“I want to ensure I’m grasping this correctly. So, The Luminaries are on the top, then the masters, then experts and grunts?”
A proud smile coasts over her mouth. “Yes.” She squeezes my hand. “Think of it like a business. The Luminaries are the business owners with the money and the ones who dictate the strategy and direction of the business. The masters are the management team who execute the strategy. They oversee the entire operation, and the employees—in our case, experts and grunts—report to them.”
“How many employees are we talking about?”
“Millions and millions the world over.”
This is so much to grasp. My eyes drift to the symbols again. “Does everyone have to wear this brand?”
She shakes her head. “Grunts and experts don’t know The Luminaries exist. They think they work for a secret division of the government. Your father is the exception to the rule because he was married to me. Masters have their own form of initiation, but it’s not the same as our ceremonial process. They must swear an oath of loyalty and silence and bear the Luminary symbol on their arm. All members of a Luminary family bear their own insignia over their heart and the main symbol on their arm.”
My brow puckers in confusion. “If the grunts and experts don’t know about The Luminaries, how come grunts kidnapped me and you mentioned some were here earlier preparing for the ceremony?”
“We have some special task forces made up of grunts and experts who are assigned to classified work. They still think it’s for the government. They may be suspicious, but they don’t question it. Anyone who has is never seen from again.”
“Well, shit.”
“Yeah. Think of it like the military special task forces. They receive their orders, and they obey without question.”
I nod, my attention returning to the symbols on the coffins. “Why have I never noticed your brandings?”
“I wear a skin-colored patch over them in public, so as not to draw attention. Secrecy is pivotal within the Luminary world. Only those in the inner circle are aware we exist. You need to understand the significance of this world, Ashley, and how much power The Luminaries wield. It is like nothing you have ever conceived before.”
Her expression is somber as she continues explaining, and my chills are multiplying.
“These four luminaries are at the helm of the world, pulling strings and making things happen from the shadows.” Her eyes bore into mine. “These men, these families,ourfamily, have unrivaled power. Forget what you think you know about governments and royalty and the people you presume are in charge of our modern world. It’s not true. They are mere puppets. The Luminaries are all knowing, all acting, all-seeing.” She runs her finger back and forth across the eye. “Hence this emblem.”
“That’s why we couldn’t run.” I wrap my arms around myself as a deathly chill wafts over my body.
“There is no place you can go to outrun them. It warms my heart to know Jason and Breanna were willing to risk everything for you.” She cups my face. “To know you are loved like that brings me comfort. But it was foolish and ill planned, and they would not have succeeded.” She runs a hand along the back of her neck. “I am proof that you cannot rebel and get away with it.”
“In what way? What did you do?”
“I let a man who wasn’t my fiancé knock me up.”
I let that shock settle for a few seconds before I clear my throat. “You’re talking about Dad,” I surmise, and she nods. She pulls herself up to sit on the top of the coffin.
“Should you be doing that?”
She shoots me a mischievous grin. “Fuck them! There are no cameras here, so they won’t know.”
“I hope I’m not damning myself for eternity by being so sacrilegious,” I joke, hauling myself up to sit on the coffin beside her.
“Nothing has happened to me yet. Trust me when I say if anyone was to be struck down with divine retribution it would be me. You’re good.”
Perhaps I should be mad my mother has hidden her true persona from me my entire life—and maybe I will be at some point in the future—but right now, I am loving this different side to her.
Today, despite the clear danger I’m in, I don’t feel afraid because she is here. I have never felt closer to her, and I don’t want that to change. If anything good is to come out of this shit show my life has just turned into, maybe it’s this. Maybe now Mom and I can forge a new relationship.
“Who knew my mother was such a rebel.” I can’t contain my grin.
Her smile fades a little. “God knows they tried hard to stamp it out of me.”
“What happened? And why was it so bad you got pregnant with Dad’s baby?”
“There is a system of checks and balances in our world. Luminary blood must be kept pure, and to do that, we have to marry from within our own circle.”
“That sounds…incestuous.”
