The rooftop observation deck mirrored the Architect’s lecture hall in size, but not in purpose. A two-way mirror enclosed a tube, just large enough for a bed at its center. My brothers circled it, eyes fixed on a figure who should have been basking in our Sun God’s light, just as we were meant to mark her inside and out as ours.
This was not a ritual done at night. Taking away the sun removed our beliefs from the equation, but this had never been about our Sun God. The Prophet was just a man desperate for control. My father, not some powerful god, needed people bound and loyal to him.
I forced myself not to look at my ex-Prophet so he couldn’t observe the calculation in my gaze. We came to a stop in front of the tube door.
Someone had positioned Quinn on top of the bed. Ropes and lace of deep red twined around her body, highlighting her curves and pinching her breasts. Her beautiful hair had been brushed to a shine and fell in large curls down her back. Even in the moonlight, sparkling locks framed her face. One of my sisters, I would guess, had painted her face, bringing out her cheekbones and the green of her eyes. A silver collar lay tight on her neck and matched her belly button piercing, framed by ropes. She looked incredible, like a delicate peach waiting to be plucked.
In another life, this is how I wanted her. Tied up in my bed and screaming my name as her body shook with pleasure. But not now. Not here. And not like this.
“Kneel,” my ex-Prophet commanded.
I turned to him and went down on one knee. The action came too easily, proof that the Prophet had bent me into this shape long before I ever questioned him. It felt like stepping into my own grave, dirt and darkness swallowing me whole. Had any of the women I’d brought into the family consented? Or had I raped all of them?
My Prophet pressed his hand to the top of my head. “Your lips will seal her commitment to the family…”
Filth, all of it.
“…Your bruises will mark her as ours…”
Each word was a chain tightening.
“…Your seed will fill her belly…”
Not again. Never again.
“And may the sun…” he faltered, his voice wavering. “Reflecting off the moon on this sacred night, shine down on you.”
My entire life had been complete and utter bullshit.
His magic sank into me and faded like cheap wine, but my heart beat strong and even. I knew what real strength felt like now. And itwasn’t this cheap mockery my Prophet created. Quinn’s determination, Rowan’s acceptance, and Xan’s raw skill chased away the last bit of fear I had of the withering old man standing above me. His only real power was manipulating others.
That would never be me again.
I rose taller, heavier with defiance.
My ex-Prophet grinned, so secure in the world he’d created, he couldn’t see the threat now towering over his bent frame. He motioned, and my brothers stripped me bare.
My Prophet, my father, looked me up and down like a prized bull. “She belongs to the family now, like you. Show us the Sun God’s blessing.”
I turned my back on everything I’d believed in and turned toward my future, the woman who stole my heart and showed me a better world.
Inside the tube, Quinn still sat on the bed, a red silk sheet pooled around her legs. The mirrors showed countless reflections of her spiraling into infinity. My bare feet hit the cool stone with a dull thump, and Quinn’s glazed gaze didn’t turn. He’d drugged her, which meant she’d fought the brainwashing and wasn’t an empty shell.
Hope and pride filled my heart.
I approached the edge of the bed. She leaned toward me and blinked her glassy eyes. A pleasant gasp escaped her lips, not from me, but from the ropes. Knots in all the right places made it so that every breath she took, every subtle movement, rubbed against her sensitive skin.
The anger and hate filling my veins hadn’t destroyed my blood flow. My body betrayed me, heat pooling low, and I loathed it as much as I loathed him. Cutting off the offending appendage would be the only way to keep me from physically reacting to the goddess in front of me. How she didn’t understand how special she was blew my mind.
I flicked my gaze around the tube. My family gathered. Though I couldn’t see them, they could see me. And they were strong. I couldn’t do this on my own.
‘Did you follow me?’I asked Rowan.
‘No,’Rowan responded.
I forced myself to stay calm. On some level, I assumed he had.
‘We made it to the edge of Edinburgh before the first explosion,’Rowan said too calmly. ‘The Castle’s under attack from the inside.’
