by Shayla Black
Fuck. “So he probably took Maggie to Enlightenment Fields.”
“That’s the most likely scenario.” The ranch’s home phone began to ring in the background, and Cutter snarled out a curse. “No, sweetheart. Don’t. I’ll get it. If it’s your grandparents, you can talk to them. Hang on,” he told Josiah.
A garbled thud, footsteps, some muted voices, and a few long minutes later, Cutter snatched up the phone. “Sawyer just called, the smug son of a bitch. He definitely took Maggie to Enlightenment Fields.”
Josiah’s blood turned to ice. “Did he say what they wanted with her? The land?”
“Yep. Jim and Glenda are supposed to sign it over to him. In exchange, Coleman will give them five million.”
So the transaction looked legit, not like extortion. “And then they’ll release Maggie?”
“In one breath, Sawyer said that was the bargain. But in the next, he boasted that he’d give her everything she could ever want and that she’d never leave him.”
“He’s fucking delusional, too. She already got him out of her system. And she’s never going to want anything to do with the group responsible for her grandmother’s attempted murder.”
“No shit. Listen. Enlightenment Fields is too big and probably too well armed. You can’t go in alone.”
“Too late. I’m almost there.” He wasn’t turning back now, not when he knew Maggie was less than half a mile away. “This can’t wait.”
But with a ranch the size of Enlightenment Fields, how would he find Maggie? And with armed thugs roaming all over the property, how would he get her out?
His brain was still racing, and Josiah saw at least a hundred flaws in his plan, but he wasn’t leaving Maggie there, alone and terrified. He’d figure some way to get her out.
When he pulled up in his usual spot behind the greenhouse and stopped the truck, Mercy approached in her typical white-lace-and-innocence dress. Artless soft brown curls framed her delicate face. Everything about her looked gentle and harmless—except her vengeful scowl and the trio of armed goons surrounding her.
Surreptitiously, he pocketed his phone as he did the same with the keys to his truck, then he stepped from the vehicle, doing his best to look somewhere between surprised and alarmed by his hostile welcome. “Hi, Mercy. What’s . . . going on here? I know I’ve been gone for a while. Damn truck broke down. But I don’t think that’s a reason to shoot me.”
At his forced laugh, her rosy lips twisted with contempt. “Let’s not play games. I just heard that you’ve been staying out at the Wests’ ranch since before I met you and that you’ve been having sex with that whore Magnolia the whole time. You were never here for me. You never wanted me. You only wanted to use me to try to shut us down when all we want to do is live and farm in peace.”
Dread rolled through Josiah. Sawyer must have filled her in on everything. The asshole had done that . . . why? To get back at him? So he could have Maggie to himself? Because he was a bitter, spiteful bastard who couldn’t stand that he hadn’t gotten his way? That the woman he lusted after hadn’t wanted him?
“What do you want?” he demanded as Mercy’s most devoted goon, Newt, patted him down and divested him of his phone and truck keys. Thankfully, the big guy didn’t feel between his legs and find his knife.
She took both in hand with a huff. “You’re not even going to deny it?”
“Why? The only words you uttered that aren’t true are that Maggie is a whore and you want to live in peace. The rest I’ll totally own up to. So, let’s drop the pretense and negotiate. What do you want? The Wests’ land, right? Let Maggie go, and I will persuade Jim and Glenda to deed it to Coleman,” he lied.
“How stupid do you think I am? I’ve been naive, true. I believed you because I wanted to. But I know better now. Maggie stays until the ink is dry on the deed and it says Adam Coleman’s name. Then I don’t care what happens to her. I hope she disappears forever.”
“Wait a minute!” Sawyer shouted, and Josiah whirled to find the former foreman barreling toward them with a puffed-up scowl. “Don’t forget the deal. I lived up to my end of it. I brought Maggie to you and I told you the truth about this asshole.” Sawyer thumbed in his direction. “When the Wests sign their land over, Coleman is going to make Maggie a prime sister or whatever he calls it, and he promised to reward me. Maggie is supposed to be mine to touch and breed and whatever else I want.”
