“What’s in the bottle?” Jade demanded, eying Sapphire suspiciously.
“Just some anointing oil,” she answered. “It’ll make your head feel better.”
Jade gritted her teeth. “Don’t come near me with that.”
Sapphire’s serpentine smile faded. “Have it your way.” She looked over her shoulder and shrugged at Gabriel, handing him the vial then letting out a sigh. “Now, let’s have a little chat about what’s going to happen next.”
Jade was resting on the hard floor with her back against the wall. Sapphire paced while she spoke, but Gabriel kept himself positioned beside Jade the entire time, stationed between her and a door. Was that Dez’s room? Jade strained her ears. Could she hear her daughter on the other side? The slightest hint that Dez was nearby would be enough to give Jade the superhuman strength she’d need to take on both her assailants. She was sure of it. She just had to find the right time.
“I’m very sorry for what you went through as a teenager.” Sapphire’s apology came as a surprise, but she went on without letting Jade speak. “I always knew you had the spirit of seduction, and I’m sorry I didn’t bring it before the church when I first suspected it. We would have prayed for you and anointed you and healed you from your sickness. But I had a certain fondness for you, and I’m afraid I let my personal affection for you cloud my discernment. I didn’t want to embarrass you, and so I kept my observations to myself. For that I’m truly sorry, and I beg you to forgive me.”
Her voice sounded sincere, but there was a haughtiness in her eyes when they met Jade’s.
“My husband was a godly, righteous man, the most devout and anointed believer in Alaska, I’m convinced.”
Jade wondered if they were talking about the same individual, but again Sapphire didn’t give her time to speak.
“His biggest weakness was that he was so compassionate. It’s what made him such a Spirit-filled preacher. He had the gift of empathy. He could look at a person and instantly understand what spiritual struggles they were going through. He told me everything about the day you came to him for counseling. Yes, I know all about it, about how that child of yours was conceived. He wanted to help you. He really did. I hadn’t warned him about the spirit of seduction I sensed in you. Like I said, I didn’t want to expose you to any embarrassment. As a result, my husband fell into temptation.”
Jade didn’t know what to say. Should she bring up the fact that Mitch’s abuse persisted for years before her pregnancy? Should she mention the Bible verses Mitch used to coerce her into compliance, to scare her into silence?
The smile vanished from Sapphire’s face, and she stared at Jade with a mix of both pity and contempt. “I want you to know that I forgive you. I know it wasn’t you but the spirit of seduction living in you. My husband was a prime target for spiritual attack given his success in the ministry, so it’s no wonder the devil decided to oppress him in this way. At first, I was heartbroken. Devastated that my husband would fall like this. But then one night, God gave me a dream. He showed me a picture of my husband, bent over and weighed down by his guilt and shame. He was chained to prison bars, him and many others, and then just like Paul and Silas in that dungeon, my husband began to sing. His praise released not only his own chains, but those of all the people around him as well. That’s when I knew God was going to exalt my husband to an even higher place of leadership and authority, that he would use my husband’s weakness to bring even more children into the kingdom. His prophesies always come true.”
Something changed in Sapphire’s countenance. “And speaking of prophesies,” she went on, staring at Jade with the intensity and beady eyes of a cat, “let’s talk for a minute about your daughter.”
Jade glanced over at Gabriel, trying to figure out how many seconds she’d have to wrap both hands around Sapphire’s pale throat before he intervened.
“You remember, I’m sure, that God gave me a dream in which he promised my husband a child to carry on the ministry at Morning Glory.”
Jade didn’t trust herself to respond. It was taking all her energy and focus to keep from killing Sapphire where she stood.
“For decades, I believed the prophesy meant that God would open my womb and give me a child, but I’ve since learned that his ways are so much higher than our ways, his wisdom so much greater than our own. God never promised that I would be the one to fulfill this promise, but that doesn’t mean the prophesy itself could fail. God’s calling and plans are irrevocable, and he promised Mitch a child. Your daughter.”
Jade couldn’t listen to this crazy woman anymore. She wouldn’t. She pictured herself jumping up, charging Sapphire and barging into the closed room to grab Dez, but she remained immobile. What kind of strange mysticism was this? What was this woman doing to her?
