Page 107 of The Cult

I knew he would, but I thought we’d be long gone by the time he did. A lot had changed since my first meeting with Orcus, including his connection to The Firm. I shouldn’t be shocked. The Firm’s intricate web was vast.

“You want your friend and your lover boy free?” he asked.

What the fuck? He knew about me and Abel? How? I narrowed my eyes.

“That’s right. I know about your little adventures.” I didn’t miss the disgust on his face. “Did you really think you could roam freely throughout my compound? When I saw the key fob logs which showed you accessing the trainee’s building, I had to check to see if you were just a run of the mill pervert or snooping around. Imagine my surprise when Ti verified that you worked for The Firm. My most influential client,” he explained. “I need one thing from you and then I’ll let them go. I’ll let them all go.”

It was a bluff, but I’d play along. “What do you want?” I asked, looking around and calculating my chances.

“Tell me where The Reaper and the rest of the traitors are, and those two are free to go,” Orcus answered, motioning to Abel and Sterling.

I shrugged. “I don’t know where they are. We lost track of each after we got away a few months ago.”

Orcus slapped me with the back of his hand. “Don’t lie to me. Where are they?”

I kept my cool, even though all I wanted to do was slam Orcus’s face into the ground until he was unrecognizable.

The overhead humming returned. The guards, including Orcus, looked up at the sky as the drones appeared right above us.

A ratatat cut through the air—shots fired from the drones. Four guards shielded Orcus as they ran toward the buildings, while the others shot back at the drones.

I took the opportunity to rush to Abel and Sterling. The guards that had restrained them were lying on the ground, dead. “Back to the woods!” I yelled, my voice cutting through the staccato noise. They didn’t wait. Bullets ricocheted everywhere, kicking up dust. I swooped for the dead guards’ guns before joining Abel and Sterling.

Forty-Two: Abel

“No!” I hurled forward at the sound of shots, thinking they were targeting Tobias. I’d been on edge since he offered himself to Orcus and his men to save Sterling and me, so it took me a second to realize that the gunfire was coming from the sky and not Orcus’s men. The Creed’s guards were quick to recognize danger and lunged themselves at Orcus, using their bodies as shields to protect their leader from the airborne attack.

“Back to the woods!” Tobias yelled, his voice cutting through the tension and screams around us. He seemed to be unscathed, but the guards near us were not. Tobias ran toward us, pointing to the woods.

We turned and fled. Guards were running toward us; my ears rang as more drone shots picked them off. Luckily, they missed Sterling and me, almost as if on purpose. More guards emerged from the woods and began shooting at the drones. What the hell was going on? Why were they firing at their own weapons? The field turned into a dust bowl, burning my eyes. I coughed as I inhaled the floating dust.

“We gotta go,” Sterling urged, grabbing my arm and guiding me deeper into the woods. We stood behind a tree trunk, watching Tobias approach.

In a swift motion, Tobias slid on the ground, seizing the fallen guards’ weapons. He tucked guns in his waistband and filled his pockets with ammo. He stood and scooped more rifles from the ground before sprinting in our direction.

The cult’s guards managed to fell two drones, only for new drones to hum overhead. More gunshots were fired. Billowing smoke and annihilated cult men was Tobias’s background as he ran. It was a sight straight from an action film. The drones pursued The Creed tirelessly, their relentless barrage of fire raining down on them.

An explosion boomed in the distance, and the ground rattled where we stood. One of the unmanned flying aircraft had launched a bomb at Orcus’s headquarters. Half of the building was obliterated within seconds. Too bad Orcus hadn’t hidden there, he would’ve been reduced to ashes by now.

Tobias reached us and gathered me in his arms, the rapid beating of his heart thrumming against mine. He let out a sigh and relaxed his shoulders, then peppered the side of my face with kisses. “Are you okay, baby?” he asked. He released me from his hold and examined my body.

“I’m fine,” I answered. “But don’t ever do that again.” I pulled his face toward mine and kissed him, not caring that Sterling was watching. The moment our lips met, the world around me slipped into the shadows and only Tobias and I mattered. No danger. No chaos.

Sterling cleared his throat. “We have to go before they find us here,” he said.

Still with his eyes closed, Tobias brought our foreheads together and inhaled my scent before glancing at Sterling. “You cool?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Sterling answered, tapping Tobias’s back. “Are you two …?” He pointed between Tobias and me.

Tobias and I stared at each other. “It’s complicated,” we said in unison.

Sterling smirked. “Isn’t it always?”

“Why are they shooting them?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but it looks like the drones aren’t here for us, they’re after Orcus,” Tobias answered. He handed Sterling and I rifles and handguns, and filled our hands with ammo. “Follow me.” He led us to the main gate of the Restricted Zone using the trees as our cover.

With The Creed busy taking down the growing number of drones, we managed to get a quarter of a mile away from the action before guards entering the Restricted Zone spotted us and opened fire.

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