by Wendi Wilson
“There has to be a reason Lizzie warned Savanna to run,” Jett said. “She’s in this up to her eyeballs and something sent her over the edge.”
“I agree with Beckett,” I said. “We can always prepare, and if your uncle tries anything we can take off. Until then, I think we should live our lives.”
“Try to have some fun?” Wyatt asked, his voice hopeful.
I grinned at him. “Yes. Definitely have some fun.”
“But—”
“No,” I said, cutting Jett off. “I know you’re worried. I am, too. But it’s my senior year. I want to enjoy it. I have three of the most handsome,” I touched his face, “sweetest, funniest,” I lowered my voice, “sexiest boyfriends on the planet and I don’t want to waste a second of our time together. If your uncle thinks he can control me with fear, then he doesn’t know me at all.”
“And we’ll be there to protect her, if she needs it,” Beckett added, earning an eye roll from me.
“Yeah,” Wyatt said. “We might not be able to persuade uncle Earl, but any one of us could take him down, physically, if there’s ever a need.” He flexed a bicep and grinned.
“Then it’s settled,” I said, looking at Jett. “We go back to your uncle’s house and bide our time.”
Jett took a deep breath and sighed, knowing he’d been outvoted. “Okay,” he said, “back into the viper’s nest we go.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
That plan lasted all of about five minutes.
When we got back to the house, their uncle was there, waiting for us in the foyer. He practically ordered me to meet him in his office, shooing the boys toward the staircase. They, of course, refused to leave me alone with him, which resulted in a stand-off.
“I tell them everything,” I said to Dr. Patton. “There’s really no point in banning them from the room.”
“And there’s no reason for them to be there, knowing you’ll tell them all of it, anyway,” he countered.
There really was no arguing with him, as usual. I nodded at the boys, told them to go on upstairs and I’d meet them there later. Not one of them moved a muscle, prepared to fight me on it.
“Why don’t you just make them go?” Dr. Patton suggested.
I narrowed my eyes at him before turning back to the boys. “Please, just go. I’ll be fine. I promise.”
I tried to speak to them with my eyes, to remind them that we needed to act normal. We weren’t supposed to know all that we knew, and they’d never had an issue leaving me alone with him before. They seemed to get the message. After one last glare at their uncle, they headed up the stairs.
“We need to discuss your trip to the shelter on Sunday,” he said without preamble as we walked into his office.
“What do you mean?” I asked, keeping my voice as innocent as possible.
“Don’t play coy with me, Savanna. I saw the news footage. What you did was amazing.”
His was too animated. His voice too excited. His eyes too wild. It made me uncomfortable.
“What I did was a fluke,” I said, playing it cool. “There’s no guarantee I could ever do that again.”
“Nonsense. You’ll do that, and so much more.”
My heartbeat accelerated at his word choice. He didn’t say I could do it. He said I would do it. Was he admitting that he had a master plan? That his agenda didn’t actually revolve around research?
“What is it you want from me?” I didn’t clarify if I meant right then, in that moment or if I was speaking in general.
“A great many things,” he said, rubbing his hands together.
My stomach dropped. His lips twisted into a caricature of a smile, the maniacal gleam in his eyes brightening. He was different. Almost like a junkie reveling in his latest high. Only, his drug of choice wasn’t heroin or cocaine…it was the power I represented.
“Just tell me,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I need you, Savanna, to help me bring the word of God to the masses.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” I asked, flinching as my words stuttered out.
He moved behind the desk and sank into his chair, motioning for me to take a seat in the chair across from him. I considered ignoring him, remaining on my feet to show the smallest bit of rebellion, but decided sitting was my best course of action. My knees had started to tremble, not from fear of Dr. Patton, but from the anxiety building within me as he delayed his explanation. I wanted to yell at him to spit it out. I pressed my lips together and met his eyes, determined to be patient.
“You came to my church,” he said, nodding his head. “You heard the word of God. You know the truth, now.” When I didn’t speak, he continued, “There are many, many people who think the Purist community is crazy. A cult.”
I forced my head to remain still when all it wanted to do was nod in agreement. “I’m aware,” I said, striving to keep my voice neutral.
“You could change all that, Savanna. You could make them listen.”
“So, what?” I scoffed. “You want me to travel around with you, persuading people to listen to your message?”
“Oh, no, my dear,” he said, the gleam in his eye brightening, “that would take far too long and would be a waste of your talents. What I need is for you to persuade a handful of people. The right people.”
“So, let me get this straight,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “You and the rest of the Purists hate Alts because we’re different. Because we can persuade people to do things against their will and that’s not in line with God’s plan. Yet, you would use me, an Alt, to do the very thing you detest, all the while preaching that we’re doing it in the Lord’s name?”
He frowned. “It is for the greater good. The ends justify the means.”
I leaned back in my chair, arching a brow. “Why do you need me, in particular, for this? You could use your nephews, or any Alt, for that matter, to persuade people for you. Why me?”