Mercy turned with a cock of her head. She was thinking. Josiah froze. Uh-oh. Didn’t Sawyer see that was dangerous? Clearly not because he sent her a challenging glare, as if willing her to refute him.
“You did everything Adam asked,” she agreed. “You should get exactly what you deserve.”
With a casual wave of her hand at Newt, Mercy gestured to Sawyer. Half a second later, the big goon withdrew a Glock from his waistband and planted a bullet right between Sawyer’s eyes. Shock had barely registered on his face before blood splattered and he crumpled to the ground in a heap, very much dead.
Holy shit. Mercy might not be in charge here, but she was clearly willing to engage in violence to forward Coleman’s agenda . . . and whenever it suited her.
She sent an angry gape at the bearded cultist who had pulled the trigger, gesturing to the red splatters across her white lace. “Couldn’t you have let me step out of the way first? Now I have to clean up.”
“I’m very sorry, my sister.” Remorse poured from his voice, as well as a longing that didn’t sound very brotherly at all.
She gave an exasperated sigh. “Dispose of the body. Sawyer is no longer of any use to us.” Mercy turned her shrewd gaze back to Josiah. “Here’s the deal. If you want Maggie to live, come with me.”
* * *
• • •
Maggie woke with her wrists tied behind her and her ankles bound. Sleep tried to drag her under again. Her lids weighed a hundred pounds each. Besides the fact her shoulders hurt and her hands tingled, an urgency to get free she couldn’t quite place spurred her.
As she focused, she saw the unfamiliar room around her was empty, except for a rickety chair, a small table, and a bottle of chilled water still fresh with condensation. Maggie frowned. Where was she? How had she gotten here? All she remembered was getting ready for her wedding to Josiah and her heart-to-heart with Shealyn as nerves swamped her. Then . . . nothing. No, Sawyer. Oh, god. A fire at the ranch; everything was burning. She had to get home. But if he’d come for her so she could help fight a blaze, why was she tied up wherever here was?
Suddenly, the door opened. Adam Coleman strolled in. Dread plunged in Maggie’s stomach. Had Sawyer brought her to Enlightenment Fields? Was he in league with them?
She scrambled as far from Coleman as she could, scooting across the rustic wooden floor.
“Don’t fret, dove. I’m not here to hurt you. And frankly, you have nowhere to go.” As he sat in the room’s lone chair, his lips lifted in a smile that was almost benevolent. “I’m not an unreasonable man. Bring yourself to me and kneel at my feet. I’ll untie you. Then we’ll come to a workable solution.”
Maggie didn’t believe it was that simple for a minute. She wanted to spit in his face and tell him to perform a sexual act on himself in words that most ladies from Comfort would never use. But she didn’t. If he was going to untie her, she had to play along.
As she worked her way toward him, Coleman didn’t make a move to help her. Instead, he watched from the chair he sat in like a throne, his gaze dissecting, face still, as she wormed across the weathered floor. She lost her balance and nearly fell before struggling to her knees again and closing the distance.
When she reached his side, it was all she could do not to spit in his smarmy face.
“Turn,” he commanded.
Though it went against her grain to expose her vulnerable side to the man, Maggie complied. After all, what were her more appealing options? He wa
nted her grandparents’ land. She was a bargaining chip. She’d be no use to him dead—at least for now.
With deft fingers, he plucked at the rope around her wrists. As it came loose, her shoulders eased back into place. Blood rushed to her hands. She moaned in relief. When the sensation and dexterity returned to her fingertips, she bent to untie the binds around her ankles.
“Stop. I’ll do that. Up with you.” Coleman held out his hand to her.
Touching him rolled fear through her, but he assisted her to her feet with a gentle tug. Maggie expected him to bend to her ankles and release her ropes.
“No. On my lap.” He plucked her off her feet and settled her onto his thighs.
