by Lila Dubois
Luca shook his head. “They did it to someone else.”
Selene knew that what he said next would be something heartbreaking. Something terrible.
“The school is not just for bombs. They also train programmers. They create applications, games for your phone, and they use that for income and to embed spyware. My sister was a student there.”
“That’s how you tracked the tablet and found us?”
“Yes. All my electronics are coded with a special…software?” Luca shook his head. “I am not sure of the terms.”
Oscar scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, spyware piggybacked on a game app. And also some sort of digital tracking coding.”
“I think there is a physical element,” Luca said. “I watched Piero work on my tablets and computers. He disassembled them.”
“Ah-ha!” Oscar sat up. “I fucking knew it had to be something like that.”
“Who is Piero?”
“My age; like me, he was one of the first to be put in the Bellator Dei’s school, but for computers.”
Selene knew she didn’t want to hear the end of this story. That it wouldn’t end well.
“Piero was making money for the Bellator Dei. A lot of money. But it all went to them. He lived at the facility. Had nothing for himself, despite all that he brought in. He stood up to them. Demanded that he be allowed to marry and leave, to be a supernumerary, like my parents. He wanted some of the money he was making for himself so he could have a life of his own.”
“What did they do to him?”
“To him? They denied him, again and again. And when he stopped working, when there was no longer enough money…” Luca took off his glasses, hooked them on the collar of his shirt, and pressed the heels of his hands to his eye sockets. “Do you know what it means to be a…I’m not sure of the precise term in English. A martyr soul? A victim soul?”
She and Oscar shook their heads.
“The leaders, they went to Piero’s parents and his sister. They said that they’d had a revelation, a vision of Saint Sebastian who said Greta had a victim soul. That she was put on this Earth to suffer as Christ did. Her suffering would save many, and make her a martyr, ensuring her place in the kingdom of Heaven.”
“Oh my God,” Selene breathed, seeing where this was going.
“Greta was a loyal numerary. A valuable member of the church.” Luca lifted his head, put his glasses back on. “They tortured her to death and made sure Piero was there to watch.”
Oscar’s whispered “fuck” was full of horror. Selene felt helpless just listening to Luca’s story. She couldn’t imagine how he felt. He had to design a horrific nuclear bomb because doing it himself was the only way he could ensure that there was a way to dismantle it, all while making sure that he outwardly seemed loyal so that he wouldn’t have to watch his sister be tortured to death.
“That is what I’m protecting my sister from.”
For a long time, none of them said anything.
Chapter Eight
Oscar sat silently, letting the implications of what was at stake for Luca, and what Selene might have discovered about the bomb, sink in. Now that he was over the whole secret military supercomputer situation, he could focus on the important part of what they’d just learned.
The bomb might not actually be the city-killer they’d feared, and Luca was undeniably being coerced. If the option was to kill some people or watch Sylvia be tortured to death, Oscar wouldn’t have hesitated long, even if taking another life went against everything he believed.
“Is your sister safe right now?”
“Yes. I told them before I left, I had to go no-contact for several weeks due to an assignment with Cohortes Praetorianae. I’ve done so in the past, so they won’t be looking for me.”
“What about the monitoring hardware and software they had?” Oscar asked.
“My phone. I have an app they made me that let me track my tablet, but they must have…” Luca frowned.
“There’s probably a way to backtrack, which is how the Croatians—”
“Serbian. They were speaking Serbian.”
“—Serbians tracked you.”
“But does that mean they’re on to him?” Selene asked anxiously.
“If it was the Bellator Dei, they would not have come to me like that. Why would they bother? They know I would do anything to protect Joli.”
“So the Serbians somehow followed you, maybe with your cult’s tracking software, to get a bomb plan that no one outside your cult knows about,” Oscar summed up.
Selene’s brows rose. “Sounds like the cult has a leak.”
“That’s what I was thinking too,” Oscar said.
Luca shook his head slowly. “I don’t know enough about the numeraries to know who, or why?”
“The who?”
“Those who live at the headquarters, devote themselves to the organization.”
There was a long silence before Selene said, in a brighter tone, “On the plus side, the bomb might not work.”
Luca smiled. “In this case, I am glad to be wrong.”
“Though I think with some of your ideas we could—”
“No.” Oscar folded his arms. “No more supervillain shit, you two.”
The quiet relief, mingled with amusement, that filled the cabin made it easy to sink into the silence while outside the snow began to fall again.
Luca was still on an ancient, overstuffed yellow-and-green plaid armchair. The entire cabin appeared to have been furnished by Yard Sales R Us.
“I wonder…” Luca began hesitantly.
He paused just long enough that Selene prompted him to continue with a quiet, “Yes?”
“I wonder if I might ask a few questions of my own.”
Oscar had expected this. Luca had been patient so far, answering their questions honestly. Or at least Oscar believed the answers had been the truth.
It wasn’t like him to trust someone quite so quickly, but his gut told him that Luca wasn’t a liar. He was a man with his back against the wall and a reluctant cult member, but not a liar.
“Of course,” Selene replied.
