Deep Redemption (Hades Hangmen Book 4) (30 page)

Rider

Dusk had begun to fall as we approached the compound. I rode alongside my former brothers, feeling numb.

Every time I thought of what had just happened, my mind would chase it away. I tried to think of the faces of the dead, but they were all just a blur. I tried to remember Judah’s last breath . . . but my mind was blank.

As we drew closer to the compound’s gates my hands began to shake. I tried to stop the trembling. But I couldn’t. I could see Smiler watching me from his bike beside me.

But I just couldn’t stop the fucking shakes.

The gates opened as we pulled up. My heart fucking burst when I saw the clubhouse door slam open and Bella run outside, Mae, Lilah and Maddie following behind. Beauty and Letti followed after them, looking exactly the same as the last time I had seen them.

Bella’s frantic eyes searched over the group. When her blue gaze landed on me, her hands covered her mouth. Tears fell down her cheeks as she ran to me. I made myself get off the bike to greet her. She stopped dead in front of me. “Rider,” she whispered, roving her shocked eyes over me.

I glanced down at my body. I was covered in Judah’s blood. I lifted my hand; it was bright red, the knuckles grazed of their skin.

Bella reached forward and wrapped her arms around my waist. Her concerned face searched mine. I stared into her eyes, tears tracking down my cheeks. Bella’s eyes closed and she took in a long, deep breath.

When they opened again, she said, “You did it . . . he is . . . he is gone?”

I nodded my head. There were no words. I could not speak. Bella molded her body against my own, ignoring the dried blood staining every inch of me. I wrapped my arms around her as tightly as I could.

I needed her.

I so desperately fucking needed her.

I heard voices around us. I heard the brothers describing what happened. “
Mass suicide . . . poison . . . kids too . . . Rider killed him . . . 
”

Bella tensed in my arms. Her lips trembled. “Everyone is dead? The innocent . . . the children . . . ?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded my head. Bella stepped back from my embrace. I opened my eyes. Her eyes were swimming in sadness. “Ruth, Stephen, Samson, Solomon? They are all . . . dead?”

“No,” I managed to reply quickly, then turned toward the parked trucks. Hush opened the truck’s door and Solomon and Samson stepped out. Before they could even take a step, Bella ran to them and wrapped her arms around each of them, crying in relief. They hugged her back, awkwardly.

Bella withdrew as Brother Stephen slid from the back seat, and she greeted him in the same relieved way. My chest ached; she didn’t even know she was embracing her father.

A father who adored her.

Brother Stephen’s eyes closed as he pressed a kiss to her head. He stepped back, and his eyes scanned the crowd. Then he stilled. I followed the path of his gaze and saw Mae and Maddie watching Bella greet her friends.

Stephen then turned away from Bella and moved his fingers to his eyes. I had a sudden image of myself doing the same thing to Bella, in that motel bathroom . . .

Bella looked up at him. And I saw the moment she registered the change in his appearance. She took a step back, then another. She lifted her hand to her eyes. “Your eyes,” she whispered. “They are . . . they are like mine . . . ” Bella turned to Mae. “They are like Mae’s.”

Stephen looked at the three sisters in turn, then said to Bella, “I am your father, Bella . . . I am your father. And Mae’s and Maddie’s too.”

“What?” Bella whispered.

His ice-blue eyes shone with emotion. “I was exiled to the defectors’ commune because I tried to run away with you all when you were little.” He pointed at Maddie. “Maddie was just a baby. You and Mae, toddlers.” Maddie watched Stephen, her arms wrapped around Flame’s waist. Her green eyes were huge as she listened to Stephen’s revelation.

Styx had his arm slung around Mae’s shoulder. Mae was listening, lips parted in disbelief.

“Why?” Bella asked. “Why did you not tell me? Why did you disguise your eyes from me? Hold back this truth?”

Stephen sighed deeply. “Because I did not want to cause you any more hurt. You had already been through so much. I always knew we would return to the commune to try and take it down. If I fell, I did not want you to mourn me. You deserved to be happy . . . I had failed you so many times before. I could not stop the pain you all went through at the hands of the prophet . . . I . . . I was unworthy of being your father.”

