Page 107 of Love to Defy You
ME
Just heard back from Alek. He says he’s fine. *thumbs-up emoji* I told him to call you.
Yes, this has Enzo Messina’s fuckery written all over it. “That son of a bitch.” I press the call button and put the phone on speaker, but it goes straight to voicemail. “Her phone is off.”
Something isn’t right. She wouldn’t turn her phone off if she hadn’t heard from me in over a week. If it’s Sunday night likeMikhail claims, then Willow should be back from Andarusia by now.
Mikhail sinks onto the edge of the bathtub. “Oh, shit. No. No, no.”
“What?” I hiss.
His throat bobs as he swallows. “I think this is your Trial of Envy, Alek.”
I clench my fist. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He gulps. “Last Sunday, he called me, and Willow was with him. I spoke to her on Enzo’s phone.”
I lunge across the bathroom and grab the collar of his shirt, then yank him to his feet. “And you’re just telling me thisnow?”
“Alek, calm down. Let me explain.” He pushes me off, though not without effort. “Listen, there’s no formal ritual for the Trial of Envy. It’s tailored to the individual and carried out at different times throughout the year. I think Enzo kept you locked up longer than the rest of the candidates to separate you from Willow.”
I clench my fists, and it takes every ounce of control not to throw a punch at his face. “Why are you acting so surprised by this? Aren’t you in on the Order’s plotting and scheming?”
He crosses his arms. “For you, the council agreed that Enzo would try to seduce your pythia and make you jealous. The only reason I agreed was because I knew she wouldn’t take the bait.”
“You knew?” I’m seconds away from punching his face in. “You knew he was actively trying to sleep with my fiancée?”
“You know why I couldn’t tell you.” He gives me a pointed look. “But once you became a full-fledged member of the brotherhood, the trial would end. That’s what the council agreed to.” His jaw ticks. “But... I think Enzo went rogue. This is going too far.”
“Really? You don’t fucking say!” I grab the soap dish off the counter and hurl it to the ground. It breaks with a loud shatter,but it doesn’t make me feel any better. “That doesn’t explain why Willow is still missing and unreachable!”
“I’m sure she’s fine.”
“You don’t know that!” I kick one of the fractured pieces of porcelain with as much force as I can muster and roar.
“Goddammit.” Mikhail blows out a long breath. “I can’t be telling you this.”
I shove him against the wall. “No more fucking secrets, Mikhail. If you have any idea where Willow could be, tell me now, or I swear to God, I’ll kill you.”
He closes his eyes and bangs the back of his head against the wall. “The final ritual is tomorrow night, and Willow has to be part of it. Enzo volunteered to bring her himself, and I’d bet money he’s with her now.”
His ominous tone makes my heart stutter to a halt. “The final ritual?”
He nods. “The Trial of Sacrifice.”
Bile rises in my throat, and I clamp a hand over my mouth.
“It’s the most fucked-up of the trials,” Mikhail continues. “Each candidate sacrifices their pythia to the brotherhood, and they, well...” He swallows. “They rape them in front of the candidates.”
All the air is sucked from the room.
Red. All I see is red.
“NO!” I slam my fist through the wall next to his head, and he flinches. “My fiancée will not be passed around between you and Enzo and god-knows-who like a fucking whore!”
“You don’t have a choice! None of us do.” He grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “You think you’re the only one who’s had to make sacrifices? Josie has never been the same since, and it’s all because of me!” He shoves me aside and resumes pacing the length of the bathroom. “I let her get passed around to save my own fucking skin, and I have to live with that guilt every day.”
I run my fingers through my hair and pull at the ends until my scalp bleeds. “What the fuck am I supposed to do? I can’t let that happen to her!”
