“Good evening, my friends!” The Divine One’s mechanical voice echoes through the room, bouncing off every wall, surrounding me, squeezing my throat until it’s hard to suck in a full breath. “Welcome. We have an exciting night planned for you all.” It’s impossible to detect any emotion in The Divine One’s voice, but I have the distinct feeling she’s amused. “For years, the Paragons of Prosperity have worshipped our goddess, doing what’s necessary to keep her appeased.”
I roll my eyes so hard that I actually hurt myself.
Their “goddess” is just an excuse the higher-ups devised to justify murder, rape, and human trafficking. It’s nothing but a huge scam.
“And I’m incredibly honored and humbled to announce that our goddess—our Cassia—has returned to us, her chosen children,” The Divine One continues.
“What the fuck?” Ryker mumbles from beside me, shifting from foot to foot.
“I don’t like the sound of this,” I tell him. “At all.”
Every alarm bell in my head is ringing simultaneously.
Danger!
Danger!
Danger!
“She has returned as our savior! She has come to make us holy once more!”
Cheers echo through the room as my heart sinks like a boulder into my stomach.
Fuck. This. Shit.
“We need to find Ellie. Now,” I hiss at Ryker.
“No shit.”
“Cassia, welcome! Our goddess has returned” The Divine One gestures toward the far side of the room, opposite where we stand.
A lone spotlight zeroes in on a masked figure with unerring accuracy.
A masked figure with a pink heart on her shoulder.
Two huge POP members move to grab a man I know to be Dominic, holding his struggling, writhing form between them. Someone else reaches for Ellie’s hood and mask.
Brown hair tumbles around her shoulders as she blinks dazedly at the light blinding her.
Whispers of recognition ripple through the crowd.
“Cassia?”
“Isn’t that Ellie?”
“Is that truly her?”
“She has come for us!”
What the actual fuck is happening? These assholes can’t seriously believe this bullshit, can they? We assumed that they all knew Cassia was nothing but a sham, but now… Now, I’m not so sure. Belief is a strange and powerful thing, after all. It can start and stop wars. Make an honest man sinful. Turn a sinful man honest. And isn’t that all religion is? Belief? Faith?
“Welcome, Cassia!” The Divine One coos, that eerie voice scratching at my skin like serrated talons. “Welcome home.”
9
ELLIE
Holy fuck.