“You’re different,” he said, the maniacal smile returning to his face. “So beautiful and magnetic. People cannot resist your pull. Add in the power to persuade and you’re a force to be reckoned with.”
I wasn’t buying what he was selling, but I forced myself to smile anyway. I needed him to think he was winning me over. Beautiful and magnetic, indeed. He needed me for my blood, to provide persuasion immunity to his loyal followers.
“And I suppose my ability to persuade other Alts has nothing to do with it?” I asked, attempting to be coy.
“Of course not,” he blustered. “That was a happy accident, an unexpected side effect that I felt inclined to study in depth.”
The twinkle in his eye belied his words. Whatever he really wanted, whatever his plans were, my new abilities were the key to his success. If he wasn’t going to be honest, I was not going to play along anymore. I leaned forward and propped my elbows on his desk.
“No,” I said.
“What do you mean, no?”
“Just what it sounds like.”
“You refuse to help me?” His face fell slack, like he never in a million years expected me to reject his plan.
“I will not force people to hate Alts,” I said, speaking slowly and enunciating each word.
“Yes,” he said with a snarl. “Yes, you will.”
“You can’t make me do it,” I said. “Go to the police. I don’t care anymore.”
“Oh, I never had any intention of turning you over to anyone,” he said with a malicious smile. “Empty threats, all.”
I stood up and braced my hands on his desk as I leaned over it, bringing my face closer to his. “You bastard,” I spat. “I’m leaving, and I’m taking the boys with me.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said.
“I’d like to see you try and stop me.”
My body temperature flared, the heat rolling off of me in waves. The good doctor was damned lucky he was immune to my persuasion, or might have been jumping out a second story window by that point. The fact tha
t he was using my blood for that immunity only made me angrier. As did the fact that I couldn’t throw it in his face that I knew he was giving his followers my blood.
Lizzie had risked a lot to tell me, so I had to bite back the angry words threatening to spew from my mouth. My anger boiled beneath the surface as he held my stare, a slight smile turning up the corners of his lips.
“You will stay right here, in my home,” he said, a fingertip tapping against his chin. “You will continue with your training until I say you are done. You will do everything I ask, without question or complaint.”
“You’re dreaming,” I said.
“And if you think to defy me,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken, “those boys will pay the price.”
I took a step back, a hand flying to my chest. “What do you mean?”
“I have been taking very good care of them, have I not?” he said, his tone almost conversational. “They have transportation, money in their pockets. They have been well fed.”
His voice dropped an octave on those last two words. My nostrils flared as I started to understand. “You’d cut off their blood supply?” I asked. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and I have,” he said, his smile returning. “I have a member of my congregation deeply embedded at every blood bank between here and Atlanta. Those boys will not be able to procure a single drop of blood without my say so.” His eyes narrowed. “If you think to deny me, I will deny them.”
“I could persuade them to give it to us,” I said, bluffing. I knew I couldn’t persuade his people. He’d been giving them my blood, making them immune. But he didn’t know that I knew.
He laughed. “You and I both know you can’t.” At my startled look, he shook his head. “Our little spy Lizzie turned out to be such a disappointment.”
“But…how?”
“Her parents have always monitored her phone, even before she became an integral part of our mission. All of her texts, sent and received, go to her father’s phone as well.”
I sucked in a breath. “Is she okay?”
“What do you imagine? That I have her locked away in a dungeon somewhere? I am not a monster, Savanna. Lizzie is fine. Grounded by her parents, I believe, but otherwise unharmed.”
Deciding to take his word for it, at least for the moment, I turned my thoughts back to the matter at hand. Our inability to procure blood for the boys. Atlanta wasn’t that far. As I tried to calculate how many miles we could travel in a day, Dr. Patton started talking again, seeming to read my mind.
“The truck is in my name. If you try to leave, I’ll just report it stolen and your boys will be arrested for auto theft. I could probably convince the district attorney to tack kidnapping onto the charges, as well.”
“Kidnapping?”
He nodded. “You are underage, after all.”
“So are they,” I argued.
“That matters little,” he said. “They are three strong boys, Alts at that. It would be very easy to convince a jury that they persuaded a young girl to run away with them and be their play-toy.”
His words made me flinch. He was right. With discrimination being fueled by the Purists and, in no small part by that video of me persuading an entire room, it wasn’t hard to imagine a jury convicting them of any number of terrible acts with little to no proof or evidence.
“Alts can’t persuade Alts,” I said, grasping at straws. “Thanks to your experimentation, it’s becoming pretty obvious,” I pointed at my eyes, “that I’m an Alt, so there’s no way you could prove they persuaded me to go with them.”
“I have plenty of video footage of you persuading three Alt’s in my very own backyard,” he said, his eyebrows dropping low over his eyes. “It proves Alts can persuade other Alts, and there is no way to know that they can’t do it to you.”
I fell silent, unable to come up with another argument. Dr. Patton had me, and he knew it. His smile made my stomach turn. His tone turned conversational as he continued to speak.
“Things will remain the same, for now. I will let you know when I am ready to take the next step.”
