The House Guest by Mark Edwards(81)

‘Oh my God. You want to start your own cult.’ They were talking about it like they were planning to start their own business. Like, Hey, why don’t we open a café together?

‘It’s not a cult,’ Eden said. ‘It’s a network, and what’s wrong with that? We’ll keep some of Gabriel’s central tenets. It will be secret. It won’t have a name. We’ll do everything we can to advance and protect other members . . .’

‘Protect one, protect all?’

‘I think so,’ said Ruth.

‘Definitely,’ said Eden.

‘You mean you’ll kill people who threaten you?’

‘No. We’re not going to do that,’ said Ruth, but seeing Eden’s expression, I wasn’t so sure.

‘And what about me?’ I asked, grabbing the bottle of gin and pouring myself a glass. I couldn’t hold out any longer. ‘You expect me to join too?’

‘Oh no,’ said Eden.

Ruth smiled. ‘It’s women only.’

Eden nodded. ‘That’s why it went wrong last time. Which means,’ she said, turning to me, ‘we have a problem. Because how can we keep it secret if you already know?’

I backed away, and Ruth got up from the stool and came over to me. She linked her arm with mine. ‘I think we can trust him not to tell.’

‘Can we?’ Eden asked.

‘I think we can,’ Ruth said. ‘Because he needs us to protect him from the remnants of Gabriel’s network.’ She whispered in my ear. ‘They’re everywhere.’

They both grinned, lips twitching with mirth.

I stared at them. ‘Hang on. This is a joke, right?’ I said. ‘You’re not really going to start your own women-only version of the cult, are you?’

They laughed together, clutching one another like they’d just pulled off a brilliant practical joke.

‘Oh, thank God,’ I said. ‘You really had me worried there for a minute.’

‘You should be, Adam,’ said Eden, her face straight, and suddenly I didn’t know if they were kidding or not. But then they both started laughing again, and Eden raised her glass and suggested a toast. To freedom. We all lifted our glasses and I told myself they were joking.

Definitely.

I was almost certain of it.