to happen, as though I’m going to tell them what to do. But I have as few ideas as they have, maybe even less. Who knows how long they’ve each been here. What they’ve been through. If they deserved what they got.
I swallow as my stomach almost turns inside out.
Why did I want to do this again? Is there even any point with Soren watching my every move? I know I agreed to him being here, but maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all.
Still, I’m here, so I might as well give it a try, even if I don’t know these women, and they’re all looking at me like I’m the messiah for organizing this get-together.
The girls all walk away from where they were positioned and flock around me.
“Hey,” the girl with the bun says. “My name is April.”
“Amelia,” I say.
“I’m Jane,” another one with a long brown ponytail, big brown eyes, and a big smile says.
“Olivia,” another girl says as she tucks her long blond hair behind her ears and blinks her bright blue eyes.
“Nice to meet you all, finally,” I say, sighing. Then I look at the girl still standing by the windows. She has only glanced at me once, then looked away again, as though she’s waiting for something … or someone.
“Who’s that?” I ask.
April turns to look at her. “We don’t know. She won’t say her name.”
“She hasn’t said a word since we all came here,” Olivia says.
“Strange, if you ask me,” Jane adds, shrugging.
“Maybe she’s just scared,” April says, looking away. “I know I was when I first ended up in one of their houses.”
“One?” I frown. “There are more?”
Her eyes widen. “You don’t know?”
I quickly glance at Soren, who is still watching our every move.
April leans in and tries to whisper, “I came from—”
“No whispering.” Soren’s gruff voice overwhelms the entire room, causing everyone to look at him. In particular, April, whose eyes bore into his as much as his bore into hers. She swallows hard as he refuses to take his eyes off her.
“We’re allowed to talk,” I say.
“No whispering,” he repeats.
I roll my eyes and take the girls to the couch where we sit down, crossing our legs underneath these lavish dresses in defiance of our captors.
“I came from a cult,” April says, this time out loud. “One that forced women to marry men whenever they were chosen.”
“Why?” Jane asks.
April looks down at the floor. “To please the men who ruled it. They called that place the Holy Ground and the people who live there ‘The Family.’”
“How strange,” Jane adds.
“Tell me about it. I was taken from my regular old life straight into a cult,” she says. “And then to imagine girls were born into it, thinking it was normal.” She shakes her head in disbelief while staring at the floor. “You wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen.”
I grab her hand and squeeze tight. “That must’ve been rough.”
Tears well up in her eyes as she looks up, gazing straight into Soren’s eyes. Silence overcomes her, filling the room with nothing but unsaid words. “But I refused to bow to their rules. And then they sent me here to punish me or something.”
Soren never takes his eyes off her, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s just glaring at her like he’s a mechanical robot keeping watch or if he’s taking some of her words to heart. Maybe both. Wish I knew what he was doing in this house because there must be something else he’s good at besides watching people. Or more specifically … girls.
“But anyway, we’re all here now. How did you all get here?” April says, clearing her throat as she looks away from Soren.
“Ah … prefer not to tell,” Jane says, looking away with a blush on her face.
“I’m not,” Olivia says, raising a brow. “My father sent me here after I gave away all his money.”
April’s eyes widen while Jane’s jaw drops, but me? I’m just grinning like crazy.
“Wow,” Jane says, almost choking on her words. “I did not expect that.”
“I’m proud of it,” Olivia says, leaning back against the couch. “He gave me a choice. Jail, death, or be sent here. So you know what I chose.”
“Chose?” I raise a brow.
“Yeah …” Jane presses her lips tightly. “Same.”
I frown. “So you all … actually chose to be here?”
They both sigh and roll their eyes as if it’s the most normal answer in the world.
“But what about you, Amelia? What did you do?” Jane asks.
I gulp and make