Diana Racine 02 - Goddess of the Moon

to her?”
    “Tsk, tsk. Calm yourself. You’ll get sick. Too much action and those drugs can make you nauseous, and we gave you an extra strong dose. Don’t worry. We didn’t do anything to Diana this time. We were all in awe. Once she goes through some … reconditioning, she’ll enjoy what happens.”
    Lucier found a new level of strength and screamed. “You’ll kill her.”
    “I ’m well acquainted with the state she’s in,” Slater said. “Been there, done that. For many years, in fact.” He walked over to Diana and ran his index finger down the side of her cheek. “Don’t worry. She doesn’t feel anything, and she won’t remember what’s happened.”
    Lucier sensed the interview was ending. K eep Slater talking . Information was power, and he needed power. “People will search for us , and they’ll keep searching . I’m a cop, for crissakes .”
    “Yes, that’s the one issue that bothered Martin. Funny how different things bother different people. He wasn’t in favor of kidnapping babies or even bringing Diana here. He wrote the notes, hoping to frighten Diana off, but she’s not one easily frightened, is she? You knew, though, didn’t you? Martin went along, but he fears cops. Didn’t like you. Bad experience from his childhood. After the incident at Silas’s house with those two idiots Maia brought there, he got cold feet . And when he found out you were accompanying Diana the night of the crescent moon … well, he made his objections public. Not good .”
    “ Martin wa s right. You should be worried.”
    “The re ’ll be speculation, no doubt. Did you and Diana run away together? Have an accident? The newspapers will have a field day, but they won’t find either of you. Ever. Your cop friend will say you called and said everything went fine. It’ll be one of the world’s great mysteries. Like what happened to Jimmy Hoffa or Amelia Earhart .”
    Diana’s body slumped pitiful ly in the chair. Lucier didn’t care whether Beecher sent out the FBI, the CIA, or the Canadian Mounted Poli ce. All he cared about was her. He had to save her from whatever indignit ies the y had in store.
    “You can’t keep her like this.”
    “Oh, we won’t,” Slater agreed. “Not all the time. Only if she’s a problem when we need her, like the other night. Th e dream she spoke of at Silas’s house happened. She took center stage , lying on a revolving platform, naked for us to worship. Unfortunately, we didn’t give her enough drugs that time, or she’d never have remembered the experience. Our error. It won’t happen again , but I doubt we’ll have to resort to that method forever. She’ll fall in line .” He gazed at Diana, a smile crinkling his weathered face . “She’s the perfect offering.”
    Slater walked to Diana and ran his fingers across her chest. “Except for one thing. She’s not made the way the men in our group like their women . Too flat-chested. We cultivate women here who have special endowments to aid in man’s pleasures. Our doctor is experimenting with a growth hormone to ensure those who lack the gene get a little boost. Our men love the results. So do the women, by the way. Makes them feel more like women. We might try some on our little goddess here but, frankly, we’re more interested in her eggs to perpetuate her unique talent.”
    The bastard touched her breasts . Lucier emitted a low growl as he jiggled his hands, wasting energy to stretch the plastic cord . Slater checked them from afar, giving Lucier no chance to come in contact.
    “Fortunately, Cybele’s well-endowed mother passed those enhancements to Cybele , a fact Phillip couldn’t ignore when he chose the fifteen -year old beauty as his wife. S he , of course, passed the genes to her daughters, who in turn passed them to theirs. The sensual beauty of his immediate family gave Phillip the idea to take the religion of his father and his father’s father to a new level ―one of hedonistic pleasure.”
    “Satan, sex, and pedophilia,” Lucier said. “How did Crane convince all the men to embrace that?”
    “Really, Lieutenant. You’re joking, right? You’ve seen those women. They could make a priest forget his vows and genuflect before them.”
    “And the Sunrise Mission?”
    “A repository of young women with low self-esteem, tossed away like garbage by the men in their lives. My job was to feel them out, ease them into the mindset. Not all the women responded, but most did . They