The Believers (The Breeders Series - Book 2) by Katie French Read Free Book Online Page B

doctors perform on the Gods' children.”
    “Neither do we, but they really didn't give us a vote before they put one in her,” I say.
    “What's wrong with Mama?” Ethan whispers to me.
    The Messiah turns his head toward Ethan. I don't know if he naturally looks like the Jesus-man or if he's dressed that way for effect. Either way he's creeping me out.
    “Your mother is infected with one of their fetuses. The baby will grow exponentially in the coming months. They gestate much faster than normal.”
    I look down at Mama's distended stomach. We all knew she looked too pregnant.
    “What'll happen to her?” I ask, my pulse throbbing into my head.
    The Messiah tilts his face to the ceiling. “Only the Gods may know. Here we can ease her pain. Our midwives are blessed.”
    “How can you have women here?” I ask, looking over at the pregnant woman who stands next to him, her hand on his sleeve.
    The Messiah bobs his head up and down as if he has been expecting my question. “The Gods have carved out a place for us in this citadel. This land is holy. The Breeders may not enter. The Gods have granted us fertility in exchange for obedience to their commandments. The diseases of the world do not affect the Gods' people.”
    In the flickering candlelight, his face is calm and assured. These lunatics are the chosen people? The giant and cruel Andrew? And Stephen, who seems to like raping Benders? Really? I shake my head. “That doesn't make sense.”
    “How dare you contradict the Messiah,” Kalli hisses, lurching forward, her gray hair crowding her face like a storybook witch. “He is the Word. He is not to be contradicted.”
    “Gentle, Kalli,” he says, placing his hands on her shoulders. “They will learn our ways soon enough.”
    He turns and floats toward the back of his room where the shadows grow darker. Soon I can only hear the swish of his fabric. “Tonight you will rest. Tomorrow you will be inducted into the fold.”
    We stand to shuffle out, but his voice calls to us again.
    “No harm can come to the Gods' people. Should you disobey the commandments while you are here and put any one of my sheep in danger, the Gods' wrath will fall down upon you like the seven plagues of Israel. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
    He says it so calmly, a proclamation of death. They may be the Gods' people, but I got a feeling we've stumbled into hell.
    ***
    I sit on my mattress, arms around my knees, and watch Mama try to get comfortable beside me. They've locked us in one of the shops in the women's wing of the mall and ushered Clay, Ethan, and Rayburn down another hallway. Panic rippled in my chest as I watched Clay and Ethan walk away. I know Clay will protect my brother, but in his weakened state I worry about all of them. Every layer we unpeel of this onion is more rotten than the last.
    Our room appears to be a store that once sold face creams and perfumes. There's a faded poster of an attractive woman with sunglasses pouting at the camera. I can't read the caption below, but I get the impression that whatever she's selling is meant to make women feel attractive to men. The room is bare except for a few things: the yellowed mattress my mama and I will share, broken hangers, small plastic hooks, crumbling cardboard boxes, and the plastic dinner tray with the food we've already scarfed down. Before he left, Andrew pulled down the metal grate at the store’s entrance. He locked it, smirking, and said the Messiah doesn't want us to hurt ourselves by wandering around. I've already tried the back door and found it locked too. I think of the open ceiling, but it’s twelve feet up with nothing to stand on, and there's no way I can get Mama up and over in her state.
    Mama's hand slips over my elbow. “You need to sleep, love.” She rolls over slowly and props her head up on her hand. “You can't solve all our problems tonight.”
    I drop my head to my knees and dig my chin into the hole that has worn through