Page 11

11

Nash

The sound of the new recruit’s terrified screams fill the air, so I hurry over to where Nadine’s guys are holding her before they do something stupid and we have another dead girl on our hands. I throw open the door and see I might be too late. Three of them hold her down on a sofa while the fourth looms over her threatening to give her a taste of what real pain feels like.

Obviously, none of what Micah’s ever preached has sunk in with these goons.

“That’s enough,” I bellow, knowing I’m likely going to have to deal with a hassle from them. Before they can start claiming they have the right to do what they want because their boss said so, I quickly add, “Nadine needs your help with the dead girl. You don’t want to keep her waiting.”

That’s enough to make the three guys restraining the new woman hurry toward the door, but the one doing his best to terrify her remains, likely upset I stopped them before he could really do some damage. She scurries away to the corner of the room while he stares me down. About my height of six foot three, he’s bigger and may give me a run for my money if I have to fight him. Add to that the perpetually angry look he wears that tells me he enjoys hurting people, and I might be in trouble.

“I’m not done with her yet,” he says in a low voice that resembles a growl you might hear from a trapped wild animal.

One glance at the girl tells me she’s scared to death, but I can’t let him think I’m here to protect her. He needs to believe I’ve got the same idea he has when it comes to her.

With a shrug, I chuckle. “Fine. Piss off your boss. No skin off my nose. I don’t answer to her. All I know is Nadine looked pretty upset when she left Micah after telling him about the dead girl. You know how she likes to take care of things so he doesn’t have to.”

He stares at me for a long moment before narrowing his eyes to slits like he’s trying to figure out if I’m telling the truth or just bullshitting him. Or if he wants to kill me. A loud groan escapes from his throat, and then he looks over at the girl cowering in the corner.

Worried he’s still not convinced, I say, “I’ve never seen Nadine use a shovel. I bet she’s already started digging the grave. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be the guy who made her do that, but you’d know her better than me. Maybe she’s enjoying that workout in this heat.”

Whichever part of that makes him realize he better go find his boss I’m not sure, but after throwing the girl one last nasty look, he pushes past me, giving me a shoulder check for good measure. Not a lot of golden light with that one.

I don’t look back in his direction until I hear the door slam shut, but when I know he’s gone, I turn my head to make sure, just in case he has a change of heart and likes the idea of hurting some innocent girl more than obeying his boss. After waiting a few seconds, I breathe a sigh of relief. Why the hell does Micah allow Nadine to keep those stormtroopers around?

That’s above my pay grade, and I have more important things to deal with at the moment, so I turn my attention to the girl. I recognize her as the one who was looking around when she first got here. A pretty brunette, she had a curious way about her that was tough to miss.

Now she looks so small crouched in the corner with her arms covering her head. I can only imagine what those four did to her, but at least she’s still dressed, so I’m guessing they didn’t go as far as they have in the past with other women in the group.

As soon as I begin making my way toward her, she starts to cry. Shaking her head so her light brown hair swings, she sobs, “Please, I didn’t do anything.”

She’s not looking at me, but I raise my hands anyway. “I’m not here to hurt you. I promise. You don’t have to be afraid.”

My words do nothing to alleviate her fear. She still won’t look at me, and she keeps shaking her head.

When I get a few feet away, I stop and try to make her understand I’m not like Nadine’s guards. “It’s going to be okay. I know they scared you, but I’m not here for that. I just want to talk, okay?”

I wait, and finally after a few seconds, she stops shaking her head even as she continues to cry. She refuses to look at me, so I crouch down in front of her and softly say, “I’m not going to hurt you. Honest.”

“You’re one of them,” she sobs. “You’re all the same here.”

“No. I swear I’m not. I’m here to help you.”

That finally makes her look up at me, and I see her blue eyes are red and tears stain her cheeks. She studies me and then shakes her head again. “You look like one of them.”

I nod, knowing she’s not wrong. “Yeah, I can see that, but I swear I’m not. I work for the leader of The Golden Light. They’re just some woman’s henchmen. Totally different. Honest.”

“Nadine. She’s a piece of work,” she mumbles as she wipes her tears from under her eyes.

As much as I know I shouldn’t comment about Micah’s favorite, I can’t stop myself after the last couple days. “Yeah, she’s a lot. Trust me, that’s not what The Golden Light is about.”

The girl takes a deep breath in and lets it out in a rush. “Oh yeah? I’m having a hard time believing that after all I’ve seen in the single day I’ve been here.”

She needs to stop that kind of talk right now, or she’s going to find herself stuck with those four bastards again. I give her a tiny smile and choose my words carefully so as not to frighten her again.

“Just a little friendly advice, but you shouldn’t say things like that. Noticing anything is a problem here.”

I’ve never said that to another person since I became a part of Micah’s group, even though I’ve thought exactly those words more times than I want to admit. Instinctively, I look around to make sure no one heard me.

“Who are you?” the girl asks, tearing me out of my thoughts of how much trouble I could be in if Micah’s cameras can record sound. I don’t think they can, but I’m not sure.

