Page 7

Chapter Seven

Amelia made her way down one of the many walking paths that ran from the main resort to the Flock’s compound and living quarters. It was all kept very separate for good reason. It wouldn’t do any good for guests to see what went on with private rituals, and the reverse was also true. There were certain areas of the retreat that were not for everyday average guests. No. They were for the sexually deviant or the ones with needs that could not be met by normal—safe—means.

For those supernaturals who got off on bloodletting in the extreme or even killing.

The retreat supplied everything they’d need. It was easy for Cal and his followers to find fodder to be lambs to the slaughter. They preyed upon vulnerable humans and supernaturals. Those on the streets were their favorite. Runaways were pure gold in their eyes. No one would miss them if they vanished from the streets, never to be seen again. They were easy targets for the cult. The Flock had recruiters whose entire job was to seek out these “strays.”

The Flock brought them into the fold, making them think they were joining a family of sorts, a higher calling, a group with like-minded individuals who shared ideological ideas. But they weren’t. They were signing up to be food or worse.

Most of the fodder recruits were humans with a few weaker supernaturals sprinkled in. The humans didn’t know supernaturals were real or how dangerous the cult was. Hell, they didn’t even know they were joining a cult. It wasn’t like anyone woke up and said, “Today sounds like a great day to follow a madman.” No. They were finessed. Persuaded to be part of something more. Something beautiful. Something wonderful.

Lies.

Many of the teen runaways thought they were going to live in a place with warm beds and hot food. And what they thought was safety.

It was anything but.

For most, it was hell and their final resting place.

Amelia wasn’t supposed to know the full extent of what went on in some of the VIP areas of the retreat. Her duties with the greenhouse and herbal remedies kept her busy and, for the most part, isolated. Very rarely did she even find herself off compound grounds and in the resort area. She’d only just been there because she was dropping off fresh-cut flowers for the lobby area. The request for them had come in bright and early.

Normally, she avoided the resort for good reason. The path to it also led to another gathering area. This one was more secluded, but it wasn’t for Flock members. It was for guests to do unsavory things without notice. What had happened there was still burned into her brain, forever etched into her memory—haunting her nightmares.

She’d been looking for her mother one night, to ask her opinion on some cuttings that weren’t thriving. Amelia had happened upon one of the cult’s acts of violence by accident on the eve of her eighteenth birthday. She’d stumbled upon two shifter males who had been VIP guests at the resort, eating what was left of their victim—a young woman Amelia had befriended in passing two weeks prior. The girl had been a teen runaway who had been picked up from recruiters in Salt Lake City. She’d thought Cal and the others were the answer to her prayers.

All they’d done was serve her up to monsters.

Amelia didn’t want to think about everything her friend had endured prior to being granted the freedom of death. There were nights she’d close her eyes and still see it all in her head again. See the shifters biting and tearing into flesh. Hear their snarls. Smell the evil pouring off them.

The sounds of an engine roaring pulled Amelia from remembered horrors.

It wasn’t shocking to hear a vehicle approaching on the path. It was one of the paths that were made to accommodate small all-terrain vehicles, golf carts, and snowmobiles when the area was blanketed in snow.

Most of the women born into the cult didn’t know how to drive anything, let alone a golf cart. It wasn’t something the men thought the women needed to know. There was a lot they felt that way about.

They’d single-handedly done their best to set back the women’s rights movement some hundred-plus years to the glory days, in their opinion.

Thankfully, Jeanie Tippons didn’t share their viewpoints. Jeanie had been instrumental in teaching Amelia’s mother there was more to the world than what the Flock and Cal had presented. Jeanie taught Abigail and Amelia how to use a computer, how to operate a cell phone, and how to drive. Without her, they’d have been even more ill-prepared to flee than they had been.

Amelia stepped off the path just in time for Brian, one of the men from her father’s security detail, to come flying down the path on an all-terrain utility cart. Unlike many men in the Flock, Brian kept his dark hair cut close to his head. He didn’t wear all white, either. Though he did wear a white T-shirt with an emblem for the resort on it.

Brian slowed when he saw her, and a sick-looking grin spread over his face. “Susan find you yet?”

Amelia stiffened. If Susan was hunting for her, it wasn’t for anything good. “No. Why?”

Brian wasn’t just one of her father’s right-hand men and part of his security detail; he was tight with Susan, making him extra dangerous and anything but a friend. More than once Amelia had happened upon Brian and Susan engaging in various sex acts. And she knew for a fact Brian had had a hand in the disappearance of several female Flock members over the last few months. He wasn’t someone anyone would want to be alone with on a back path with for any length of time.

“Susan says you’re getting the VIP guest arriving today. That you’re set up to handle all his needs.”

“Me?” asked Amelia, her eyes widening. She’d never before been tasked with handling any guests. Each of her training lessons had been conducted with Flock members only. Her father made sure to keep her far from outsiders. “Are you positive?”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I heard Cal give her the order myself. So did Taggert.”

Amelia flinched at the mention of Taggert. She didn’t need to be told Taggert took the news of Amelia handling any guest poorly.

The man snorted. “Father seems to think this guy arriving is someone special. The Bringer was mentioned. Might be him. Would make sense. That is who Father has been saving you for, isn’t it?”

It couldn’t be. The Bringer of Change? Was that who her father thought was coming today? Was that why he was having her service the male?

