Page 66 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“What is the point of all this?” I demand. “Removing women to this other location, taking their children. What was the point?”

“To cure them, of course,” he says as if it’s obvious.

“Of what?”

“Sin,” he replies.

Again, the irony, the hypocrisy of his statement seems completely lost on him. He’s as brain-washed as the people that follow him. A cult through and through.

“And what aboutyoursins?” I press. “How will you atone for them?”

“The powers that be are my judges. They will reward or punish me as they see fit. Men like you…”

I laugh. “What about ‘men like me,’ Father Josiah?”

“Men like you wouldn’t understand,” he finishes. “Men like you don’t see the true purpose of our existence.”

“Which is what, exactly?”

“To reform the world in their image.”

I shudder. If he thinks Viktor Ozol is reforming the world in God’s image, he’d better think again.

“I won’t kill you, Josiah,” I tell him softly. “But I’m not setting you free either. You reap what you sow.”

“I’ve answered all your questions,” he says desperately. “I’ve done everything you asked of me!”

“You did. But you haven’t atoned for your sins. This cell is going to be your home from now on. Death is coming for you, Josiah. You want out? Pray to your gods for a miracle.”

I slam the door shut on him and head back upstairs. I wonder what I’ll find up there. I gave Elyssa the choice of leaving. What if she’s already gone? What if she took the answers I need with her, locked away in her blacked-out memory?

Elyssa knows. She was there…

What the fuck does that mean?

I’m about to find out.

* * *

I left her down by my grandfather’s ruined empire more than half an hour ago. She could be anywhere by now.

But it doesn’t take me long at all to find her near where we parted.

The moon is out from behind the clouds now, illuminating her hair into threads of gold. My heart throbs painfully at the sight. Within minutes, we come face to face. Her expression is soft with thought, but she smiles when she sees me.

“I’m not going anywhere, Phoenix,” she says fiercely before I can speak. “This is where I want to be. I know the risks and I choose to stay anyway. I choose you.”

I stare at her.

Her expression falters. Clearly, this is not the reaction she’s expecting. “Phoenix?” She reaches out and takes my hand.

My arm twitches and I’m suspended—as always—between wanting to pull her towards me and wanting to push her away.

“I’m going to ask you one more time, Elyssa,” I say softly. “What aren’t you telling me?”

15

Elyssa

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