Page 27 of Broken Highway (Cult Boys #1)
SEVEN
For he who finds solace in the dark will find immeasurable peace in the light.
I can’t see much, only what’s directly ahead of me which is nothing more than an empty blackness. My arms are restrained on either side of me, stretched out with cold cuffs around the wrists.
In the darkness, I wait.
Wait for the light of day to bring me peace.
Assuming I ever leave this room.
Mason and Thomas found us in the church.
I spent so long running that I think I just got exhausted by the idea of running anymore.
It was a bad idea to stay that long in the church when the wreckage wasn’t far away.
I should have known they’d find us. Should have convinced Noah to keep going, but I was injured, without sleep, and curled up next to the only person I’ve ever loved.
Curled up on that tiny wooden pew with a man who refuses to say those words back.
They woke us up in the middle of a much-needed rest. They injected Noah with something that made him sleep throughout the remainder of the day and through the next night. If I know him at all, he’s awake somewhere, raising absolute hell.
I didn’t get the same treatment because the threat of them putting a bullet in the back of Noah’s head was enough to make me comply with their orders.
Now, I await my fate in the dark confines of what they call the box.
It’s similar to the hole, but darker. Never touched by the light of the sun.
It’s buried deep in the basement of The Cross—the church, so to speak.
The usage of the box is reserved for the worst offenses.
Defecting from the church is one of those offenses, especially when the defector is hand-chosen by the leader.
That used to be Magnus, but after I killed his sorry ass, Silas ascended the proverbial throne.
Haven’t seen him since he stepped into Magnus’ dirty shoes.
Really not looking forward to coming face to face with him, either.
If the walls closed in on me anymore, I’d be a puddle of bloody bones. Thankfully, the people around here aren’t geniuses. They don’t possess the mechanical inclination to build a box with walls that move. Alas, I’m right back at the place I swore I’d never return.
The metal door at the head of the room slides open with a crunching sound as a box of light filters forward, lighting a narrow path leading to me. A silhouette of a man enters through the door slowly, his face hidden by the shadows.
It’s Silas. I can tell by the way he walks. Each step is measured and his posture is straight. Always playing the part of the leader.
“I’m surprised your henchmen let you walk into this room alone,” I say, taunting him. “Haven’t you heard? I’m a dangerous man these days.”
“You’d have to break those chains to have a chance of hurting me and we both know that’s not happening.” He comes to a stop before me, towering over my slumped body. “But if God grants you the strength to do the impossible, I’d welcome you to try. Who am I to stand in the way of his grand design?”
“I hope you brought a puke bucket for this torture session, because I’m about to hurl.”
My eyes adjust to the darkness, helped by the dim light from the hallway.
The shadows peel back from his face and I can vaguely make out a few details.
He’s fresh-shaven as the head of the church is supposed to be.
Gone is his beard and mustache. He wears a replica of the silver cross Magnus always wore around his neck.
I assume the real thing is in an evidence locker somewhere.
“The sarcastic nature you’ve adopted is not welcome within these walls,” he says sternly.
“My apologies. I forgot we’re in the basement of a church. I’ll be on my best behavior from here on out. ”
“Four walls and a roof, remember?” He lifts me by my chin. Forces me to make eye contact with him. “Or have the wicked tentacles of the outside world made you forget? There’s a reckoning coming for what you did to Pike and his men.”
“I hear Ascension is right around the corner, so what did I really take from them?”
“A front-row seat. You took away their right to peer into the eyes of our maker as we offer ourselves fully.”
I’m a man known to run my mouth. I have no incentive to stop now. “I know why you didn’t bring any backup with you today. It’s because you know I’ll tell them everything.”
“Your word means nothing,” he says with a laugh. “Do you think anyone here is going to believe the lies of a known pervert?”
I look him straight in the eyes. “How many times did I suck your dick, Silas?”
He stares right back, the smile disappearing from his face. “Never.”
“How many times did you come while moaning my name?”
He balls his hand into a fist as a familiar look passes over him, his cheeks pulling taut and his eyes narrowing.
“How many times did you wish you could be inside me, to have me completely?”
He throws a punch, landing with a crack against my chest. The chains rattle as I stumble sideways.
The fiery rage that consumes him is nothing new to me.
When we were younger, I’d calm him with my lips wrapped around his dick.
He’s not willing to indulge in such outlets anymore.
I’d rather take the punches, anyway. Either way, my body is the vessel for him to sate the rage that’s held him captive since the day I met him.
