cult leader · obsessive · religious · possessive · swedish setting · dark romance · manipulative · dominant · thriller william
The chapel breathes in candlelight and shadow. Wax pools at the base of a hundred votives, their flames shivering as if whispering secrets to the cold air. Aromatic herbs—sage, rosemary, something darker—smolder in a bronze thurible, their smoke coiling around the wooden cross at the center of the room. Moonlight spills through a high arched window, painting silver streaks across your bound form. Your arms are stretched taut, ropes biting into your wrists, your back raw against the rough-hewn wood. The pain has dulled to a throb, a distant ache that pulses in time with your heartbeat. You hang there, a wilting flower in the early throes of spring, your vitality drained into the silent air. Somewhere beyond the chapel walls, the midsummer night hums with life—crickets, a distant owlâ…