She’d spent her life being told she was destined for some Bringer. Some man she didn’t know. The Bringer had become a cross between a boogeyman and a god in Amelia’s mind. Someone she was sure would never actually come. That he, like a number of Cal’s prophecies, would never pan out.

If Brian was right, and the male Cal was sure was the Bringer was arriving, or worse yet, had already arrived, Amelia’s time had run out.

The urge to flee was great but she couldn’t. Not yet. She’d planned to make her move under the cover of darkness tomorrow night. Right before she sent word to Ace that she and Andie were safe. Nothing was ready for her just yet. Tonight was one of the mandatory normal gatherings. Her absence would be noticed. But tomorrow was the night Cal and his men went off to his large cabin and held private meetings.

She knew what went on at the meetings.

Sex. Mind-altering drugs. Blood play. Murder.

Everything that would keep the men occupied while she took her sister and vanished into the night.

“You look a little pale there, Amelia,” said Brian, a teasing note to his voice. “Everything all right?”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him exactly what she thought of him, but she knew better. He could make the next twenty-four hours extremely difficult for her. It was best she continue to remain silent on the matter and focus on her escape plan. “Everything is fine. I’m just, erm, excited to be allowed to finally do my part and contribute to the Flock. I know how you all see my work in the greenhouses as anything but a real contribution.”

It took all she had to avoid choking on the words.

Something she couldn’t read passed over the man’s face. “You should head back in the direction of the resort. Taggert wants to speak with you.”

“I will. Thank you.” Amelia waited as Brian drove off toward the resort. She then hurried on her way, which was in the opposite direction of Taggert. Dealing with him when he wasn’t riled was bad enough. If he was in a mood because of talk of the Bringer, he would be impossible to handle.

If that wasn’t a big enough issue, she had to think of a way to get out of servicing any guest—Bringer or not. If she couldn’t, she’d need to do what had to be done. Like it or not. Her future depended on it. So did Andie’s.

Panicked on how to handle servicing a guest, Amelia wasn’t paying attention and missed the small path that forked off to her cabin. When she stepped out into a clearing near the river, she sighed.

When she turned and ran directly into Taggert’s large form, fear raced over her.

She also knew then that Brian had realized she’d want to stay away from Taggert, so he’d lied about the man’s location.

Taggert licked his lips, staring down at her. “Hello there, Amelia. I’ve been looking for you. You weren’t in any of the greenhouses and you weren’t at your cabin.”

She backed up somewhat, trying to put distance between herself and the madman. “I need to go check on Andie and then—”

He caught her upper arm in his steely grasp. “And then what? Handle the new VIP? See to the needs of the fucking Bringer?”

She stared blankly up at him, at a loss for what to say to talk her way out of the situation. Some of the males could scent a lie. She was sure Taggert was one of them.

Just then, Andie came rushing out of the tall brush, the red ball she was never without under one arm. She was dressed in all white with her dark hair pulled back into white ribbons. There was a pure innocence about her that always melted Amelia’s heart.

Andie was gentle natured yet had seen great horrors in her short four years on earth. Her gaze landed on Amelia, and she froze.

Taggert cursed under his breath at the arrival of the little girl.

Amelia darted away from Taggert’s grasp and bent in front of her little sister protectively. “Hey, sweetie. I was just coming to check on you. Did you have lunch yet?”

Andie nodded. She’d not spoken a word since their mother’s death. Witnessing it had traumatized her. No help had been provided for her despite Amelia’s desperate pleas for assistance. Andie needed to see a professional. She needed more help than Amelia, alone, could provide. Their father didn’t seem to think the fact the little girl hadn’t uttered a word in two years was a problem.

He wouldn’t.

His thoughts were that she’d speak when she had something worth saying. Not until.

Amelia put her hand over Andie’s stomach and kissed her sister’s forehead. “Come on, sweetie, let’s get you up to the cabin for a nap. I can read you a book, too. Sound good?”

“She’s old enough to see herself back to your cabin,” said Taggert, coming up behind Amelia. “She doesn’t need you with her nonstop.”

“She’s only four,” protested Amelia.

“And that’s old enough.” He took Andie’s red ball and threw it long and hard, up and over the trees. “Go fetch, little girl.”

Amelia spun around fast, her gaze narrowing on the man. It wasn’t like her to stand up to the bully, but she wouldn’t let him harm or scare Andie in any way. For her sister, she’d do anything, even if it meant facing down the devil himself—or his right-hand man in this case.

He grinned. “Careful, Amelia. You look like you might be considering issuing a challenge. Father isn’t here to step in and protect you. And I’m not feeling very forgiving right now. Especially not with knowing what he’ll have you doing in hours. You are to be mine . Not some Bringer’s.”

Amelia tensed and touched her sister’s head lightly. “Sweetie, go back to our cabin. Go inside. I’ll come for you in a little bit, okay?”

Andie nodded but Amelia didn’t miss the cold glare her little sister directed at Taggert. It actually sent a shiver through Amelia. In that moment, Andie’s expression looked a lot like their father’s when he was angry. That was chilling. She didn’t want her sister to let hate into her heart. It would be all too easy to turn out like their dad if she did.

“No,” whispered Amelia, worried Andie might reveal she was gifted with magiks in an attempt to protect her. “Go.”

Andie ran off in the direction Taggert had thrown her ball.

The second Andie was gone, Taggert began advancing on Amelia.