The Maiden (The Cloister Trilogy 1)

“Blessed are my Maidens, the chosen of God.” He raises his glass. Though his back is to me, I’m certain a smug grin rests on his lips. Asshole.

He nods toward the door, and Gray rises and opens it, allowing the Spinners back inside. Grace keeps her gaze on the floor, her earlier chastisement likely still ringing in her ears.

“Refill the plates of my chosen ones.” My father stands, surveying the feast of flesh on the floor before him. Some Maidens sleep, others laugh, still others trail their fingers through their hair and along the skin of their sisters. The drugs make everything new, sending a coursing current of electricity through their collective consciousness.

My gaze returns to Delilah. One of the girls is braiding her long white hair. Now she’s a wood nymph, completely at ease. Open, even.

The Spinners bustle back out and return with fresh platters of food. But by this time, the Maidens are too deep in the high to notice.

“Are we done?” Noah stage whispers. “I’ve got a couple of girls from the Chapel coming over.”

I sigh. “Not until he says we’re done. You know that.” Besides, I won’t leave until I know Delilah is safely away from my father.

“We don’t even get to do anything.” He points to his Maiden, still chasing butterflies, her nude body on full display. “I can’t touch that, so why am I here?”

“To serve God.” My father’s voice cuts through the hum of giggles, and his gaze settles on Noah. “And to please me. Do you have a problem with that?”

Noah straightens and clasps his hands behind his back. “No, sir.”

“Good.” My father shoots me a scornful look, as if I were the one who’d questioned him, then rises. “My good and faithful Maidens, our evening is at an end. You may return to the Cloister. Go with love and the knowledge that you are the very jewels upon the Lord’s heavenly crown.”

More giggles, and then the Spinners march in with the girls’ dresses.

I stand, my knees groaning from all the time spent on the wood floor. The Protectors stand at attention as the Maidens are dressed and herded from the room. The Spinners treat them gently under my father’s watchful eye, though I suspect the gloves will come off as soon as they arrive back at the Cloister.

Once the doors close, my father whirls on Noah. “If you have a problem with our rituals—”

“I don’t.” Noah flinches. Interrupting is one of the worst sins you can commit against the Prophet.

My father strides over, his jaw tight—and not just from his last procedure. “Return to your home. Pray to the Lord to grant you forgiveness for your errant ways.”

Noah nods, relief pushing from him like a wave over dry sand. “Yes, sir.”

My father smirks, cruelty in every line of his face. “Do you still have that lizard Adam gave you what, ten years ago on your birthday—the birthday I told you we no longer celebrate but Adam disobeyed me?”

My hands clench into fists behind me. I remember the lashing for that. In fact, I remember every one I’ve ever gotten. It was nine years ago, on Noah’s sixteenth birthday. Dad had outlawed birthdays for his faithful, demanding that we spend that day in contemplation of the Prophet’s ultimate divinity.

But Noah was only going to turn sixteen once. I took a chance, and I paid for it. Noah was allowed to keep the lizard, Gregory, but only after my back had been lashed so badly I had to be sent to the hospital.

“Yes, I still have him.” Noah’s words drip with apprehension.

“And didn’t you have a kitten or a puppy or something, too?”

“No.” Noah is smart enough to lie about his cat Felix.

“The lizard will have to do. Sacrifice it to the Father of Fire. Show him your repentance.”

Noah wilts at my side, though he keeps his face stoic. “Yes, sir.”

“You know the rules, Noah. Make sure you burn him alive. Then bring the ash and bone to the house. I’ll inspect them before bed.”

“Yes, sir.”

He cuts his gaze to me. “Eyes on the floor, Adam. Or do you need to relearn the lesson of deference?”

“No, sir.” I train my gaze on the curve of the pentagram beneath my feet while lava bubbles in my veins. Noah may be twisted and ruined, but somehow, a part of him survived. From the moment I gifted him that bearded dragon, he took care of it. Fed it, nurtured it, even took it out and carried it around on his shoulder. When he found Felix wandering around the compound, he took him in and did the same.

Noah falls in line with my father, and he’s done plenty of things that would make normal people shiver, but he still has a stripe of humanity emblazoned across his heart. My father is determined to stamp it out. Maybe it’s best if he does.