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“You’ve had enough.”

“But…” I shook my head wildly. “You don’t understand. I can feel the sin pouring out of me every time you hit me. It feels good.”

“No.”

“It does,” I insisted. “Please keep going. Don’t you want to make me feel better? Don’t you want to cast out the wickedness from inside me?”

“For fuck’s sake, I said no, Jolie.”

I chose my next words carefully. I didn’t want to seem defiant toward a man, as that was a sin and I was trying to be good, but at the same time, it had to be said. “Please, Mason. Punish me like they told you to, or I will have to tell the Elders you didn’t do it properly.”

There was a deathly silence in the room, and then Mason let out a heavy, cross breath. “Fucking hell… they really messed you up.”

At that, the cane came down on me again. Hard. The lash fell on the same spot as the ninth and tenth ones earlier, and I felt the skin begin to split open. “More,” I panted. “Please, I need more…”

Mason hit me again, and I could not control my screams any longer. The pain was almost unbearable, but that meant the best part was coming. Soon my sins would dissolve, and I would feel light and clean.

“Yes! Harder!”” I cried breathlessly. A heated pressure was building deep inside me now. The light was coming. Just a few more strokes… just a little harder…

Two more lashes rained down on me. My moans turned into fractured whimpers as I counted the strokes. My voice sounded like it was about to break along with my body.

“That’s it. We’re done,” Mason growled, tossing the cane aside and untying my wrists. One big hand moved to my left leg, trailing down it. “You’re fucking bleeding.”

I smiled through my tears as he helped me to my feet. “I know. Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t fucking thank me,” he said. “You think I wanted to make you bleed?”

I frowned. Why was he angry? It was customary to thank the men for punishing a woman. After all, they were helping us to become better people.

Without thinking about it any longer, I sank to the cold ground and arranged myself into a submissive pose at his feet. “I am sorry for displeasing you. It was not my intention.”

Mason pulled me to my feet again. My legs were shaking like mad from the beating, threatening to give out from under me, but he kept me upright and steady in his strong grip. His lips parted slightly as he exhaled. “You didn’t displease me, and I wasn’t lying before, like all the others. I really did want to talk to you. If there was any other way, I wouldn’t have done this to you. Please believe that.”

My eyes widened. “What do you mean you weren’t lying like the others?”

“You’ve been lied to since you were a child,” he said in a low voice. “Jolie, you’re a captive here.”

My eyebrows drew together. “A… a captive?”

“Yes, a fucking captive. You were taken from the real world when you were just a kid, and these men have lied to you and forced you to live down here like fucking moles. Anyone who doesn’t follow their bullshit rules gets the shit beaten out of them. I mean, look at you.” He gestured toward my bright red, already-bruising buttocks and legs. “You think I wanted to do this?”

“Of course. Pain is good. It is—”

He held up a hand. “No, pain is not fucking feminine sin leaving the body,” he said through gritted teeth. “And to add to that, women aren’t responsible for all sin, either. You’ve been brainwashed.”

“Brainwashed?”

He nodded, gaze softening. “I came here to tell you the truth. I want to get you out of here. All the other girls, too. And the children. None of you fucking belong in this place. None of you deserve to be beaten or maimed or kept prisoner down here. It’s wrong.”

I frowned. “No, Mason, you’re wrong. I’m not a captive here. None of us are. If I wanted to leave this place, all I would have to do is walk up to the shelter door and step outside. But I won’t do that. I know how dangerous it is out there.”

Mason sighed. “See, that’s the thing. The outside world isn’t what you think it is. There was no apocalypse. No Great Reckoning. It’s all bullshit. The men made it up to convince you and the other girls to follow their rules and way of life. They scared you all into submission, and it fucking worked.”

I took a shaky step back, placing a palm over my suddenly-throbbing forehead. What Mason was saying… it was too much. I couldn’t focus. I could barely even breathe. I willed myself to stop trembling, but that only seemed to make my heart beat even faster.

“I know it’s difficult for you to hear,” Mason went on, his voice soft and gentle. “And I know I can’t just convince you to pack up and leave tonight, or even tomorrow. But there’s a whole world out there. I want to show it to you.”

“No.” I refused to look at him.

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