“I am curious about the Masters’ Admiralty. The only knowledge I have of the organization is what the Bellator Dei has told me. And I think it’s clear from last night’s discussion, they’ve shared some untruths.”
“Or radical thought. The insane religious cult doesn’t care too much about facts or truth,” Oscar said.
Luca nodded once. “I must admit I am curious about the ménage relationships within your society. These are assigned, correct?”
Oscar decided to let Selene take the lead on this, as his association with the cult—oh, fuck it—the secret society was relatively new. Selene had grown up in the Trinity Masters, so she was a better authority to speak on the subject, as well as knowing what they should tell a nonmember, and what they shouldn’t.
Then he chuckled to himself, aware the brilliant woman was probably better suited to speak on most matters. Oscar had dedicated his life to three things: data mining, his family, and Faith. And look where that had gotten him.
Trapped in a blizzard with these two.
Suddenly, his outlook changed as he realized this was probably one of the best times he’d had in years…if he didn’t take into account the city-killer bomb they were trying to keep from the not-too-bright, well-armed Serbian mobsters and the crazed religious zealots in Europe who were looking for it.
“The arranged trinity marriages are assigned by…our leader, yes.”
“And is there a reason behind the assignments?” Luca asked.
“The…” Selene cleared her throat, speaking slowly and precisely. “The society was formed in order to form lasting, complex bonds that provide hidden security to societal structures.”
“A cord of three strands,” Luca said softly.
“Exactly. And this also means that scientists and scholars, artists and inventors, people who might otherwise give up on their passions, are prot
ected by their spouses.”
“Patronage.”
“Yes. And sometimes specific trinities—that’s what we call them, or triads—are created because our leader thinks that together, those three people might, given intimacy and time, create something, invent something…that will change the world in some way.”
“What do you mean?” Luca sat forward, clearly interested.
Dude had a thing for cults. Oscar covered his mouth with his hand so neither of them would ask why he was smiling.
“The man I called earlier, Preston, is a chemist. His wife owns a video game company and his husband is a mathematician for the U.S. government.”
“Chemistry, mathematics, and…computer programming? Business development?”
Oscar knew where this was going. He had a voice mail from Carly Kenan, founder and owner of Nexus Six, saying she wanted to talk to him. He’d geeked out about that until he figured out she was a member of the Trinity Masters and was probably just going to try to recruit him.
“Computer programming. They created TideForm.”
“The environmental monitoring software?” Luca asked, clearly impressed.
Selene nodded. “TideForm is the tech infrastructure of Carly’s gaming company, plus Preston’s chemistry knowledge to create the analysis component inside the bots. Their husband’s military contacts got the devices aboard U.S. military ships, who dropped them in the oceans. They came up with the idea one night while watching a documentary about oceanic climate change.”
Oscar pictured it—sitting around in pajamas, Selene beside him, their husband or wife on the other side of her, as they heckled the TV. How fucking awesome would that be? A casual moment at home with his spouses that could turn into something that might change the world.
“I see. And these marriages…” Luca paused for a moment, and Oscar knew by the slight flush of his cheeks where this conversation was headed.
Sex.
It was one of the primary things Oscar had been interested in—and given his brother the most shit about—when Langston joined the Trinity Masters.
And while Sylvia had joined the Masters’ Admiralty and been placed in a trinity marriage first, Oscar refused to think about his kid sister shacking up with two men. He didn’t give a shit if Hugo and Lancelot were pretty cool.
“The marriages are consummated by all three members?”
Selene smiled and nodded. “They are.”
Luca leaned back as he processed that information. “Are the two of you in a trinity?”
Oscar shook his head. “Nope.”
“Yet you are lovers.”
“We are,” Selene answered.
“Just the two of you?” The second the question flew from his lips, Luca raised his hands, waving them, as if he could erase the words. “I apologize. That is a personal question and none of my concern. I’m just…confused about how these relationships are formed. It’s clear the two of you have a bond, yet you do not know if you will be placed in a marriage together, yes?”
Selene nodded, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “That’s correct. Many members of the society…practice.”
Oscar snorted. “I’m supposed to start practicing ménages? Jesus.” He hadn’t meant to blurt that out, and he internally kicked himself when Luca’s curious gaze shifted to him.
“I’m, uh, new to the cu—society,” Oscar quickly added.
Selene grinned, her head turned so only Oscar could see the way she rolled her eyes in amusement. “I’ve participated in ménage sex…with one man and one woman, two men, two women, and on one particularly fun weekend there were four of us, two of each gender.”
“Of course you have. And by the way, that’s fucking hot,” Oscar teased Selene before looking at Luca. “Let me guess, your crazy cult demands chastity as well as sobriety.”
Luca shook his head. “No, of course not. The Bellator Dei follows the Catholic doctrine. Marriage between a man and a…w-woman, procreation, these things are highly regarded, required even.”
Oscar noticed the slight stutter in Luca’s comment about marriage. A quick glance at Selene proved she’d heard it as well.
“So one man and one woman,” she clarified. “That’s all that’s allowed?”
