Chapter 1
ELLIE
MONTHS EARLIER
Ireally fucking hate waking up in an unfamiliar room.
Dappled sunlight streaks through the barred window, creating an assortment of lines across the carpeted floor.
My first thought is—I’m in another hotel room. The same hotel but a different room.
Which means I’m still with my Uncle Raymond and my guys.
My…guys.
My guys.
Landon.
Awareness returns to me in a rush of prickling heat that invades my body. I bolt upright in bed, my heart pounding against my breastbone and tremors reverberating through me as I attempt to orient myself. Fragmented memories barrage me like flashes of lightning.
Flash.
The masked man.
Flash.
Landon.
Flash.
The knife.
Flash.
Landon.
Flash.
Blood.
Flash.
Landon.
Landon.
Landon.
A startled, pained cry escapes me, and I move before I can even form another coherent thought. When I last saw him, he was cold. Too cold. And there was so much blood…
Blood that still clings to me, and I don’t mean that figuratively. I can feel it on my skin. My hair. My clothes. The red splotches momentarily distract me, though not enough to tug me from my downward spiral. If anything, it only exacerbates it.
Is this Landon’s blood?
Or does it belong to the man I murdered?
I have a vague recollection of stabbing, stabbing, stabbing—my mind blank, red descending across my vision. I wasn’t thinking then, and I’m certainly not thinking now.
The old Ellie might’ve fixated on the blood. Might’ve begun to lose herself to the seductive call of madness, depression. She might’ve dropped to her knees and cried, unable to peel her eyes away from the blood saturating every bare inch of skin on her body.
But that one died a long time ago.
I can’t put my finger on when. It could’ve been when I discovered my mother was The Divine One and that she’s been running an underground trafficking ring and cult for years now.
It could’ve been before that, when I was first kidnapped by my uncle.
Or maybe it was when Ryker was threatened by the Paragons of Prosperity and had to fake his death.
Maybe it was when I found out my older brother was a member of the cult as well and was training to take over for our sadistic bio mom.
Either way, that Ellie is dead and buried, having long since decayed, nothing but brittle bones remaining.
This new Ellie has risen from the ashes of her old self with one purpose and one purpose alone—protecting her guys.
My guys.
Mania.
And that means getting the fuck out of this room and finding Landon.
Is he okay?
What happened?
Is he…?
No, he’s not dead. I refuse to even consider that as a possibility.
I would know if he was, would feel it the way one notices a splinter in their finger despite not being able to see it.
But, god, just the thought of him being dead has unencumbered pain fracturing my mind, turning it into nothing but finite motes of dust.
I move with purpose toward the door to the room, knowing it’ll be locked but not giving a damn either way. I’ll break it open with my own two hands if I have to. I’ll—
The door swings open on silent hinges, revealing the face of my uncle.
I get hit with the strangest sense of déjà vu, like I’ve done this before. Been here before.
Because I have.
The first time we met, it went almost exactly like this.
Only…it won’t end the same. I won’t be cowed by the man who claims to be my uncle. Not anymore. Not ever again.
Raymond’s right-hand man, Teak, stands behind my uncle, his chin notched imperiously in the air and his hands folded behind his back.
I bare my teeth at both of them.
“What the fuck is going on? Where’s Landon? Why the hell did he”—I jab an accusatory finger in Teak’s direction, raw, unfettered rage pulsating through me like a heartbeat—“knock me unconscious?”
“You were hysterical,” Raymond says, his tone uncharacteristically formal and his eyes sharp as steel.
Perhaps that’s true, but it gives them no right to drug me and bring me here.
Where are the other guys?
Where’s Landon?
A red mist creeps across my vision in tandem with my mounting rage and pounding heart.
“Where. Is. Landon?” I demand, my tone steady despite the fire burning white-hot and blistering in my chest.
“He’s in the hospital, undergoing emergency surgery,” Raymond says in that way-too-calm voice, considering the circumstances.
My pulse misfires. “Surgery?”
“Don’t worry. I used my contacts to make sure there are no records of him at the hospital.” Raymond’s expression softens minutely, as does his voice. “He’ll be fine.”
“I want to see him.” I curl my hands into fists, my nails biting into my palms.
A frown tugs at Raymond’s lips. “I’m afraid we can’t let you leave here.”
“Why the hell not?” Venom laces each word.
“Because.” Raymond takes a single step into the room, glancing over his shoulder at Teak. “Can you excuse us for a few minutes?”
Teak appears unsure, his gaze flicking toward me and then his boss, before he nods once and steps farther down the hallway. Raymond closes the door with a soft snick and leans against it, his arms folded over his chest.
It’s strange to look directly at him, mainly because the resemblance between him and my father is uncanny.
My father…
Who was once a member of the Paragons of Prosperity—a secret society disguised as a cult that uses humans for their own demented amusement. Their victims are sold, tortured, raped, and eventually killed.
And my parents are—were—a part of this.
According to Raymond, my parents were in a relationship with a woman named Aria, who gave birth to first Fischer and then me.
