Page 36 of Prodigal Son

“I can find you. Anywhere you go, I can follow. Tell them that. Tell them I said tomorrow at midnight, or there will be consequences.”

Heart hammering, she scrambled to her feet and ran as fast as she could toward home.

CHAPTER 13

Cain entered his room and paused at the threshold, surprised to find Destiny awake. “You look better.”

Her brow furrowed, but she didn’t say a word. For a girl who always seemed to get the last comment, he found her silence odd.

Setting his hat on a peg, he glanced at the tray on the dresser. “I see you ate.” When she remained silent, he looked over his shoulder and frowned. “And helped yourself to my clothes.”

Glancing down at her body, her frown deepened. Why was she being so quiet, and why did the sight of her in his shirt bother him so much? Rumpled and strangely tempting, unlike Hope, Destiny had a full figure with thick thighs and round hips, and breasts that he should not be admiring.

Irritated by her appearance, he shifted to antagonistic. “Problem?” This time when she didn’t answer, he frowned. “Where’s Larissa?”

Destiny pointed toward the door and made several hand gestures that, in comparison to Cybil’s tidy sign language, looked like sloppy charades.

“For the love of God, use words.”

She pointed to her full lips and swept her hands apart in a universal signal for no.

Cain cocked his head. “You can’t talk?”

She nodded, her frown looking more angry than confused at this point. She pointed to the door and returned to her wild gestures.

He shook his head. “I’m never going to understand what you’re trying to say.” He opened the door and yelled for his sister. “Larissa!”

She looked up at him with relief, and it was his turn to frown. What changed that he was suddenly her ally?

The door pushed open and the bishop, rather than his sister, appeared. Destiny shrank back on the bed.

“Oh, you two met.” That explained a lot. Cain glanced at the bishop, his newest brother-by-law. “Did you do this?”

“I found her questions tedious.” He waved a hand at Destiny. “You may speak.”

“What the fucking fuck?” she blurted.

Eleazar lifted a brow. “A hopelessly unrefined species, the English.”

“I want to get out of here! I need a phone. Now.”

The bishop ignored her. “This is becoming a habit, Cain. If you keep bringing home strays, I’ll have no choice but to rescind your welcome. You know the rules.”

“I’m not some dog he picked up off the street! I’m a human being with rights!” Destiny rose to her knees, but didn’t get off the bed. “Hello? Is anyone listening to me?”

“I didn’t bring her here to stay. I can’t compel her.”

Eleazar frowned. “Perhaps because you were injured?”

“I tried again this morning while she was sleeping. She’s completely blocked to me.”

“Hey, bozos! Do one of you want to point me toward my clothes so I can get the hell out of this Little House on the Prairie nightmare?”

Cain continued to ignore her. “You had no issues?”

“None.”

The bishop was much older than Cain. That might have been why he could get into Destiny’s mind. Cain tried again, only to draw back in defeat. “I don’t get it.”

---