Becoming Calder (A Sign of Love Novel)(66)

I went to the large filing cabinet by the window and tried to open the drawers. They were locked though, all except the one on the very bottom. I hesitated, sitting up straight and listening, thinking I may have heard something. After a silent minute, I pulled the drawer open and saw only files. I tilted my head to read the tabs and saw that each council member's name, all six of them, were spelled out. I frowned and started rifling through the paperwork. At the front of each file was a newspaper clipping. I brought the first one out, for council member Rodney Sarber. I scanned the article briefly and saw it was about how Rodney had run a large ministry in Kansas City, where he apparently had been embezzling money from his own church. The article told of the scandal that had followed and showed a tearful picture of Sarber being led away in handcuffs. I put the article back and rifled through the other folders, intending on reading the other articles, when I heard the same noise outside Hector's office again. I closed the drawer quietly and tiptoed to the door where I opened it and strode out, as if I had every reason to be in there. The man himself, Rodney Sarber, was standing outside Hector's office. He narrowed his eyes when he saw me.
"What are you doing here?"
"Hector asked me to check the lodge to make sure everyone was out," I said calmly.
"In his office?"
I opened my palm, showing him the key to the cellar sitting there. "Hector forgot this," I explained. "I just want to make sure we all don't get locked down there."
Rodney looked from my palm to my eyes and nodded one quick head tilt. "Go on then. I'll be behind you." I'm sure you won't be, you damn coward.
I headed out the front door and put the baggie of money under a rock on the side of the house where Xander and I had once sat waiting to see Eden for the first time, so many years ago.
The heavy, concrete door to the cellar squeaked open when I pulled it, and I walked down the five steps where everyone was waiting, bodies pressed against bodies in the space that didn't quite fit two hundred people. Workers were segregated in one section, while the council members and their families stood near Hector who was standing on a small platform at the back of the space. Next to him was a storage room that held food items being preserved for the winter.
This space was built so we would all be together when the floods came, none of us being washed away. We would all hold hands as the water finally broke through the ceiling and began filling up the below-ground rooms. We shouldn't be afraid—paradise waited. We would be led to Elysium by Hector and Eden, where we would all look down on the earth as it began again, rulers of the new humans.
And I couldn't do anything now except hope it was all a great big lie. And yet the very thought brought not only hope, but grief and anger, too. I had believed once, hadn't I? And now the lie felt cruel and intentional, meant to harm me and rob me of a life.
As I stood there in the throng of bodies, I felt like I was spinning. The only sounds were of rain outside, restless children, and a few crying babies. I looked around for Eden and finally spotted her next to Hailey, to the right of Hector.
I was taller than most of the people around me, so when I craned my neck, she spotted me and smiled, glancing quickly over in Hector's direction. I followed her glance and saw Hector was looking at her and then looked over at me when Eden did. We both quickly looked away, and when I glanced back at Hector several minutes later, his stony face was still focused in my direction.
I stood taller, responding in an instinctual way to what felt like a male threat, even from across a very, very crowded room. The hairs on my neck bristled and I worked to keep my breathing in order. So many bodies were between Eden and me. I'd have no way to get to her if I needed to.
I looked around for my own family, but couldn't see them in the crowd. This couldn't be good for Maya's health. I hoped at the very least, she wasn't scared. I had always been next to her during these drills in the past, squeezing her hand three times after she squeezed mine.
Outside, the rain seemed to increase in intensity, as if great sheets of water were falling from the sky. The noises around me got quieter, all the people looking upward as if the ceiling over us would give any view of what was going on outside.
"The gods are simply testing our patience, our faith in them," Hector called out over the noise of the pounding rain. "Don't fear. This is what it will be like when the great floods come! All of us together—rejoicing because we are about to be led to the most glorious place imaginable. We know this is a drill because my blessed one hasn't yet become mine. Without that, we cannot be led to Elysium. Without that, we are not complete. Without that, we are not yet balanced."