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“Ah, ignorance is bliss,” he said with a laugh.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you don’t have to live under the same laws I do.” He lowered his voice until it was barely audible. “It also means you might want to get out while you still can,” he said, and then melted into the crowd.
Nate might have followed him and demanded an explanation, but he didn’t want to draw attention to Joshua, not if there was any chance that he might become an ally. Besides, Grady Booth had already slipped into the spot vacated by Joshua.
“I see you’ve met Josh.”
Keeping one eye on the dancers, Nate sipped his beer. “Yes.”
“He’s been with Ethan since the beginning.”
Grady, older by at least fifteen years, was dressed like a farmer. He had the hands of a farmer, too—along with tufts of hair coming out of his nose and ears. Nate disliked him instantly, but since he’d barely met the man, he chalked that up to his bad mood. “The beginning of what?” he asked, as if he didn’t particularly care. He did, but Ethan’s hands were moving lower on Rachel’s back, and Nate wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop himself from causing a scene if “the Holy One” actually touched her ass.
“The beginning of the Church of the Covenant, my friend. He was one of the original roommates who joined after Ethan had his initial revelation.”
“His initial revelation,” Nate repeated.
“That’s right.”
“What was the revelation? That he should start a new church?”
“Basically. He was told that the world had gone astray and he was to lead it back.”
Ethan was smiling into Rachel’s face—talking to her, flirting with her, laughing. He was putting on a performance, even though he had to know that her husband wouldn’t enjoy it. He was testing Nate, almost taunting him.
Shoving his hands in his pockets so he couldn’t curl them into fists, Nate made an effort to relax his jaw. “And how was this message relayed to him?”
“In a dream.”
“Were narcotics involved?”
Grady blinked. A few seconds later, he chuckled. “You have a dry wit, you know that?”
“That’s what they tell me,” he said. “But I don’t think anyone’s going to find it very funny if I charge onto that dance floor and break Ethan’s nose.”
“Excuse me?” he said, obviously flustered.
Nate jerked his head in Ethan’s direction as the “prophet” was giving Rachel a squeeze. “You might tell him to watch his hands.”
Grady’s expression went cold. “You mean…you don’t like the way he’s holding your wife?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
The other man’s chest swelled with indignation. “You’re jumping to the wrong conclusion.”
“It’s the same conclusion any husband would come to. I’m afraid I’m not very understanding when I’m confronted by another man groping my wife.”
Grady sneezed several times, then wiped his hand on his shirt. “Ethan doesn’t intend anything untoward.”
“Whether he intends it or not, he might be facing salvation sooner than he expects if you force me to deliver my own message.”
The man’s nostrils flared, but he stalked onto the floor with his cowboy swagger and whispered to Ethan, who turned to look pointedly at Nate. When their eyes met, he laughed and made a show of putting a few inches of space between Rachel and him.
Returning Ethan’s smile, Nate gave him a little salute.
“Happy now?” Grady muttered when he came back.
“I wouldn’t say happy is the right word, but I’m no longer having fantasies of bashing my fist into your prophet’s face. I figure that’s an improvement, don’t you?”
Grady’s heavy jowls blazed red. “Anger management issues?”
“No issues. I’m just determined to protect what’s mine.”
“How long have you been married?”
“Not very long.”
“You might not be so protective in a few years,” he joked.
Nate indicated the other man’s forehead. “Why don’t you have the mark?”
“Because I’m a shepherd, not one of the sheep.”
Nate remembered Rachel telling him that Ethan had said the same thing to explain the absence of a brand on his own face. These men thought they were superior to the people who believed in them and supported them. And that really bothered Nate. He hadn’t learned much about religion, but his father had introduced him to the concept of the strong serving the weak. To him, that was the real meaning of Christ’s life. But that kind of humility only occurred when religious leaders were sincere, self-effacing. The very opposite of the men he saw here. Which told him as much as he needed to know about the Covenanters. “Bart has the mark. Isn’t he a shepherd?”
“He has a slightly different role. He’s…unique, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Tell me, what happens if a lamb wanders off?”
“It’s my job to bring it back into the fold.”
Nate mimed the use of a shepherd’s crook. “Right around the throat, huh?”
Grady stared at him for several seconds. “I do it with gentle persuasion.” His lips curved into a grim smile. “But when it comes to keeping out the wolves, I can be ruthless.”
Nate had just established himself as a wolf, a danger. But that was his role. They were testing him, pushing him, trying to figure out what they could or couldn’t get away with. He had to play the heavy, the grumpy disbelieving husband, or things could get out of control very fast. In this situation, Rachel was supposed to be the helpless lamb.
He just had to be sure she wasn’t led to the slaughter.
18
The first song ended, but another slow one came on immediately after, and Ethan made no move to let Rachel go. She guessed he was prolonging the dance as some sort of payback, since Nate had taken exception to it. Ethan seemed to enjoy making him angry. Perhaps Nate provided a challenge, something he wasn’t used to encountering these days. At least, not now that he’d become the be-all and end-all to his followers.
“Your husband is a jealous man,” he said as Nate continued to watch them closely.
“He can be.”
“He doesn’t trust me.”
She tried to keep things light. “He can be a bit skeptical. It takes time to win him over.”
