“I know, but he has information we need.”
“So, we arrest him.”
“You wouldn’t even get the cuffs on him before they shot you dead and you know it.” I look over at the guard holding his rifle like a trained mercenary.
“I’m not letting her go in there alone.”
My gaze snaps back to River. “You have to.”
“No.” He takes a step back to the path and I grab his coat, pushing him up against the cabin wall. It’s so unlike me River’s eyes widen.
“Oz…”
“Listen to me,” I say, “you need to stop holding onto her so tightly. We’ve already lost her once and you trying to keep her with us almost destroyed her. And you.”
River’s head slumps against the wall and I let go of his coat.
“Freya is a strong, capable woman and you need to trust that she knows her limits.” I didn’t fight hard enough against River’s plan when we got Freya back but I’m not going to stand by and let him make the same mistake again.
I’m as scared to lose her as River is, but I also know that I pity anybody who tries to harm Freya. If Jeremiah makes one wrong move, Freya will rain hell down on him.
35
FREYA
Idon’t know what Oz said to River but, when the two of them return, River gives me a nod. I mouth a thank you to Oz and turn to the guard. “Lead the way.”
The guard knocks a pattern on the door. Another teenage girl dressed all in black pulls it open. A sheen of sweat coats her forehead. “He’s ready for you,” she says, then steps past me.
Her gaze flits over the guys but she’s careful not to show any reaction as she heads to the black cabin. She’s cold. Shut off. Just like Rebekah was the first time we met.
I wonder how many girls Jeremiah has deemed ‘tainted’. Rebekah told Carmen that it could be something as minor as standing too close to one of the boys. From everything she’s shared I think it’s less about keeping girls pure and more about training them to do his dirty work. According to the cult’s beliefs, the Tainted are either banished or trained to become Guardians of the Pure.
Rebekah hasn’t said much about the missions she was sent on but from what I’ve gathered, they had very little to do with protecting other girls and far more to do with collectinginformation. It’s what Jeremiah is doing with that information that we haven’t figured out.
The guard catches the door before it shuts and jerks his chin, indicating for me to enter.
I duck under his arm and step inside the round cabin.
Heat hits me like a solid wall. I understand the girl’s damp brow now. I dressed for the cold and my vest is already sticking to my skin.
The door closes behind me, sealing out the cool wind and leaving me stuck with a cult leader in what is essentially a sweat box.
Jeremiah stands a few feet away in front of the open fire that’s heating the cabin. He stabs at it with a poker then motions towards the center of the cabin with the glass of ice water in his other hand. “Please, sit.”
Two chairs are positioned facing each other on a woven rug in the middle of the room. Other than the fire, the chairs are the only things in the cabin. They’re made from black leather, hanging in a hammock style from a metal frame. The material shifts as I sit down, squishing my legs together and adding to the heat. This entire building is designed to make its visitors uncomfortable.
Jeremiah turns from the fire and smiles at me in a way that is more disturbing than any smile has a right to be. He’s dressed in white linens. Light, loose trousers and a short sleeved shirt. I’m sitting here burning up and he’s as relaxed as any white middle-aged man vacationing in the Bahamas.
It’s all a mind game.
“Nice place you’ve got here,” I comment.
Jeremiah chuckles. “Your mother was sarcastic too. Until I trained it out of her.”
The heat has nausea swirling in my gut and my face hardens. “We need to talk about your son.”
“Do we now?” Jeremiah takes a sip of his ice-cold water, that fucking smile playing at his lips.
