“I can’t do this. Please, Lord, I beg of you. Don’t make me do this.” Sage didn’t know why she bothered to pray when her call was never answered. God had abandoned her in her time of greatest need.

She would have no savior. No forgiveness. The snakes would feed off her open wounds and poison her soul.

Sage was beyond saving, and as she passed other members on her way to confession before the cleanse, she saw the truth in their eyes. She was doomed. Soon to be sent to the meanest man in their village to do with as he pleased. She would never be free. She could seek guidance and forgiveness, but never would she be allowed to leave.

“Confess your sins,” her mother hissed from beside her as they entered the church in the field. The building, so tall and formidable, was supposed to be a place of light and peace, not degradation and damnation.

With her eighteenth birthday looming in less than a week’s time, Sage had convinced Joss not to seek outside help from Lochlan. With fear that her parents would somehow get him in trouble, she knew from Ashley that everything they were forcing on her was illegal. She could go to the police for help. Joss, Porter, and Tru could leave too.

“Kneel,” her mother hissed again, uncaring of Sage’s feelings.

On her knees in front of the altar, her father standing to the side, he was ready to listen to her sins.

“Confess,” he demanded as the doors closed. Her mother left.

Sage’s knees on the hardwood floor protested from the lashing she’d been given the night before. Her entire body burned as she struggled with what to do. She didn’t feel like she had done anything worth confessing.

Taking a deep breath and bowing her head, she said, “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.” The man stood there and waited. He always watched, never giving her what she so desperately sought. “I disobeyed again. I talked back and fought. My father punished me with a lashing, and soon, I’ll be cleansed. Bless me, oh Lord, before I am to be taken as Morgan’s bride into a marriage I do not seek.” Taking a deep breath, she continued. “Give me strength as I enter the pits. Give me resolve as I take to a life I cannot freely commit.” She purposely left out anything about Lochlan because she didn’t feel it was a sin. He was temptation, yes, but she knew in her heart of hearts that she was to be his bride. Therefore, she couldn’t beg forgiveness for anything she felt for him. “In thy name, I seek forgiveness and repent. Amen.” Sitting back, she waited on her father’s decision. Already knowing he was going to condemn her.

“You are not forgiven. You are damned to a soul of evil. Therefore, after your cleanse, you will go home to Morgan. You will be his willing servant, and he has my permission to punish you as he sees fit.”

She couldn’t argue. She couldn’t fight. His word was law, and those who chose to break it would suffer the same fate as her.

No matter how much she wanted out, how much her heart screamed for her to run, her mind told her to be sensible. Bide her time. The trouble with that was, Morgan scared her more than bathing nude in a pit of snakes. There was an evil look in his cold eyes. Dead, lifeless. He savored the pain and destruction he’d witnessed on her. Being stuck with him, locked in his home, was going to kill something inside of her. An integral piece of her soul.

Sage wanted to run, desperately. She wanted to flee her home. For months, she’d plotted and prayed, and now the time had come for her to act or accept her fate. Without help, she feared not being able to leave.

When her father finished with her, she was once again locked away in her room. Forced to wait for the cleanse. Her dread held her tight through the night, pushing her into a state of anxiety so deep she was unable to put up any resistance once the time came to meet her fate.

Stripped of her clothes, the chanting began. Her distress pulsed so intensely that her ears rang, and she couldn’t make out a word anyone said as Morgan and her father guided her into the murky pit.

The sting from the dirty water as it caressed each cut from her lashing forced her to sputter. The snakes could be felt weaving around her body, their skin slimy as she tried not to move. Pushed further into the water, her arms flailed out to stop her momentum as she was submerged. A scream burst forth from her lips as she was bitten on the calf, the filthy water entering her mouth.

More bites.

More screams.

The chanting grew louder. Her father began a cleansing prayer as Sage struggled against her conscience, trying to shut down the horrors being borne on her. The biting intensified, and soon, she felt so lethargic her body collapsed. The water her buoy as she fought to stay afloat.

Jossilyn could be heard crying as Sage gave up the fight and began to sink into the pits of hell. Her body numb to the pain. Her heart broken. Her mind blocking reality.

Closing her eyes, Sage imagined drifting off on the wings of an angel as darkness took her.

* * *

For days, Loch kept to himself as he tried to formulate a plan to take Sage as his own. Pressured to leave his home on Hayes’ graduation, he cheered her on with his brothers, but he was distracted at her party afterwards. He had a bad feeling in his gut about Sage. Like something was wrong.

