HIS EVE: The Aftermath Chronicles (Book Two)

7 † You Can't Run

//Author's note: Chapter contains graphic violence.

† "God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day." -Psalm 7:11 †

Under the covers, enveloped in his warmth, there was no place safer.

She had the king. A king, chosen by the king of kings. A king, who chose her.

Her hand spreads over his bare chest as he sleeps by her side. Vulnerable, in this moment, when such a side of him stayed hidden from the rest. It's here where Audrey finds him enthralling. Memorizes, every angle of his face, every dust of hair over his jawline.

He used to have nightmares. Premonitions, horrible ones, this time of night, of the steps they'd have to take to get here. In the dawn of their days, nothing troubled Abel as it used to. In her, he confided what he couldn't in any other—not even his apostles.

Soon, her dear friend would be one of them, part of the chosen. Then, with his sign from God, they would be wed. Afterward, Abel promised her, they would have their first son. A child, it's been foretold by their God, that will smite all the demons and carry on a generation of pure souls—the king of kings returned.

Though she's laid like this for hours watching him, the grumble in her belly tells her she can no longer wait for him to wake. Easing out of bed, she dresses, then covers the moonlight creeping in through the curtains so to give Abel uninterrupted rest for the remainder of the night.

Leaving the door slightly ajar, she creeps out into the hallway. The women she passes that dust the railings look to her, then quickly divert their gazes. An apostle does the same. It was how they looked at her, all of them. All but Abel and Jael. The only two permitted to be within reach of her, to look at her, to address her first.

It was still early in the evening and though most of their order had their meal, Audrey had yet to eat with Abel's hunger for her.

She goes to pass the church but is caught in the cracks of the door with the sound of hushed voices.

She hears a male voice whisper, "We need to get out of here. We need to get everyone out of here. They can help us. Doyle will help us."

"No," Audrey hears another voice, one she recognizes well, "I can't leave Audrey. If I leave it might put her in danger. We are better off riding this out."

"They have weapons," the male replies, "guns, a lot of them. Bombs too. I'm sure my friend has shown them where all of the weapons are hidden in this colony. There was a bunker left behind by the ARMY here. If they have those guns and Abel continues to piss Doyle off...we might all be dead anyway soon!"

The air caught in Audrey's throat. Her protector, her friend, Jael, was within reach of the devil. As Abel warned in his sermon, a Judas was in their home.

Pushing the heavy wooden door open, Audrey reveals herself to the pair near the rows of lit candles.

Jael is panicked, just as panicked as she feels in her own heart with this treachery.

"Jael," Audrey begins, "I'm hungry. Can you come with me to the kitchen, please?"

The mother has seen this male before and with the newest member, she's not surprised by his plans against them. She'd saved his life before as she'd saved so many others from the wrath of Abel. In his eyes, she sees the fear of what she's overheard, the fear of what she'll do.

"As for you Brother Ethan, I think it's best you find your own way," Audrey says barely above a whisper, a plea, that he makes his own escape from this place and soon.