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PROLOGUE
It was time for her acceptance ceremony.
This was the moment where Heidi le Roux would become a true part of the world that she'd worked tirelessly for the past two years. Up until now, she had been a small part of this great spiritual world. But as soon as she had passed through this, the most important ritual, she would be one of the inner circle, and she would be able to wear the ceremonial white robes, with the tasseled belt, graduating from the plain white drapes that she’d worn until now.
Heidi was ready. In the old church’s inner, candlelit room, aware of the stares from the gathered brethren behind her, feeling the blaze of the small flames hot on her cheeks, she recited her vows in her mind. Somewhere, far away, she heard a clock strike midnight.
Closer, there was the low chanting in Latin, marking the importance and weight of the ceremony.
“I will forsake the world. I will have loyalty only to my brothers and sisters in'Le Fondement de l'Unité des Mondes’– the Foundation for the Unity of Worlds. I will perform the tasks required of me. I will spend time in prayer and reflection. I have chosen to sign over my worldly belongings to the foundation, and I will acknowledge legally that the foundation is my new guardian and that I forsake my relatives and my old life."
That was the choice she had made, and she felt empowered by it. This was what she needed to say, the word perfect, because only perfection would do. There was still time to fail, and many others had done. But she was ready. Ready to turn her back on her old life, the friends and family she'd known for so many of her twenty-five years, the family who'd begged her to leave this 'cult,' trying to convince her that she was being brainwashed.
Brainwashed? She'd never thought more clearly in her life and knew this was her road to take.
It was time now. She was going into the annex room along with the leader. He led the way, his stance tall. For this ceremony, he, too, wore white because it was the color of purity and renewal.
She knelt down before the stone altar, feeling the coldness of it beneath her knees. The leader stood in front of her, his face shrouded in shadow. His hands were on her shoulders, then they slipped down, touching her bare flesh under the robe. That was fine, and she knew she must not move because this was a sign that her body, her future, and her spirit belonged to the foundation.
"Do you pledge your loyalty to the foundation?" he finally asked, his hands withdrawing from her robe, his voice low and soothing, the calming tones and slight French accent giving her confidence at this pivotal time.
"I do," Heidi replied, her voice steady despite the tremble in her hands.
"Do you swear to support your brethren and devote yourself to the tasks required of you? To work in humility and goodness for the benefit of all?"
"I do," she repeated, her eyes fixed on the leader. She couldn't see much of him under the white robe and draped cowl, but she thought she picked up the gleam of his eyes.
"Then rise, sister," he said, his hand outstretched.
Heidi stood, her heart pounding in her chest as the leader fastened the tasseled belt around her waist. She felt a rush of pride and excitement, knowing that she was now a part of something much larger than herself. She had given herself over to a higher purpose, a higher cause.
"Come to the water and bathe," he said.
The water was kept in a copper bowl about a yard in diameter, which was placed in the corner of the room. Heidi walked to it, feeling the stone cold under her bare feet.
She lifted one foot, then the other, placing her feet in the water. She lifted it with her cupped hands, trickled it over her face, let some wash into her mouth, her nose. It tasted metallic and sharp. Perhaps that was the copper of the bowl seeping into it. She bathed her hands in the water, feeling it, tasting it. And then, she stepped out and dried herself with the towel that was old and worn because humility was essential among the brethren.
Now, finally, she could take her place among the line of the true believers.
But as she walked back toward the main hall, Heidi began to feel dizzy and disoriented, as if her blood pressure had suddenly plummeted. She stumbled. Did someone push her? Had she been jostled? Was that a pluck at her robe, a stinging touch, or had she imagined it? But it was just herself and the leader in this room, so what could it have been?
The giddiness was something that had happened to her as a teen, and she'd fainted a few times. This was the same. This dizziness was overwhelming. It was making her feel weak, nauseous, breathless.
And hot and cold all over in strange, powerful waves that were buffeting her. What was happening? Was it because she'd been fasting today in preparation for this ritual? Why was she now unable to walk, a weakness suffusing her body, as if all the energy had been drained from it so that she had to stumble to her knees
Her arms were weak and cold. She tried to rise but found herself now lying prone on the cold stone.
She needed to take a breath, to breathe, to try again.
But she couldn't. Darkness, swift and total, was overwhelming her.
CHAPTER ONE
"We need to find the red light district urgently," Cora Shields said to Gabe as they strode down the cobbled walkway.
She and Gabe had sketched out the plan yesterday, back in the States, and were now following it after landing in Paris. This was the first step in tracking the old, decayed breadcrumb trail that might lead to her sister’s whereabouts. It would take them into an underground world where serious danger lurks. But the risk would be worth it if they found her.
Cora had Rose's face, her looks etched in her mind. Rose had strawberry blond hair, where Cora's was auburn. She had the same sea-gray eyes, but Rose’s were warmer. Rose had worn her hair in a long, flowing style, not shaven on one side like Cora did. Rose didn't have tattoos; she didn't have any scars or missing fingers.