When they discovered how deep Aria’s ties ran with the organization, they gave her an ultimatum—us or them.
She chose them. Everything was fine for a while, until Aria demanded visitation with me and Fischer.
My parents decided to run, but on their way home from securing supplies, their car was rammed off the road and they were both killed instantly.
I’d always believed it was an accident, only to discover the truth years later from Raymond.
It’s been Aria this entire time.
Pulling the strings, making us all her helpless puppets, forcing us to dance.
“I’m going to see Landon,” I tell Raymond, not giving him a choice in the matter. First, I need to get the hell out of this room and reconvene with my other guys. Then we can get to Landon.
Landon…
Images of his ashen face play on a loop in my head, and I feel physically sick, my stomach muscles clenching.
I need to be with him. Hold his hand. Tell him I love him.
Fuck, he needs to be okay. He needs to.
“Ellie,” Raymond growls out, venturing a single step closer. He raises his hands, palms out, like he’s a dangerous criminal approaching a trigger-happy cop. “You need to listen.” He stops directly in front of me, harsh lines etched across his haggard face. “You’ve been sold.”
I hear him, I do, but his words don’t register. I can’t think of anything but Landon.
So much blood…
And he was so still…
So pale…
Cold…
“Ellie. Dammit! Are you listening to me?” Raymond grabs my shoulders, his grip uncharacteristically tight, and gives them a punishing shake.
I glare at him, a tiny bit of anger slipping through and eclipsing the numbness.
“Drop your hands, or I’ll cut them off,” I warn. I don’t know where the threat comes from. That’s not me. It’s never been me. Yet…
Maybe this is who I am now.
Surprise flickers on Raymond’s face, chased quickly away by his usual stoicism. “Ellie, you’ve been sold.”
“Sold,” I parrot numbly, that one word penetrating my defenses.
Sold.
Sold.
Sold.
“I don’t know what the fuck The Divine One’s end goal is, but your information was just posted on the app. And someone bought you.” Raymond’s earnest eyes—a bland shade of bluish-gray—ensnare my own. “Do you understand? Someone fucking bought you!”
Someone…bought me?
Shock thunders through me as I gape up at my uncle, trying to process his words and the implications behind them. The ramblings of the masked man play on a loop in my head. Those vile, awful things he was spewing…
Why? Why would my so-called mother do this?
I’m assuming she’s the one behind this. I can’t think of anyone else who would have a motive.
Besides, as The Divine One, she’s aware of everything that goes on within the Paragons of Prosperity.
I was only sold because she allowed it to happen in the first place.
But it all comes back to…why? To stop me? To stop Mania? Or is this a way for her to tighten the leash on my brother, to get him to do her bidding? And who bought me? For what purpose? I actually don’t want to think about the answer to that last question. I have a feeling I know the purpose.
My stomach clenches violently as nausea rises.
Holy fuck.
My legs threaten to crumble. Only steely determination keeps them—and me—upright.
“Do…do we know who?” I manage to gasp out, my thoughts churning a mile a minute. Do my guys know about this yet? If they do, then they’re probably losing their minds, especially with Landon hurt.
“Your…Beckett is looking into it,” Raymond tells me, his lips twisting slightly, as if he was about to say something else but decided against it.
“He’s hoping to track the IP address back to the computer that made the purchase, but it’s proving more difficult than he expected.
Everything is so goddamn encrypted, it’s like wading through a minefield.
He’s afraid of setting off an alarm and alerting others to our location. ”
Another wave of insidious anger rushes over me, prickling my skin. “Couldn’t you just ask your contacts in the FBI for help?”
Raymond heaves out a breath at my accusatory tone. “Now, Ellie…”
“You lied to me,” I say, trembling.
“I never lied,” he counters immediately, like a goddamn toddler. “I just…omitted some things when I talked to you.”
“How can you expect me to trust you with anything if you keep shit from me?” I demand, and then I force myself to calm down. Now isn’t the time to get into an argument or demand answers. Later. I’ll do that later. “Take me to Landon.”
“I told you. He’s fine. He’s at a secure facility—”
I’m moving before my brain can catch up with my body, before a single thought can solidify in my head.
I lunge for the gun in the holster at Raymond’s waist, the way my personal trainer taught me to do, then twist around my uncle. With steady hands, I flick the safety off and aim the gun at his head.
I feel…nothing. No guilt. No pain. No regret. Perhaps those emotions will come later—much later—but for now, they’re securely locked away. I’m the eye of the storm, with wind battering around me and lightning sparking in the sky, but the rain doesn’t touch me. It can’t. Not here.
Shock registers on Raymond’s face, followed quickly by disbelief. “Ellie.” He stares at me like he’s never seen me before, like I’ve been body snatched by aliens in the five minutes we’ve been talking.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Raymond,” I tell him darkly, not even recognizing my voice. “But I will if you don’t bring me to my guys.”
Sadness flashes in his eyes, and his lips firm. “What happened to you?”
The answer comes to me quickly. Easily.
“POP,” I say. “POP happened to me. Now, don’t make me ask again.”