-Zoey’s POV-

  Tick, tick, tick. The slow ticking of the clock reverberated through the log cabin with no end in sight. It was already my second noon and there were still no signs of Tristan even attempting to hack me. I was beginning to wonder if that little spat we’d had the night of the Laura hack had done more damage to our relationship than I’d realized. Though, if that were the case, then things would probably work out in my favor. I believe he’d be more likely to stealthily check up on me despite my long absence via a hack rather than suppressing his frustration and calling or texting.

  “Can you repeat everything I just said?” The large man before me who went by Peter asked.

  I felt like a student cramming for an exam at a private lesson. Only, the teacher was a daunting man with dead eyes and the social courtesy of a 5th grader. He didn’t make eye contact, he was terrible at explaining, and he breathed with his mouth open. If it weren’t for his eyes, I might have mistook him for someone like Warren, whose lack of social skills portrayed a man who was easily manipulated.

  But those eyes told me that I couldn’t underestimate him. That even being left alone with him like this, as it was currently Jude and James’s turn to sleep, was the most dangerous situation I’d been placed in throughout this entire kidnapping.

  “At the top of the Order’s hierarchy stands the prophet, who shares the teachings of God directly with his most trusted followers. Then there’s the Archbishops, who are the main spokesperson of the Order in a specific country, and they serve as its face to the public as well as its most important orators. Bishops serve as local orators for the prophet, whose reach might span entire counties or cities. Priests manage individual chapters, and acolytes work under priests. Am I understanding everything so far?”

  Peter nodded, scratching at the edge of the table with his nail, digging into the wood. “Yeah. That’s correct.”

  “Can I just ask one question though?” He nodded without turning my way. He was focused on slicing into the wood, which produced a distracting sound similar to that of a traditional saw. “What has God said so far? If the purpose of the Order is spreading God’s word, then what does He want right now?”

  I asked, figuring that it might provide some insight into not only the organization, but also the personality of the man before me. Would he shut me out from an answer? Or would he answer vaguely?

  “Control over the 50 states.”

  However, he answered rather matter-of-factly.

  “Control? Like, taking over the government?”

  He shook his head. “Shifting control from them to us. Rather than having the states answer to the federal government, they would answer directly to the order. The plan is to use the prophet’s divine power to earn favor with major state players, from law enforcement, attorneys, elected officials, investors, local news sources, major business owners, and everyone in between. Then once they’re in the order’s pocket, he plans on lifting the curtain and snatching control, cutting D.C off diplomatically.”

  I had to admit, his plan was more thorough than what I’d come up with. Rather than taking over the federal government, his plan was to shift the system’s foundation entirely so that the entire country depended on the order.

  But I suppose that having the prophet avoid media spotlight would be critical for this role. Once the federal government catches on, all eyes will be on the figurehead of the Order. Meaning, if I accept the role as archbishop, I’ll be subject to scrutiny of the worst kind from people attempting to keep power within the federal government.

  “And what happens after that?” I asked.

  “From there, we spread our reach into US allied countries. Europe, Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Oceania. Anyone who depends on US military assets or bases for defense, the order will infiltrate their countries similarly to how we plan to locally, and we’ll begin turning them. They may protest, but they won’t lift a finger as they fear their common enemy far more than they fear us, who will maintain some semblance of caring for human rights and democracy. Then, only once that’s done will we topple the enemies of the United States and pull them into the fold. Afterwards we move towards nuclear disarmament and the establishment of a new, much fairer world government that has the people in mind.”

  “World peace?” I asked.

  “That is the gist of it,” he said.

  Or at the very least, that was what Oliver had told his higher ups. Once we strip away the framing of him being the “voice of God”, this is all just his own personal ambition. What he really has planned, is anyone’s guess at this point. In all likeliness, he may simply be chasing world domination.

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  “By the way, now that I know what the roles are, I have to ask. Are you guys bishops?”

  He shook his head. “We’re his twelve… no. Eleven apostles now. The prophet’s true identity must be kept secret in order to protect the order from outsiders, so we make up his inner circle.”

  “So, the eleven apostles and the archbishops are the only ones who know about his identity?”

