Page 48 of Marked for Execution
“How do they keep large livestock in a place like this?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out.”
I cleared my throat subtly to tell the guys to shut up. Devon stopped before a little cabin-style home that had seen better days.
“Claire! Would you come here, please?” he called out.
A young woman who lookedSili’sage came running. She was in a dress very similar to the first woman we saw. Now that I thought about it, everyone here dressed alike.
“Can you please sweep through the home before our guests enter? I’ll entertain them until you are done. You have ten minutes.”
“Yes, High Father Devon.”
“That’s a good girl.”
Reed choked next to me, and my eyes sharpened on the way she interacted with him. There was something strange here. There had been rumors about different religions that popped up in the world, but I had yet to run into one of their compounds. Seems we just hit the jackpot.
Siligrabbed onto my pants even tighter, and my body tensed. I reached my arm back to comfort her—a mistake.The High Father’s eyes went from eyeing the young woman’s ass to snapping toSili’slocation in a second.
“Oh, I did not notice we had another in your group.”
“Yes, we all travel together often. Safety in numbers, you know. How can we help you in this community during our stay, Mr. Devon?” Samuel quickly interjected to throw him off course.
“It’s wonderful of you to offer, my friend, but we have plenty of workers here. Just enjoy your stay, and make sure you keep your doors closed at night.”
Well, that was curious.
The young girl quickly exited the home, and ‘High Father’ Devon left us with a smile. This place gave me the damn creeps. We all entered the home and shut the door, making sure to lock and secure it.
The men looked around, checked all the windows, and the first thing we realized was the fact that there was only one exit: the front door.
“Are all the homes around here like this?” Reed askedSili.
“From what I remember, yes. There was a central area that served as a market for trade goods. The compound also has a blacksmith on hand and a forge.”
What were we in, the olden days?A forge? One thing was for sure, they had metal weapons secured somewhere. None of the residents we had seen so far seemed to carry any on their body, but I wouldn’t put it past them just yet.
Gunner ran his hand across the walls as he asked, “Fitri. What else do you remember? Tell us everything you know. We’re going to need all the information we can get.”
Silisat on the couch and rubbed at her temples. “The building I was imprisoned in was toward the far back. The rest of the houses here all look about the same, except for the one that houses the leader. I was only here for a very short time before…something happened…and they chained me up.”
“What? What happened?” he prodded.
She snapped. “What do you want me to say, Gunner? My memories then were fragmented already. All I know is one of the women accused me of making her husband think impure thoughts, and she decided to kill me.” Fitri stood up and stared at him intently. “When my skin stitched together, they tackled me to the ground and threw me in chains, locked me away from the world. The only person who didn’t condemn me was the other prisoner.”
Gunner walked forward, and I blocked him with my hand. He stared at me in defiance, but I would kill him if he did anything to her. “All of us here have hunted bloodsuckers in the past, it’s no secret.Siliis different.”
He gave me an incredulous look. “You really think I’d doanythingto her? She’s part of the fuckingteam,man. I was trying to comfort her. No need to piss on your territory, I get it. We all do. You need to calm the fuck down.”
My nostrils flared and my hands turned into fists. I was stopped before I could do anything stupid by gentle fingers on my arm sliding down to open my hands back up.
“Gunner, everyone. I-I don’t know what I am. I just know that once I passed a certain age, things started to become clearer. The fact that I’m not like others around me has condemned me everywhere I go. My senses are heightened, and I heal faster than most. W-Whatever happened to that last vampire, I can’t even tell you, because even I don’t know what happened.”
“We’ll figure it out later,Sili.” I placed my hand on her shoulder to comfort her and she exhaled. I loved the fact that I had that effect on her. “Right now, we need to recon this compound.”
“We’ll wait until nightfall. I’ll stay here in case someone comes by. We can’t all go out.” Samuel kicked his feet up on the short table after sitting down on the couch next toSili.
“Fitri is the smallest. She’s the best for this,” Reed supplied.