Page 57 of Keeping Lilith

None of those ideas sat well with Julian, but if that was what she wanted to do, then he wouldn’t stop her. He loved her too much to hold her back. And maybe, like the saying went, if he let her go and she came back to him, then they were meant to be.

“It has to be Micah who took her.” Julian banished the thoughts of what he wanted and focused on the here and now—which was ensuring that Lilith was rescued. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Even so, we still don’t know why. Or what this Micah has planned,” Ox returned. “I get you want to get to her. A few of the guys in this room have felt what you’re feeling. But we need to make sure we know what we’re getting into. That way, we can bring Lilith back safely.”

“I know.” And he did, but that didn’t mean Julian was happy with it. But he had to trust the men in the room to do their jobs. The ones he’d seen them do over and over. Except this time, instead of rescuing unknown women and others, they were rescuing Lilith.

His woman.

His love.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“God, you’re so slow,”Stella sneered at Lilith as she stumbled down the pathway toward a wooden structure. A structure that was reminiscent of the hut she’d lived in for a year.

“Why are you doing this?” Lilith asked, twisting her arms in an attempt to loosen the rope that Stella had bound around her arms after they’d gotten out of the car.

Micah had already disappeared into the house, so he hadn’t seen what Stella had done. Something about the other woman’s actions raised further alarm bells in Lilith’s mind. Micah hadn’t been happy at all with Stella when she’d pulled out Lilith’s hair. In fact, if they hadn’t been in the car, she was sure that Micah would’ve tossed Stella out. He’d lectured her about how her behavior wasn’t what he expected of her. Stella had lowered her head and apologized, acting the way she should, but she hadn’t fooled Lilith with her sweet-as-pie act.

“Because I can. My place is by Micah’s side. I don’t know why he wanted you to be part of his dream, but here you are. I’m just making sure you know your place. You can be his little plaything. I’ll be okay with that, knowing that I will be revered, like Micah will be by our followers.”

If Lilith had thought there was a tiny part of Stella that was compassionate or aware that what Micah was doing was wrong, it was gone now. The woman was delusional. What she’d just said proved that Stella was as bad as Staunton Rello. As bad as Ralph Williamson. As bad as Micah, because Lilith had no doubt he was starting up a new cult. No way was she going to be a part of it. All she needed to do was remain calm, not antagonize Stella or Micah, and she would gain her freedom.

They stopped in front of the cabin. The smell of freshly cut wood filled Lilith’s nostrils, likely coming from the stack of logs by the door.

“This is going to be your new abode,” Stella said sweetly as she pushed opened the door.

No way was she walking in there. As if Stella could see her defiance, she grabbed Lilith’s arms and yanked her inside, the action causing Lilith to stumble and fall to the ground. With her hands bound behind her back, she had nothing to cushion her fall and she landed with a thump on her cheek on the wooden floor. Pain exploded in her cheek, and Lilith swallowed down the yelp of discomfort. Showing weakness in front of Stella wasn’t something she wanted to do.

“Nothing good will come of this, Stella.” Perhaps if she tried to reason with Stella, things wouldn’t be so bad. And Julian was going to storm through the door any second now. Neither of those things was likely to happen, unfortunately.

“Shut up, wench,” Stella huffed out, but peered at Lilith’s neck. “You know what? I think I’ll take this.”

Before Lilith could do anything, Stella grabbed the chain of her necklace and tugged. The necklace with her tracker in it. Nothing happened though. The chain didn’t snap, and Lilith scrambled away. The only reason she wasn’t truly freaking out about being taken was because she hadn’t taken the necklace off like she sometimes did when she got home.

Somehow, Julian would figure out she was missing. Whether it wasn’t until he got home from work, or sooner, he wouldn’t stop until they rescued her.

The fact the chain didn’t snap surprised Lilith because Stella had tugged hard. As hard as she had when the other woman had pulled Lilith’s hair.

“Give that to me!” she demanded, lunging again toward Lilith.

“Why? You don’t want this cheap trinket that I got from the dollar store.”

“What is going on here?” Micah thundered as he stepped into the cabin. Stella immediately stilled.

“The Voice you so often talk about spoke to me. It told me that this woman would bring you down before you received your greatness. She proved that by being defiant. Not getting out of the car. So I did what I had to do, and I brought her here for you to punish her.”

Lilith was impressed with Stella’s storytelling skills. The fact she was able to come up with something so quickly suggested this wasn’t the first time that she’d lied. Then again, that day at The Hopeful Sunshine, Stella had been able to convince Micah that Lilith was killing the plants.

Would Micah believe this story now? Or would he see through the ruse?

“It is not up to you to determine if and how Lilith is to be punished, even if you believe you heard the Voice speak to you. Which I doubt. You’ve done enough already. Richard will be here shortly. I expect you to do exactly what he says.” Micah gave Stella a pointed look, and the other woman’s countenance changed once again. Hatred filled her gaze, but Lilith suspected Micah was oblivious to it. Lilith recognized the look from the many times Stella had glared at her at The Hopeful Sunshine. “Come, Lilith. We have much to discuss.”

He gripped her bicep tightly and lifted her to her feet. Lilith didn’t look back at Stella as they walked out of the hut. They passed the driver of the car, the person Lilith suspected was Richard, and his lecherous look had her skin crawling. She may not like Stella, but the woman was about to be shown that maybe getting in with Micah again wasn’t a great idea.

The house they entered wasn’t much larger than the cabin. It wasn’t new. The floral wallpaper was peeling, and the hardwood floors were scuffed, indicating the house had been well used in the past.

Why hadn’t Micah done anything to it? Not that any of that mattered. All she had to do was keep the peace, and pray that Micah wouldn’t decide to make use of the bed she could see through one of the doors to the left of the main living room.