Zandy squeezed her eyes closed as the cross shook violently as it lowered. Her stomach rolled from the sick feeling of fear that the wood would just snap at the base where it had been connected to the top of the roof by the hinge they’d created. The entire thing finally rested on the roof and she breathed a sigh of relief when she lay flat again.

“You count, Brother,” someone shouted. “Ready?”

“Oh shit,” she muttered, afraid of what would happen next, not wanting to find out.

“Here we go!”

Her eyes flew open as the motor from the winch increased in sound. The entire cross and bench shook and another scream tore from her throat as it rose quickly, flinging her upward until she was suspended once again high in the air. Wood creaked and groaned, she could have sworn that the ropes holding the bench made a sound of protest but it stopped as suddenly as it had started.

“Six seconds,” a new voice announced. “Is that enough time?”

“Sure,” Adam nodded, no longer looking at her but digging into his pants to remove a pen and a palm-sized notepad. “Any longer and it might give them time to react. I’ll get to say my lines before the show begins.”

Show? They were talking about killing her as if it were a Broadway production. Hot tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back as some of the people below her started a line to pass kindling and chopped wood to the top of the motor home. They lined the edges first until someone suggested they lower the cross.

The ride down made her clench her teeth to avoid giving them the satisfaction of hearing her scream again. Once flat, she watched them stack wood closer to her sides, covering the entire roof surface with at least two layers. The smell of cut wood usually appealed to her but not under those circumstances.

The five people silently working avoided making eye contact with her. She decided to try though. “Please help me. You know this is wrong. My name is Zandy. I have a family and a life. I’m not evil.”

They kept working, refusing to look her way or speak. Frustration rose and she closed her eyes. The warm sun beat down on her but she felt cold inside. None of Brother Adam’s followers were going to grow a brain. They had a cult mentality and thought the idiot could do no wrong.

“Should we soak the wood with gasoline now?”

The voice belonged to the teenager with the holey clothes. He had climbed on top of the roof and held a dull red gas can in both hands. The sight of it made Zandy hyperventilate, each breath a fight for her to control.

They were really planning on setting her on fire. It was barbaric, horrific, and worse—idiotic.

“No. Brother Adam thinks those evil spawns might smell it despite having the entire top covered with the tarp. He wants to make a more dramatic approach for the cameras. He envisions it will really reach out to viewers and draw out the suspense if they see the gasoline being poured.”

“I get it.” The kid nodded vigorously, smiling. “That’s a really cool idea. It’s going to be epic.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Zandy commented dryly. “Want to trade places with me if it’s so cool? What the hell is wrong with you?”

He glanced at her and met her glare. “You’re a whore and sinner tainted by Satan. Don’t speak to me.”

She took a deep, calming breath. “You’re so young. Don’t you understand that you’re throwing your life away over this? None of you are going to get away with killing me, especially if it’s in front of a bunch of reporters with cameras. You’ll grow old in prison. Is Brother Adam worth that? Don’t you want to meet someone and have a family one day? Don’t you have dreams you want to fulfill? It’s not too late. Just untie me and we’ll both get out of here. I won’t tell anyone I saw you. You can walk away from this mess.”

He walked closer and shook the gas can to make certain she could hear it slosh and took the time to slowly secure it somewhere by her feet. He winked when he straightened without it. “This is my dream and we are going to be heroes. We’re saving souls.”

“You’re going to go to prison for murder. That’s how this is going to end unless you let me go and we both escape.”

“Shut up. I refuse to listen to you.”

She glanced at the other two people with him, both avoided her gaze, and she tried to talk some sense into them. “Did you hear me? You will all go to prison. It doesn’t have to be this way. Just untie me. Please?”

“I said shut up,” the kid muttered. “We’re not listening. Brother Adam knows what he’s talking about and we are on a mission.”

Zandy said nothing as the kid left, climbing down the ladder at the side of the motor home and out of her sight. The two other people followed him, leaving her alone. The wind blew and she stared at the blue sky above. There wasn’t a hint of rain, something that would have been really great to wet all the kindling piled around her. It just wasn’t her day.

She concentrated on thoughts of Tiger. He was going to survive his injuries but they were over. It was probably best. It hurt that he’d ordered her to leave his hospital room as though everything they’d shared had meant nothing. It broke her heart but at least her death wouldn’t devastate him. That was the last thing she wanted.

Tears spilled down the sides of her face and she couldn’t even wipe them away. She loved Tiger. She’d fallen for him hard and wondered if he’d feel guilty when he found out what became of her. Time passed as she tried to come to terms with what would happen to her soon.

She struggled but couldn’t break free. The sound of someone climbing the ladder drew her attention and she twisted her head to watch Brother Adam join her. He had to step carefully over the wood but made it to her side without falling. Two more men climbed up on the roof, both geared up with hammers and boards.

“What are you going to do now?”

Adam refused to answer her. “Do it.”

Zandy opened her mouth to ask what they planned but the two big men with him suddenly unstrapped the belts securing her body to the bench. They grabbed her before she could struggle, yanked her to her feet, and one of them kicked the bench away. Her body was lifted and slammed hard down on the thick wooden cross. It knocked the air from her lungs as pain shot along her spine and the back of her head where she’d hit the hardest.

The two men jerked both of her arms outright along the beams that made the wood a cross. She recovered and tried to twist away, kicking wildly at them, but it didn’t faze them. They secured her from her wrists to her upper arms by wrapping ropes around them, tying her tightly to the cross.

“Don’t do this,” she pleaded. “This is insane. You can’t get away with murder. You’ll rot in prison or get the death penalty.”

Brother Adam laughed, a sick sound, as he leaned in enough to make sure she could see his face while his two followers began to tie her legs in place.

“We are waging a war against evil and we are willing to die for our cause. We won’t have to do that though. I am smarter than them. I’ve thought of everything.”

He believed what he said. It was clear in his crazy stare. Zandy screamed, bucked her hips, but the two men only secured her with rope around her waist. Her gaze locked on Adam.

“The New Species are going to track your worthless ass down and make you pay for this. You better hope the police arrest you on the spot when you drive up to those gates because I know Tiger will tear you apart for doing this to me.”

He cocked his head. “Who is Tiger?”

“He’s a friend.” They might have ended their relationship but she had no doubt that Tiger would avenge her murder by making sure the people responsible were punished. She had faith in that. “He won’t let you get away with this.”

“I knew you were fornicating with those devils.” His gaze narrowed. “They are the ones who will die. Tiger’s name will go at the top of our list of who to cleanse next. Thank you.”