PROLOGUE
Valencia
9 months ago . . .
A door slams, and I tighten the hold I have on myself.
Nothing has gone as planned, and I’m a damn fool for thinking it would.
When you’re the daughter of a cartel boss, you don’t have much of a say. I’m going to law school to be a criminal defense lawyer because that’s what my father said I needed to do. I’m dating Tarquin, who is part of the cartel, because that’s who my father approved of. Yet, I’m still second best to my half-sister, Narcisa.
I’m in this situation because of Tarquin. He wanted to gain credit, and what better way to do that than rescuing the daughter of his boss.
His plan was to put a tracker in me and hand me over to a cult. He would come rescue me, and my father would see him in an entirely different light.
I didn’t want to do it. It was another terrible idea of his, but he drugged me, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up surrounded by men in robes.
I immediately panicked and told them I had a tracker in me, believing they would set me free. How wrong I was.
They removed the tracker, and each day has been worse than the last.
I’ve been beaten and left only small scraps of food. Just enough to keep me alive.
Each day I wonder if it will be my last, and each day I hope Tarquin is suffering in a worse way than I am.
“Today is the day, you filthy jezebel. You’ll be washed of your sins,” he says, pulling my hair back to force my eyes to his.
He gives a manic laugh as he looks over my beaten and bruised body. I’m a religious woman, and washing my sins away would be a miracle, but I don’t think that’s his plan. He’s not a man that could walk into church without it going up in flames. He’s evil, and no matter how much I pray for help, I believe evil is going to win this one.
The door slams again, and I flinch, causing the man to laugh.
“We have visitors. They are interested in joining us,” another robed man says.
The leader grins down at me, nodding his head. “Perfect. They can witness what happens to sinners.”
He lets go of my hair, causing my head to smack down on the concrete floor. I hold in my cry as they walk out the door, allowing it once again to slam behind them.
I quickly stand up and frantically look around for a way out. Tears are rolling down my face as I once again realize I am trapped. There is no way out.
I’ve never been more terrified in my life, and coming from me, that seems almost impossible. “Dios ayudame,” I whisper, asking God to help me.
I close my eyes and sink back down to the cold, concrete floor and continue to pray for help.
It doesn’t last long as the door is once again slammed open. My eyes snap open, and the man in his black robe walks over, grabbing tightly to my arm and yanking me off the floor.
“It’s time,” he says, trying to pull me toward the door.
“No, stop,” I shout, pulling away from him.
He smiles and digs his fingers in harder as he drags me through the door. I continue to fight against him. I don’t have much fight left in me, but I am trying my hardest to save myself because there’s no one else I can trust. That’s been proven over and over throughout my life.
The room is huge and packed with cultists who are now all staring at me as I struggle against their leader.
He leads me into a pool, and the cold water has me shivering, or maybe it’s the idea that I know I’m about to die.
“My subjects, the time has come to cleanse this world of yet another sinner. This is Valencia. When I found her, she was trying to push herself on one of my acolytes. She’s a sinner, a harlot, and refuses to accept the word,” he says, causing the crowd to erupt.
They are shouting different things, but all basically calling me a slut who must pay for my sins.
