Unholy Read online

  Ethan stood and rubbed his slightly trembling fingers against his brow. He exhaled and walked over to her. Ethan was less than a foot away from her.

  He moved his lips close to her ear. “Tell me what I can do to get you to trust me?”

  Kate’s stomach twisted as she stared up into his eyes. She tried to look for the truth, but all she saw was his brown eyes staring back at her.

  “Good night, Ethan,” she said.

  The frustration that swept over his face was unmistakable. He turned and walked over to the door. “Good night.”

  10

  Kate had been up for quite some time staring at the ceiling when the church bell rang out a single time as it did every morning. It was essentially her alarm clock, telling her it was time for work.

  The best thing about eradicating was that she’d get outside the fence. The worst part was that she’d have to see Simon’s face.

  She pushed herself out of bed and walked over to the window. The town below was essentially empty except for the random person running to get to wherever they were supposed to be when the church bell rang.

  Kate checked her weapons, peeked out of the peephole, and left her hotel room. She could hear people moving about inside the rooms, others had left their doors open without a care as they went about their business.

  The guy behind the desk rested his head on his fist, barely bothering to look up as she walked by. Kate walked down the sidewalk heading for the same location her team met every morning. Only today she wasn’t walking alone.

  “Sleep well?” Ethan asked.

  “You are following me,” Kate said, her jaw stiff.

  “I wasn’t yesterday but today… it’s not following, I was waiting for you.” Ethan sounded defensive.

  Kate was a bit annoyed but tried to keep it from showing on her face. Whether or not she succeeded was another matter altogether. They’d gone on one mission outside of work together, that didn’t make them best friends. As far as Kate was concerned, they were coworkers.

  “I like knowing where you are,” Ethan said as he looked toward the church.

  “That’s not creepy at all.”

  “It’s not like that, Kate. It’s like I said about sticking together.”

  Benji, Wayne, and Tommy were already waiting at the pickup truck as Kate and Ethan approached. They both slowed their pace when Simon stepped out from behind Benji.

  “Do you two always arrive at work together?” Simon asked clasping his hands behind his back.

  “First time,” Kate answered quickly.

  “My dear, Kate, I’m actually surprised. I would have guessed you’d always be the first one here,” Simon said wearing a wide grin that showed off his perfectly straight teeth.

  Kate raised her eyebrows as she moved closer to the passenger side of the truck where she always sat. “I was tired from my mission.”

  “Ah, yes, thank you again. Funny, you should bring that up,” Simon said rubbing his palms together slowly.

  “Oh?” Kate asked. She didn’t think whatever it was he was about to say would be at all funny.

  “I need your help again. This time I need your whole team.”

  Kate’s stomach felt as though it sank down to her feet. Benji, Wayne, and Tommy smiled and jabbed one another with their elbows. They were all beyond thrilled that they were being included.

  “What can we do for you?” Ethan asked.

  “I’m glad you asked,” Simon said reaching into the back of the pickup truck and lifting up a brown cardboard box. “I need you to bring this to Rosalie.”

  “What’s inside?” Ethan asked.

  Simon pressed his palms together. “It’s just a small surprise for Rosalie.”

  Ethan shot a quick glance in Kate’s direction, and she wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was. That there was something in the box that was dangerous, not only for Rosalie but possibly to them as well.

  “Ah, here comes the second thing I’m going to need help with,” Simon said waving at something behind Kate.

  She forced her body to relax as she looked over her shoulder. Coming toward them were two armed guards and the bearded man she’d seen the day before.

  “Come, come,” Simon said sliding his arm around the guy’s shoulders. “This is Joel.”

  Kate nodded, and the others grunted their hellos.

  “Sorry, but that’s about as warm of a welcome as you’ll get from these guys,” Simon said with a chuckle. “Joel, I’d like you to meet Kate, she’s in charge of this team, and that’s Ethan, Benji, Tommy, and Wayne. Great team. You’re going to love working with them.”

