Page 85 of Song of the Dark Wood

Rowan tried to hide her horror because it was clear that it only served to please Elder Garrett.

“You look like you want to say something,” he said with a lupine smile.

Her mouth went dry. “The Mother’s will be done.”

Elder Garrett looked disappointed by her tepid reaction. He bent down, reaching behind the altar and lifting two silk ropes. “These will be fastened around your wrists so your arms are stretched overhead.”

Rowan nodded, holding his gaze, willing her breathing to stay steady, willing her heart to stop racing. Sadly, her will was no match for the adrenaline coursing through her.

He frowned. “That doesn’t worry you?”

“The Mother’s will be done,” she repeated.

A part of her withered to dust like a desiccated flower. She retreated as she did when anything horrible and unavoidable happened. She went in and in and in—descending blindly into the dark, bottomless well inside her. There would be time to feel later. Now she simply needed to endure. Survival was an ugly choice, but Aeoife was relying on her.

“Well then,” he said. Dropping the ropes, he grabbed her arm.

She desperately wanted to wrench it away, but she didn’t dare. She was underground with a predator, and she knew no one would be able to hear her scream. One false move was all it would take.

Elder Garrett shoved Rowan back so that she lay on the altar, looking up at him. Then he yanked her wrists overhead and wrapped them in the silk ties before pulling them tight. Her heart pounded in her ears along with the discordant sound of the energy around him.

An awful, pulsing hatred coursed through the air. It tried to wrap around her. She could feel the press of it, but it could not touch her skin. She looked around the room wildly for anything that could help.

Against the wall on the left side of the room was a large chest next to an armoire. They probably just held supplies for rituals, but she made a mental note to try to sneak back later and check for the journals.

“You look perfect like that. You’re right where you belong. You’ll then be spread wide by two of the elders. And do you know what will happen?” Elder Garrett asked. He stepped closer so his hips pressed against her knees. “Then I’ll be right here.”

Finally, Rowan couldn’t temper her reaction any longer.

He grinned at the horror on her face. “That’s right, Red. My peers unanimously chose me to taste what the Wolf isn’t interested in. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”

Rowan shook her head, squeezing her eyes closed in disgust, but it just made it worse as she pictured everything he was saying.

“When I’m done, we’ll take your blessed blood and anoint the Elder Tree and pray to the Mother. If the sacrifice is accepted, the blood will be drawn up the roots, and we’ll know it’s successful.”

Rowan’s eyes snapped open, and she stared at him in abject horror. How had he convinced the elders this was a good idea—that the Mother would approve of such a thing or that the Wolf would want it?

Rowan desperately wished for the Mother. Her protection felt surprisingly flimsy.

Cade’s warning about Elder Garrett spun through her head. If he’d truly made a deal with a demon to be more persuasive, perhaps that was exactly how he’d convinced the elders this ceremony was a good idea and that he should lead it. Dizzying nausea spun through her.

“I need air. I think I’m going to be sick,” Rowan rasped.

Elder Garrett made a disgusted face, but it was clearly the right thing to say because he quickly unbound her hands, and she hopped up and followed him up the stairs. Once she recognized where she was, she rushed past him and tore out of the doors of the temple.

Rowan sucked in huge gulps of air so cold it turned to pins and needles in her lungs. She only paused for a moment before continuing through the square. Elder Garrett called out behind her, but she just kept walking. Her head spun. Her knees were weak. She had no idea what she needed, but she couldn’t seem to calm her shallow, rapid breathing.

She tore through the town square nearly colliding with a burly man who stepped into her path.

“This blight is on you, Red! You need to do something! The Wolf is killing our food supply because you won’t give him what he wants!” the man grumbled.

Rowan took a step back as a woman joined the man.

“Yeah, give the Wolf what he wants, girl. Or do you think you’re too good to work for your living? Are you just content to live off the backs of this community?” the woman demanded.

“You owe it to this town to do your job, girl. People are trying to sacrifice children that aren’t even spirit singers. I heard they dragged three crying girls from the temple just yesterday,” the man said.

Rowan’s stomach heaved. How could things possibly be this frenzied in such a short time? Her eyes darted around the square. More people were starting to gather, drawn to the shouting. The crowd swelled and pressed in from all sides.

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