Page 106 of Jael

God, please let me be a fool when I turn up and everything is as it should be.He knew he was letting his emotions rule him, but he couldn’t help it.

Chapter 28

Artus droppedonto the couch after he helped Jael to her feet. “Bring me a drink,” he said, rubbing his head like he had a headache.

She touched her finger to her mouth, dabbing at the blood.

“You want me to be your servant now?” she said. “What happened to looking after me?”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing. I want you to learn some manners. What happened to the hostess who was always pleasant at her father’s dinners?”

“I did that because he made me. And now you want to control me. That’s all any of you ever want.”

“You need to be controlled, Jael.” His voice was flat. “You thrive on it.”

She clenched her teeth and took a deep breath before moving to the dark wood cabinet at the wall where her dad had always kept his liquor. If she could get Artus drunk enough, she might have a chance. She’d always known Artus was a bad man, but she hadn’t realized the depth of the darkness inside of him. She also knew it was rare for him to drink himself into a stupor. It was only a slim thread of hope she held on to.

God. Now more than ever, I need your help. I know I don’t deserve one thing from you. But I’m asking anyway. Please. If you care about me as much as Danny believes you do, please save me.

She pulled a crystal decanter from the cabinet, and a strange thing happened. The fear that had encrusted her limbs with a heavy tingling, abated, and another sensation took its place—one she recognized but had always been afraid to embrace.

She pulled the stopper and poured the drink.

“Do you remember a man named Lucas McGregor?” she said with her back still to Artus.

“You’ll have to be more specific. I’ve come across a lot of men in my time.”

“He was a man my father killed for you years ago. He had bushy black hair and striking green eyes.”

“Lucas…Lucas…McGregor did you say?”

She carried the glass over. “Yes.”

“The eyes, yes, I remember. Funny I can recall him. But yes, he caused me a lot of trouble.”

She handed him his drink, and he grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her to sit beside him. She didn’t resist.

“Is it just me, or are you coming around?” he said, reaching for her face. He rubbed his thumb along her lip where it had bled. “I’m sorry that had to happen.”

“My father never told me what Lucas had done.”

Artus’s hand drifted from her face to her shoulder where the tips of his well-manicured fingers traced lines down her arm. “This is what you want to talk about right now?”

She didn’t move as his hand continued down her body and stopped on her thigh.

“I’ve always wondered,” she said, “because there was something unusual about him.”

“Nothing unusual.” He retracted his hand and took a sip of the tawny liquor. “He was interfering with my trade.”

“He was dealing drugs on your turf?”

“I didn’t say he was dealing. I had a profitable business running in what I called ‘Yellow District.’ It’s a more undesirable part of the city. But the prostitution, drugs, guns, you name it, was a booming business. Then Lucas turned up and began proselytizing everyone. I sent Christopher to look into it, and he brushed it off. Said the guy wasn’t worth my time.”

“Lucas was converting people?” A picture formed in her mind of the man she’d watched die. She could imagine him on the street talking to the broken and hurting. They would have listened. He’d had no fear of death. He’d carried no shame or regret. He would have been the same on the street as he held the hand of a dirty beggar or encouraged a prostitute to hope for more. What she had felt in his presence was what she’d suspected all along but was never brave enough to admit.

What did it mean that the same presence was with her now? After everything she’d done. After watching Lucas die without lifting a finger to save him. Why would God want to be with her now, unless it was all true? Unless God really did want her the way He wanted every other broken soul.

“Cults can be very persuasive,” Artus said, breaking her from her thoughts. “And the people in Yellow District were desperate.”

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