Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 121153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“I had to have surgery to help correct that,” Lilah said, her voice cracking a little at the end. I reached over the table and threaded my fingers through hers. Lilah cast a small smile at our joined fingers. “They took me. Rider sanctioned the kidnapping, but, Bella . . . ” Lilah paused, looking warily around, as if checking we were still alone. “I believe that Rider tried to stop the punishments. When we spoke, he begged me to comply . . . I believe he wanted to help me.”
I was frozen, unable to move. A shadow crossed Lilah’s face. “It was his brother, Judah, that caused me this pain. He was the master of that plan.”
“Rider told us he did not know this had happened to Lilah,” Mae told me. “He only believed that the Hangmen had come for her and killed his men. He said he did not know what those men had done to Lilah first.”
Silence fell. “And I believed him,” Maddie said.
I turned to my youngest sister. Maddie’s doe eyes were fixed on me, imploring me to listen. “When we were kidnapped, we all thought Rider had organized it.”
“But he had not?” I finished for her, trying to let all of this new information sink in. They had been kidnapped? Hurt?
My sisters . . . no . . .
“He let us go,” Mae added. “He had no knowledge of our capture. I saw it in his eyes, Bella. He no longer wanted us back. Something within him had changed. Gone was the prophet, and returned was a hint of the Rider I had known as a friend.”
My conflicted thoughts and feelings became too much to bear, and I turned my head away. “Bella?” Maddie said, squeezing my hand. “Are you okay?”
I wanted to say yes, but instead I shook my head. Because I was not okay. I was very far from okay. “The man I met in the cell. Rider. He was the kindest, most caring man I have ever encountered. I . . . he helped me. We”—I sucked in a harsh breath and lifted my left hand—“we were married. I . . . we . . . ” I could not divulge the rest. I could not tell my sisters that the man who had caused them such pain was the man who had brought me nothing but healing.
I could not tell them that I had joined with him. And that for once in my life, I had welcomed it . . . it had meant something to me. It had meant everything to me.
But Mae whispered, “The ceremonial joining.” Her blue eyes widened.
“Yes,” I confessed. My hands shook. “I vowed myself to him . . . and he . . . ”
“Was he kind to you?” Lilah asked, concern thick in her tone. “Was he gentle, when he . . . ?”
“Yes,” I said and couldn’t stop a smile creeping onto my lips. “He was perfect.”
“He was pure when I knew him,” Mae told me. “He was saving himself for the Cursed marriage. He told me he never took part in a Lord’s Sharing. He had never had a woman.”
“He still had never.” I swallowed the lump of sadness in my throat. “He was pure. He . . . he has only been with me. I was it for him. And in every way that counts, he was it for me too.” I expelled a mirthless laugh. “I gifted him my trust and heart. I never thought I would ever be able to do that with anyone. But I did with him . . . and now I discover he was not the man I believed him to be.”
I stood and walked to the large window in the kitchen. It was black outside but for a few distant lights. I folded my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling cold.
“I am not so sure you are right,” Mae said.
I tensed, then looked at my sister, still seated at the table. Mae nervously glanced to my other two sisters and shifted on her chair. “Our husbands are blinded by their hatred of him for what he did to them. For what he allowed to happen to us, especially Lilah. But . . . ” She took a breath and continued, “In my heart I do not think he is a bad man. I have thought about this often, Bella. Rider was a good friend to me, and I believe that friendship was sincere, even though his later actions made it appear otherwise. For a time, I feared he was lost to the faith, but when he let us go, I saw the light within him shine through.” Mae sighed. “And today I saw that he had fully returned. Rider. Not Cain, but the man he was away from The Order. He brought you back to us. A bad man could not, would not, have done that.”