Page 594 of Rage

Silence fell like a wet blanket over a campfire. We’d all known our captors, or at least could place them. But she was the only one who had been drugged by a family member. Cassandre didn’t seem to sense the heaviness in the room, for she continued, “Papa cast him out a long time ago. Called him shameful. He never told me why. He…seemed so nice until all of this.”

Judging by the silence that still sat heavy in the room, we all knew exactly why her brother had been turned out.

I rested my cheek on the curve of Cassandre’s head, squeezing her close.

I heard Diana wet her mouth, pause, then exhale. “A-Atreya,” she said hesitantly.

“What?” she asked, her mood even more sour than it was before.

“Aren’t…don’t the high priestesses of Atreya take a vow of celibacy?” Diana asked.

“Yes, on the day of our first bleeding,” she said, her tone becoming wary. “What of it?”

I heard Diana wring her sweat-damp hands. “Well…not to be impolite but… I’m a virgin myself. N-not because of any vow of celibacy, just because I’m…disinterested in copulation I suppose.”

More silence. Then Bella, the nurse, spoke up. “I was–Iamsaving myself for marriage,” she said. “Work has just been getting in the way.”

“I’m intact,” I said flatly, not feeling the need to explain myself.

My stomach twisted as each woman reluctantly confessed their virtue. They all spoke slowly, as if they hoped one of us would be the outlier. After all, what good could come from a group of entitled, arrogant men gathering a clutch of virgins?

Cassandre started to cry again, quiet and breathy.

But this time, Atreya did not bark an order for her to stop.

Chapter Two

Briar

“You arecheating,” I teased Richard coquettishly.

“Itoldyou, Briar. I don’tcheat, I’m amagician,”he said.

Richard was handsome. Charming. The kind of man who got away with murder. And rape. And cruelty. The most dangerous kind of man and one I’d worked my way into the circle of over the course of several months. He was like a venus fly trap, luring girls in with sweet words and presents and false promises before crushing them between his too-straight teeth.

“Oh, here we go again,” I said with the tone of a long-suffering lover. “The only sorcery you have is the uncanny ability to talk yourself out of a beating from the bouncers.”

“Oh, is that all? You really think so?” he asked.

“Iknowso,” I said, pretending to sip from the brandy he’d bought me.

“What if I can prove to you that I have other powers?” he asked. “Will you concede?”

“Perhaps,” I said.

“What do I get if I prove it?”

“Bragging rights, naturally,” I said, not liking where the line of conversation was headed.

“Come, Briar,” he said with atutof his tongue. “You know that I prefer a game with stakes. That’s why I hang on your every word–in the hopes that one day they will be an invitation to your bed.”

Feeling grateful for my poker face, I threw two chips onto the pile at the center of the table. If I’d been as green as I was the first day, I’m sure my face would have contorted with disgust.

“You don’t need an invitation, you’ve paid for my time, just like the rest of my clients,” I told him. “Simply take what you paid for.”

“And give up on the challenge of wooing you properly? No, the time I pay you for is like a buy-in for the greatest game I’ve ever played.” He picked up a stack of his chips and set them firmly down in front of the dealer as if in demonstration. “Come on. Name the prize.”

“I’ll give you the rest of my chips for the night,” I said.

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