The Diabolical Conspiracy Read Free

the moment.”
    Nadia nodded. “I thought as much. Allow me to reiterate a few points. We are a serious organization. What we do is in no way a goof. Nor is it an excuse to play naughty adult games. When we have orgies--”
    “ When you what ?”
    “ Have orgies.”
    “ That’s what I thought you said. Excuse the interruption. Please continue.”
    Nadia made a soft sound that could have been either a quiet laugh or a grunt of disdain. With her it was hard to tell the difference. “As I was saying, when we have orgies, we do it in a ritualistic way. We treat it as something sacred. The expression of unrestrained physical lust symbolizes our freedom from God’s laws and our joy in the liberation our devotion to Satan allows us. Do you understand?”
    Mike smiled tightly and nodded. “Yep.”
    I understand that you’re a bunch of goddamn fruitcakes .
    “ You think we’re crazy.”
    Holy shit, she really can read minds .
    He gave his head a single emphatic shake. “Nope.”
    “ You’re lying, but I am not offended. The first steps along the path to satanic enlightenment are always the most difficult.”
    “ That’s what I’ve heard.”
    Someone seated to his left sniggered at that remark. A glance in that direction revealed it was Blake, who was now trying hard to push a smirk off his face. Seeing this had the effect of relaxing Mike some. It was the first sign that maybe not everyone here took this shit as seriously as Nadia and Marnie apparently did.
    This impression lasted until the moment Nadia rose smoothly from her chair and crossed through the open space within the circle of chairs to stand directly in front of Blake. There was no longer even the faintest trace of mirth on his face as he stared tremblingly up at her. His mouth was moving. He was trying to say something, but no words were coming out. From his demeanor, Mike guessed he was trying to apologize, but fear had temporarily paralyzed his vocal cords.
    Nadia’s right hand lashed out, snapping hard across his face. The sound was savage, like the crack of a whip on bare flesh. Then she nearly knocked him off the chair as she backhanded him. Mike grimaced at the display of wholly unexpected violence. Everything about the woman’s demeanor had changed. Gone was the air of almost snooty composure. In its place was an animal ferocity that scared the shit out of him. And scared the shit out of Blake as well, who was sobbing now and blubbering barely intelligible words of contrition. She slapped him again, harder than before, and followed it up with yet another backhand. This last blow did drive Blake from his chair. As soon as he hit the garage’s cement floor, Nadia commenced kicking him in the midsection. She was screaming at him and kicking him over and over as he curled into a fetal ball.
    An impulse caused Mike to rise hesitantly from his chair. He wasn’t sure what his intent was. To intercede in some way, he supposed. But Marnie seized him by an arm and pulled him back down. To Mike’s shame, he allowed her to restrain him. Stopping the assault was unquestionably the right thing to do. In truth, though, he was too shaken by what he was seeing to even attempt it. Too shaken and…too afraid. The realization made him feel like a coward. He didn’t care for that at all, but it was a fact and he couldn’t hide from it. And he knew one thing with absolute certainty now. Nadia really wasn’t playing around here. He took a fresh look at the faces arrayed around him, seeing them all in a different light than before.
    This wasn’t a game for any of them.
    This was real…and very, very serious.
    The people gathered here this evening were members of a genuine satanic cult.
    Mike gulped.
    God help me .

2 .
     
    “ The purpose of the Diabolical Conspiracy is to promote and foster evil whenever and however we can. In this way, we celebrate our dark lord and do what we can to further his work here in the mortal realm. Do you have any questions?”
    The