As he was about to congratulate Hayes and say his goodbyes, Levi followed her inside. Figuring his brother was stealing her for a moment alone, Loch started to walk away when a chilling scream rent the air.

Everyone rushed inside to see Hayes with her arms wrapped around a man and Levi with a shocked expression on his face. It wasn’t until her parents gasped and tears filled their eyes that Loch realized it was the man from the pictures all around their home.

Hayes’ brother. Not so dead after all.

“Ryder.” Mrs. Morrison’s single choked word conveyed everything she was feeling.

“Hey, Mom.” Ryder wasn’t unaffected by the emotions swirling around the room.

Placing a hand on Levi’s shoulder for support, Loch said, “I’m gonna head out. This should be a private thing.”

Looking at his brother, Levi was just as emotional. “Thanks, bro.”

Walking past Hayes who was still hugging her brother, he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Congrats, Hayes. Happy for you, girl.” Too stunned to speak, she smiled up at him and nodded.

Driving away, he knew returning home wasn’t going to be an option; instead, he went to the shop he owned with his older brothers. When they started the family business, Loch had been every bit as thrilled as Nox was. Over time, he’d grown fond of their customers and employees. Asher, Mac, and Joey were more like family than anything. Even though Joey and Asher had only been there about a year and Joey could be a dick, they were all close.

When Elianna showed up, things got interesting real quick. Her and Asher were constantly going at it, fighting tooth and nail about anything and everything. Levi and Mac kept telling them to sleep together. Loch just wanted them to shut the hell up. He was tired of seeing them always at each other’s throats when it was obvious they were attracted to each other. If he had Sage around like that, he wouldn’t be arguing with her.

Loch figured that was why Nox had always insisted he was a different type of man. Not having an interest in beating around the bush, he was honest to a fault and always went for what he wanted.

Arriving at the shop, he saw Asher’s bike parked in the lot. They were working on restoring a ‘55 Thunderbird. The hood, door, and left rear quarter panel had dents that needed fixing before painting it a sky blue at the owner’s request.

“Hey man, what are you doing here?” Asher came walking out of one of the bay doors wiping his hands.

“Couldn’t go home,” he sighed.

A thoughtful looked crossed Asher’s face before he asked, “You still thinking about her?”

Shrugging, he walked into the shop. “I have this feeling in my gut like something’s wrong.”

Gripping Loch’s arm, Asher told him, “Go fucking get her. That feeling could be something terrible, Loch. Don’t let it go, man.”

He was torn. He wanted to listen to Asher, but the risk was high of him being locked up if she were removed. If something happened to Lochlan, then who would protect her when she needed him?

“She’s underage, Ash. I can’t just take her.”

“Fuck that, kid. You’re smart. You know there are ways around that shit. She’s in that cult out by Adna, right?”

“I don’t think it’s a cult,” Loch mumbled.

“It might as fucking well be, Lochlan. Go. Get. Her.”

Torn between doing what he felt in his gut was right and obeying the law, Asher took the choice out of his hands when he dragged him out the door and pushed him towards his car. Loch watched as the man locked up the shop and hopped in the passenger side.

“Let’s go.”

The drive out there seemed twice as long as normal with the anticipation of possibly bringing Sage home with him. The trouble rolling through his mind was focused on what he was going to do with her when he had her.

“Relax, Loch. Shit’ll work out,” Asher told him not for the first time.

“What the hell am I supposed to when I have her?”

“You love this girl?”

“What?” He looked to his passenger with confusion. “We haven’t even spoken.”

Ash shook his head. “So, what was your plan, Loch?”

“I have no clue,” he whispered, more worried than ever.

* * *

Sage could feel the infection rushing through her body like a harsh storm at sea. The pain and fatigue were excruciating. Joss and Porter had tended to her wounds after the cleansing, and they lost count of snake bites she’d received at thirty-seven.

Thankfully, as far as anyone knew, none of the snakes were poisonous. That was the only thing working in her favor as she was imprisoned once again in her room. Her mother, for once, stood up for Sage, insisting that before Morgan could have her, she needed to heal.

Sunday evening prayer was looming, and Sage could hardly move as her mother entered the room. With a scowl on her face, she snapped, “You could make an effort to move around, Sage. You look like death.”