  “I don’t know if I have time to train someone,” Kate said biting her cheek after the words leaked out.

  “I figured as much, which is why he’s coming along on this particular trip. It should be a rather simple introduction to what you do. Perhaps you won’t even need to eradicate any of The Unholy today.” Simon clapped his hands together as he stepped back from the group. “Take him along, tell him what you do, and we’ll worry about further training for Joel when you return.”

  Kate nodded. She could feel Joel’s eyes on her.

  “All you need to do is give Rosalie the gift and return home.” Simon pointed at Kate as he slowly walked backward. “Be back tonight?”

  “I imagine so?” she said, but it sounded more like a question. “Unless of course, something goes wrong.”

  “Nothing ever goes wrong when you’re around, Kate.” Simon laughed as he turned and left the area.

  Ethan stepped up to Benji and held out his hand. “Keys? I’m driving today.”

  Kate turned to Joel. He looked at her and scratched the back of his neck.

  “I saw them bring you into town yesterday,” Kate said. “Where are you from?”

  “Out there,” he said pointing at the world beyond the fence.

  “Lots of Unholy out there,” Kate muttered, raising her eyebrow as she looked him up and down. His body was thin, but not as thin as someone who’d been struggling to find food and water.

  “Why do you all call them that?” Joel asked.

  Benji patted him on the back before climbing into the back of the truck. “Simon started calling them that and it caught on pretty quickly. He thinks they are the work of the devil.”

  “The devil, huh?” Joel said softly.

  “Once they’re eradicated the human race will be saved from evil,” Wayne said holding out his palms as he tilted his face to the sky.

  Joel shrugged. “That would be true even if they weren’t the work of the devil.”

  Kate smiled. She already liked Joel. Ethan looked her way before climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

  “Get in,” Ethan barked.

  “The guys can tell you all about eradication,” Kate said as she jerked her thumb at the truck bed.

  She climbed up into the passenger seat and closed the door. Kate rolled down the window and glanced over at Ethan who already had his sunglasses on and his arm hanging out the window.

  “Ready, boss?” he said with a slight upward curl at the corners of his mouth.

  “Go,” Kate said, and in seconds the breeze through the window was blowing her hair around her face.

  As they approached the gate, she pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail preparing herself for the blast of wind that would hit her when Ethan sped down the highway. The guards nodded as they let them out of the town.

  Kate watched the men closing the gate in her side mirror. When they stepped away, she drew in a deep inhale that spread through every muscle in her body. For a second, she felt like her old self again, until she remembered the amount of Unholy that likely would come out of their hiding spots as they heard the roaring engine zipping by.

  “Have you been to the east before?” Ethan asked.

  Kate shook her head.

  “We’ve been there a couple times. Benji actually spent a fair amount of time working under Rosalie.”

&
nbsp; “Is that right?” Kate asked.

  “Yep. Bet he even knows a bunch of people there. No doubt they’ll let us in and right up to Rosalie.”

  Kate turned and met his gaze but couldn’t see his eyes through the dark lenses.

  “What are you thinking?” Kate asked. “Do we need to be worried?”

  “I don’t think we do, I think Rosalie does, but then again, you never know with Simon.” Ethan turned back toward the road swerving slightly as he veered toward the right. “He’d take out twenty as long as he also got the one he wanted. At least with you around, I feel a bit safer.”

  “Please,” Kate mumbled.

  Ethan chuckled. “It’s true. You’re his favorite.”

  “The women in his bed are his favorites,” Kate muttered, but she hadn’t kept her voice quiet enough. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. “And I won’t ever let that be me.”

  “I hear,” Ethan said leaning closer, “it’s not just the women that need to worry.”

  The information didn’t surprise Kate. With Simon, it was all about power.

  After a long pause, Ethan cleared his throat and jerked his head back toward Joel. “What do you think about him?”

