Page 10 of Dirty Little Saint

I nod. “Yes, I do.”

Holden whispers in my ear, “Your cunt has broken them. Now it’s your turn to be humiliated.”

His nostrils flare in my direction when I peel off my dress and panties as I was instructed by Romulus earlier. When I put on the robe and pull up the hood, Holden knows he’s won. But he’s sadly mistaken if he thinks that he owns me. I’m not doing this for him or his initiates. I’m doing this for us. For my devils.

I follow them down the stairs, leaving my guys behind. I shudder when the heavy metal door closes, cutting me off from them completely. We travel so many levels down I think we might be entering hell itself. The air is thicker the farther we get. The scent of oleander is cloyingly sweet, tickling the hairs on my nose as I try not to inhale too much of it.

My heart beats faster with each step I take, the silence of my sins permeating the spaces between us. Holden leads the way through an intricate maze of tunnels and caverns, a whole other world that exists beneath his estate. Terror begins to creep into my bones as we pass group after group of masked figures.

The initiates at Tenebrose were fledglings. Amateurs. These are not the same. They stand tall and powerful, unafraid. As if they could squash me with just a flick of their fingers. They have all pledged oaths long ago. And in their callous glares, I detect the disgust for a girl who’s broken all their rules. Who took one of their own from them and sent the rest scattering.

We reach another cavern, and my jaw drops open. There must be at least thirty masked initiates standing watch. They hold torches to light the room, casting an eerie glow on their bronzed masks, their eyes demonic.

I shiver and instantly regret agreeing to this. Fuck.

Holden walks around before stopping in front of me. “It’s time to learn our true ways now, Miss Blackwell. I’m going to show you how we deal with murderous little whores.”

I clench my fists and fight the urge to deck him in the face. He doesn’t know shit about me or what the four of us have together. But I bite my tongue. I just want to get this over with.

He snickers, thinking he’s won yet again. “As soon as you take off your robe, the ritual will begin. I will give you another sigil. But you will only receive its power when the ceremony is complete in its entirety.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “What kind of sigil?”

He smirks. “Virility. You like to wield your cunt so badly; I will give you a sigil that lets you do just that, my little temptress.”

I have to choke back the bile that’s rising in my throat. This man is a fucking monster.

“What do I have to do to complete the ritual?”

His eyes darken. “Sexual surrender is the lifeblood of this ritual. The carnal release of one’s essence and nectar is demanded to fulfill the transfer of power. It lives in that fleeting moment of euphoria. That moment of weakness. When you open up your body and soul to receive it.”

I look around the room at the initiates. They stand stoically and without expression. This has been done before. That I’m certain of. It’s too late to turn back now…

“I’m not fucking any of you.”

He laughs. “No, you’re not. We don’t want your filth on us. As I said, when you take off your robe, we will begin.” He points to the center altar as an initiate lays a black cloth over it.

With shaky fingers, I untie the robe and let it fall to the ground. I resist the urge to look down. I need to appear strong. He thinks I’m weak, but I’m far from it. So I raise my chin and make eye contact with every single initiate.

Their silence begins to break as they ogle my naked body. They step forward, forming a tighter circle around us. Tiny little breaths escape their tightly controlled lips, floating to me like demonic whispers.

“Lie down on the cloth and spread out. Legs open and hands above your head.”

My nerves are shattered, but I lie down and do as he says.

“Very good.” With a blade twice the size as Riot’s, Holden Graves moves down between my thighs. His eyes narrow when he spots the sigil and snake bite. “Blasphemous,” he curses and glares back up at me.

I can’t stop shaking now. He looks like he wants to tear me to shreds.

He nods to two initiates. “Hold her down.”

One grabs my wrists and pins them while another does the same to my ankles. I take deep breaths and will my heart to slow down so I don’t have a fucking heart attack.

“I guess virility will have to go here instead.” He grabs a hold of my unmarked thigh and pins it back. He rests one hand against my pussy, shifting his body weight onto it. “For leverage.”

My blood is fucking boiling.

Without warning, he digs the knife into my thigh. “You will bleed for me.”

---