Page 75 of Spark of Madness

Theo nods, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Yes. It means I’ll be responsible for you during your trial—binding you, suspending you, adjusting the ropes to ensure your safety. I need to learn from Arlo. I don’t want to hurt you, Delle. That’s why we need to practice this. It’s why I’m here, to learn.”

“Okay,” Mercy says, “then prepare us.” She looks squarely at Theo. “But please remember that Delle is achild. I don’t care what the Edict says about her age and her ability to serve, you will mind her with care in this preparation. Do you understand me?”

“I understand that you’re a sinner, Mercy, and your words hold no meaning here. What you need to understand is that I have no intention of harming Delle. I don’t have to be here; I don’t have to learn how to bind her safely. I don’t have to do any of this. So, if you think for a second that my intentions with her are malicious, then you’rewrong.I volunteered to help her.”

“I don’t trust anyone’s intentions, Theo,” Mercy replies quietly, “not even yours.”

“You don’t have to trust me,” he replies, “but maybe you should trust her to speak for herself.”

Mercy looks at Delle over her shoulder, who meets her eyes and gives her a small smile and a grateful nod. “It’s okay, Mercy. I chose this, remember? And I want to try. I know you think it’s hopeless, but I want to try to pass these trials. I need you to let me do that.”

I can feel the conflict within Mercy pulsing from her soul. She wants to protect Delle, but I think even she knows that she can’t—not really. She bobs her head in understanding and side-steps away, letting Delle step forward beside her.

“All right then,” Mercy says. “Let’s prepare.”

chapter twenty-four

Mercy

IN AN UNEXPECTEDact of kindness, Arlo lays a soft blanket on the floor for each of us. I watch as he spreads them out and backs away, curious for all the unknown thoughts in his confusing mind.

Every time I think I have him figured out, he changes my mind. Sometimes—most of the time—I hate him. He’s my warden, the man who judges me as a sinner, the same as the rest of Ember Glen. He’s the man who cut my treasured hair as punishment for stirring lust within him. He’s a man who will never understand me.

But other times I look at him and my heart skips a beat, my stomach clenches in shameful attraction, and my fingers twitch with the ache to sink into his hair. He confuses me, and though it’s frightening, it’s also exciting.

“Kneel,” he says, turning away to grab rope from the rock floor, untangling a stretch of it and handing it to Theo.

Delle complies, moving to the center of the square blanket laid out in front of her and lowers to her knees. Her compliance is a learned behavior. Regardless of the fact that she ran from her duty on her first night in service, the same as me, her entire life leading up to that moment had taught her to obey—submission is what we were trained for.

A memory sweeps through me, capturing me in a trauma I’d rather tuck back into the dark corner in my mind. Interacting with Delle has brought me so many recollections of my teenage years. Here in the darkness of this cave, the recollections come so vividly, taking me back to one of my worst memories when I was only fourteen years old.

The Control entered our classroom unexpectedly that day and stood before our rows of desks at the front of the room in a menacing line. I remember them standing with such authority, dressed in tailored clothes that matched the sharp, pressed lines of their expressions perfectly.

Back then, the seven men who made up the Control were older. Arlo and his cohorts only came into authority two years ago, when they were twenty-five. When I was fourteen, the men comprising the Control were forty-six, nearing the end of their reign. Their age and experience only served to make them more intimidating.

When the Control stood before our class, one of our three teachers announced that they had come to assess our progress. I was surly as I leaned back, slouching in my chair, arms folded across my chest with an angry stare.

I didn’t want to be assessed. We’d been learning about the male anatomy and the tenants of oral pleasure over the last several days, and I was disgusted by it, indignant that I should ever have to put my mouth on that part of a man. I couldn’t comprehend why they would want such a thing if they could use my cunt just as easily.

One of the Control, whose name I can’t remember, stepped forward. He was a forty-six-year-old man with silver strands streaking his thick black hair. He asked who would be willing to demonstrate their learning by serving him.

I’d scoffed, but every girl in the room shot their hands up high and fast into the air. They were eager to serve, eager to please, eager to serve God in their duty before their time in service even began.

Slowly, I’d lifted my palm and held it just in front of me. I didn’t want to raise my hand at all, but I knew if I didn’t, my teachers would scold me and beat me. My bottom was still red, welted, and sore from the last beating I’d taken for my attitude.

I’d turned my gaze away from the Control, disturbed by their wandering eyes and darkened gazes as they looked at my sisters. My stomach had turned in sick knots, and I’d prayed I wouldn’t be called upon that day.

Relief came when another name was called.

Relief fled when I realized who it was.

They’d called Cambria.

I dropped my arms and straightened in my chair while nerves prickled anxiety through my veins. I hadn’t been surprised she was chosen because Cambria was the most eager. She’d practically been bouncing in her seat with her hunger to serve as her arm stretched high in the air, her fingers wiggling in excitement. She was so excited about her role in life and that she would be an honored servant of Ember Glen.

She’d found pride that she was chosen to become a servant and was eager to please God in her service.

I remember her walking to the front of the room and the way the man watched her with thirst in his dark eyes. He’d commanded her to kneel, and her excitement had been palpable as she lowered to her knees. It was the same level of excitement that had rippled through the classroom and the girls who watched with wonder and whispers and innocent giggles.

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