Page 18 of Sacrifice

She nodded. “It just feels strange being out here like this,” she said. “For so long, I truly believed a dark spirit would snatch me up if I eventhoughtabout venturing along this path.”

I stopped in my tracks, making her stop with me. “If you don’t want to go all the way, I understand.” I cupped her shadowed face in one hand as I spoke, lips lingering above hers. “I can go alone. I just need you to mark the location on a map for me.”

She shook her head, eyes alight with determination. “No. I’ll be fine. I want to go with you.”

“You’re sure?”

Another nod. Then she turned and trudged along the track again, shoes crunching over dead leaves. “Five minutes and we’ll be there,” she called over her shoulder.

I set my jaw and followed, occasionally casting my gaze behind us to ensure no one had followed us out here to the woods. It was unlikely. Most of Alderwood had been blind drunk from the festivities before midnight, and at least half of them had retired to their homes within that hour. The other half had lingered for longer, dancing and laughing and fucking beneath the starlight, but by one o’clock, most of them had returned to their homes too, leaving the streets empty and silent. The only ones left were several couples who’d gone through the fertility rituals, most of whom had passed out in each other’s arms on the cool grass after they were done.

Even by Covenant standards, the fertility rituals were weird as fuck.

Every couple who wanted a chance to conceive would walk arm-in-arm to a smaller clearing not far from the main one. A wooden ritual hut stood in the center of that clearing. They entered this hut, one couple at a time. No one was allowed to observe what went on after that. Not just me as an outsider—noone,except for the couples themselves and the healer in charge of the ceremony.

Rose filled me in on what happened in there, based on everything she’d heard from married couples. First, the couple would pray together, and then the woman would drink something that supposedly increased fertility. After that, the healer would ‘perform magic’ of some kind, and then the couple would emerge from the hut and have sex in front of everyone.

As it all unfolded before my eyes earlier, I’d watched it with a strange feeling gnawing at the edges of my mind, but I couldn’t figure out why it was bothering me. It reminded me of… something.

But what?

I had no idea.

“Sebastian?”

I jerked my eyes up from the leaf-strewn track. “What?”

Rose tilted her head. “I asked what you think the cave holds.”

“Oh. Sorry. I was lost in my own world for a minute,” I said. I cleared my throat and went on. “I’m really not sure what’s in the cave. It could be anything. I have a theory, though.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “What is it?”

“Remember what I told you earlier?” I replied. “About the mushrooms?”

“Yes. You think the founders ate some from the cave and hallucinated.”

“Yeah. I’m wondering ifthat’sthe big secret—a cave full of magic mushrooms. Drugs are a big industry in the outside world. So maybe the elders, healers, and so-called alchemists are pretending to be in there doing rituals all day, when really they’re just cultivating, harvesting, and packing shrooms to sell to outsiders.”

Rose stopped in her tracks and stared at me, eyes saucer-wide now. “You really think the Covenant could be involved withdrugs?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a theory.” I hesitated, rubbing my jaw. “But it would explain why all your alchemists have pharmacology degrees.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “Whatispharmacology, exactly? No one ever told me.”

“It’s the study of drugs and their effect on the body, usually in regard to medicine. But the illicit drug trade requires skilled people too. People who know how to make certain substances.”

“Oh. I see.”

I raised my brows and went on. “If I’m right about this, it would also explain all the money the Covenant has to pay for the men’s college educations, new buildings, and farming equipment, among other things.”

Rose’s lips tightened. “We make money from the farmstead. Local businesses all around the area buy our berry wines. They like our cheeses too.”

I gave her a faint smile. “I know. But one thing you’re going to realize when you’re in the outside world is how much everything costs,” I said. “Believe me, a few cases of berry wine won’t pay for medical school or law school, let alone anything else.”

“Oh.” Her face fell. “There’s so much I don’t know about your world. Sometimes it feels overwhelming.”

“You’ll learn everything fast.” I took her hand and squeezed it in mine, thumb rubbing her palm in slow circles. “You’re smart as hell, baby girl.”

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