Sage’s filter was gone, and she had no tolerance left for anyone in her family as she said, “Maybe because I nearly died, Mother.” Her voice wasn’t as forceful as she’d have liked, but from the glare sent her way, her point was made.

“That back talk of yours is what got you in trouble, Sage. I’d watch your tone, or I’ll hand you to Morgan myself.” Her threat didn’t have the desired effect.

“Then do it. Being around a man who would likely beat me to death is better than being near the people who gave me life only to turn around and try to snuff it out.”

Sage turned her back on her mother’s shocked expression, no longer wanting to be part of whatever games they were playing. Her life wasn’t a joke. Her feelings were true. The only thing in the world that mattered to Sage was either getting out or dying. Anything not to feel that worthless.

“The devil is going to be beaten from you, Sage. Mark my words.”

She no longer feared the threat. After the past few days of agony and doubt, Sage was ready for it. She was ready for anything at all.

The click from the door was final, life-altering. From that day forward, she knew nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Her entire life, she truly believed in what she was taught. That the Lord would be their savior. In a way, she almost wished she could go back to a time when she still held confident in those same things.

Nearly a year with those small freedoms and exploration of the world outside of where she had grown up, and Sage wanted to be a part of it more regularly. Seeing how the rest of the world lived with freedom and choices, she knew that was what she desired as well.

After meeting Lochlan, interacting with his brothers and their friends, she wished to form those types of relationships too. A bond free of constriction and obligation.

Love was supposed to be the greatest gift of all time, and Sage felt suffocated by her parents’ brand of it. Acceptance with limitations and compromises wasn’t any type of life at all. Not for Sage when she yearned to experience what the world had to offer. She wanted to explore and travel. She wanted to fall in love and form friendships outside of what she knew.

Lochlan offered her some of those choices. The way he smiled when he didn’t realize she had been watching—with his entire being. The happiness he emanated was what she envied.

That first time she entered his shop, there were so many things she’d never seen before. Men who looked aggressive with their tattoos and ripped clothes but turned out to be quite nice behind their gruff exteriors. Seeing the two women present in such a manly setting had been such a shock to her. Sophia seemed to be such a sweet woman. Subdued, soft, the type of girl who would fit right into Sage’s congregation. Working in the fields of vegetables and fruits they grew, Sage knew Sophia was the type of woman younger girls would have looked up to.

The other girl, Eli—she’d heard someone yell that at her—was the complete opposite of what Sage had witnessed in any woman in her whole life. She was loud, had tattoos like the men, and her clothes revealed far too much skin. But she was always smiling and cheerful. She had a confidence about herself that Sage craved.

Birds calling through her window and the wind rustling the leaves of nearby trees, lulled Sage into such a relaxed state that when the door slammed open so roughly that the knob lodged into the wall and she was savagely dragged from her bed, she didn’t react. Thrown onto the patch of grass outside her home, Sage landed on her hands and knees with a cry of pain. Her body stiff from what she’d already endured.

Her father’s cruel words caused tears to stream down her face. “This whore has refused the path of righteousness. She is unwilling to repent and ask forgiveness from our Lord. Sage Marlowe, you are damned to a life of sin and forever banned from entering my home. You will seek guidance and punishment from your new husband until I see you are fit to belong in our church again.”

With holy water being tossed on her broken body, she found the strength to sit up. The sheer number of disdainful looks falling upon her almost broke her resolve to rebel one last time.

“No,” she spat out. “I will not accept him as my husband, and if you make me, I will find a way to the authorities. I will have my freedom.” Out of breath, Sage had to force her head to remain high.

The backhand came out of nowhere as her father leaned down to grip her jaw tightly, cruelly telling her, “The law has no place in our faith.”

Left with no choice, Sage told him loud enough for the gathered crowd to hear. “Then I denounce my loyalty to you. To this congregation. And I will find God on my own terms.”

The collective gasp from her supposed friends and neighbors followed by the angry murmurs nearly made her waver as her father’s gaze bore into her.

His hand clutched her hair so tightly that she felt strands being pulled from her scalp as he snarled in her face. “You say this as though you have the choice to leave. This is your life, Sage.”

Her distress was so great that she couldn’t stop the words to leave her mouth. “No. I would rather die than stay.”

The sinister look he gave her was cut short by a commotion at the front gate and sirens in the distance. “You’ll rue the day you did this, Sage.”

His threat meant nothing to her as she watched the gates open and Lochlan stood in front of two police cars like her white knight.

Freedom.