I eye the side windows next to the door and point for Noah to wait out of sight beside them. He gets in position and gives me a sharp nod, his gun hand inside his coat. After glancing around and seeing no neighbors or cars, I knock.
Shuffling sounds, and then the door opens a crack.
I immediately throw my weight against it, knocking Davis onto his ass at the foot of a staircase. Noah and I rush in and slam the door behind us. Davis yells and scrambles to sit up.
“He’s reaching!” Noah shouts as I dive onto the asshole and wrestle his arms out to his sides. He’s got a sleek black pistol in his right hand. I slam his wrist onto the wood floor twice, and the second vicious impact sends the piece skittering away.
“Stop!” He struggles.
I cock my fist back. Maybe I won’t need to use my gun after all.
Then he says something that freezes my fist and my blood.
“Stop, FBI!”
Chapter 21
Delilah
Abigail pats the enema table and waves me over. “Glad to see you back in training.”
That makes one of us. I climb up and assume the position as Mary, the most devout Maiden, takes the table next to me.
Abigail futzes about with the water while the other Maidens form a ring around the teaching Spinner.
“Today, we’re going to address the subject of strap-ons,” she announces, her face reddening.
I let my head hang between my shoulders, ready to block out whatever the Spinner says next.
“Delilah.” Mary leans toward me.
“Yeah?” I turn my head in her direction.
“What was the Rectory like?”
“Why? You intend to go there?”
Abigail spreads my cheeks, and I clench my teeth.
“No, of course not.” She frowns. “I just wanted to know, is all.”
“Curiosity will get you sent there, so I’d mind my business if I were you.” I suppose she thinks I’ve forgotten about how she prevented Sharon’s short-lived bid for escape. Not a chance. I look for the strawberry blonde in the crowd. She’s along the back row, her head down, her hands clasped in front of her, her ribs protruding. Sharon’s time in the Rectory ended before mine, but the results are the same.
“I just wanted to—”
Abigail smacks her ass, and Mary yelps. “No talking on my watch. No ma’am.”
I take a little satisfaction in Abigail’s uncharacteristically rough treatment of Mary. Maybe she remembers Sharon’s escape attempt, too. I can’t be entirely sure about Abigail. Is she devoted to the Prophet? I have no doubt of it. Does she like the way the Cloister operates? I think she has misgivings, at the very least.
She could be useful, but I’ve never gotten her to open up more than the day when Grace broke my finger. I still wonder what she meant by Grace visiting someone at night. Who?
When she pats my lower back and says “release,” I let go of the warm water, and she cleans me up, then shoos me over to the training session. Eve is on all fours, her eyes clenched shut, and Susannah is on her knees behind her, a purple dildo strapped to her with black leather.
“Do not penetrate her maidenhood,” the Spinner warns, then guides Susannah forward until the shiny purple tip presses against Eve’s asshole. “This is a skill that plenty of men will appreciate. Many like to give and receive, and with a strap-on device, you can bring him ultimate pleasure. Of course, the female anatomy is different, and lacks the prostate, which is what you will be aiming for whenever you perform this act.” She walks over and grabs a small bottle of lube from the implements wall, then hands it to Susannah. “You’ll need to lubricate every time.”
She spreads the lube and follows the Spinner’s instructions, pushing halfway inside as Eve’s tears plop onto the mat beneath her. I wish I could help her, could make this needless torture end. But I can’t. Not yet.
And the worst part is—the humiliation doesn’t even faze me anymore.
After a lunch where I spend far too much time staring at Sarah’s empty seat, Grace pulls me from class and orders me to dress in the same high-necked gown from my last visit to the Prophet’s house. My stomach is queasy, my food turning to acid as I follow her out the back door and onto the same golf cart that takes us up to the house. We walk into the warm basement, and I already hate the familiar scent of the house.
“If you pull another stunt like you did last time, it won’t matter what your suitor wants, I will punish you.” Grace grabs my chin and yanks my face to hers as the back door closes. “Are we clear?”
“Clear.”
“Good.” She releases me and leads me up to the main floor and back to the same sitting room as before.