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My brain sends the message, but my eyes won’t open.

Open your eyes.

I follow the command, but I’m too tired. I just want to sleep—longer—deeper. I try to curl into myself, snuggle against the soft sheets, but nothing gives.

Open your eyes, Imogene.

Struggling, I get my eyes open into small slits. Warm light makes flickering shadows against the walls. My eyelids drop shut, as if they’re pulled down by weights, but I’m more awake now.

“Where am I?”

I open my eyes again, taking in the room. I’m no longer in the solarium. This place is small. The ceiling is low. I crane my neck, spotting a portrait over the bed. The light shimmers off the ornate, gold frame. Slowly my brain starts to work, the image coming into focus. Anex sitting in his lecture chair.

Suddenly, I know exactly where I am: Beatrice House. This is where I took my oath for the women’s group. I’m in Anex’s former bedroom that he shared with his wife—Rex’s mother.

Fear jolts up my spine, igniting my body to move. I jerk up. Or try. Nothing moves but my neck. I know instinctively it’s not from sleep or drowsiness. From the sharp digging in my wrist and ankles, I know I’ve been bound.

“Careful.” The voice comes from beside me. A hand brushes the hair off my forehead. Anex comes into view. “You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

“What is this?” I ask, voice gravely.

“This is for your own protection,” he says. His hand is still on my face, thumb grazing my cheek. “You’re a danger to yourself, Imogene. Physically and spiritually.”

“So you tied me up? You…” I try to think back. I was sitting around the fire. Ranting about fucking men. My teacup shattering and the bitter taste on my tongue. “You drugged me.”

“There was little chance you wouldn’t act out at the preparation ceremony, but it was important for the other women to believe you’d been Reeducated. The plan, all along, was to slip you a sedative in your tea, to keep you from any outbursts. Unfortunately, it must not have been enough because the reaction was delayed.”

My head swims. From the drugs and the deep sleep. From the horror of my life.

He sighs, fingers trailing down my neck. “I hated doing it, but it’s the only way. The regression streak is so strong in you. Every attempt has made it worse. Corrections. Training. Reeducation… defiance runs deep in your soul.”

“Then let me go. I’ll never come back.” I swallow as his fingers inch lower, down to the plane of my chest. “I promise.”

He smiles sympathetically. “I wish I could, but The Way won’t allow it. I’ve been led to you. Originally, I thought you were for Rex, but I realized quickly that I’d made a terrible mistake by allowing those boys to take your virtue. It should have been mine.”

Tears spring to my eyes. Anger and fear. Hatred for this monster standing over me.

“Anex—” His fingers push at the collar of my robe, spreading it apart, exposing my skin to the cool air of the room. “Please don’t…”

“Your Preparation is almost complete. There’s just one more layer of purification we must complete.” I wince as his hands ghost over my breasts, barely touching. It’s almost worse than if he’d touched me. “Once this process is over, you’ll be ready for the ceremony, and ready to be mine.Forever.”

My body turns rigid as he unties the knot of my robe, arms and legs paralyzed. My stomach rolls as he touches the brand on my lower hip.

“You look perfect wearing my mark.” His fingers drag downward, and I push through the fear, clamping my thighs together. “Don’t be afraid. All of this is part of a larger plan.”

He makes a gesture, and it’s then I realize we’re not alone. Two figures move from the shadowy corners of the room. They’re cloaked, hoods pulled low over their heads. The same cloaks we wear at our women’s group. These are two of mysisters. I look to the one on my right.

“Don’t let him do this to me! Help!”

One hands him a rectangular, carved wooden box. Anex ignores my protests and opens the lid, lifting an object from inside. Holding it up, the candlelight passes through the thick crystal. It’s large, cylindrical in shape, honed and rounded at the top. There’s no doubt what the object is for and where he’s planning on using it.

“Anex, no.” Again, I look to the cloaked women. “Please help me.”

“Bless this crystal of purification. Accept this as the call to release all negative and Regressive energies bound inside Imogene. Penetrate the dark rebellion and replace it with the path to Enlightenment.”

One of the women pours a clear, thick liquid into Anex’s open palm. He coats the sides and tip of the crystal, leaving it in a thick sheen.

Sweat rises on my skin and whatever he says next is covered by the hard beating of my pulse. He runs the tip of the crystal between my breasts, across the tips of my nipples and down my lower body. My thighs press tighter, as far as my bound legs will allow it, and fear ratchets through my body. The women’s hands pull apart my thighs.