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Gripping Loch’s arm, Asher told him, “Go fucking get her. That feeling could be something terrible, Loch. Don’t let it go, man.”
He was torn. He wanted to listen to Asher, but the risk was high of him being locked up if she were removed. If something happened to Lochlan, then who would protect her when she needed him?
“She’s underage, Ash. I can’t just take her.”
“Fuck that, kid. You’re smart. You know there are ways around that shit. She’s in that cult out by Adna, right?”
“I don’t think it’s a cult,” Loch mumbled.
“It might as fucking well be, Lochlan. Go. Get. Her.”
Torn between doing what he felt in his gut was right and obeying the law, Asher took the choice out of his hands when he dragged him out the door and pushed him towards his car. Loch watched as the man locked up the shop and hopped in the passenger side.
“Let’s go.”
The drive out there seemed twice as long as normal with the anticipation of possibly bringing Sage home with him. The trouble rolling through his mind was focused on what he was going to do with her when he had her.
“Relax, Loch. Shit’ll work out,” Asher told him not for the first time.
“What the hell am I supposed to when I have her?”
“You love this girl?”
“What?” He looked to his passenger with confusion. “We haven’t even spoken.”
Ash shook his head. “So, what was your plan, Loch?”
“I have no clue,” he whispered, more worried than ever.
Sage could feel the infection rushing through her body like a harsh storm at sea. The pain and fatigue were excruciating. Joss and Porter had tended to her wounds after the cleansing, and they lost count of snake bites she’d received at thirty-seven.
Thankfully, as far as anyone knew, none of the snakes were poisonous. That was the only thing working in her favor as she was imprisoned once again in her room. Her mother, for once, stood up for Sage, insisting that before Morgan could have her, she needed to heal.
Sunday evening prayer was looming, and Sage could hardly move as her mother entered the room. With a scowl on her face, she snapped, “You could make an effort to move around, Sage. You look like death.”
Sage’s filter was gone, and she had no tolerance left for anyone in her family as she said, “Maybe because I nearly died, Mother.” Her voice wasn’t as forceful as she’d have liked, but from the glare sent her way, her point was made.
“That back talk of yours is what got you in trouble, Sage. I’d watch your tone, or I’ll hand you to Morgan myself.” Her threat didn’t have the desired effect.
“Then do it. Being around a man who would likely beat me to death is better than being near the people who gave me life only to turn around and try to snuff it out.”
Sage turned her back on her mother’s shocked expression, no longer wanting to be part of whatever games they were playing. Her life wasn’t a joke. Her feelings were true. The only thing in the world that mattered to Sage was either getting
out or dying. Anything not to feel that worthless.
“The devil is going to be beaten from you, Sage. Mark my words.”
She no longer feared the threat. After the past few days of agony and doubt, Sage was ready for it. She was ready for anything at all.
The click from the door was final, life-altering. From that day forward, she knew nothing was ever going to be the same again.
Her entire life, she truly believed in what she was taught. That the Lord would be their savior. In a way, she almost wished she could go back to a time when she still held confident in those same things.
Nearly a year with those small freedoms and exploration of the world outside of where she had grown up, and Sage wanted to be a part of it more regularly. Seeing how the rest of the world lived with freedom and choices, she knew that was what she desired as well.
After meeting Lochlan, interacting with his brothers and their friends, she wished to form those types of relationships too. A bond free of constriction and obligation.
Love was supposed to be the greatest gift of all time, and Sage felt suffocated by her parents’ brand of it. Acceptance with limitations and compromises wasn’t any type of life at all. Not for Sage when she yearned to experience what the world had to offer. She wanted to explore and travel. She wanted to fall in love and form friendships outside of what she knew.