Luca nodded, his gaze shifting to look out the window. Oscar didn’t think the Italian was suddenly taking an interest in the blizzard as much as trying to avoid making eye contact with them.
“So,” Luca began again after several quiet moments, turning slowly to direct his next question to Oscar. “Your brother and Mr. Blake…they…”
He knew what Luca wanted to know but was too uncomfortable to ask, so he gave him the answer. “There is butt stuff.”
Selene snorted, then stuck out her leg and kicked him gently.
Oscar sighed. “I don’t hang out in the bedroom with them, Luca, but…I’m pretty sure they’re lovers too, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Fascinating. The Bellator Dei believes that homosexuality, bisexuality—these things are abominations against God, terrible sins that must be severely punished, expunged from a person’s soul through brutality.”
“How fucking surprising,” Oscar growled, his temper flaring hot. “Your cult is filled with those beat-the-gay-away dickheads. God, I hate those motherfuckers.”
Selene reached over and placed her hand on his knee, squeezing it. His shoulders started to relax.
Luca didn’t respond to Oscar’s violent outburst, but there was pain in his expression that told him he was right about the cult’s unsavory control tactics.
It told him something else as well, as Oscar felt a few more pieces of the Luca puzzle click into place. And he started to understand why the man was no stranger to beatings.
“So it is true the Masters’ Admiralty embrace, even encourage…” Luca ran his hand through his shaggy brown hair as he considered what they’d told him so far. Obviously, the guy hadn’t had time to stop in for a haircut while running all around the East Coast, chasing a tablet.
“Are you gay, Luca?” Selene asked quietly.
Luca lifted his face, swallowing heavily, and Oscar knew the second the man began to speak that Luca was not only not a liar, he trusted them. And considering everything the man had suffered in his life, Oscar recognized that as the gift it was.
Luca squared his shoulders, tension radiating from him. “I’m bisexual.”
Oscar’s stomach clenched with pain on Luca’s behalf. “They found out. The fucking bastards found out and tried to beat it out of you, didn’t they?”
Luca gave Oscar a single nod. He wasn’t sure how to respond in the face of the other man’s obvious rage in his defense. He had noticed over the course of the past day or so that Oscar wasn’t the type of man who shielded his emotions. Everything he felt was written plainly in his expressions and in his tone, yet Luca felt as if he could see through the man’s outbursts to the passionate person beneath.
Luca had spent his entire life repressing his feelings because he’d learned from a young age that sadness or fear were easily exploited, while anger and love were easily snuffed out through violence.
“Luca,” Selene said softly. “I’m sorry they did that to you.”
Luca didn’t doubt for a moment that Selene’s compassion was as genuine as Oscar’s anger, and his throat began to tighten. He couldn’t recall anyone—with the exception of his sister—ever stepping up to his defense. These people were strangers, yet in just a day, they’d shown him more compassion than the orphanage or those who had raised him in the Bellator Dei and had claimed to love him.
Unlike Joli, Luca, who was older, had vague memories of their real parents, who were killed when his sister was just a baby. She’d waited eight years for a family, her entire lifetime, when the couple from the Bellator Dei found them at the orphanage, claiming they were good children of God who would grow up to answer His call, just as Signore and Signora Campisi had.
They’d been indoctrinated—
baptized—within two days of arriving in Italy, and he’d been enrolled in a private Catholic school, while Joli was homeschooled by their new mother. He, like Joli, had readily embraced the teachings, the faith, so grateful to finally have a place in the world.
When he was fourteen, the Campisis pulled him out of his beloved secondary school and placed him in a new school, if it could be called that. “As I told you, the Bellator Dei opened their own school. It started as a few confused young men stuffed into a single room at the new headquarters of what we thought was simply a very strict church. We were taught to make explosives by a man with dead eyes. Now the Collegium Sanctorum, where they teach children to become terrorists—you used the word, and I think it is right—is far more than it had been.”
They had shared so much, taken care of him…if there was anyone he would trust with this story, it was Selene and Oscar.
“His name was Roberto. He was two years older. He and his family were devout members of the Bellator Dei.”
Luca was proud of the strength in his voice, considering his heart was now racing. He hadn’t spoken—or even thought—of Roberto in years.
“Did you love him?” Selene asked softly.
Luca smiled sadly, Roberto’s face in his mind’s eye. “I was only sixteen. What did I know of love?”
“I was sixteen the first time I laid eyes on Faith. I might have been young, but I knew enough to know I was in love with her,” Oscar said.
Luca looked at him curiously. “Faith?”
“First love,” Oscar grumbled before giving him a sheepish grin.
Something always tightened in Luca’s body whenever Oscar’s stern expression gave way to a smile. The man was extremely attractive, with dark hair, skin, eyes, muscular build, and a well-trimmed beard. His handsomeness was a perfect counterpoint to Selene’s incredible beauty…while Luca was perfectly aware there was nothing beautiful about him, either physically or spiritually. There was nothing about his looks that made him stand out, which had actually been a blessing more than a few times in his life. No one ever gave him a second glance, so it was easy for him to blend in, make himself invisible.