone enter the studio. I turn to ask Silas what he meant by that, but Liam is standing against the door.
And two other guys flank him.
“Um,” I mumble, looking around. “Hi. Can I help you?”
Liam’s eyes narrow. “Last chance, Lennon. Come work for us and leave this place behind. We can show you things you never thought were possible. We can ensure your happiness. But you need to leave this place now. After tonight, my offer will no longer be valid.”
I cross my arms, thoroughly pissed that my last response wasn’t enough for him. “I am not interested in joining a fucking cult,” I say, raising my voice just a bit. My eyes flick to his two sidekicks. They’re older, like him, and though they seem to be putting on a nice front, they’re both standing against either side of the door, as if they’re not going to let me pass. My stomach drops at the realization that I can’t count on Silas to save me like Damon did yesterday, since I know he won’t be back right away. I can’t count on any of them… Damon and Jude aren’t even here. “What do you want from me?”
Liam looks at his sidekicks, and they turn to leave. “I’m sorry that you’re going to get mixed up in all of this, Lennon,” he snarls quietly. “These guys are not good people.”
“And you are?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
He growls. “You’re making a mistake.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” I snap.
He takes a step forward, but I stand my ground. Even as he stops a mere foot from me, I don’t budge. I don’t break eye contact. Isn’t that what they say in the wilderness? If you break eye contact, that means you’re submitting?
I open my mouth to ask him to leave, when someone pulls him away, making him stumble. He catches himself on one of the chairs, almost falling to the floor. I look at Damon, who is watching Liam with wrathful fury. His fists are up.
Liam is panting as he holds his hands up, surrendering. “I had to try one last time, Brooks.”
Silas and Jude walk through the door a second later, and they glare at Liam as he walks out, giving me one last look before walking away.
“You okay?” Silas asks, setting a bag down on the desk.
“What the fuck did he want?” Jude asks.
I shrug, rubbing my neck. “I don’t know.” I can’t quite shake the uneasiness of his threat, though.
I’m sorry that you’re going to get mixed up in all of this, Lennon.
Silas reaches into his bag and brings me a plastic container with six, full-sized funfetti cupcakes as Jude and Damon walk over to their stations.
“I said vanilla,” I whine, and he smiles as he opens the container and pulls one out for me.
“And I said not for long,” he repeats. “Do we look like vanilla to you?”
I snort. “Not exactly.” I take the cupcake and peel the paper off. “Why is Liam trying to recruit me?” Out of the three of them, he will know best.
Silas sighs, and I notice Damon and Jude turning to face us as he shakes his head.
“He suspects we’re behind the recent attack on his members,” he answers, crossing his arms, and I don’t like the way his lips quirk upwards. “Several people in his church have been turning up with face tattoos,” he adds.
Realization hits me. “You–you’re–” I look at his rosary. “You wear that to taunt him.”
Silas shakes his head, and his golden hair falls in front of his beautiful face. “I wear it to show him that he didn’t win.”
I smirk. “It’s like the modern-day version of the Scarlet Letter.”
He shrugs and looks down at his feet. “My parents got wrapped up in their bullshit. Church of the Rapture. That’s their name.”
It sends chills down my spine. “Rapture?”
“Liam and his fellow cult members think the apocalypse will come soon, and all Believers–dead or alive–will ascend to the clouds to meet Jesus,” Jude summarizes, his voice droll. “They’re a bunch of homophobic, racist idiots.”
My eyebrows shoot up as I look back at Silas. “And your parents…”
