Page 9 of The White Rider
“If you can get the two of us together and she candescribethem to me, I can draw all the evil Marthas to make things a little easier when the raid goes down. I’m all about rescuing those women with as little trauma as possible. I get we are going to have to weed out those who are complicit, but this could make that a lot easier.”
Pepper cocked an eyebrow at me.
“I thought you were a scientist, not a sketch artist.”
“I barely passed high school chemistry, but I helped with the vaccine in other ways. Before all this, I was a tattoo artist with a year-long waitlist. I can draw every single Martha that hurt your friend and all those other women they kidnapped. I have no doubt when they are rounded up and questioned, that Isaiah’s supporters will claim they were held there against their will. I’m not stupid. Some of those women think Isaiah’s ideas come from God and are hurting other women on purpose.”
“You’d get along with Daria just fine. She’s the one that escaped. They didn’t break her. She’s pissed and wants them all dead. She’d be happy to give information to any of you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Pepper,” Asher said.
“Why? Because this one is his daughter? We were all listening to the radio that night. If she’s the one that helped with the vaccine, then she’s Isaiah’s daughter.”
I knew they were trying to keep that bit secret, but anyone who heard the radio that night, and knew who those four angels were, could put two and two together.
“Please don’t hold that against me. I hate him. I ran away when I was sixteen. I’m here to stop him. I hate everything he’s doing.”
“Isaiah wants Ariel back. It’s not because she’s his daughter and he cares for her. He wants to experiment on her to figure out how to alter the Rage Mutation to reinfect the immune people. I know you trust your people, but we need as few people as possible knowing Ariel is here.”
“It’s a little late for that. You four are famous here. Even more so now that the Rage Heads are dead and Leif has a vaccine. You broadcasted to anyone with a radio that the president’s daughter was with you. She made it pretty clear she hated him. Anyone who knows you would know you’d keep her with you. You wouldn’t stash her somewhere. Isaiah could get radio access back, and he’s still got fans around the country.”
I punched Asher in the arm and then instantly regretted it. He was built like a rock, and doing that hurt my hand more than him.
“Tell that to this asshole right here because that’s exactly what he wanted to do.”
Asher glared at me. If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under.
“Not having to deal with your charming personality would have been a bonus.”
“Shut the fuck up. I’m awesome. Your brothers think so.”
“Well, I’m not my brothers. You have a foul mouth, and you get on my nerves.”
Pepper started laughing, and I didn’t find this funny. The urge to maul Asher was rising again, and I already knew I’d get my ass handed to me.
“You two are totally going to hate fuck,” Pepper laughed. “I’d pay money to watch that since television isn’t a thing anymore.”
“Oh, please,” Asher snapped. “She may have confused my brothers, but I’m not buying it.”
“You’ve me Aeron, Leif, and Dice. I’ve got standards. I don’t need to collect the entire set if it means having to deal with Asher being a dick to me.”
“I’ll get Daria to Ariel and tell her to keep it on the down-low, but everyone here is going to know you’ve got Isaiah’s daughter stashed away somewhere. And I’m not wrong. You two are going to have explosive hate sex,” Pepper said as she skipped out of the motel room.
I literally didn’t care what that painting said or how sexy he was. I absolutely wasn’t going there with Asher.
Chapter 6
I
really didn’t want an entire army of Bubbas after me. If I didn’t die in the experiments, I’d probably be given to the top Bubba to be his Martha. I got that I needed to stay hidden and trust needed to be earned, but weren’t the resistance the good guys? I thought you could trust them. My father had done enough damage that they wouldn’t turn me over to him. They had to know he was crazy.
“You aren’t thinking clearly, Ariel,” Asher argued. “They don’t know you. You heard Pepper. Several of their women have gone missing—girlfriends, wives, friends, mothers. You’re a stranger. These people are desperate. One of them could negotiate an exchange of you for one of their women. They could get ambushed on the road and offer you for freedom.
“I don’t even like the idea of you seeing Daria. I get what you are trying to do, and the idea is a good one. Daria saw things on the inside. She probably saw her friends in there. She could see you as an out, an opportunity to free her friends.”
I scowled at Asher. A lot of what he said made sense, but I got Daria on a deep level. I was held captive by the Antichrist too.
“You really don’t understand women, do you? Daria would have seen awful things when she was with them. She had things done to her. I’m sure when she escaped, she wanted to bring people with her. Why that didn’t happen, I don’t know. Maybe it was too risky, maybe all that propaganda did a number on them, and they didn’t want to leave.
