Numb.
Not willing to fight for anything because quite simply, now there’s nothing left to fight for.
“So, you see, we’d been tracking Cade for a while using his cell.”
My ears click into what he’s finally telling me, and my head snaps to the side. “Wait! What? You were following him?”
Wyatt lets out a huff. “Have you not been listening? Yes, from the moment I got out of jail, I had my tech guys hunt him down. Then we tracked his movements. When I saw he was stationary on Van Dyke Road, we went to check it out. Needless to say, that accident helped us in so many ways.”
I tilt my head. “The photos?”
A devilish glint lights up his face. “Not just that, sweet Ivy. Cade was so off his face he had no idea my disciples were on his side of the road. He called for backup, then threw his cell on the ground and spaced out. We had the accident planned, but he made it so much easier being so out of it. It gave us ample time for my guys to move in and put all the software on his cell we needed.”
My muscles tense as I stare at him. “Like what?”
“We could hear everything. Track everything. And from that, we knew everything. It also allowed us when close to another cell to transfer those apps to the second cell. So, when he was given the burner, the apps we installed on his cell and all the others at the club immediately crossed over. We knew your location at the safehouse this entire time... and we’ve been watching.”
“Jesucristo!” <Jesus Christ!>
“He won’t help you here, sweet Ivy. Honestly, I’m disappointed Cade never continued my work, my crusade, while I was incarcerated improperly.”
This guy actually believes he was wrongfully jailed. Douche!
“I taught Cade everything he knows, so I know he will be perfect for running our farm.”
I can’t hide my scoff. “You’re delusional. Void isn’t like you at all, you’re a sex-crazed lunatic.”
Wyatt stops walking and turns me to look at him. “It’s not about sex, Ivy. It’s about control. I want to hold power over women, and they submit to me. You’ll understand once you’re cleansed.”
“The fuck are you talking about?” I jerk my head back in confusion.
Wyatt’s eyes dance with a sinister glint, his lips turning up with an air of evil. A look he’s mastered so well over the years, a sight to send the blood in your veins shattering into shards of ice. My adrenaline spikes as I swallow hard.
His hand moves to my lower back, leading me toward the door of the main house. “You’ll see. It will all become clear in time, sweet Ivy.”
Everything in me screams not to go inside the fucking house, but my fight has left me. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m being led up a giant circular staircase by three women. It’s like I’m blacking out and losing spaces of time. I can only put it down to the stress I’m feeling over losing Void after everything we fought for.
I take in the beautiful women—all blonde—of various ages. The one who’s probably in her forties, she could be the leader I have no fricking idea, ushers me up the stairs. There’s another in her twenties, and the youngest has to be barely sixteen.
I turn to the sixteen-year-old while shaking my head. “Why are you here?”
She beams like she’s so freaking happy it astounds me as we take the last step and begin walking down a hall. “We follow his path. The only path.”
I roll my shoulders as they lead me into a massive bedroom. “And what path is that?”
They all turn to me at the same time, smiling as if they’ve just stepped out of the Stepford Wives, answering in unison, “Enlightenment.”
My eyes widen as they pull me inside the room, and the youngest closes the door behind us as I take them in carefully.
It’s fucking weird as all hell.
They’re all wearing the same matching light blue dress.
The older one sits me in a chair while the middle woman stands in front of me.
Have to say those flight instincts are starting to kick back in.
“You give yourself over to him. Mind, body, and soul. It’s so freeing to surrender completely to someone else’s will.” She slides down the material covering her left breast, and right there marring her skin is a scar, a symbol etched deep into her flesh. My eyes widen as the other two slide their dresses down to reveal the same symbol on their left breast as well.
I let out a loud scoff. “The fuck it is! Be your own person. Sure, there are times to let someone in and take charge, but not to control your whole life. Listen, that’s fucking madness.”
They stand back, ignoring me as the older woman walks over carrying a white dress. “You need to rid yourself of the clothes you currently possess and let us celebrate your rebirth.”
“You’re joking, right?” I snort out a laugh.
They say nothing, the younger one shifting, then she reaches for the hem of my shirt.
I slap at her hand. “Get the fuck away from me.”
The middle-aged one lunges forward. I let out a shriek as she pulls my arms behind my body. I try to fling my head back to head butt her as the older woman begins some incantation. The younger one slides back into my sight holding a syringe.
My eyes widen, and I gasp. “Come near me with that thing, and I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down.”
Her eyes flick to the asshole who’s holding me captive, who I feel nod excessively behind me. I jerk my body, trying like hell to get out of her grip as the young one steps forward. She moves to my side, jabbing me in the bicep. “You will be with us soon, Ivy. Rest now, and while you do that, we will get you ready.”
Warmth floods through my veins, but I try to fight. I keep resisting. Soon my body weakens to the point I can’t control it. My eyelids become heavy as they flutter.
The older woman comes into view as the other one lets me go.
They sit me back on the chair. I have lost control, and the last thing I remember is them pulling my shirt over my head.
Then everything goes black.
***
It’s like I’m floating but not on a bed of clouds.
On something much, much harder.
Something uncomfortable that’s poking into my body.
I’m trying to gain my bearings.
The low beating of djembe drums rumbles in the distance in a steady rhythm. My eyelids slowly flutter open, and that’s when I realize I’m being lifted through the air on a stretcher of twigs laden with vines and flowers.
I try to sit up, but I’m still a little too out of it to gain enough strength to do much. All the bobbing with the movement of the disciples carrying me is making me nauseous. I look down, noticing I’m dressed in a flowing white dress. I have no shoes on, no bra, and I’m way too fucking scared to feel if I have my panties on still.
The disciples are leading me down the hill toward the lake, a guard of honor lines me either side.
It starts with women all wearing wreaths of flowers around their heads. They’re holding pottery jugs for some fucking stupid reason.
As I get closer to the water, there are men, and they’re wearing fucking ram heads with the same symbol the women have etched into their chests.
My hands begin to shake, my breathing shallow as a rush of adrenaline shoots through my veins, waking me up a little more. I manage to sit up on the bed of twigs and vines as the disciples reach the edge of the lake, lowering my bed to the ground.