Mae began crying, turning her face into Styx’s chest. Maddie was silent, looking as if she was deep in shock. But not Bella. Finding the strength she always managed to muster, Bella rushed forward and put her hands on Stephen’s cheeks. “I . . . I would have mourned you if you had fallen regardless. You have been my family… you
are
my family.”

“Bella,” Stephen said softly and kissed Bella’s cheek.

“You saved me,” Bella whispered, throwing her arms around him. “When I was brought to Puerto Rico, it was you who did not let me die. You healed me. You kept me hidden. You kept me safe.”

She turned to Mae and Maddie, holding out her hand. Mae went to her immediately. Maddie didn’t move at first, but then left the safety of her husband’s arms and joined her sisters. Maddie’s head was cast down in nerves. But Mae looked her father in the eyes.

Stephen smiled at the daughters he had never met. “You are all so beautiful,” he said. “More beautiful than I had ever imagined.” Mae dipped her head, then to my surprise, leaped forward and wrapped her arms around Stephen. Stephen’s face looked shocked, then it melted into an expression of deep relief. Deep relief and love.

Mae stepped back, wiping her eyes, and Stephen looked at Maddie. Bella put her arm around her youngest sister’s shoulders. Maddie fell into Bella’s side, then shakily held out her hand to Stephen.

Stephen smiled. He put his hand in hers and shook it. “Nice to meet you again, Maddie.”

Maddie breathed deeply. “It is nice to meet you too.” Her voice was barely audible, but I could see that didn’t matter to her father. It momentarily chased the darkness from my heart.

I saw movement from the back of the crowd. Lilah was walking through slowly, her eyes on Stephen. She stopped beside her sisters. “Phebe?” she asked. I could see by the devastated look on her scarred face that she knew her sister wasn’t with us.

That I hadn’t saved her.

Stephen dropped his head. When he looked up at her, he said, “You are Delilah . . . Rebekah?” Lilah flinched at the mention of her original name, but she nodded. Ky moved to stand by his wife’s side.

“Phebe helped us escape,” Stephen said. “She sacrificed so much to help us. And it was all in your honor. Your sister . . . she loves you very much. Everything she did was for you.”

Lilah released a strained sob. “I love her very much too,” she cried. Ky held his wife closer.

Stephen rocked on his feet. “She was taken by one of Judah’s associates. I am sorry, but I do not know where he has taken her.”

Lilah cried harder into Ky’s shoulder. Ky let her have a moment, then lifted her head with his finger under her chin. “Baby,” he said tentatively. “Phebe asked you to do something for her. She needs you to help her.”

“I do not understand,” Lilah replied.

Ky put his hands on her face. “Just know that I’m here with you, right? You got this. Fuck, babe, you were fuckin’ born for this.” Lilah gripped onto her husband’s arms tighter. She opened her mouth to speak again, as Sister Ruth emerged from the back of Cowboy’s truck.

Ruth smiled at me nervously, then turned back toward the back seat. Ky pulled Lilah forward toward the truck. Lilah’s steps were slow and nervous. Ruth lifted Grace from the back seat, and the blond sister went still with shock.

Ruth set the child on the floor and took hold of her hand. Ruth approached Lilah, bringing the frightened, wide-eyed child with her. Grace stared at everyone watching her, but when her eyes found Lilah’s, the kid couldn’t look away.

Lilah sucked in a breath, and Ky held her tighter. “You are Phebe’s sister?” Ruth asked.

Lilah nodded her head.

“Phebe has been caring for this child.” Ruth chased the thickness from her throat and said, “Judah had recently proclaimed her a Cursed Sister of Eve.”

“No,” Lilah whispered. Bella, Mae and Maddie were watching on with sad, knowing expressions on their faces.

“Judah was going to take her on her eighth birthday,” Ruth continued. “It is in two months’ time.”

“So he did not . . . he never forced her to . . . ?” Lilah trailed off, unable to finish the question.

“No,” Ruth answered. “Your sister saved her. She locked her away to make sure she was safe . . . if she had not, Delilah would have died today like all the other helpless young.”

