Diana Racine 02 - Goddess of the Moon

is own master race ― a new culture, created with Crane genes.”
    Lucier s coffed. “It’s too far-fetched. Those four women co uldn’t produce that many babies, and wouldn’t they all be cousins or something? ”
    “ Cousins removed with c arefully distant inbreeding. Then h e employs surrogates , offers them money and a good life, and implants his daughters ’ eggs . Why not? Tell me what’s wrong with the premise? T hink what’s happened over the last week or two. Remember, money is no object. Crane has geneticists in one of his companies. Scientists can be bought just like anyone else, especially if they can work on special projects. I’m hypothesizing. Tie it all together and it’s diabolically plausible. ”
    “ A real stretch , Diana . Even if you’re right, why Satan?”
    She plopped down into her chair at the table. “I don’t know. Something to bind them, a powerful feeling of belonging. That’s what most religions offer. Maybe at first he explained it as their personal religion, without the demon aspect. I n the end, the men rationaliz e d to embrace guiltless hedonism and all the money they could ever want .”
    Lucier lifted his water glass and took a sip, his eyes focused on Diana. “ H e raised his daughters to seduce from birth , with Cybele as teacher. Even at sixty, she’s competition to her daughters. I never had Jason check her history, but I bet her roots are similar to Crane’s, and their small family affair turned global.”
    “ N ow they’ve taken a different path ―a futuristic one ,” Diana said. “ Maia and Dione went along because they didn’t have a choice . Cults don’t give you choices, and that’s what this is. They’ve been brainwashed to become willing members , everything within the group, with no repercussions to outsiders. ” S he stopped, and both said the next sentence together …
    “Until the kidnapped babies.”
    “Maia bucked the system,” Diana said, “now Dione Compton is scared because she’s contemplating following in Maia’s footsteps and going against everything she’s been conditioned to believe. Whatever rituals the group participated in, whatever practices they followed, until those babies, they never broke the law.”
    “The root of all evil,” Lucier said. “Then pleasure.”
    “Not so simple. To embrace Satanism, you first must deny God.”
    “Jesus,” Lucier said.
    “Him too.”
    Neither seemed interested in their food any longer . What if her hypothesis w as correct? The thought frightened her, and for the first time since the Seaver baby disappeared, she understood why she ’ d interest Crane and Compton. Her genes. The unique gift for which she had been either blessed or cursed.
    “ T he captain would laugh me out of the office.”
    Diana nodded in silent agree ment . Who would believe such a radical idea?
    “ As far-fetched as I think your theory is, I can’t ignore it , ” Lucier admitted. “Now to figure out what to do.”
    They cleared the table , took the dishes to the kitchen. Lucier’s attention wandered to the coffee table. “Pretty flowers,” he said. “Where did you get them?”
    Diana glanced across the room. How would Lucier interpret Slater’s visit? He was already suspicious where Slater was concerned. Besides, nothing happened but a mystical conversation. “One of the neighbors brought them from her garden. Wasn’t that nice ? ”

Chapter Thirty- Six
    The Seed of a Plan

    S eth escorted Maia up the elevator to the fourth floor. Anat’s building was one of two multi-storied structures in the compound, and she was the only occupant in it. He unlocked the door, and they stepped inside Anat’s suite, outfitted with everything one needed for a comfortable imprisonment. Sofas covered in chintz, bookcases overflowing with reading matter, a complicated-looking sound system playing Mozart, and an in-house gym. Anat Crane lay stretched on a chaise on a large balcony, her arm curled around a beautiful toddler on her lap. She read to the child from a large picture book. Both acknowledged their guests with a smile .
    Maia’s half-sister was even more breathtakingly beautiful than she remembered. She saw her last a little more than a year ago. Anat favored Selene, only her features were softer, where Selene’s were angular and sharp. She inherited the knockout body, though. Long and lean , with curves in all the right places, skin gleaming like burnished bronze from the sun.
    Anat emerged from the