Sapphire continued to pace, and Jade was acutely aware of the vibrations she sent through the floor with each step, as if the weight and force of Sapphire’s stride had increased tenfold.
“I had a dream a few weeks ago,” she began, and Jade clenched her hands into fists. It was the only control she had over her body at the moment.
“In my dream, Mitch had just returned home after a long trip serving God overseas. On his back was an empty sack symbolizing the burdens God had taken off his shoulders during his season of international ministry. His hair had turned white, but his eyes were younger and more joyful than I’ve ever seen, and as he came toward me, he knelt down on the ground and stretched out his hands, and then this beautiful brown baby girl ran toward him shouting, ‘Daddy! Daddy! You’re home!’ and he hugged her and promised he was never going to leave her again.
“I woke up, and I could still feel the love and the joy that surrounded my spirit in that reunion, and I knew what the Lord was telling me. I wasn’t the one he chose to bear Mitch a child to complete his life’s work and calling, but I could see the prophesy fulfilled nonetheless. It was a glorious picture. The next night, I had the same dream, except after that little brown girl ran into Mitch’s arms, she turned to me and smiled and said, ‘I love you, Mommy.’ And that’s when I knew what God was calling me to do.”
Jade felt heavy. Heavy and tired and subdued, as if each word she heard was a chain tying her down. She needed to think, needed all her mental acuity, but she found herself inexplicably drawn to the rhythmic cadence of Sapphire’s words.
“I’m sure you’re worried about your daughter. That’s why I’ve included you in my plan. That and the fact that Elder Keith wasn’t strong enough to do what had to be done. He was with us at first but then changed his mind. He’ll receive his reward, I’m sure. Now the biggest question is up to you. Will you be reunited to our fold? Will you come back under the congregational headship God has called you to? Think of what a glorious testimony that would be when you and your daughter come to live with me under one roof, held fast together by the cords of Christian love. I’ve talked to your daughter, and I sense a great destiny’s been placed over her. What do you say?”
Sapphire stopped her pacing, releasing Jade from her state of transfixed confusion. She leveled her gaze. “I say you’re a monster and a freak. You deserve to rot in jail just like your husband should have.”
Sapphire frowned, lifted her hands toward heaven, and started mumbling under her breath.
“And stop praying for me,” Jade snapped. “I don’t want to hear any more about your dreams or your deluded fantasies. I don’t want you anywhere near me or my child.”
Sapphire’s incoherent mutterings grew louder and more intense. The mental fog returned, but Jade strove to break free from its hold.
“You’re not a real church,” she shouted. “Your husband was a disgusting fraud, and the only power either of you ever had was only because people were terrified of both of you. You pretend to know God’s will for others’ lives, but you’re so crazy you actually think you can get away with kidnapping and murder.”
Sapphire chuckled. “Murder? I’m sorry, aren’t you the one whose father tried to kill my husband?”
“He didn’t want to kill him,” Jade replied, even though she wasn’t sure if that was the case.
Sapphire raised an eyebrow. “No? Your father was afflicted with the most oppressive spirit of anger and violence I’ve ever witnessed. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to hear what that policeman had to do to him.”
Jade jumped to her feet. Sapphire wanted to talk about a spirit of anger and violence? Jade could show her a spirit of anger and violence. She threw her weight into Sapphire, knocking her to the ground as easily as she could have blown out a candle. Straddling her, Jade tried to shrug Gabriel off long enough to land at least one good punch.
Sapphire screamed. “Get behind me, demon.”
Jade managed to pry one arm away from Gabriel’s grasp and elbowed Sapphire in the gut before slamming her fist into that perfectly upturned nose that always made her pastor’s wife appear both haughty and regal.
She couldn’t get in any more shots before Gabriel overpowered her, grappling until he had both her arms pinned behind her. She threw her head back but only hit his chest and may as well have been a newborn cub wrestling a lion.
“I wash my hands of you.” Sapphire stood clumsily and smoothed down her clothes. “I gave you a chance at restitution.” She spat down at Jade on the floor. “And you were a fool to disregard my gracious offer. I wipe the dust off my feet. Everything that happens from here on is your own fault. Your blood is on your own head now.”