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She stands against the cross like a beautiful sacrifice and Hosea turns to the gawping crowd and says loudly, “I present to you, Psyche, the most beautiful woman who ever lived for you to admire her beauty. You may look, but if you touch her, you die.”
He steps back and two huge men step before her, holding gigantic swords. They look like they wrestle bears for a living and peer out angrily through black leather masks that cover their faces. They are dressed like centurions and my breath almost deserts me at the prospect of certain death if I was foolish enough to step forward to try to help the poor, defenseless woman.
Hosea turns and his eyes flash as he says in a creepy voice that jars against every nerve in my body.
“Psyche is devoted to me. I face many tests in my love for her and I take another innocent to demonstrate my love for my goddess. A sacrifice to pledge my eternal love for this woman and to keep her pure and untouched. She is my soul and must remain pure. She represents your souls too and all the time she is bound to the cross, we are assured forgiveness for our sins.”
He beams at the gawping crowd. “Enjoy your night on Madeira Island, knowing that nothing is off limits. With Psyche protecting our souls, you are assured of forgiveness. You may admire this goddess but go on to take another. The only way she will ever be free is if a winged serpent will claim her as his wife. When I have sacrificed my love for her, I will lie beside her to demonstrate my love. She trusts me to do what’s right and only I have the heart of this woman, because love cannot live without trust.”
He points to me, and I swear my entire body shakes.
“I take this woman as a sacrifice to my goddess. To unburden my twisted soul and cleanse it from sin. To rid me of my vilest and most depraved thoughts, leaving me pure of heart when I lie beside the goddess Psyche. Demonstrating my love, knowing I will never touch her and she will remain pure for the gods.”
He stares at Mikhail and growls, “You have sacrificed the innocent, and your reward will be the first pick. Move down the line and make your choice.”
Mikhail drops my hand with a reassuring squeeze, although the blind panic entering my mind tells me this could end very badly for me.
He pushes me forward and Hosea growls, “On your knees.”
I want to cry so badly but do as he says because I trust that Mikhail has this all under control. I must play my part for Phoebe, who is enduring a living hell, and as Mikhail steps back, I sense him moving down the line.
One by one, the guests follow him. The women on one side of the line and the men turning in order and plucking a partner from the waiting line. This is Sodom and Gomorrah at its most depraved, and I am shaking as Hosea regards me through lustful eyes.
When only one man is left, Hosea steps forward and takes my wrist, dragging me to my feet, and turns to the man standing without a partner.
“You are the last man standing and will wait here until someone comes for you. Kneel before Psyche, who will pray for your soul. When a woman becomes available, another man will take your place, and this will happen until all the men have prayed for forgiveness at the feet of Psyche.”
He turns to Phoebe and pulls me with him as he falls to his knees before her and kisses her feet.
“Forgive my carnal desire, my goddess. Know my heart only belongs to you and trust me that this woman sacrifices herself to me to accept my depraved sinful desires, so you remain pure. Know I love you and no other, and we share an unbreakable bond of trust that no man will ever break.”
I have never seen anything like this in my life. This is fucked up shit that belongs in madness. Every warning I received is coming back to bite me now as Hosea drags me to my feet and the last man standing takes our place and kneels before the crucifix. The guards stand between him and Phoebe as he bows his head before her and Hosea grips my wrist hard and pulls me after him, back the way we came.
CHAPTER 57
APOLLO
It’s her. I stare through the binoculars as the procession makes its way up the hill and my hand shakes as I stare at the woman I’ve loved since I knew what that meant.
Phoebe.
I almost doubt my own eyes as I stare at her, moving gracefully by the side of a man who will not live to see another day.
My heart is squeezed in a vise as I stare at the woman I would die trying to protect and let down so badly. I wasn’t there when she needed me. I couldn’t find her. It’s been two years since she was taken, and she must have endured two years of hell wondering why I never came for her.
I watch Hosea’s fucked-up ceremony with growing impatience.
I want to charge over there and murder the fucking bastard with my bare hands.
I observe Melissa, a virgin sacrifice in white, looking fucking terrified and I share my brother’s anger that she agreed to this at all.
I struggle to remain calm, to rely on my training to ensure success because Phoebe needs the cold-blooded executioner, not the lovesick young fool who let her go. I will be strong for them both and as the guards step in front of my woman and raise their swords, I caress my machine gun, knowing they will be no match for a hail of bullets.
Mikhail has assured me it’s all been taken care of. To rely on Lucian’s negotiating skills and understand that the only man on this island who isn’t following the plan is the brother of the man who set this entire thing up.
Marcos Madeira wants his brother out of the picture, and this is the perfect opportunity to do that. This whole thing has been staged to bring the most torment to a man who has made it his business to do the same to others. A fitting end for a madman and I will make certain I am the one who inflicts the final blow.
I’m like a salivating dog on the end of a leash as Hosea drags Melissa down the hill toward depravity and as the last man kneels before Phoebe, I take a deep breath.