I turn my head to look at her. “Nash. And you?”

She answers without hesitation, surprising me. “Lara.”

Leaning in toward her, I whisper, “Well, Lara, you’ve unfortunately gotten the attention of Nadine, and you’ve seen what happens when you make that mistake. The good news is she’s not in charge. Not exactly.”

Lara grimaces. “That’s comforting. What kind of group lets that sadist have any power?”

I wince at how loud that sounded. “I need you to keep your voice down.”

“Why?”

Without moving my head, I look up in the direction of the camera positioned in the corner on the opposite side of the room from where we are. “I don’t know if they record what we say, so it’s best to keep anything you want to say to yourself unless you know you’re safe outside. If you must, whisper it if you’re inside.”

When she moves to look over at the camera, I grab her face to keep her looking at me. “Don’t. They’re always watching. Never forget that.”

She stares at me in terror until I drop my hand. “Why are you telling me this?” she asks in a low voice.

“Because the leader wanted me to come here to talk to you.”

Leveling her gaze on my face, she whispers, “The same leader who records everything in this place and might have it wired to hear every word we utter?”

I nod, knowing how that sounds. “Yeah. It’s complicated.”

Lara leans forward and groans. “It’s complicated is a social media status teenage girls post when they know everyone hates their boyfriend because he’s a dick. It’s not complicated to say something’s wrong when you’re an adult, Nash.”

Oh, this woman is going to get into trouble if she keeps saying things like that. Clearly, the shit Micah has put into the food and drink isn’t working on her like it should. That’s going to make things more difficult than she can even imagine if she doesn’t learn quickly to hold her tongue.

“Let’s just say Micah told me he doesn’t want you hurt, okay? So keep your mouth closed when we leave this building, and no more looking around like you did when you arrived. That made you stick out like a sore thumb, and that’s not going to help you here. Do you understand?”

My little speech makes her sigh, and drawing her eyebrows in toward her nose, she frowns as all her defiance seems to evaporate. “I thought I was being sly. So much for flying under the radar.”

“Is that what got you in trouble with Nadine?”

She shakes her head and sighs again. “No, and to be honest, I don’t think I did anything wrong by caring about someone who died not six feet away from me. She wouldn’t even let us take a few minutes to mourn poor Anna’s death. What a monster. How would it have hurt anyone to let us have a little while to process that?”

I want to explain to her that attachment to anyone but Micah isn’t permitted in The Golden Light, but I’ve already spent too much time whispering with her in the corner like this. No doubt he’s been watching every second of our time together, so I need to get her over to him now before he becomes suspicious.

“We need to go. Remember this, though. No looking like you’re interested in anything but the leader. His name is Micah. No speaking unless you’re spoken to, and never say anything that sounds like you’re curious about anything here. Everything is positivity and light. Got it? Paste a smile on your face and look like you’re blissfully unaware of anything but true happiness. And when you meet Micah, bow and then say nothing unless he asks you a question directly, and then be as vague and contented as possible.”

She stares at me in horror before whispering, “Bow? Are you kidding?”

I shake my head. This woman is never going to make it here.

“It sounds like I’m supposed to be a Stepford wife.”

“Just do as I say, and you’ll be safe.”

As I stand up, she asks, “Why does he let her use her junkyard dogs like that if he’s the leader?”

Looking down at her, I shrug. “No more questions. I don’t have answers you’ll like. Remember, look content and say nothing as much as possible.”

“He doesn’t sound like much of a leader, but fine. I’ll do my best happy girl routine.”

Christ, if she keeps this up, she’s not going to last a week here. Worse, I’ll probably pay for her misbehavior since Micah thinks I can get through to her so she believes all that positivity he preaches.

Lara stands up and takes a deep breath. “I’m curious about something.”

My frustration ratchets up even more so I want to lash out at her. “Did you not hear me? I just told you no more questions.”

“You said no more questions because you don’t have answers I’ll like. That’s fine. I’ll take those. At least that will be better than no answers at all.”

I close my eyes as a headache begins to form behind my eyes. Squeezing the bridge of my nose to stop it before it gets out of control, I mumble, “Fine. Ask your question. One.”

“Has any new member who looks like me showed up here in the past week?”

When I look at her, I see genuine worry in her eyes. God, this is bad. She’s here looking for someone she cares about, probably a family member.

I quickly run through all the new recruits I’ve seen come through in the past couple days but can’t think of anyone who might fit. Not that I could tell her even if I did remember someone. I may not want to hurt Lara, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stick my neck out for her.

Life here is precarious enough. It’s all I can do to keep things balanced with Nadine acting out her sadistic fantasies on anyone who steps out of line and Micah looking to me to do what he needs so The Golden Light doesn’t descend into chaos.

If Lara is going to survive here, she’s going to have to do it on her own. I’ve done all I can. Now it’s up to her.

With a shake of my head, I answer her before turning to walk toward the door. She’s got a meeting with Micah, and if she’s smart, she’ll play it exactly as I told her to.