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CHAPTER

FORTY-FIVE

KARLIN

K arlin rushed along the wall, trying not to stumble on the rocks and other debris littered all over the ground.

Finally, she reached Axel, who was standing in place, muttering something to himself.

Pity swelled within her chest. As much as it saddened her to see him like this, it had to be so much worse for him to let her see him.

“Hey,” she said, pressing a hand gently to his back. He stiffened, but didn’t pull away. Then again, he didn’t turn toward her, either.

“I guess this desert keeps reminding me of the other one,” he said flatly. “I’m sorry this keeps happening. I’ll be okay in a second. Just gotta keep breathing and remembering that I’m standing on solid ground.”

She wrapped her arms around him from behind as best she could, feeling the shudder in his chest as air rushed in and out of his lungs.

“I hope you know that none of this changes anything about how I feel about you,” she said. “If anything, I’m thankful to see more of who you are.”

Finally, he turned toward her, pulling her into his chest before she had a chance to try and look into his eyes. “More than just a pretty face?” he joked.

“More than just the class clown.”

“I’ll take it.” They waited like that for several long seconds. She could feel his heartbeat beginning to slow and his breathing to even out. But that didn’t mean her own fears would pass so easily. What if the same thing happened again five minutes from now?

“What happened in Afghanistan was a tragic mistake,” she said after a while. “I don’t blame you, and I don’t blame you for struggling with the consequences of that trauma now. But I do think we’re in over our heads. We should run and get help before we get ourselves killed.”

For a moment, she thought that he might actually agree with her.

The thought of running away was so tempting, especially now that the sun was beginning to bathe the desert with light.

She could feel the hints of a warm day ahead.

They could get away from here, and with what they knew now, they could take down not just Senera, but Lily and Cora and their cult, as well.

Instead, Axel leaned back and looked down at her, cupping her jaw gently in his hands. “We can’t do that, Karlin,” he said firmly. “If there’s any chance that the sacrificial victim is still alive, I need to save them. I need to do it for Nico. And for Rome.”

“You might have another panic attack.”

He nodded. “I might, which is why you should leave. Go for help. Let me handle this.”

She was smart enough to know that, logically, he was right. It was the best thing to do. But she also knew her heart well enough to realize that leaving him was absolutely not an option.

“I promise I’ll wait to follow you until it’s safe.”

He shook his head. “Promise to pray for me.”

“I will,” she said.

God had clearly been with them when they’d escaped the cabin just in time for it to be struck with a flash flood. Maybe He’d been there all along.

Axel leaned down and kissed her again.

A few moments later, he was pushing on ahead, gun raised as he slipped silently along the wall.

ASHER

“Third time’s the charm,” Asher said to himself as he jiggled the knob of yet another locked door.

With a slight groan, he pressed on. There was another metal door up ahead, and this one had a few boxes leaning against the wall beside it. Maybe that was promising.

He could feel the sun beginning to warm his back now.

Even at this early hour, it was obvious that it was going to be a hot day for Amarillo in late October.

The same desert that had become a life-threatening nightmare mere hours ago would transform into something beautiful.

Flowers would peek out in search of the light.

Mineral veins would glitter in their barren red stones.

Beauty would follow the darkness and gloom, and shine all the more brightly for it.

Maybe that was promising, too.

He stopped in front of the door and leaned down to peer into the tops of the cardboard boxes. They were filled with cans of Pepsi, which was totally not what he expected a bunch of cult members to drink, but whatever.

He paused to get Karlin’s attention, pointing at the door. She gave him a thumbs-up from her position. Shockingly, she’d kept her promise, and was staying safely out of the way. Hopefully, she’d continue to keep it.

The door swung inward easily, and he kept his gun carefully ahead of him as he slipped out of the growing sunshine and into a shadowy, slightly musty-smelling room.

He could hear the drumbeats again, mingled with the occasional yell and round of chanting, but it was quieter now. Somehow, that made it even creepier.

He moved through several rooms–the cult clearly used this area for cargo and storage, or maybe the prior inhabitants of the building had simply left it that way–and headed in the direction of the noises.

He could hear Karlin behind him somewhere, but he didn’t want to stop and direct her.

If she got lost in the cargo area and stayed away from the action, all the better.

At last, he entered a long hallway. Up ahead, he could see that the room opened up into a larger space, and he could hear the sounds echoing off of the concrete walls.

Gripping his gun like a safety blanket, he moved forward slowly, realizing to his horror that he was actually using a couple techniques he’d been taught at the stealth course Gabe had forced all of the FBS operatives to go to.

Not that he’d ever actually tell his bossy big brother he’d been right about anything.

As he reached the edge of the wall and the end of his cover, he felt his adrenaline beginning to surge.

He was going to be hopelessly outnumbered, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the cult was armed–he knew at least Lily had a gun– but he couldn’t let such details deter him.

Not if someone might be facing their imminent death, and not when Karlin was behind him somewhere, trusting him to keep her safe.

But none of his thoughts prepared him for what he saw when he poked his head around the corner and peered into the room.

There was no crowd.

The drumbeats surrounded him, the sound pouring gently out of huge speakers that had been set up at intervals around the perimeter of the room.

The spooky cult chanting had been about as authentic as Bajwa’s get-in-the-mood-for-drugs mix CD.

But the room wasn’t empty, either. Several people milled around the large space, which was surprisingly modern and well-maintained considering the rest of the building. It sort of reminded him of a nicer version of a high school gym.

He saw several scrawny guys, two of whom were wearing dreadlocks and presumably ironic Britney Spears t-shirts, along with several girls who couldn’t have been out of their teens yet.

Well, that was one local mystery solved. So long as he managed to get the girls out of here safely.

But where were Lily and Cora?

He took two steps forward. He would be exposed if anyone looked in his direction, but so far, he hadn’t seen any other weapons.

As his field of vision expanded, he noticed a huge photograph on the wall.

It featured an older man with thick glasses, who was mostly bald and dressed in a short-sleeved button-up shirt.

It was such an odd decoration that for several long seconds, he didn’t realize what was located directly beneath it.

He gripped the gun more tightly, trying to stop his hands from shaking.

He had found the two women at last.

Cora was lying on what he could only describe as a wooden altar, and Lily was standing in front of her.

When she shifted her weight, Asher’s terror deepened.

Though there was no sign of a gun, Lily was holding a large dagger in both hands, and its point was pressed firmly against the younger woman’s throat.