Diana Racine 02 - Goddess of the Moon

about accused Compton of complicity in a satanic cult the other night, and that implicated him to the kidnappings. He wasn’t happy then; he’ll be pissed when this lands on his doorstep, especially with these two involving his daughter.
    “What do I say to him? ‘Um, excuse me, Mr. Compton, but does your daughter hate you enough to hire two nitwits to steal your paintings?’ Can you imagine what Compton’s lawyers would do with those two? By the time they finished questioning them, they’d be ready for a padded room.” Lucier headed toward his office. “There’s only one way to clear this up.”
    “What’s that, Ernie?”
    “Maia Compton.”

Chapter Twenty-Five
    The Age of Defiance

    M aia Compton stared straight ahead, avoiding the glaring eyes of her stepmother. She hated Selene even more than she feared her. She hated Selene’s parents, too, the king and queen of evil who spawned the princess witch. And she hated her father for being so weak. Hate worked both ways. Selene hated her. The feelings had been mutual from the beginning. Dione felt the same way, but she kept her loathing private, playing the role of obedient daughter.
    Both had been indoctrinated into the “ culture .” Maia conformed, contribut ing to the group’s master race ― until she found out about the kidnappings. Now h er unforgivable acquiescence tore her apart. She ’d rebelled by needling her father about her brother, a retarded child who died in a tragic accident. So much for the Comptons ’ superior bloodline. The petty provocation left her feeling more guilty than victorious.
    “What the hell were you thinking?” Selene said.
    “No one was supposed to be home,” Maia replied.
    “ T hat makes it right? Bringing two outsiders into the house is against all the rules , and for what? T o steal millions of dollars of your father’s art collection. What happens if they go to the police and bring you into their story?”
    Maia kept silent . Her father ’s fury showed red on his face , and his jaw worked as he clenched his teeth , but he spoke not a word . Selene ran the show , as always , e ven before the day her mother, in a desperate state of depression, threw herself out the window of a sixteen-story hotel. Silas had never been discreet. How much did his betrayal contribute to her mother’s suicide?
    A s soon as Silas ’s public grieving subsided , his relationship with Selene went from gossip to front-page news i n the society section . Silas possessed all the attributes the Cranes sought , primarily a brilliant opportunist who ’ d do anything to get what he wanted. They tempted him with more riches than their young, beautiful daughter. Silas didn’t stand a chance. What man would? Even Diana Racine’s cop lover fell under Selene’s spell. Five minutes alone with Lieutenant Lucier in the bedroom, and Selene would have him panting for more. The psychic saw it too.
    Maia looked at her father and thrust out her chin in defiance. Silas Compton personified the iron man―the big Libertarian industrialist and philanthropist. If people only knew that Selene had his dick tied around her little finger and tugged him along like a lap dog . To Silas ’s credit, if she went too far, he stop ped her , creating a tug-of-war control game that appealed to them both. Selene used sex to get what she wanted, from whomever she wanted, whenever she wanted , and Silas got his rocks off watching . F rom the moment she became Mrs. Silas Compton, she taught Maia and Dione to do the same. Her own children , secret to the world except for the group , didn’t stand a chance. Selene and her parents taught them from birth, then sent them off to the compound. But Selene couldn’t get rid of Silas’s young daughters as easily. They were a known fact of life.
    Maia closed her ears to Selene ’s verbal lashing . Silas sat tight-lipped. Maia braced herself for when he calmed enough to speak.
    Why didn’t she go to the police the moment she learned about the first kidnapping? Why enlist Johnny and his twitching friend to do something so stupid ? E ven now she couldn’t believe it had ever entered her mind .
    N ow what? She’d certified her own exile. They would send her to the compound and put her through a series of indoctrination exercises. Only this time they’d keep her there, like Martin Easley’s son, Cal, and like Anat, the only one of Selene’s daughters with an independent streak. How Maia envied their courage and wished