I recover from the first blow and stare him down. “How many times did you fantasize about sucking my cock, too?”
Another punch, this one landing at the side of my mouth. The taste of blood trickles over the length of my tongue and drips down the back of my throat. My lip quivers, blood dripping down my chin.
He leans down in front of me. “The only other person who knows is dead. You killed him, remember? Our secrets went to the grave with him.”
“Magnus chose you because you’re weak. He took you under his wings because he couldn’t control me.
He walked in on us and saw that look on your face as you came.
Watched you find religion with your cock stuffed down the back of my throat, and he still chose you because he knew you’d do whatever he told you to.
” I pull at the chains, a desperate attempt to free myself that I know has no probability of success.
The harder I pull, the more the metal cuffs cut into my flesh.
“Do you think you were ever in control? You weren’t.
Every time I tasted your cock, it was because it was what I wanted.
” I stare down at him, my voice raising into a roar.
“I got what I wanted from you. You were nothing more than a toy for me to play with.”
The unbreakable Silas Yates simply smiles. Either the words I say have no effect on him or he’s gotten so good at pretending that I can’t read him anymore.
“The world is coming to an end, princess.” He smears a finger over my lip, collecting the blood.
He stands up and sucks his finger clean.
“If I were you, I’d begin writing my apologies to God.
Your boyfriend is going to watch it all.
He’ll perish from this world, but you won’t see him on the other side. He doesn’t know God like we do.”
“I don’t believe in god,” I scowl. “Not anymore. Not your god.”
“You were one of his chosen ones,” he says, dripping with disappointment.
The rage dissipates in an instant, replaced by some semblance of grief.
“You turned your back on him and he still embraces you with all his love. We didn’t drag you back here to punish you.
We dragged you back to save you.” A hand falls upon each of my cheeks.
Gentle, graceful. The touch of a man who didn’t just beat the shit out of my face.
“Your sister is the perfect example of God’s grace.
She was caught enabling a defector, and she has been granted absolution by his holiness.
She will be right beside me when the time comes.
Her last act as a mere mortal will be repentance. ”
“What about the children?” I try to reason with him, knowing there’s nothing I can do when I’m bound by these chains. Seeing his demeanor change like this gives me the faintest sense of hope, the smallest inkling there’s still a part of him that can be reached with emotion.
“Do you think I’d deny them the same warm embrace of our God?”
“They’re children,” I grind out between gritted teeth.
“Are you going to pretend to care about children now? Because I, too, remember everything.” He takes a measured step back.
Away from me. Towards the sliding door. “I remember how many times you said you hated them. But you never actually hated them, did you? Just hated the thought of them. Hated they’d grow up to be just like you. ”
“You’re going to let your own child die?”
He steels himself. “He will stand beside me on the day of judgement.”
“You don’t even believe in Ascension,” I scream. “You always said Magnus was full of shit. How the hell have you fallen this far in the six months I’ve been gone?”
“He made me see the light.” He shrugs with apathy. “See, I still think about it sometimes.”
“Think about what?”
“Think about you when I’m fucking your sister.
” He approaches again, closing the distance between us in an instant.
“Think about the way those lips felt around me.” He squeezes my cheeks with an iron grip, prying my mouth open.
I probably look like a fucking fish and he kisses me anyway.
Forces his tongue into my mouth. Wet, hungry.
Chews hard at my bottom lip before breaking away.
He cleans his lips with a sweep of his arm. “It disgusts me.”
“So, you’re going to kill everyone in this fucking place because you hate yourself?”
“I’m saving everyone in this place from the wickedness that’s swallowing this world whole.
” He walks away while continuing to drone on, “You share blame in this, by the way. The FBI has been poking around ever since you blew Magnus’ brains out.
When they show up and find almost two hundred bodies, I want you to think about that.
Your actions brought about this day of reckoning faster than any of us could have predicted.
” He turns on his feet when he reaches the sliding door.
“When you’re taking your last breaths, I want that to be the last thing on your mind. ”
“Silas,” I beg. “Don’t do this.”
“I’m bored now, so someone will come take you to your cell.” He slams the door shut. But on the other side of it, he yells, “See you at Ascension.”
And then I’m alone again.
Guess I’ve always been alone.
I angle my head down to mouth my lips over the fabric of my shirt, desperately trying to clean the stench of Silas from my flesh. Try to wash away the sin, not of kissing a man, but rather the fact that it wasn’t Noah.