I stood and walked to the large window in the kitchen. It was black outside but for a few distant lights. I folded my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling cold.

“I am not so sure you are right,” Mae said.

I tensed, then looked at my sister, still seated at the table. Mae nervously glanced to my other two sisters and shifted on her chair. “Our husbands are blinded by their hatred of him for what he did to them. For what he allowed to happen to us, especially Lilah. But . . . ” She took a breath and continued, “In my heart I do not think he is a bad man. I have thought about this often, Bella. Rider was a good friend to me, and I believe that friendship was sincere, even though his later actions made it appear otherwise. For a time, I feared he was lost to the faith, but when he let us go, I saw the light within him shine through.” Mae sighed. “And today I saw that he had fully returned. Rider. Not Cain, but the man he was away from The Order. He brought you back to us. A bad man could not, would not, have done that.”

I let her words sink in. I tasted my falling tears on my lips. “I am so confused,” I admitted. “Too much has happened. I . . . I do not know what to think anymore . . . I . . . I . . . ”

The front door opened, and my heart fell when Mae’s love walked through. In the light, I saw him up close for the first time. He was tall and broad, with searching hazel eyes. His skin was covered with colored ink markings. He was terrifying to look at.

As if feeling my stare, he looked over at me, and I could feel him assessing me too. He shook his head in disbelief.

Mae went to his side. Despite our presence, Styx pulled her in for a heated kiss. I blushed at the sight. I knew then that this man was powerful. He took what he wanted, whenever he wanted it.

When he broke the kiss, he lifted his hands and communicated something to Mae. I saw my sister pale.

“No,” she said in shock. Styx stood stoic in response.

“What?” I asked.

“Can I tell her?” Mae asked. He nodded. Styx kept his eyes on me as Mae spoke. “Rider has informed Styx that The Order plan to attack us.”

My heart raced as I remembered the gun practice, the prophet arming our people for the end of days, the sermons of hate. “Yes,” I said. “Judah is preparing them for the end.”

Mae looked down at the floor. “So the Hangmen are going in first.” She paused, then added, “The Hangmen and Rider.”

White-hot fear surged through my veins. “No,” I whispered. “He will kill Rider. Judah, his twin . . . he will kill him.”

Styx shrugged, the action igniting a fire inside me. Without conscious thought I found myself rushing forward to where he stood. “Bella,” Mae called, reaching out for my arm. I wrenched it away from her touch.

Styx raised his eyebrow at me, crossing his arms over his chest. It only served to infuriate me more. “You have no idea,” I said, trying my hardest to control my overwrought emotions. “You have no idea what Judah has been doing to Rider for weeks and weeks. He has hurt him in every way possible. He cast him aside, severing any fraternal bond they might have once shared. And it broke Rider’s heart. His only family, the only person he has ever loved, tossed him aside because he tried to do the right thing.” My legs shook with anger, but I did not back down. “Rider killed a man when he finally witnessed a Lord’s Sharing. He went against all that he has ever known to stop what he just knew was wrong. He was the prophet, yet he stopped one of The Order’s most important practices. Do you know what that was like for him? No, you could not, because you did not live in that place. But I did. WE did!” Mae tried to reach for me again, but I faced her and shouted, “NO!”

Mae stepped back, and I turned to face Styx once more. “He risked everything to save me. I do not know how he did it, but he switched places with his brother to save me from being taken by him. He turned on his flesh and blood to save me and return me to my sisters. And now you send him back into their arms . . . they will kill him.”

I waited for Styx to speak, to say something. But all he did was run his tongue along his bottom lip and shrug. I reared back in shock. I looked at my sisters. Lilah and Maddie had their heads bowed, and Mae . . . Mae rocked on her feet, yet she said nothing.

“What kind of people are you?” I asked, feeling ice trickle down my spine.

Mae’s lover used his hands to communicate with her again. Mae paled further and shook her head. He worked his hands more insistently, and this time, Mae looked at me and said, “Styx wants me to tell you . . . tell you that you do not know Rider like you think you do. And that now you are here with us, you have no place with him. Rider will never be welcome here. Ever.”