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“Oh, so it doesn’t matter what I want?”

“No,” he ground out. “I am going to take you whether you want me to or not. I have waited patiently. I have not touched you.But you aremine, sister.”

I shook my head to try to clear the memories, but they stayed stubbornly with me, Rhyder’s set jaw as he strode angrily into the woods to hunt after our fight. Whenever he was angry, he always went deep into the forest, brought home twice as many kills.

Rhyder had always gotten what he wanted. Because of his zeal and devotion, he was highly-favored by the Prophet.

I knew he would make me his wife. And I did not want that.

I could not breathe under the suffocating power of his love.

So my first emotion when I saw the militia from the city was a strange relief.

It was the only thing that could have saved me from Rhyder.

I wasn’t prepared for the cities, though. For life without my brother’s protection.

But it had been six years. Maybe he was married by now.

I heard the door to the coffee shop open.

The air inside the coffee shop immediately changed, and I tasted terror and metal on my tongue.

It would’ve been smarter to stay completely hidden, but I had to know.

My fingers convulsively clutching the cabinet, I peeked around the corner.

But it wasn’t Rhyder, just two other men, one big and one small. They were walking leisurely around the coffee shop, examining all the women there.

I recognized the big one. It was the Enforcer himself, a heavy thickset man in his late 30s named Eli who had been the Enforcer when I was still in the Congregation.

He was a cruel, unforgiving man with a greasy face and thinning dark hair who drove any sin hard before him, and he stalked impatiently around the coffee shop. If a woman caught his interest, he yanked her head up, looking her over with a contemptuous eye. Then he’d lift up her shirt, pinch the underside of her breasts, then rip her pants or skirt down and turn her over harshly to spread her cheeks, shove fingers in her asshole and cunt to see if they pleased him.

My heart clutched with fear as one woman got flipped over the table, her laptop smashing into the ground, her pants ripped harshly off her body. Eli took both of her plump cheeks in his hands, shoving two fingers into her asshole and making her face twist in pain.

Then he spat in her direction and turned his back.

“No whores with loose assholes. We can’t allow sickness or disease into the camp.”

Each woman he shoved aside impatiently.

“Let’s keep going,” the other man said.

I was shaking so hard that I had to dig my hands into the smooth steel of the cabinet to keep my jaw from clattering.

Please just go

I didn’t believe in the Allfather anymore, but I couldn’t help desperately wishing

Anyone out there, please please help me

Instead, my trembling hands knocked into one of the low-hanging mugs.

To my agonized eyes, it seemed to hang in the air for long seconds before dropping heavily to the ground and shattering.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit

Eli’s head instantly jerked around, his eyes narrowing at me.