Page 44 of Deliverance

“And nothing. Do you want to be with me?” Maggie asks.

I pause for a moment before giving a soft nod.

“And I want to be with you, Bridgette,” she says before pausing with a shake of her head. “Baby B, I’m falling for you, hard and fast. There is no stopping it for me,” Maggie admits vulnerably.

I reach up, brushing a loose piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Me either,” I admit.

“We make our own destiny, baby. Don’t think about the future when we have the present. Let’s enjoy now and handle tomorrow as it comes.”

I nod at that, and she smiles, pressing her lips against mine. I lean into the kiss before she nuzzles into me and we both slip off into a blissful sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Maggie

Pulling on the lilac lace fabric, my body physically shudders. Seriously, it’s not enough that my mom is a horrible bitch. She has to make me dress like a prima ballerina? No, I’m sorry. That’s an insult to ballerinas everywhere. This dress is hideous. Then again, I’m sure that’s the point. My mother always prefers to be the best dressed in the room. If she’s not…women’s dresses have been known to be ‘accidentally’ ripped, wine spilled on them, or disappear altogether from the dry cleaner. She’s egotistical and competitive with a nasty jealousy streak.

What a prize Harry won.

The fabric of the dress wraps around my neck, choking the life out of me and my spirit. Okay, that’s dramatic, but seriously. It’s both uncomfortable and hideous. You’d think I’d get a say in what I wear to parties and events like this, right? Wrong. Clearly you haven’t lived in Salem, you haven’t been raised as a part of the Brethren. Let me enlighten you. It’s like a cult that no one is allowed to call a cult. So everyone refers to it as an order or a society, so they feel less culty. There are certain ways that things are done. There is a hierarchy, and my family, and Bridgette’s for that matter, are far from the top. In fact, we are quite near the bottom.

Does that matter to people like Harry Brenton or my mother, though?

No.

At the end of the day, they are a part of this ‘grand’ society which offers and promises all the riches and success that life has to offer you. Always at a price, though. You’re born into the Brethren; you die in the Brethren. If you try to leave, you die anyway. No loopholes, no get out of jail free cards. A lifetime of servitude is the price we all pay. For what? Some nice homes? Good jobs? Free education? It all sounds great on paper, but nothing can take the place of free will. Right now, I wish I had any scrap of it just to pry myself out of this fucking dress.

The plus side is that classes begin at Gallows Hill University in three weeks. That means in less than twenty-one days, I will be living in a dorm room, free of my mother’s constant watchful eye. I literally couldn’t be more excited to get the fuck away from her and out of here.

Tossing my phone into my clutch, I open my bedroom door and step into the hallway, slamming into Brad. He catches me easily and laughs.

“Easy there, Mags. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were throwing yourself at me. Which couldn’t be true since you’re fucking my sister.”

My eyes widen, and I slap my hand over his mouth.

“Are you fucking stupid? Keep your voice down!” I hiss.

He shakes his head, laughing harder as he pushes my hand away.

“Relax. Everyone is already in the limo. I was sent to collect you.”

I lift an eyebrow.

“Why the fuck are we taking a limo? It’s a dinner party, not the fucking prom.”

Brad shrugs his shoulders as he adjusts the bow tie on his tux.

“You don’t know my father well enough yet, but image is more important to him than it is to others. He wants to be perceived like he’s higher up in the Brethren than he actually is.”

I don’t even try to suppress my eyeroll as we make our way downstairs and out to the car. Brad opens the door for me and I nod in thanks before sliding in. Harry is sitting in the seat facing forward, my mother snuggled up on his arm while Bridgette took the sideways seat across from me. I nod in greeting as Brad slides into the seat opposite of his dad. As soon as the door is shut, the car takes off.

“Because of you, we are now late,” my mother spits at me as Harry types away on his phone.

“Sorry,” I say, sounding anything but as I look out the window.

“You will be!” she seethes. “I can’t believe my own daughter would be so disrespectful that?—”