She held her tongue—for now—as he smoothed his hand up her shin, over her knee, and continued up, lifting her wedding dress as he did with his unwelcome caress. When the lace bunched around her hips, he petted his way back down her exposed skin, palm gliding over her in an unhurried stroke.
“I’d prefer to find a way to make this arrangement amicable.”
His tender voice took Maggie off guard. “W-what do you mean?”
“You have something I very much want. I believe we have something you also desire here at Enlightenment Fields.” He twined his finger into the binding around her ankles and gave a tug, reminding her of his power before handing her the nearby bottle of water. “Drink.”
She took it with a cautious grip and tested the plastic lid. But the seal hadn’t been broken.
Maggie lifted the bottle to her lips and filled her dry mouth. “You want my grandparents’ land.”
“Very much. I deeply regret that some of my Chosen have taken matters into their own hands in ways I disapprove of. I’m a peaceful man, and my movement is about the nonviolent embrace of our better selves as we open our consciousness and become one with the land and each other. I fear, in their zealousness, they’ve stepped a toe over the line.”
“A toe? They killed people!” Maggie screeched, then clamped her mouth shut. She needed his cooperation, not his defensiveness.
He sighed like the long-suffering parent of an errant child. “They exercised our collective values on a society that doesn’t understand. Ben Haney’s health had deteriorated alarmingly in the previous six months until he took much more from society than he could ever contribute again, so yes, my followers sent him to his next life.”
“And you conveniently bought the land from the county.”
“I did. What was done was done, after all.” Coleman tossed his hands in the air as if the situation were out of his control. “I regret that it was an unpleasant death, but my followers are used to the Chosen recognizing when they’re no longer contributing members of society and sacrificing for the greater good. Apparently, Haney resisted . . . and it did not end well for him.”
Maggie felt sick. Yes, the drugs lingering in her system weren’t helping, but Coleman’s words crawled over her skin. He acted as if one’s life ending merely because they were older and had earned some rest sounded not only reasonable but mandatory. “What about Mrs. McIntyre? She was still active.”
“I understand your confusion. She was far more physically mobile than Ben Haney. Her death was the result of an unfortunate joyride by some youths in our midst. They’ve been dealt with.”
She didn’t want to ask how. On the one hand, they were kids and she hoped their punishment hadn’t been death. On the other hand, the teens had obviously been taught hate and violence. What kind of adults would they become?
“Maybe, but you’re still buying the land she lived on.”
“Again, I cannot undo what has been done, and I see no reason not to benefit from an admittedly unfortunate circumstance.”
“And I guess my grandmother fell into that same ‘unfortunate’ category, too.”
“I’m afraid Mercy has been both too eager in ensuring that Enlightenment Fields has all the land we require and anxious about Josiah Grant.” He tsked. “To say she was displeased to learn the man she’d planned to give her long-preserved chastity to was already involved sexually with you would be a vast understatement. But I understand.”
Coleman began to pet her hair, slowly, softly, lingering at her neck, reaching for her skin beneath. It didn’t escape Maggie’s notice that he still hadn’t untied her ankles and wasn’t letting her off his lap.
Did this creep think she was going to have sex with him?
“She was jealous?”
“Yes, but I meant to say I understand why Josiah chose you over her. Mercy is lovely and so very devoted. Her heart . . . She means well, but she carries a bitter seed. I’ve tried to show her light and love, but she seems determined to harbor hate in a dark corner of herself. It guides her when she doesn’t get her way.” Coleman plucked at the bindings around her ankles again, toying but not untying. “You are vital, vibrant. According to Sawyer, you don’t hoard your chastity while you’re waiting for ‘the one.’ And your most fertile years are in front of you. We will shower you in love and welcome you at Enlightenment Fields.”
Because she enjoyed sex and had a working uterus? “This isn’t the place for me.”
Coleman gave her a benign smile she didn’t believe for a moment. “As soon as I have your grandparents’ land and I’ve given them five million dollars in compensation, you’re free to leave.”
“And you won’t harm them again?”
