Page 81 of The Cult

Fuck if that statement didn’t make me feel good, but I didn’t have time to dwell on the spark his words ignited.

“What about the others?” Theo asked.

“We’ll sneak into the North Compound and tell the others tonight,” Abel answered.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, jolting us from our conversation. Like startled birds, they scattered around the room, while I slipped into the bathroom.

“Is he here?” Sterling’s hushed voice carried into the bathroom. Thank god it was him and not the others making an unwelcome appearance.

“Who?” Abel asked.

“Toby,” Sterling replied, his voice tinged with urgency.

I grabbed Sterling’s attention with a soft whistle, prompting him to dart in my direction.

“We gotta go, man,” Sterling gasped, his breath ragged, as if he had sprinted to get here.

“Go where?”

“Out of here.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Orcus is coming. Here. Now.” Sterling grabbed my wrist and began ushering me out.

Abel blocked our way, halting Sterling and me. He hesitated briefly before wrapping his arms around me. I could feel his heart racing. “Meet me—” I began.

My words were cut short when Abel finished my sentence. “At midnight,” he whispered in the crook of my neck.

“At midnight.”

***

The cult was livelier than usual tonight. Chatter bounced around the hallways while guards came in and out of our building. What are these fuckers doing up this late? Impatiently, I glanced at the wall clock and cursed. I had fifteen minutes before seeing Abel. I tucked my phone in my boot and peeked through the door to see if it was safe to go.

“Hey,” I called when Sterling entered the barracks from the back door—the same door Abel and I used last night. He was staring at the floor and rubbing his lower back. He grimaced when he pressed a spot on his right side. “Sterling!” I hollered when he didn’t respond.

He avoided meeting my gaze and walked right past me.

“What the fuck is going on?” I grabbed his hand when he passed by, stopping him in his tracks. My jaw clenched when I saw his bloody face. “Who the fuck did that to you?” I tilted his chin and examined his face. His left eye was bruised, and his left eyebrow had a small cut, the source of the blood dripping down to his cheek.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Who cares anyway.”

Old me wouldn’t have cared and let him go on his merry way, but I needed Sterling to get the Marshalls out of here and, as much as I hated to admit, I worried about him. “I care,” I declared and ushered him to my room. “Now, tell me what happened.”

Sterling took a deep breath before answering. “I tried to escape but they caught me.” He shuddered. “I wanna get outta here, Toby. I can’t take it anymore.”

“Can’t take what anymore?” I glanced at the clock: eleven fifty p.m.

“They had me watch more of those fights.” He shut his eyes, shaking his head repeatedly as if trying to erase the gory images. “They told me that the first fight is in two days.” His bloodshot eyes opened and met mine.

“What?” My stomach dropped at his words. “Fuck!” Abel and the guys were nowhere near ready to face any of the men Orcus would match them with. “Did they tell you why?”

“No.”

Time is of the essence. I headed to the bathroom and grabbed a wet hand towel. “I gotta go somewhere, man.” I wiped the blood off his face. “You can stay here if you want, but I have to tell Abel and the rest of the guys.”

“Go,” he said, taking the towel from my hand. “Don’t worry about me.”

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