And with that, I was dismissed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“That son of a bitch.”
The muscles in Jett’s jaw flexed as he ground the words out. Wyatt swore under his breath and Beckett sat on the bed, silent, his eyes focused on the floor. I’d just finished giving them the play by play of my conversation with their uncle.
“We should leave,” Wyatt said, pacing the floor.
“We can’t run,” Beckett said, finally looking up from the carpet.
“He wants to use Savanna,” Wyatt yelled, punching his fist into his other palm, “for God knows what. We have to get her out of here.”
Jett rested a hand on Watt’s shoulder, stopping his angry pacing. “You heard what she said.” His voice was firm. Controlled. “If we try to run, he’ll have us arrested. We can’t protect her if we’re in jail.”
“So, we buy a new car. One he can’t report stolen. We have some money saved.”
I grabbed Wyatt’s hand and threaded my fingers through his. “It doesn’t matter Wyatt. He’ll find another way. We’re all still minors.” I looked from him to the other two. “We just have to wait this out for another month. Then we’ll all be eighteen and he can’t threaten us anymore. At least not with that.”
“And what if he tries to send us away before that? Or starve us to death?” Wyatt’s face turned sullen with those words, his voice on the edge of panic.
“We’ll deal with that when it comes. If it comes down to it, I’ll do what he wants to protect you. All of you.”
“Savanna, no,” Beckett said, standing.
I shook my head at him. “Only as a last resort,” I said, my voice soft.
Wyatt opened his mouth, but Jett cut him off. “Savanna makes her own decisions,” he said. “We wait it out.”
I nodded thankfully at Jett and said, “Once we figure out his plan, we’ll come up with a way to stop him.”
“Do you think Lizzie’s okay?” Beckett asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I hope so. She risked a lot to warn me.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Wyatt said, his grip tightening around my hand. “Uncle Earl said her parents grounded her, but they won’t hurt her, right? He doesn’t have any reason to lie about that.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said. “These Purists are certifiable.”
Silence enveloped us after my words. My brain hurt. All I wanted was to be a normal teenager. Have some fun. Go out with my three, blood-drinking boyfriends. Totally ordinary.
As if he read my mind, Wyatt pulled me into his side and whispered in my ear, “Do you want to get out of here?”
A smile lit my face for the first time in hours. “That sounds like a great idea.”
“We’re gonna head out,” Wyatt said, earning nods from the other two.
“Be careful,” Jett said. “If he does have microphones planted in our rooms, he knows we’re only waiting things out until we’re eighteen. He might try something drastic once we’re not all together.”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. I’d totally forgotten about our fear of bugs in the house. I stepped forward, kissing first Jett, then Beckett on their cheeks.
“You guys be careful, too.”
They assured me they would as Wyatt whisked me from the room. We skipped down the stairs, hand in hand, not slowing our pace until we were outside in the driveway. He helped me up into the truck before running around the hood and hopping in behind the wheel.
“Where to?” he asked, his grin a shadow of its normal brilliance.
“Anywhere but here.”
Once out on the road, he fiddled with the radio, filling the silence with soft music. Lacing his fingers through mine, he held on tightly as we drove down one country road after another. I had no idea where we were, and I was fairly certain Wyatt didn’t, either. But it didn’t matter.
; After several twists and turns, we ended back on the main road, headed toward town.
“We can’t drive around forever,” Wyatt said, smiling. “I’m running low on fuel.”
He pulled into the first gas station we saw, parking next to an empty pump. As he went inside to pay for gas, I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked it. No notifications.
My eyes burned and I squeezed them shut until the feeling passed. Even though it had been me that persuaded my parents not to worry about me, to trust that I was fine, it still stung that they hadn’t tried to contact me at all. No texts. No calls. Nothing.
Wyatt exited the store and jogged back to the truck as I hastily shoved my phone back into my pocket. I took a few deep breaths, summoning a smile as he waved at me through the window after getting the gas flowing. I refused to let my melancholy ruin our date.
We got back on the road and Wyatt took my hand once again. “Do you want to go to the movies, or something?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I don’t want to be around people. Is there somewhere where we could be alone and hang out? Just the two of us?”
It was nearing mid-afternoon and the sun was starting to dip lower in the sky. Its rays bathed Wyatt’s face in a pinkish hue as he smiled at my suggestion. Flicking the lever to turn on his left blinkers, he maneuvered into the turning lane to hop on the highway.
“I know just the place,” he said, clutching my hand even tighter.
I leaned my head back against the seat, my eyes drifting closed. I let the soft music and the sound of Wyatt’s soft humming lull me into peaceful relaxation. After a long while, the truck slowed and I opened my eyes. Looking out the windows, I saw nothing but trees surrounding us.
“You have a thing for the woods, don’t you?” I asked, a grin tugging up one corner of my mouth.
He chuckled. “I guess.” He maneuvered the vehicle onto a narrow dirt road as he said, “I just like nature.”
“Do you even know where you’re going?”
He arched a brow at me. “Do you trust me?”