  “I don’t know. Seems he came to The Way about the same way I did,” Kate said, realizing something she hadn’t until that moment. She was becoming comfortable with Ethan. They’d worked together for a long time rarely saying more than a few words each day, but now it was sentences… paragraphs. She should pull back for her own safety. “What do you think?”

  “Doesn’t seem ready to take on whatever we’re in for.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Ethan blew out a puff of air. “Because I’m not sure we are even ready.”

  11

  Before Ethan even pulled up to the gate, the guards had their guns pointed at the pickup truck. The truck came to a stop, and Benji stood up.

  “Hey fellas!” he said jumping out. “Long time no see.”

  Kate watched as they shook hands through a section of the fence. She felt her nerves pinching as they talked for several minutes.

  “Get on with it,” she whispered.

  “You got that whole crawling out of your skin thing going on again,” Ethan said tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

  “You look a little twitchy yourself.”

  Ethan nodded. “I’d feel much better if we knew what was inside that box. Maybe we should have looked.”

  “Yeah, if you have a death wish.”

  “So, what are you all doing over here?” the guard asked Benji as he waved at the truck.

  “Simon sent us, we got a package for Rosalie,” Benji said.

  Ethan’s knuckles turned white. “No idea if he should have said that.”

  “Well, if Simon sent you,” the guard said jerking his chin upward. The other guard pulled open the gate. “You all going to be staying long?”

  Benji shook his head. “Nah.”

  “Aw, too bad,” the guard said leaning closer but not bothering to lower his voice, “Rupert made some moonshine. You’d love the shit.”

  Benji grinned. “Well, if we got time maybe I’ll find you.”

  Ethan’s jaw clenched as the guard and Benji kept talking. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Shut your mouth and get back in the fucking truck, Benjamin,” Ethan said between his teeth.

  Kate wanted to tell Ethan to calm down, but she was afraid it would only make him more anxious. When Kate first arrived, Ethan was one of the first people she’d met, and he wasn’t anything like he had been over the last couple days.

  Ethan had been cocky, a smart-ass, and buddies with everyone in town. She’d never seen him be all that friendly or talkative with Simon, but now he was, well, twitchy. Maybe he really was fed up with Simon and The Way. Maybe she wasn’t the only one that saw Simon for what he really was… a monster.

  Benji hopped back on the truck, and Simon slowly drove into the town. There was a parking lot several blocks inside the fence where all the vehicles were parked. He backed into a spot and put the truck in park.

  Kate reached for the door handle, but Ethan grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. “Stay close to me.”

  “How about you stay close to me,” Kate said, but her cocky attitude faded when she remembered they weren’t dealing with The Unholy. They’d be dealing with actual people, and she wasn’t good with people.

  “I’ll get the box,” Ethan said as he let go and jumped out of the driver’s seat. The bottom of his boots scratched against the pebbled parking lot.

  Kate sucked in a deep breath and exited the truck. Everyone was already gathered around at the tailgate waiting for her. Ethan held the box a bit awkwardly, but Kate didn’t say anything.

  “This way, right?” Ethan asked Benji as he pointed at a building down the road.

  “Unless she moved,” Benji said with a big smile. He looked happy to be in Rosalie’s town. In fact, he’d looked happier than Kate had ever seen him.

  “You miss this place?” Kate asked.

  Benji smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not that I don’t like the west, I do, this is just where I spent most of my time.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t tell Simon, okay?”

  “Of course not,” Kate said using her fingertip to make a cross over her heart.

  The town had a different feel than Simon’s had. Even the air felt lighter. Back in Simon’s town, the tension was always in the air, and it was so thick it felt like you could reach out and touch it.

  A group of four women walked past them and instead of looking at Kate’s group suspiciously, they smiled. One woman, with shiny hair the color of a sunflower, practically stared at Ethan. When he nodded at her, she turned away and giggled to her friends.

