Turning, I looked down to Lilah, who was as white as a damn ghost; she was sitting awkwardly between Cowboy, Hush, and now AK, her chest jerking and her hand rubbing at her sternum. Kneeling, I took Lilah’s clasped hands between mine and flicked my head at my brothers to scram.

Doing as I ordered, Lilah and I were left alone. She was chewing on her lip, her eyes staring off into nowhere, bright with panic.

“What’s going on in that head, sweet cheeks?”

Taking in a ragged breath, Lilah shook her head, her eyes now focused on Mae and Styx as they were congratulated by the brothers and old ladies of the Hangmen. Tears filled her eyes. I glanced down to our joined hands. Hers were shaking.

Tugging her closer, I asked, “Lilah, what the fuck’s going on? Why the fuck are you shaking? Talk to me,” I pushed quietly, not wanting to draw the attention of anyone else in the yard.

Lilah’s big blues locked on mine and she began shaking her head back and forth, slow tears tumbling down her pale cheeks. “And the third-born Cursed temptress of The Order shall join in holy matrimony with the revealed prophet of the Lord. Her devil-tainted soul will be purified, rid of Eve’s sin, as will all of the fallen daughters of Eve. This sacred joining of the prophet’s wife shall signal the end of days, the triumph of light over darkness, of God’s strength over Satan.”

Lilah’s hands squeezed mine with every line she spoke. I frowned, not understanding the shit spilling from her mouth.

“Lilah, calm the fuck down,” I whispered harshly and glanced behind to make sure her crazy wasn’t being overheard. I immediately crashed gazes with Mae, whose eyes went to Lilah; fear and disappointment shined in their depths.

Lilah began rocking, repeating those words over and over, her voice getting louder, starting to pull the focus of my brothers and their bitches.

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.