Page 18 of The White Rider
I really hoped when Aeron killed that guy, he would do it slow and make it hurt. He was talking about exchanging women like going to the store and upgrading your cellphone. I justcould notwith this dude.
Leif and Dice shoved us out of the van and ripped the pillowcase off my head. Five armed Bubbas were looking at us like a fresh cut of meat at the butcher shop. I knew these men were fighting to own women like property, but they weren’t exactly prizes themselves. One of them got right up in my face.
“This one is pretty. I feel like I should know her from somewhere. Was she famous before the Chinese turned everyone into Rage Heads?”
“She’s no one, but I have a thing for the tattooed ones. If you want this one, you’ll have to fight me,” Asher said.
The man practically humping my leg was at least seven inches shorter than Asher, and even I could kick his ass in a fistfight. And I probably would, too, if he didn’t stop staring at my tits like that.
“She sure is pretty, but I get why you are waiting to claim a Martha. She’s worth the wait. I’m not going to challenge you for her, but she looks like she’s a fighter. Her reeducation is probably going to take a while. Bring her in with the rest of them. The church is full of bitches who just can’t get on board with the new world order, but they’ll break eventually, just like the rest of them. It’s only a matter of time.”
“I’m bored, and I want this one in my bed,” Asher growled, yanking me forward. “Let me get them inside.”
“I’ve got mine picked out, too,” Aeron said. “It will be my first Martha. You all have one. I want to stay out here and get tips on how to keep mine docile. I don’t trust these bitches.”
Iknewthat wasn’t Aeron, but I really wanted to smack him in the head. Asher grabbed me and yanked me towards the cathedral. I couldn’t even appreciate how beautiful it was. A woman came out and met us on the front steps. I met Daria’s eyes, and she confirmed it—I was looking at The Witch.
Finding the right color foundation was hard, even before the apocalypse. I had stopped wearing makeup after it happened, though I would have killed for some lip balm in that moment. The Witch had gone full out with her makeup, and it was garish. She had to be out of foundation that matched her skin tone, and women weren’t allowedon raids.
She was wearing makeup the Bubbas had found, and it showed. She was pale, with blonde hair, but her foundation was this nasty shade of orange. I didn’t think they even made that color anymore. No one on the planet was that shade. She had clearly been dyeing her hair with something that made it brittle.
Yeah, I was being a petty bitch about her appearance, but she also tortured women, so I didn’t care.
“Well, well, well, what do you have for me today, boys?” she said.
She lookedgleefulat thought that they had kidnapped us for her. What a sociopath. She was looking forward to breaking us. Yeah, I had no problem with what was about to happen.
“Just a couple of bitches,” Dice said.
“Bring them in. We’ll make them into proper women.”
The casual misogyny flying around was revolting, but I knew the people on my team were faking it. Leif dragged me forward, and the Witch stopped in front of Daria.
“I recognize this one. Welcome back, Martha.”
I wanted to clap when Daria spat in her face. The Witch just wiped it off and smirked at her.
“You’ll break, or you’ll die. The man who had his eye on you will get fed up with waiting, and we’ll bury you in the back.”
This bitch right here. I got that we were having a trial, but my hand was itching to snatch Smurfette from Leif and smack her in the face. Leif yanked me forward. I could tell he didn’t enjoy listening to this either. He just wanted to get inside so we could deal with the situation instead of listening to this horse shit a minute longer.
“Let’s get them in so their training can start,” Leif grunted. “I wouldn’t mind picking from this bunch either.”
We finally stepped into the church. We'd talked about this. Aeron needed time to make his move, so we weren’t going to jump as soon as the front door was closed. We waited until they led us further back to the rest of the Marthas who were torturing people.
All the seating in the church's main hall had been shoved up against the walls or arranged in a big circle for the Marthas to sit in. They had dismantled some of the pews into Saint Andrew’s crosses. These bitches were probably not into kink at all. They probably had sex with the lights off and a long-sleeved nightgown on, so they didn’t even know what a Saint Andrews cross was used for in the bedroom. They definitely weren’t using them for fun reasons.
They had five women strapped to wooden crosses, and another five chained to the wall. They were beaten and bloody. I was furious. One looked up from blackened eyes and saw Pepper, Daria, and their group. I saw her shake her head like she couldn’t believe they had been captured, and she started crying. She must have been the one who sacrificed herself so Daria could be free.
“I told you not to come back for me!” she cried.
Daria grinned.
“I brought friends.”
All hell broke loose. Daria flung off her ropes and let out this cry like Xenia, Warrior Princess. She flung herself at the Witch, and they both went toppling to the floor. Well, shit. I guess we were doing this.
One woman ran straight to Dice and Leif, shrieking her head off.
