Dominic bent over Nate, obviously struggling to see his injuries.
“He’s been shot in the chest,” she volunteered. “Twice.”
“Who did this?” Joshua asked.
She opened her mouth to reply, but Dominic beat her to it. “I’ll give you three guesses.”
Joshua clicked his tongue. “Bart’s out of control.”
They didn’t ask her to confirm what they’d guessed or to explain how it had happened. They were in too great a hurry. Together, they dragged Nate from the cell. Rachel could hear them grunting, laboring to manage his weight. But they seemed to make it up the stairs.
After a few minutes, the light went off, a door opened and closed, and they were gone.
It was easy to tell that Ethan wasn’t in a good mood.
Bart watched him eat the grapefruit Maxine had sectioned for him. He had to have half a grapefruit every morning, with sugar on top. He also had to have his favorite spoon to eat it with, the one with the jagged edge. It didn’t matter that today was fast day for the rest of the compound. Ethan never went without. Unless he was tweaking. Meth killed his appetite.
“Look at her.” Ethan used his spoon to indicate Maxine’s black eye as she brought his boiled egg to the table.
“I told you,” Bart said. “It got ugly.”
“He must’ve hit her hard.” Wearing a dark glower, he finished the grapefruit and began squeezing the leftover juice onto his spoon.
“He’s strong.”
Ethan gestured for Maxine to leave them. When she was in the kitchen, he said, “I can’t believe they’re cops.”
“They’re—”
“I know, but cops all the same. I feel so betrayed, so angry, so—”
“We’ll have the last laugh,” Bart cut in.
“How?” Ethan demanded. “Now we have another mess to clean up.”
“You liked last night’s ceremony. We could have more. It might even be fun to use Nathan Mott—or whatever his name is—in a few.”
He didn’t immediately catch on. “Which ones?”
“The private ones.”
This drew Ethan at least partially out of his black mood. “Now, there’s an idea.”
“The sky’s the limit.”
He ate his egg, which Maxine had already peeled. “I can’t believe the gunfire didn’t awaken me.”
So that was it. He was sulking that he’d missed all the action. “I preferred to let you sleep in safety, Holy One. What if you’d been hit by a stray bullet? He shot two of my men.”
“Flesh wounds, you said.”
“It could’ve been worse.”
“What will you tell their families?”
“That’s been handled. I told them Rachel’s abusive husband broke in to the Enlightenment Hall and they were injured fighting valiantly to protect the Vessel.”
“They must be proud.”
“They are.”
Ethan sniffed. “You’re good at your job.”
Bart lowered his head. “I try to be.” Bart hadn’t been this solicitous in several days. Since they’d become a couple, there’d been high points, but some discontent, too. It wasn’t easy to redefine a relationship.
“So where do we go from here?” Ethan asked.
“Anywhere we want, Holy One. We have Martha, Sarah, Rachel and Nathan. All our known enemies are gathered in one safe spot. I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”
He seemed to consider this. “I don’t understand, either. It just felt strange to wake up to such news, to feel so…out of the loop.”
“If I’m involved, you’re not out of the loop. I always look after your interests.”
“And what are my interests when it comes to Rachel and her husband?”
“They have to disappear.”
“The Vessel can’t disappear!” Ethan stabbed the air with his spoon to punctuate that sentence. “The whole church is looking forward to the mating ceremony I’ve promised them. What will it say about me if my own bride disappears? Everyone will assume she ran away, like Courtney. Or they’ll wonder if I murdered her, and that’ll make them rethink their beliefs about Courtney, too.”
“What if we hold the ceremony tonight?” Bart asked.
Ethan dropped his spoon and drummed his fingers on the table. The ba-ba-bump irritated Bart but he schooled his face to show no sign of it.
“It would make more sense than waiting,” Ethan said at length. “Consummation follows close behind the vows.”
“Exactly. So we do it now and get it over with. And if Nate survives the day, I say we make him watch. Maybe he isn’t her husband, but he cares about her. He took two bullets trying to protect her.”
“What happens after the ceremony?”
“We finish him off when we’re good and ready. And we lock her up in the pit so we can trot her out every now and then for special functions.”
Ethan stroked his freshly shaved chin. “What if she escapes?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Ba-ba-bump. Ba-ba-bump. Finally, Ethan smiled. “I like it. She can be our little show pony.”
“And tonight will be your first ride.”
He slapped the table. “Go tell the Guides.”
When Dominic and Joshua brought Nate back, Rachel was aware that they’d given him something for the pain. He wasn’t conscious, but she was relieved to know his wounds had been cleaned and dressed.
“Did you get the bullet out?” she asked as she hovered at the back of the cell. Again, she didn’t dare come too close to the door. They’d brought a third person this time, a man she didn’t recognize, who carried a torch. She didn’t have a chance against all three. She couldn’t leave Nate, anyway.
“I did. And I gave him several pints of blood. He’s a lucky man. One of those bullets went right past his heart.”
She thought of the hole beneath Nate’s left shoulder blade. Was that the one? “Thank you. Thank you for helping him.”
After putting Nate on the ground, Dominic straightened. “I don’t know who you are, some housewife from Portal or Utah or someone else, but you signed your death warrant when you came here. I hope you know that.”
“You could let me go,” she said. “Let us both go.”
“And have you bring the police?” He shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m not going to prison. Not for you, not for anyone.”