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He stepped forward and took my right hand, entwining his fingers with mine. “Yes. When you’re ready, I want you to leave with me, and I want you to help me take down this place so these men can never do these terrible things to anyone else. Ever again.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. There’s so much out there for you. There’s light. There’s happiness. There’s freedom.”

“I am free here.”

He forced me to look at him again. “No, you aren’t. You’ve been deceived by evil men, but I can save you. Do you believe me?”

“I…” I lowered my gaze to the concrete floor and thought back to all those weeks ago, when I had that wonderful dream. I saw myself on an idyllic island with pure, unpolluted waters surrounding it. Bright and beautiful colors were everywhere, and I heard music and birds chirping as I lay in the bright sun and ate chocolate cake.

With a sudden rude shock, I remembered what I woke up to the morning after that dream.

Pure fear seized my body. I’d come so close to falling for these wicked lies…

“I know what this is. You’re testing me,” I said, narrowing my eyes and tearing my hand out of his grip.

“Testing you?”

I nodded vehemently. “Yes. I have been bad lately. I have sinned and given into temptation and lies, and I deserve to be punished for it. I know that. But I have learned my lesson now. I will not give in again.”

Mason frowned and reached for me. “No, Jolie, this isn’t some fucking trick.”

I held my head high. “It is. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to get me to admit that I believe the wicked lies Elena told us all those weeks ago, so you and the other men can punish me even more. But I won’t fall for it. I don’t believe those lies, and I never will!”

He frowned. “What lies? And who exactly is Elena? I’ve heard her name before.”

I looked down at my feet. “She was my best friend. She was possessed by the Devil and he made her tell us terrible things. She said she thought the Great Reckoning never happened, just like you said. She said she thought there might be other places women could live. Places where we wouldn’t have any pain.”

“What happened to her?”

I looked back at him. “She died.”

His brows shot up. “She died?”

I nodded. “The morning after she took us up to the church to tell us these things, she felt so guilty about spreading the awful lies that she committed suicide. She hanged herself in her room.”

Mason’s eyes were wide, his expression thunderstruck. “So she said she thought none of this was real, and the next day she decided to kill herself. You actually believe that?”

I frowned. “Of course I do. Elena is dead. I saw her body myself.”

He rubbed his temples and sighed. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “Tell me, how many other girls have died here? Over the last year, for instance.”

“Not many over the last year. Two died in childbirth despite the Healer’s efforts, but only one was reckoned.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Now, that’s one thing I’ve been waiting to find out. What the fuck is a reckoning?”

“Execution, so a woman can be freed from her sins,” I said. “Rebecca Brady was the last one. She was burned.”

Mason’s face paled slightly. “She was burned? Like at the stake?”

“Yes.”

He clamped a hand over his mouth and shook his head. “This is even worse than I fucking thought,” he muttered.

I watched him with a curious gaze. He was a good actor. Perhaps if the Great Reckoning hadn’t occurred, he would’ve been in movies and plays. He was certainly handsome enough.

Stop it,I chided myself. You are trying to be good now. No more immoral thoughts.

“Jolie, please listen to me,” Mason said, grabbing my shoulders. “You can’t live like this. Whatever Elena said to you... she was right. This place is pure evil.”

I smiled patiently. “I told you, I will not fall for these lies. I will follow His Word till the day I die. I will never let the Devil tempt me into wickedness or blasphemy again.”

Mason was silent for a long moment. I thought I saw a brief flicker of disappointment in his eyes, but then he nodded.

“You’re right,” he said. “This was just a test.”

I beamed at him, savoring the aching and burning sensation in my legs and buttocks. “Did I pass?”

Mason put his hand on my shoulder again and patted me. “Yeah,” he said softly. “You passed.”

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