Page 38 of Sinful

“Thomas is worthy,” Augustus called out. “Praise the Entity!”

A great cheer arose from the crowd, along with a repeated cry. “Praise the Entity!”

With that, the elders patted Thomas on the back and released him to the masses. Two adults rushed forward to embrace him—presumably his parents—and the three of them quickly disappeared into the crowd.

All around us, people were suddenly undressing and falling all over themselves, kissing and groping and moaning. I turned to the right, forehead wrinkling, to see multiple couples already going at it on the grass like wild animals, fucking in every position imaginable.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked, fascinated.

Rose rubbed her forehead and sighed. “This always happens after the rituals,” she explained. “It promotes bonding and fertility.”

She looked embarrassed, cheeks flushing and eyes focusing downward. I turned my full attention back to her, acting as if I no longer noticed or cared about the massive orgy unfolding around us.

I needed her to think I only had eyes for her. That I’d come here just for her, like the Entity had supposedly informed her of during her so-called visions. And truthfully, Ididonly have eyes for her. The people around us were entertaining for sure, but they didn’t turn me on. Only Rose turned me on right now, with those innocent eyes and big pink lips that she couldn’t stop biting. I couldn’t wait to bite them myself.

“This Entity of yours,” I said, turning back to her. “Is he actually male? Or do you just say ‘he’ to make it easier to discuss?”

“The latter,” she replied. “In truth, the Entity is neither male nor female. As I told you, we are all equal here, so it wouldn’t make sense for our god to be male.”

“But you still can’t go to college, can you?”

She laughed softly. “We already discussed this, Sebastian.”

“I know. I’m just teasing you,” I said, flashing her a small, playful smile. “As a woman, you’re too important.”

“That’s right.”

“Tell me more about this celestial virgin stuff,” I went on. “What’s so significant about being a virgin?”

“Many things,” she said. “Firstly, our blood is important for many rituals. For example, the lifeblood everyone imbibed tonight. I added some to it earlier today, and so did the other celestial virgins. Everyone knows our blood is pure and safe, so it is the best for vitality.”

I stared at her, brows furrowing. “I thought that was animal blood.”

“No, of course not. You drank from me and all the other virgins.” She raised a brow and tilted her head, telegraphing her concern. “Does that bother you?”

Jesus fuck, these people are insane.

“It’s a little strange to me, but nothing I can’t handle,” I said. “Your father told me you’re one of the most important celestial virgins. Is that true?”

Rose nodded. “I was granted the status when my mother died giving birth to me on the night of a blood moon.”

“I take it that’s significant in the Covenant doctrines.”

“Yes. It means I was destined for the Tetrad ritual,” she said. “Do you know what a tetrad is?”

“Er…” I frowned, rubbing my jaw. “Don’t think so.”

“You know what a blood moon is, don’t you? A total lunar eclipse?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Usually, there are only one or two blood moons per year. But, on extremely rare occasions, something called a tetrad can occur. This means there will befourconsecutive blood moons in a singular year. It can be predicted by astronomers, including our own.”

“How rare are we talking?”

“Every few hundred years,” Rose said. “You’ve actually arrived at a very important time for us, because the tetrad is happening as we speak.”

I glanced up at the sky. “It is?”

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