Page 174 of Master of My Heart

“You’re saying I need to be a slave?” she asked, offended.

Theo shook his head. “Elder-Mistresses are not slaves in the strict sense of the word. They serve their Elder, who becomes their guardian. By choice. For protection, yes, but also to be useful. To be fulfilled.”

“I don’t want to be an Elder-Mistress,” she whispered, remembering her conversation with Chase. “I don’t want anything to do with this world.” She looked up at Theo. “Richard has slaves. He says all Elders do.”

Theo nodded. “Yes. It is the way things are done. It will not change. But you saw them. They are happy, yes?”

“They seem so. But they’re not free.”

“Why do freedom and contentment have to be mutually exclusive?”

“Because they... they don’t have a choice in their life. How can they truly be happy if they don’t know all their choices?”

“Are you happy dancing with your dance company?”

“Yes,” she answered slowly, confused at the sudden change of subject.

“But you have not danced with all the dance companies in the world. How can you be happy if you do not know what it is like to dance with the Kirov or in New York?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but then she understood what he was saying. “Because I have friends here and...” She trailed off.

“And because Chase is here?” Theo finished.

She bit her lip and looked down at her hands. “I thought so.”

“Richard adores his girls. They adore him. They want to please him. They are happy and content. They have no worries of what tomorrow will bring.”

“Don’t they get hurt? Don’t the men hurt them?”

“Sometimes, but it is rare. Certain girls enjoy rougher sex and they are used accordingly. If one of Richard’s men abuses the wrong girl, they are dealt with. Harshly.” He sighed. “I will not lie. Not all Elders are good like Richard and Tom, but most are. And those who are not... They make their choices and will eventually get what they deserve.”

Sabrina contemplated what Theo said. She didn’t completely understand it, but she understood enough to accept it. “How did Richard protect me?”

“You really do not remember?”

She shook her head.

“He took you. You asked him and Tom, whom I brought in when I saw what was happening, and they took possession of you. They became your Masters.”

Her head spun with his words. “Masters? Plural?”

“It is not wise for one Elder to have sole possession of someone like you. It should be divided between several, but I only had time to retrieve Tom.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Only a little while.”

“How did Tom get here so quickly?”

“I told you. I brought him.” Theo smiled. “I am an Immortal, Sabrina. I am not limited by human constraints. I can appear and disappear at will. All Immortals can. Elders can journey with us because they have part of us inside themselves.”

“Oh.” She accepted him at his word. She had no idea how that worked, but right now, her head was starting to hurt from everything. “So, I have active Masters now? What does that mean? How did that happen?”

“They performed a brief ritual and you bonded sexually.”

She closed her eyes and thought back to being in the room. “I remember having sex, I think.”

“Yes. The Brotherhood uses sex for many things. Most people do not realize its power, but the Elders do and exploit its many uses.”

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