  He nodded, and I looked down in thought. If that’s the case, then his secondary hosts must be among the remaining eleven apostles. Are any of these three among the secondary hosts? And how would I find the others? Even if I somehow broke out of here and managed to end Oliver’s life, the power would just shift over to his other apostles, wouldn’t it? Nothing would get resolved. It’s like fighting the hydra. All the heads need to be cut off at once. And worse yet, there was no way of ascertaining who the secondary hosts were.

  “You should give up,” he said.

  “What?” I looked up at him and smiled. “What are you…”

  “You can’t beat that man. If I were you, I’d give up. In fact, you had no option besides giving up the second he found out who you were.”

  “Oh, I don’t know what you’re talking about though? If becoming archbishop is the only way to survive this then that’s just what I have to do, isn’t it?”

  “I hate girls like you.”

  At the sudden words, my smile crumbled. There was something heavier in his voice when he uttered the words. “Like… me?”

  “Your mouth says one thing but your heart says another.”

  “Oh? And why do you hate girls like that, Peter?”

  At my question, he stopped scratching the table and slouched into his chair, staring at his nail. “Because it’s easy for guys like me to get swept into those lies.”

  Once more, I smiled. “Oh, but I haven’t lied to you, Peter. I really do want to be the archbishop of the Order. I think world peace is a noble goal worth pursuing. And if we can use God’s guidance to bypass the bureaucracy of man’s flawed institutions to achieve it then I am fully on board.”

  He didn’t respond to me at first. His eyes slowly shifted to a nearby window.

  “What do you think of Andrew Jackson?”

  When his name was uttered, I found myself taken off balance.

  “What… what does he have to do with anything?”

  “The order has a very specific position on the former president, and I’m sure you haven’t been made aware of that up until this point. So I’d like to ask you personally. What do you think about him?”

  He was testing me.

  Did my values truly align with the order, or was I just paying lip service? His conclusion depended on how I chose to answer the question. But then, how should I answer it? If I recall, Oliver said that Andrew Jackson’s policies led to the spirit’s birth. That should mean that the spirits dislike him. But the order isn’t aware of the spirits’ true identity. Is the order a nationalist movement that reveres him? Or is it an anti-American movement that dislikes him? Would he accept my answer if I played coy and pretended to not have an opinion?

  “Oh.”

  And that’s when I realized it. If he wouldn’t accept that answer, then that meant that…

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Why, I admire him,” I said finally.

  “Admire? Why?”

  “Did you ever learn this in school? That one of the first major crises of America’s institutions was met due to Andrew Jackson’s strong personality?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Georgia v. Worcester. The supreme court ruled that this state was acting outside of its power by imposing laws over Native American land. But that ruling was never enforced, was it?”

  He slammed his fist on the table.

  “You really ought to be careful, girl.”

  “What? You asked, and I answered.” I grinned. “Or what, do you still think I’m lying?”

  Staring into his narrowed eyes, I felt body grow tense. I was pushing it, I know. But this was what he was trying to figure out, right?

  “I admire him because he’s someone whose strength beckoned little resistance. If that’s antithetical to the order then that’s that, but I don’t believe that it is. I think that strength is exactly what is needed to convince people to follow you to the future.”

  The man continued glaring me through the silence until he eventually sighed.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I really am on your side.”

  Though he hadn’t eased his expression, his hands and eyes had both returned to scratching at the desk.

  And then I saw James standing in the doorway of the bedroom, rubbing his tired eyes and staring over at us with nothing but a T-Shirt and a pair of boxer shorts to clothe his body.

  “What’s with the ruckus out here, man?” he asked Peter.

  “I’m just teaching her about the Order, right Zoey?”

  “I have my suspicions that this type of conversation is beyond Jude,” I said. “Are you sure she’s learned all of this stuff too?”

  James glanced at the two of us with half-opened eyes, then yawned and went back into the bedroom. He didn’t seem all that interested in whatever had happened earlier compared to getting back to sleep. But at the very least, it seems he believed us both.

  “You’re a good liar,” he said.

  “I was just following your example, that’s all.”

  “I truly do hate girls like you.”

  But if there’s one thing I learned from this engagement, it’s that I can’t show even the slightest openings around this man. For a moment there, I felt like he was waiting to pounce. Like a predator searching for the slightest opening in its prey. Does he plan on disposing of me should I show an opening? There won’t be any second chances if I mess up here. But if that’s the case, then I need to accept that I may need to join their side after all if Tristan doesn’t hack me soon.