“Of course not. That was never my plan. Your fiancé, however . . .” He shrugged as if this, too, were beyond his control. “I fear he won’t fare as well. Mercy already lost her temper with Sawyer. He came to an unfortunate end.”
She’d killed him? Was that what this freak meant?
Maggie paled. No, she hadn’t liked Sawyer much lately but she would never have wished this on him. “Josiah has to walk free from this place, alive and unharmed.”
“I hope that’s possible. I’m not in favor of more violence. But Mercy is quite angry with him, and I fear his usefulness to her may be at an end. Michael and Marcus are protective prime brothers. According to them, they sensed Josiah’s ill intentions all along. They’ll help her mete out whatever fate for him she has in mind.” Coleman gave her another c’est-la-vie flip of his hand. “I don’t know what will happen, but I may be able to sway her . . . with the right enticement.”
Here came his pitch. Maggie swallowed down bile because she was pretty sure she knew what he wanted. “What?”
He smiled as if he was pleased that she’d walked into his verbal trap. The hand wrapped around her ankle found its way up her leg and under her skirt until he gripped her hip with a surprisingly harsh hand. The other he lifted to clutch a handful of her hair. “Stay here, join the Chosen, call me your sire. Give your hands, back, mind, heart, and womb to me. If you do, I guarantee Josiah will live and walk free.”
If she didn’t join these delusional outcasts and surrender herself to Coleman in every way, including letting him use her body and plant a baby in her belly, Josiah would die?
Oh, god . . .
As Maggie struggled to breathe, Coleman pried into her gaze. Even his slightly tinted glasses failed to hide his unrelenting stare and how unsettled it made her feel.
Instead of kissing her lips, Coleman lifted his face and pressed his lips to her forehead. The gesture seemed fatherly . . . except for his erection against her thigh. She barely managed not to shudder in fear.
Finally, he untied her ankles. “I’ll be back in an hour to collect your decision. I doubt it will take you that long to decide whether you want to save the man you sought to marry, but joining us is a commitment. I want you to come to me sure of heart.”
Then Coleman set her on her feet and rose, making his way out the door. A loud click in the silence told her that he’d locked it behind him. The ensuing silence unnerved her. How the hell was she going to escape? The room had only two windows, both covered in bars t
hat would be impossible to squeeze through.
Maggie tried to think through her panic. There must be ways out of this, right? Her grandparents would have already called the sheriff. He might bury his head in the sand, but Deputy Preston would act. Granted, he was one man, but maybe he could call someone for backup. Texas Rangers? FBI? Or maybe Josiah’s peers would rescue them. Somehow, they’d get them both out alive; she had to believe that.
But Maggie couldn’t wait on others; she had to act. No one had searched her while she was unconscious, thank goodness. The hard press of her phone still lay under her breasts, hugged to her body by her shapewear.
With shaking hands, she reached beneath the long skirt of her grandmother’s wedding dress, under the spandex garment, and finally came away with her cell. One bar. The signal wasn’t great, but it would have to be enough.
Maggie didn’t have to think twice about whom to call first. She tried Josiah. If Coleman was lying or bluffing, she was going to find some way out of there as fast as possible and never look back.
After she pressed her most recent call, Josiah’s number went immediately to voicemail. In Maggie’s memory, he’d never turned the device off—unless he was at Enlightenment Fields. Unless he was with Mercy. Unless he physically couldn’t answer.
Maggie didn’t want to think about all the reasons he was suddenly unreachable.
Fear clawed a deep gash out of her composure. She tried not to think the worst had already happened to the man she loved. Instead, she hung up and willed her shaking fingers to cooperate as she dialed emergency services.
“911. What’s your emergency?”
Maggie sagged with relief. She’d know that voice anywhere. “Dixie? You’ve got to help me.”
“Mags, is that you?”
“Yes. Send someone. Send everyone. I’m at Enlightenment Fields. Josiah is, too. Coleman is holding us hostage. I worry Mercy will kill Josiah.”
“Be careful. She’s dangerous. I don’t think she has any limits when it comes to protecting her sire.”