My attention back on Lilah, I cupped her cheeks, and her tortured eyes looked into mine, her voice assuming a panicked tone. Her body started to shake so badly she almost convulsed.

Mae suddenly appeared at our side, and Lilah jumped from the bench to her feet when Mae reached out her hand. The mumbling stopped and Mae edged forward. “Lilah, please…”

Lilah stumbled back, almost falling flat on her ass as Mae tried to reach for her. “No!” Lilah whispered, edging away to the center of the yard.

“Mae, leave her the fuck alone!” I yelled and tried to get to Lilah. Her breathing had gone weird and she looked so white. But Styx appeared beside me, fisting the shoulder of my cut, holding me back when I tried to jump forward to stop Mae’s advance on my bitch.

Fuck, what the hell was wrong with her?

“Lilah, please, I love him!” Mae shouted, and Lilah shook her head repeatedly, her legs buckling like a fuckin’ baby deer struggling to walk.

Mae stopped a few feet from Lilah, and Lilah finally looked at Mae, lips trembling. “You cannot marry Styx. You know the teachings. You will condemn us all! You know what must be done to save our damned souls!”

Mae inched farther forward and held out her hand in our direction, clearly telling us not to approach. “Sister, there is no more Order. There is no more prophet, no scripture to control our destiny. We are free, sister. We are free to love whomsoever we wish.”

“No!” Lilah cried. She gripped both sides of her head as though not to hear Mae’s words. “I still believe! And our people are the chosen ones, sister. The Lord will rebuild us. They will return for us and save us.”

Mae sighed and gripped the bridge of her nose. “Lilah, nothing our people said is true! Everything they—Prophet David, the elders, the disciples—preached was false! Prophet David was a false prophet! The Bible warns of this. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves—Matthew 7:15. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:23-24. We were deceived, sister. We lived a lie. You are still living that lie!”

“That is what is false! Look at us! What Prophet David and the elders said of us was true! Look at my face.” Lilah pointed to her beaten face and flinched as she pressed her finger against her bruised cheek. “It was done by women who could not resist me. I cannot keep living this way, Mae. I want to be free. I want to be saved! I seek salvation. I have seen too much evidence of our curse on men to know our prophet was indeed correct. I am not corrupted. I am inherently evil, as are you!”

Mae clenched her jaw and said, “You trust scripture so much, sister. You trust Prophet David’s words so much that you are blind. Open your eyes and see their lies, break free from their controlling bonds… live! You are free!”

Lilah panted with the exertion of her distress and shook her head. Mae glanced back at Styx, a painful expression on her face. Turning back to Lilah, Mae said, “And the Lord said to me: ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds…”

Lilah froze, tears falling free, and looked at Mae. “No, you are wrong. You have to be wrong!” Lilah whispered, devastation obvious in her timid voice.

“I will never go back to that life, Lilah. I have true freedom with Styx. I have a life with Styx!”

Lilah began to sob.

“Lilah…” Mae cried, but Lilah wiped away her tears and held up her hands. A weird calm coming over her.

“Sometimes I do not even recognize you as a sister anymore.”

Mae sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes filled with water. I could see Lilah’s anger immediately drop and, when Mae turned on her heel and began running to the entrance of the club, Lilah quickly followed.

Styx released me and set to go after Mae, but this time I pulled him back. “Stop. Let the bitches work this shit out themselves. Lilah ain’t listening to no fucker about this Prophet David or The Order shit. Mae needs to set her straight. Sometimes I think I’ve got through to her. Then something happens to set her off rolling around the ground, spurting gibberish or just outright freaking out. We both know this was all gonna come to a blow at some point. Lilah’s brainwashed to shit and only Mae can get her out of it, no matter how much they seem to piss each other off.”

Styx sighed but slapped me on the back in agreement.

“Mae! Stop!” Lilah called out as she ran after her sister. Mae whipped around to face her, both of them dead center in the yard, the light from the garage like a spotlight on them both.

“Anyone got lube? Or a shitload of mud? These hot bitches are fixin’ to fight, and I want front row seats! I’ll come just watching them slide over each other’s tits… or trib. Fuck, let the bitches scissor!”

Styx and me as one turned to face Vike, who stood brazen as all hell with tissues stuck up his nose from where I broke it. Styx growled out a warning, pulling out his German knife from his boot, licking the blade. AK dragged Vike back by the shoulders through the circle of brothers and bitches and took him out of our sight.

“I’m gonna murder that fucker,” I spat, a wave of jealousy taking root. Vike didn’t talk about Lilah that way.

“You gotta get through me first,” Styx signed back, causing me to smirk.