Page 12 of Sinful

“I was just thinking about the outside world,” I said, looking at the shadowy path ahead. “I worry about it sometimes. The toxicity of it all, based on things I hear from the men. You included.”

Papa nodded. “It can be a dangerous place, yes. But you mustn’t worry. Everything we do here keeps the Darkness from penetrating it. You know what that would entail, of course.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Things would be far more dangerous out there if that happened.” He patted my hand. “But don’t worry. It’s natural to wonder about the outside world sometimes. You don’t need to be ashamed of that.”

He was right. It was perfectly natural to wonder on occasion about the things we weren’t allowed to have or do. Sometimes, in my most private thoughts, I even wished I could leave Alderwood to experience the outside world for a day or two.

The men were allowed to leave sometimes to trade with outsiders or attend secular universities that equipped them with special knowledge to keep our village running smoothly—healers, building engineers, alchemists, and secular law. But women were forbidden to leave.

That rule was never explicitly stated to any of us, but we all knew it anyway. Our duties were considered far too important for any of us to take the risk of being lost in the outside world. First, there were celestial virgins like me, who were vital in the ongoing safety of the world, and secondly, there were the women who produced our next generation. Men didn’t fill either of those roles, and thus, they were more expendable.

“Besides,” Papa continued. “You’ve been out there before, remember? When you were very young. And you survived, didn’t you?”

I nodded. He was right about that too. When I was a small child, only four and a half years old, I’d fallen ill with a terrible fever. My father was called to the outside world on an important mission that same night, and he’d decided to take me with him. He was scared of losing me the same way he lost my mother—she’d developed a fever during childbirth, which eventually caused her to fade away just as I emerged from her womb—and he didn’t trust anyone else to care for me properly.

And so, as sick as I was, I’d enjoyed my first and last journey to the outside world that evening. I barely remembered it, due to my young age and the fever that had overwhelmed my senses at the time, but a few things still stuck out to me. I’d seen a large outsider house, built of stone and wood, and I’d spied a young boy through one of the windows, staring out at me.

He was cute, with dark hair and tanned skin. I tried to picture what he might look like now that twenty years had passed, and to my horror, the handsome man with the half-skeletal face popped right into my mind’s eye.

No. Not him.

“You still seem troubled by something, Rosamund,” Papa said, eyes lingering on me as we stepped inside our house. He really didn’t miss a thing.

“My head is aching.” I pressed a hand to my forehead. “I really shouldn’t have had so much to drink.”

“Take a tincture before bed.” He patted my shoulder again. “You’ll feel renewed in the morning.”

“All right.” I forced a smile. “Goodnight, Papa.”

I picked up a lantern and headed upstairs, heart racing. The skull-faced man was still at the forefront of my mind. The thought of his handsome face and tall, powerful body ignited aspark deep within me, fueling a blaze that surged through my core and enveloped me in heat that spread all the way from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes.

Guilt suddenly lurched in me, like a bruise being pressed, and I pinched my arm as hard as possible until the feeling faded. I’d learned the technique for switching off negative thoughts years ago. My aim was to be in complete control of myself by also being capable of switching off the lusty feelings as well, but I wasn’t quite there yet. The heat inside me remained, pulsing through every inch of my body.

Lord.

My father was right about taking a tincture. It would dull my senses and stop these unwanted thoughts from slinking in, preventing me from giving into the temptation of touching myself.

I walked to my dressing table and retrieved a small glass bottle, using the dropper beneath the lid to add three drops to a cup of water. I swallowed it in one gulp and stumbled over to my bed, eyelids feeling heavy within seconds.

As I succumbed to the embrace of sleep, the vision in my mind’s eye blurred and softened, but one image remained clear: the enigmatic figure with the skull face, his hand extended in a silent invitation.

Without thinking twice, I took his hand and stepped into another world.

4

Sebastian

My backpack was filledwith enough clothes, snacks, and power banks to last three days. Two guns and a hunting knife, too. Probably overkill, but it never hurt to be prepared.

I checked my car one last time to ensure I’d locked it, and then I left it behind at the rest stop on the edge of the road. The path that led to Alderwood wasn’t far from here; a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dirt track winding up the side of the mountain.

The Covenant had a road leading off their land somewhere, so they could use cars when need be, but no one in Pinecrest Falls knew where it was, and satellite maps didn’t help with locating it. The road, wherever it may be, was in an area so dense with overhanging foliage that it simply didn’t show up on any satellite images.

When I reached the beginning of the path, I glanced over my shoulder and took one last look at the road before setting off, jaw set with determination. The way was lined with ancient trees, their gnarled roots snaking across the ground, and the air was crisp and filled with the scent of pine.

The hike took around an hour and a half, and each step was a reminder of how isolated this place was from the restof civilization. The higher I climbed, the more the world below seemed to fade away. Everything was strangely quiet, too. None of the usual wildlife sounds like deer darting through the underbrush or birds flitting between branches.

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