Page 119 of Three to Fall

The lump in my throat rose swiftly at the mention of her real name. I couldn’t say it out loud. “Tulip was a liar. She said we were going to be a family. Her and me. That I’d come live with her at Ethereal Eden and be blessed by the Lord.”

Kara finally got the tape free from her mouth and spat out her gag. I didn’t bother trying to stop her. She was bleeding, a crumpled mess on the ground. She couldn’t hurt me.

But her gaze burned mine. “You were a victim of Josiah’s scams. Alice met you on that dating site and told you all about Ethereal Eden and how wonderful it would be for a man like you. A man who didn’t fit within the norms of society. A man who wasn’t accepted anywhere else. You had the Slayers, but theyweren’t patching you in, so you were vulnerable. Exactly the type of man Josiah targeted.”

I shook my head, despite knowing in my gut that every word was true. It didn’t matter now.

Kara continued, “I read every single word of those texts. You never told her you were a biker.”

“Why would I? I’m nothing to this club. Nothing more than their errand boy.” Heat burned the back of my neck just thinking about admitting my lowly status to a woman I’d wanted to build a life with. The very thought of her knowing what a loser I was then was mortifying. “I never lied to her. Just kept parts of myself private. But she lied in every message. Every single one.”

Kara’s bottom lip trembled. “Except she didn’t. At some point, Alice developed real feelings for you. I saw the scripts she used when we went to save Jax. She’d used them almost word for word in the beginning, introducing you to Josiah’s teachings. Drawing you into his web. Until you told her about how you like art and how you like to bake. Until you complimented her and made her feel important enough that she switched to using Kyle’s phone so she could talk to you more.”

Bitterness sat hot on my tongue. “I was going to come to her. I wanted to. I knew I was never going to be accepted here.”

Kara’s expression morphed into one of understanding. “But then we left.”

Hayley Jade had gone quiet in my arms, and my fingers shook, still holding the gun at her back, knowing I couldn’t let her go. Couldn’t let my guard down for even a second or their evil would overcome me and I would cave into the alluring pull of the Devil. “Evil had gotten into her soul. She was supposed to be my wife. Good and obedient.”

Grayson nodded. “So you killed her. You lured her out to a nightclub. Teased her with the promise of freedom. And thenyou put a cord around her neck and tightened it until she couldn’t breathe.”

He didn’t understand! Nobody did. “She needed to be reborn. To be cleansed of her sins. I did what needed to be done!”

Grayson wasn’t finished. “And then you did the same thing to Kara, burying her alive.”

“When she showed up here, at the clubhouse, and I found out she was Alice’s sister, I realized the Lord was showing me the way. She’s poison. She poisoned Alice. Drew her from the safety of Ethereal Eden with lies and evil words.”

I pushed Hayley Jade at Kara and stood behind them, my gun never wavering. It was the only thing keeping the others at a distance. I knew that.

I eyed Hawk and reached over my shoulder to unzip my backpack. “If you so much as move an inch, I’ll pull this trigger and end them now. Their eternal damnation will be on your shoulders. Alice’s is on mine. I didn’t know how to cleanse her soul properly and I let anger get the best of me. But I know better now. Josiah has shown me the way.”

I raised my gaze to the sky and repeated the words imprinted on my brain ever since I’d heard Josiah speak them as he’d been loaded into the ambulance at Ethereal Eden. “We will all be judged at the feet of the Lord, our souls melded to our earthly bodies until the ring of fire is crossed. Repent! Repent! The Lord demands your souls be cleansed with fire and rain and blood. Repent! Repent!”

I took the final container of gasoline from my backpack with my free hand.

Then turned it upside down, dumping clear liquid all over the two females at my feet, as well as myself.

Kara screamed; clutching Hayley Jade close as the liquid poured down over all three of us.

Hawk let out a bellow of rage. Grayson and Chaos both lurched forward, only to be grabbed by other members of the club who I hadn’t even noticed surrounding us. Smoke still hung in the air; the darkness only brightened by the lights from the clubhouse that barely reached the circle of accelerant I’d made around us.

I pressed the gun down on Hayley Jade’s head hard enough she cried out, reminding everyone who was in control here. The rush of power sped through my veins, adrenaline pumping my heart faster than it should have now that the moment was here.

I needed to get this right. Needed for us to be delivered into His holy embrace. For my sins to be forgiven. I stepped forward. Raised my arms, a lighter clutched in one hand.

With a single flick of my thumb, I lit up the night.

32

HAWK

Flame erupted in the blink of an eye.

Grayson and Chaos reacted almost as quickly, both of them diving for Kara and Hayley Jade. Screams rang out around me, people rushed everywhere.

All I could do was stare at Ice, while flames engulfed his body.

He dropped his gun, screaming in pain, the gasoline fueling the fire until he was a walking inferno.

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