The objection failed to move the old man. “I’m sure Lieutenant Matthew will make an able replacement.” He turned on his heel.
Joshua rushed after him, but the guards blocked his path.
Abraham paused in the doorway. “You have fifteen minutes to pack. Your wives and children will be reassigned immediately.” He hesitated and added in a tired voice, “I had such high hopes for you.”
Then he hobbled out the door, leaving Joshua to pick up the scattered fragments of his ambition.
Chapter 42—Changing of the Guard
Joshua contemplated his predicament from the back seat of an old Ford Bronco. The two guards who had escorted him from the compound were in the front. He had personally trained both of them as Argus agents. It was an insult that his own subordinates were now holding him in custody. Enoch, a brawny man in his thirties, was behind the wheel. Lemuel, a freckled youngster of nineteen, was in the front passenger seat. They had already driven some forty miles in silence. Enoch was now turning the Bronco onto the highway entrance ramp for Chicago.
“Where are you taking me?” the spymaster demanded.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Enoch replied, “To the usual place.”
His driver meant the mission just south of Chicago’s loop. The shelter took in all manner of derelicts from among the Fallen and asked no questions. Joshua himself had dropped many a lost boy on the mission’s doorstep. They were the inevitable by-product of the Nephilim’s polygamous mandate. While girls were assured of marriage to a senior member of the hierarchy, there were always surplus males in each generation. Teenage boys who committed minor infractions were excommunicated to make room for their elders. These, in turn, would be free to court younger brides and thus expand their own celestial kingdoms.
Joshua had never wondered what became of these boys once they left the Nephilim. He assumed they were swallowed up by the corrupting influence of the Fallen World: some turning to prostitution, others to drug addiction or crime. In any case, they were not his concern once they’d been ejected from the brotherhood. Tonight, however, he found himself speculating about their fate. Whatever it was, he had no intention of sharing it.
Judging from the Bronco’s current location, the spymaster knew it would take an hour to reach their destination. Perhaps he could turn the tide in his favor before he was unceremoniously dumped at the curb in front of the shelter. Sitting forward, he leaned his elbows on the headrests of the two front seats. “So, this is the way you show your gratitude.”
Lemuel swiveled his head around to gaze at Joshua. “What do you mean?”
“Both of you were hand-picked by me to join an elite intelligence corps answerable directly to the diviner. As part of the Order of Argus, you occupied an important position in the brotherhood. Your futures were assured.”
“They still are,” Enoch rejoined laconically.
Joshua forged ahead, ignoring the comment. “I took the time to train each of you so that you could distinguish yourselves in my father’s eyes.”
Lemuel flinched at his words. “It’s not that we’re ungrateful.” He paused, searching the captive’s eyes for an explanation. “But why did you attack Sister Hannah?”
Joshua felt an inward flood of relief. Questions were good. They implied uncertainty. He might still have time to twist conviction into misgiving. Assuming a solemn expression, he said, “Because the devil walks among us, my brothers.”
“What are you talking about?” Enoch sounded irritated.
Another question. Instead of answering it directly, Joshua took a side route. “Surely, you’ve noticed the changes in my father’s health lately.”
Lemuel nodded. “Yes, he appears haggard and weak much of the time.”
“Indeed, and do either of you recall when he started to decline?”
The spymaster’s query was met by perplexed silence. “I can tell you exactly when. It was right after Sister Hannah abandoned him.”
With one hand on the steering wheel, Enoch began to count on the fingers of his other hand. “I remember the month she left because it caused such a stir among the women.” He paused. “Right after that, the diviner began to wander the halls at night. Supposedly he couldn’t sleep well anymore. That’s when everybody first noticed the dark circles under his eyes.”
“It was the beginning of the end,” the spymaster intoned ominously. “To look at him today, you wouldn’t know it was the same man. And all because of her.”
“Surely it isn’t Sister Hannah’s fault if Father Abraham longs for her,” Lemuel demurred.
“The reason is far darker than that.”
Lemuel rotated completely around in his seat to face his former leader.
“We are the Blessed Nephilim. God’s chosen ones,” Joshua reminded them. “And Satan will do everything in his power to destroy our allegiance to the Lord. Remember, the Nephilim of old belonged to the devil until Christ’s sacrifice.” He paused for dramatic effect. “And the devil wants us back, my brothers. He wants us back in the worst way.”
Both men seemed unnerved by the spymaster’s remark.
“Do you know why Mother Rachel attacked Sister Hannah?” Joshua persisted.
Enoch shook his head.
Lemuel shrugged. “Jealousy?”
“Jealousy,” Joshua repeated the word derisively. “Given the number of sister-wives she’s had over the years, why would she feel jealous at this late stage of her life?”
“Well, the diviner was really partial to Sister Hannah,” Enoch observed.
“I’ve never seen a man so taken with a woman before,” Lemuel added.
“Yes, taken,” Joshua agreed. “But not by love. By Satan.”
Lemuel gawked at him.
The spymaster noted the reaction and pursued his advantage. “What do we know about Sister Hannah, after all? She wasn’t born in our compound. She comes from Missouri—the daughter of a disgraced archwarden. Who’s to say she didn’t follow in her father’s rebellious footsteps? Perhaps she wanted revenge against the diviner for reassigning her whole family. Maybe she sold her soul to the devil in order to get it.”
“That’s a bit far-fetched,” Enoch objected.
“Is it?” Joshua challenged. “No one can deny that her hold over our prophet is unusual. I would go so far
