Page 38 of Turn That River Red

She looks at me when she says that, and I swallow back my sudden bolt of fear. Even though I know she’s not talking about Ambrose.

Mrs. Harrison clears her throat. “Mercy, you should join us, of course. And mark your door. I’ll make a charm for you.”

I glance sideways at Mrs. Sullivan, but she doesn’t say anything.

“I know Reverend Gunner wants to speak with you,” Mrs. Harrison says quickly. “He’s meeting with Deacon Price right now to set up twenty-four-hour patrols around the compound.”

“They should have done that after Raul,” Mrs. Sullivan says. “That’s why we have the Soldiers of God in the first place. To protect us from our enemies.”

“These aren’t human enemies,” Mrs. Harrison says, shaking her head. “It’s the devil. I can feel it.”

I think of Burl stretched across the fence just like the Savior, his head dropped against his chest. Whatever sinful magic Ambrose worked to help me forget has faded.

Before I can say anything, however, Reverend Gunner’s door bangs open. He comes out with Pastor Sullivan and Deacon Price, along with a couple of Deacon Price’s favorite soldiers. It all feels so awful and so familiar. There’s that same sick coil around my stomach, the constant, shivering reminder that the church campus isn’t safe the way it’s supposed to be.

“There you are,” Reverend Gunner says. “I was concerned when Pastor Echeverría called me.”

Hearing him say Ambrose’s name makes my skin crawl. I straighten up my shoulders. “I’m sorry,” I say. “But I panicked. I know I should have gone to you?—”

It’s the right thing to say, of course. Reverend Gunner’s expression softens a little. The other two hang back, watching us. Especially Deacon Price. I know he wants to question me. He questioned me after Raul.

“Of course you did,” Reverend Gunner says softly. “This is a lot for a woman like you to have to deal with.”

Then he does something he never does, which is walk right up to me and hook his fingers under my chin to tilt my gaze up to meet his. My heart is frantic, remembering how Ambrose did the same thing. Even though the position couldn’t, at this moment, feel more different.

“I know this is upsetting,” he says softly. “I know you’re frightened. And Deacon Price does want to speak to you.”

I wait for thebut. Because I know, with a sick, sinking dread, that it’s coming.

“But I still expect you to perform your duties,” he says, eyes hard. “Now more than ever. You can not imagine the stress I’m under.”

Two of your congregants are dead!I want to scream at him.And I found both of their bodies!

And yet I did the same thing he’s proposing, didn’t I? I went to Ambrose.

No, that was different. I wantedprayer. And he offered something?—

He offered something better.

I think about it now, staring up at Reverend Gunner. My body goes hot.

“Do you understand?” Reverend Gunner asks. “I’ll need to see you soon. Tonight, after the woman’s prayer session?”

There’s only one answer to that question. It doesn’t matter if my heart is broken, if I’m grieving, if the entire campus is burning down around us. But this time, when I answer it, I have a secret of my own.

“I’ll be there,” I say, voice ringing out clearly.

But my thoughts are focused on Ambrose’s dark, hot eyes.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

MERCY

“I’m here to accompany you to Reverend Gunner’s house.”

Deacon Price stands on my porch, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze dark and glowering. He wears a pistol on his hip and one of Mrs. Price’s charms around his neck.

“Oh.” I wasn’t expecting him, and I’m not scheduled to arrive at the marriage suite for another fifteen minutes. For the last hour, I’ve curled up on my couch, the Bible open on my lap—not to the Book of Solomon, but to the Sermon on the Mount. I wasn’t reading, though. I was just staring at the words until they became illegible, my thoughts trailing between the horrors I saw today and the pleasures that unraveled me.

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