Page 116 of Three to Fall

I shook my head quickly, and he nodded once, giving me a lingering look like he wanted to stay, but we both knew he needed to see if anyone was injured. Down the line, Hawk’s gaze met mine. I gave him a quick nod, telling him I was okay, and then he turned away to help Aloha with a burn on his hand.

War and Nash helped Bliss to a seat, all three of them coughing. Gunner slumped beneath a tree, some of my nurse friends from the hospital going to him to take his pulse.

I stared at the scorched ground, fingers shaking, but I couldn’t stay another second. I needed to get to Hayley Jade.

Ignoring all the parts of me that hurt, I turned and ran, following the lay of the land, knowing the kids had to be down here somewhere.

“Kara.”

I stopped.

Ice was coming up the hill with Hayley Jade in his arms. Her eyes were red and her cheeks streaked with tears, but she didn’t appear to be hurt. Relief flooded me and I ran to them, reaching for her.

He twisted away, not letting me take her.

“What are you doing?” I tried again. “Ice, give her to me.” But this time, when he twisted out of my reach, I saw the gun in his hand, pointed right at Hayley Jade’s stomach.

It wasn’t unusual for one of the guys to have a gun. But Ice had never been so careless with one around Hayley Jade before. “Ice! Your gun!”

He glanced down at it. “Oh, sorry.”

But when he moved it from pressing against Hayley Jade’s stomach and very deliberately pointed it at me, his voice was as cold as his road name. “Josiah says hello.”

31

ICE

The fire had worked beautifully as a distraction so I could get in and get Hayley Jade. I hadn’t counted on Kara fighting the fire with the others. I’d thought she’d run, or that Hawk would have forced her back. So that had slowed me down a bit, but in the end, it hadn’t mattered.

I’d found them both.

Now the cleansing ritual could begin.

I was so foolish for not understanding Josiah’s words earlier.

The night we’d gone to Ethereal Eden, when I hadn’t been able to save him, he’d preached of a ring of fire as he’d been loaded into an ambulance.

He’d been speaking to me. I knew that now.

I hadn’t had enough gasoline to save everyone’s souls like I’d wanted, but I knew Kara’s and Hayley Jade’s were the most important. She was Josiah’s wife. Hayley Jade was his child. The Slayers had never deserved them. They’d tricked Kara, lured her away from what was good and right. I saw that now, but I couldn’t save them all.

I would bring her back to the flock. Would return her to the Lord.

Josiah would accept me. Reward me for doing the Lord’s work. Take me beneath his wing and give me the family I’d always wanted.

The one Tulip had promised before she’d ruined it all.

My head hurt. My brain pounded against my temples, my physical body, ruined with sin, now trying to stop me from what was right. What needed to be done.

One good thing about Hayley Jade not speaking was that she stood there silently, watching while I shoved a rag in her mother’s mouth and put a thick piece of tape across it, holding it in place. Tears streamed down the girl’s face, but she didn’t move. Didn’t utter a sound.

Kara struggled against my hold, trying to communicate with Hayley Jade, but one swift hit to the head from the butt of my gun had her quieting down. The fight went out of her, and her eyes fluttered. I pulled the cord from my backpack, wrapping it around her wrists tightly like handcuffs. I stared down at the familiar rope, remembering the last time I’d used it. I liked the symbolism. “Same thing I used around Tulip’s neck,” I mumbled to myself.

Kara’s head snapped up, her eyes widening, full of fear.

I shook my head at her. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing this time. I won’t mess up again, like I did when we buried you.”

Her body trembled, but she stared at Hayley Jade, trying to say something, but the gag in her mouth and her bound hands did their job. Which was good, because I needed to concentrate.

---