him again. She wanted to touch him, hug him. She hated the distance she suddenly felt between them. “The Grand Master ordered us to…to…”
“To lie to me.”
Selene didn’t bother to nod. Regardless of what they were asked to do, things between them had advanced well beyond the point where obeying those orders rubbed against the grain.
However, if there’d been another longstanding member in the room, someone who had heard the horror stories, they would have known that obeying the Grand Master’s orders didn’t have caveats and footnotes that allowed disobedience because you disagreed with the orders. Oscar was too new, and too stubborn.
And Luca…well, he’d grown up in an organization even more rigid than the Trinity Masters, and he’d rebelled.
“If we could have told you…” she said softly.
Luca didn’t reply, didn’t offer forgiveness. He pulled out a chair, moving to sit down, but the glint of something caught her eye, drawing her attention to the ring on his finger. The ring he hadn’t been wearing before.
“What is that?” she asked even though she knew. She recognized the triquetra, the symbol of the Trinity Masters. She tried to reconcile what that ring represented with reality. “Luca,” she whispered.
“What?” Oscar asked. He clearly hadn’t seen what she had, but the shock in her expression, in her tone, had him on full alert. “What the fuck is it?”
Luca lifted his hand. “I joined the Trinity Masters.”
Selene blinked. “You did what?”
Oscar’s eyes widened. “Holy fuck.”
Luca sank down in the chair. “I was shocked when your Grand Master offered the invitation.”
Oscar pointed to Luca’s hand. “You’re wearing the ring, dude. She’s your Grand Master now too.”
“Why?” Selene asked quietly.
“Why would they want someone like me to join?” Luca asked, the hurt in his eyes unmistakable.
Selene responded quickly, hating that his thoughts had gone that direction. “No, why would you say yes? Did she not give you a choice?”
“The choice was mine. Unlike the Bellator Dei, there were no threats.”
Oscar slammed his hand down on the table. “Just spit it out. Tell us what happened and then you can be pissed at us.”
“I’m not angry.”
“Clearly, you are,” Oscar countered.
“I’m hurt,” Luca said quietly. “I understand that you were ordered to not tell me the truth, but I told you…I shared everything. Every truth I had to tell. And I know that I’ve told countless lies, done truly horrible things, and that I don’t have a right to feel…” His words fell away.
The silence that followed was painful. Damn it, Luca deserved, for once, to not hurt. Not be in pain.
“Power,” Luca said after a moment. “I joined because I’ve spent my life being, feeling, powerless. If I am a member, I am no longer powerless.”
Selene nodded. “And you’re not alone. You have every other member.”
“You traded a shitty cult for a less shitty cult,” Oscar said.
“You think I’m a fool,” Luca said softly.
“No. I think you’re incredible.”
Selene shot Oscar a look. He rolled his shoulders as if uncomfortable.
“Perhaps I can make up for some of the evil things I have done. Perhaps…I can…” He paused for a moment. “I would very much like to make a positive difference in the world, like that trinity you told me about in the cabin. The ones working together to save the environment.”
Oscar grinned. “I get that.”
“And perhaps I can rescue others from the Bellator Dei.”
“Like your sister.” This time, Selene didn’t stop herself. She placed her hand on top of Luca’s, and he didn’t pull away. Instead, he turned his hand over and grasped hers, held it.
Luca nodded. “For the first time in my life, I will not be powerless.”
“You were never powerless,” Selene said softly.
“I was. And I was a fool to think that…” Luca glanced first at her, then Oscar.
Selene squeezed his hand. “Everything that happened in that cabin was real. We weren’t lying about the things that mattered.”
“As I said, I am not angry with you. I understand that lies are necessary to protect secrets.” Luca was quiet for a moment. “But I won’t lie to you now. I’ve done enough of that to last a lifetime.”
“Then get pissed at us. You have every right to,” Oscar declared.
“I told you I am not angry—”
“—just hurt.” Oscar rose and grabbed a chair and thrust it at Luca. “Here, smash it against the wall.”
Luca blinked. “Why?”
“It will make you feel better. It’s therapy.”
“Therapy is something people go to years of school in order to learn to do,” Selene said in exasperation. “You can’t just tell people to do