Page 111 of Love to Defy You
Mikhail grunts as I elbow him in the stomach, but he continues to hold me down as he tries to reason with Enzo. “You know he’s in exile! He can’t go back to Andarusia.”
Enzo clucks his tongue. “That does make things tricky, doesn’t it?” He spreads his arms wide as though he’s receiving a revelation from God, and his voice rises above the sounds of sin echoing in the chamber. “Now, make your choice, Aleksandr!”
I already know my answer. I’ve known it since Mikhail told me what the Trial of Sacrifice was, even if it didn’t turn out the way I expected. Tonight, I came here prepared to die for Willow.
I lift my head off the floor. “I accept your terms. But know this: Willow will never be yours. Even if I die in the process of saving her, she’ll never belong to you.”
“Goddammit!” Mikhail rips his mask off and shoves me aside. His hood falls back as he leaps to his feet, revealing his full face. “The council did not agree to this, Enzo!”
Enzo’s wicked grin melts away as he turns his attention to Mikhail. “I don’t answer to the council. The three judges answer to me.”
Mikhail gestures toward me on the floor. “This isn’t how the Trial of Sacrifice is supposed to go. You can’t just change the rituals on a whim!”
Enzo arches an eyebrow. “Are you questioning my authority?”
“Fucking hell!” Mikhail jabs a finger into Enzo’s chest. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.”
Enzo narrows his gaze. “You know, I’ve always wondered why you don’t partake in the Ritual of Sacrifice. Why don’t you fuck the pythias? Do you believe yourself above the rituals of our sacred order?”
Mikhail tips his chin toward the orgy of hooded figures writhing on the platform. “Look at them! This is disgusting. These women never asked for this.”
“None of us did, Mikhail. We were chosen, and then we chose our pythias to serveus. It’s the way things have worked for centuries.”
“And yet, here you are, changing the ritual to give Alek an unfair disadvantage.” Mikhail puffs up, towering over Enzo in height. “Then you leave me no choice. I’m calling for a vote of no confidence.”
Enzo snarls. “You can’t do that. I’m Hades, and you’re the insignificant Rhadamanthus.”
“Actually, I can. I just wish I hadn’t waited so long to do this.” Mikhail turns his back on Enzo and faces the crowd. “Everyone stop!”
Mikhail’s deep, booming voice rings out around the room, weighted with gravitas, and the hooded figures pause their vile fornication. Their masks turn toward him in unison.
“Rhadamanthus was the fairest of Hades’s three judges. He maintained law and order in the Underworld, and I must do the same,” Mikhail announces to the room. “As the sergeant at arms, I’m calling for the immediate removal of Enzo Messina as chapter president.”
Enzo’s expression twists with fury, and the meticulously crafted façade of steadfast power shatters. This is his true face.
“You can’t do this to me,” Enzo hisses.
Mikhail keeps his back turned to Enzo and ignores him. “All those in favor of his immediate removal as chapter president, raise your hand.”
“NO!” Enzo flies into a rage, and he lunges for the nearest weapon he can get his hands on. He rips one of the torches off the wall and charges at Mikhail.
“Watch out!” I shout, scrambling to my feet.
Mikhail turns just as the torch comes down on his face, and Mikhail lets out a howl of agony, the echo ricocheting around the chamber.
Chapter 21
Alek
The room erupts into chaos as men race forward, and many of their masks and hoods fall off in the scuffle. Some of them pounce onto Enzo to pull him off Mikhail, while a few others drag Mikhail away to safety.
The mystique of the Order of Apollo is crumbling, and I stare frozen at the chaos.
Women lie in various states of undress on the dais, some of them listless and crying while others are blacked out entirely. The latter are the lucky ones who won’t remember the horrors inflicted on them tonight.
Mikhail’s screams of agony rip me from my daze, and I rush toward him. He’s holding his face while the cloaked members surround him, and I push them aside to reach Mikhail.
I fall to my knees. “Mick, let me see.” He’s writhing in pain and won’t listen, so I grab his wrists and pull them away from his face. “Oh, shit.”