Lilah had frozen still. “Delilah?” she whispered, devastation lacing her tone.

“Yes,” Ruth replied. “Her branded Cursed name is Delilah. Judah named her because she looks just like you.” A cry came from Lilah’s mouth.

I cleared my throat and said, “Grace.” Lilah faced me in confusion. I pointed at the kid, who already looked completely enamored with Phebe’s sister. “Her name before my brother branded her was Grace. Phebe only ever called her that.” I pushed my hair back off my face. “She wants you to take her, raise her as your own. She saved Grace so you could give her a better life. Because she couldn’t see another child hurt the way you were”—I met Bella’s watery eyes—“the way you all were.”

Grace stepped forward and tugged on Lilah’s long cream dress. Lilah looked down, and Grace said nervously, “You . . . you are Aunt Phebe’s . . . sister?”

Lilah’s face contorted with grief, and with Ky’s help, she bent down and met Grace face to face. “You have the same hair color as me,” she said innocently, and my heart almost fucking cracked down the center.

Ky looked away, and I knew he was breaking too. Lilah smiled indulgently at the little girl. “I do.”

Grace pointed at Lilah’s eyes. “And your eyes are the same too.”

“Yes,” Lilah said in a husky voice. “They are blue.”

Grace tipped her head to the side, and she blushed. She clasped her hands in front of her. “Aunt Phebe said . . . ” Grace looked up at Ruth for approval. Ruth nodded her head in encouragement. Grace stepped closer to Lilah and said, “Aunt Phebe said you are to be my . . . mama?” The little girl swallowed. “Are you . . . is that true? Are you my mama? I never had a mama before.”

Lilah and Ky both turned their faces away for a moment, trying to control their tears. Then Lilah smiled. She cried through her smile and nodded her head. “Yes, Grace. I will be your mama.”

Grace’s smile practically lit up the darkening sky. She tentatively moved closer to Lilah, and Lilah pulled her into a soft hug. Lilah looked up at Ky, smiling so fucking big. She pulled back from the little girl and pointed at Ky. “Ky, my husband . . . He will be your papa, Grace. He will be your papa . . . ” Ky’s jaw clenched as Grace peered up at him.

“Hey, kid,” Ky said gruffly.

Grace smiled at him, and I heard Ky’s breath hitch. “You look like me too,” Grace said and pointed to her hair.

“Yeah,” Ky rasped. “The same hair and eyes too, kid.”

Grace looked back to Lilah. “Is Aunt Phebe going to live with us too?”

Grace’s question was like a bucket of ice-cold water over the happiness Lilah had found. Stephen crouched down next to Grace. “Aunt Phebe has had to go away for a while, Grace. She wanted you to get to know your new mama and papa first.”

Grace nodded her head like that made perfect sense.

“Do we have a house?” Grace asked Lilah. “Aunt Phebe said that you would have a home. With a bed.” She paused, then said, “I have never slept in a real bed before. Just on a mattress on the floor of the children’s quarters. The prophet told me I would sleep with him very soon, in his bed. A real bed, but that has not happened yet.”

Lilah flinched at Grace’s words, and it took her several seconds to pull herself together. I pushed back vomit at the thought of what Judah had planned to do with the kid. “Yes,” Lilah said breathlessly. “We have a home . . . with a room that I think has been waiting just for you.”

Grace laughed in happiness and Lilah stood, looking over at her sisters with an overwhelmed expression on her face.

“Come on, kid, we’ll show you your new house.” Ky bent down and took Grace in his arms. Lilah, Ky and Grace walked away, Grace staring up at them in complete fascination.

The other brothers began to filter into the clubhouse. And I didn’t know what the fuck to do. Suddenly, Bella was at my side, looking completely stunned by everything.

“Bella,” Mae called. “I will take Stephen and Ruth to my home to rest. Styx will give your other two friends rooms in the clubhouse.” Mae looked at me and smiled. “I am sure you wish to spend time with Rider.”

Styx met my eyes with a meaningful glare. I understood his message, a message that wouldn’t be spoken aloud. Then he lifted his hands and signed at me. I nodded, then reached down for Bella’s hand.