  “We should ask how long they’ll be in town,” one whispered.

  “Dibs on the tall one,” the one with shiny hair said.

  Kate was sure Ethan heard, and the others for that matter, but they kept walking. She wasn’t even sure if any of them, besides for maybe Benji, knew how to relax. Kate knew she had no idea how… the closest she could get to being relaxed was laying down in the hotel bed, locked inside her room. And even then, her body was as stiff as a board and ready for something to go wrong.

  There was a slight hop in Benji’s step as he gestured toward the building where they’d find Rosalie. Joel walked a half of a step behind Kate which made her a touch nervous. Kate slowed her pace.

  “Did you have a nice chat with the guys?” Kate asked.

  “It was fine,” he said plainly. “Seems simple enough. Kill the diseased things and don’t get bitten. I’ve managed both just fine on my own.”

  “Why did you go to Simon’s town?” Kate asked as the group stopped walking. One of the guards in front of the building held up his hand as the second aimed his rifle at Ethan’s chest.

  “Halt!” the tall guard said. “State your business.”

  Joel leaned in closer. “They found me out there said they could take me someplace better.” Joel sniffed and wiped the bottom of his nose with the back of his hand. “I declined, but as you can see, that didn’t pan out so well for me.”

  It was odd that someone that had spent such little time with Simon or those who would teach him The Way was with Kate and her men on his first mission. She clenched her fist and turned to him temporarily forgetting their main business.

  “What are you really doing here?” Kate asked.

  “It’s just as I said.” He looked into her eyes so deeply she could feel it inside her bones. “I’d been out there so long fighting them off alone. Simon thinks I’ll be a great help to your team.”

  “Sure,” Kate said turning as the guard opened the door and straightened his spine as we walked by him. There was definitely more to Joel’s story, but there wasn’t time for Kate to gather clues because it was time to do what they came to do.

  They entered a large room with a sofa and se
veral chairs. Paintings of various landscapes hung on the wall depicting the scenery before the disease spread through the population. It reminded Kate of her home before, plain and simple because there wasn’t much a single person could afford on a receptionist’s salary.

  There were two rooms at the back both of them with the doors closed. A man sat at a kitchen table, a gun inches from his slowly drumming fingers. He kept his eyes glued to us.

  Kate’s stomach was in knots as she looked at Rosalie sitting in a chair with her legs crossed tightly together. Her hands were folded in her lap, and her smile was almost as fake as the one Simon often wore.

  “I understand my brother sent you?” Rosalie said looking at them one after the other. She paused on Benji. “Welcome back!”

  She slowly uncrossed her legs and stood up. Kate’s body stiffened when Rosalie wrapped her arms around Benji.

  “You look well,” she said. “Guess my brother is taking good care of you.”

  Brother? Was that just a figure of speech or did she actually mean she was related to Simon? Ethan and Kate connected eyes, and as if he could read her mind, he shrugged in response to her unasked questions.

  “I’m good,” Benji said as he nervously ran his hand through his hair. His sudden shyness was no doubt due to Rosalie’s beauty. The woman looked nothing like Simon.

  “Here,” Ethan said handing her the box. “This is from Simon.”

  “He shouldn’t have,” she said setting the box down on a small table next to the chair she’d been sitting in.

  And then, as if Kate couldn’t stop herself, her mouth opened. “Are you and Simon really siblings?”

  Rosalie laughed. “He didn’t tell you? I’m not surprised. My brother can be, well, I don’t know how to put it so I’ll opt to just stop talking about him.”

  “You should open the package,” Joel said, and Kate’s mouth dropped open. Ethan’s body tensed.

  “I’ll do that later,” Rosalie said attempting to hide the slight quiver to her lower lip.

  “He wanted me to make sure you opened it before we left,” Joel said.

  Kate’s pulse quickened. Her fingers were trembling just above her knife as her eyes darted around. She couldn’t figure out what was happening and fear was setting in.