Page 51 of The Preacher's Pet

She drops her purse on the end of the couch, then holds her chin high and nods. “I’m ready.”

“And you?” I check with Cain.

He pulls out his black, hooded mask from his back pocket and slips it over his face. He must have taken it from the altar room already. I have mine on the counter, beside the concoction of herbs and smudge stick I made earlier. I put my mask on, too, transforming myself into the skeleton.

The door at the rear of the space opens, and Malachi steps out, his face covered with the smooth, white mask of his choice. It goes against the black of everything he normally wears.

Ophelia’s dual-colored eyes widen. “Wh-why do you wear them?”

“Mainly for protection,” I tell her. “Sometimes we are dealing with unseen forces and spirits, and the masks help to disguise our identity. But they also help us become more than ourselves, which helps us to channel otherworldly energies.”

Malachi snorts laughter. “And sometimes we just wear them to fuck around with people.”

“Not now, though,” I say sharply. “This isn’t a game.”

No, it isn’t. It’s deadly serious. Ophelia is trembling, and I have to hold myself back from telling her to get on her knees. That’s how I want her, head bent, submissive.

My cock jerks, and I clench my teeth, trying to dispel the image. I need to be stronger than that. Restrained. The other two aren’t wearing their robes tonight. They would get in the way, but I still have mine on, and I’m grateful for it hiding just how aroused I am.

“Come here,” I tell her, putting out my hand. She places her tiny one into mine, and I lead her to the middle of the room. “You need to stay in this spot. Don’t move. No matter what happens, you can’t run away in the middle of the ritual, or it could make things worse.”

She gives a brave smile. “I’m not sure how they could be worse.”

I lift an eyebrow, though she can’t see it. “Is that something you really want to test?”

She shakes her head. No.

“Did you bring what I asked?”

She reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a small baggie filled with fine, blonde curls. I take them from her and resist the urge to open it and bring it to my nose to inhale her scent.

“Tell me, when do you hear his voice the loudest?”

She worries at her lower lip with her teeth, and her cheeks pinken. “When I have sinful thoughts.”

“What kind of sinful thoughts?”

She swallows and keeps her gaze averted. “When I think about sex. When I think about pleasuring myself, or…or having someone else pleasure me.”

I can’t help my gaze flicking down to her nipples. I’m sure they’ve hardened even more beneath her dress. I deliberately don’t look at the other two Preachers. I bet we’re all equally hard, hearing her speak like this. She’s so fucking innocent, it makes me want to do bad things to her, but giving in to that urge will only make me as bad as the man who hurt me when I was the innocent one.

I position four tall pillar candles around her, each one representing a different element and cardinal direction. North for earth. East for air. South for fire, and West for water.

“Close your eyes and focus on my words.”

She does immediately, and I love how willing she is. Her obedience is as delicious as her submission, and it makes for a dangerous mix with the three of us.

Malachi and Cain step in, Malachi behind her, and Cain in front, sheltering her. I walk in a circle around them, lighting the candles as I go.

“I call upon the sacred fire to light this space and all within it.” When all of the candles are lit, I pick up a bowl of salt that was placed near the north candle. I sprinkle it in a circle around them. “Spirits of Earth, I call you, strengthen this ground beneath us, and grant us your power.”

I pick up the smudge stick I’d made before they’d arrived and use one of the candles to light the end. “Through air and smoke, I banish all those presences who are unwelcome here tonight.” Then I address Ophelia. “Speak his name.”

She keeps her eyes closed, but whispers, “Isiah Abram.”

“Louder.”

“Isiah Abram,” she says again. “The Prophet.”

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