Page 8 of Sacrifice

“Is it just me, or are some people around here acting strangely?” I asked, glancing at Albert.

He pursed his lips and shook his head. “It’s not just you,” he said. “Everyone was elated when Rosamund returned, and they’re still absolutely thrilled about it. But as I said, she claimed she met the Devil and spent several weeks down in Hell, as part of a test from the Entity. Many people are now afraid thattheywill be tested by the Entity in a similar fashion one day. It frightens them.”

“Ah. I see.”

Jesus.It never ceased to amaze me how fucking brainwashed these people were.

Albert stepped aside at the Trudeau’s front door. “You can let yourself in,” he said. “I must get back to my post.”

I bade him goodbye and opened the door, and the strange tension I felt outside immediately intensified. Augustus and several of the other elders were standing by the kitchen table,ostensibly awaiting my arrival. Each of them was stony-faced, and the air seemed thick with the weight of unspoken words.

Perhaps my luck had run out after all.

Augustus stepped closer to greet me. “Sebastian, I was so pleased to hear of your rapid recovery,” he said. He gestured toward the table. “Please, have some tea.”

Ah, the famous truth tea again. Augustus and the other elders definitely knew something. But what? And how much?

“Thank you,” I said, pretending to be blissfully unaware of the tension in the room. “I’m due to take an antibiotic soon, so I could do with a drink to wash it down.”

I had more of the scopolamine antidotes on me, so I wouldn’t be compelled to spill my guts to this group even if I drank an entire pot of the bitter tea. I just had to find one, and fast.

I set my bag down and stooped to rummage in one of the smaller front pockets. I finally located one of the tablets and showed it to Augustus, as if I had absolutely nothing to hide.

He smiled thinly and motioned for me to sit. “How often must you take this medicine?” he asked, eyeing the tablet.

“Four times a day for the next two weeks. It’s to prevent infection.” I gestured to my affected side. “The stick didn’t hit anything major, luckily. But without your help, I could have died from blood loss. I’m very grateful you took me to the hospital. I owe you my life.”

“It was the least we could do,” Augustus said, pouring a steaming cup of the tea as he spoke. “We were very concerned for you.”

“It was my fault. I shouldn’t have wandered off alone.”

“Yes, well… it’s like you told us. You thought you saw Rosamund, so you followed her.”

I took a sip of the tea, swallowed the tablet with it, and nodded. “Speaking of Rosamund, I heard that she’s returned. You must be overjoyed.”

“Yes, of course we are.”

Despite his positive words, he didn’t seem happy. None of the elders did. They all remained tight-lipped and stern-faced; hands laced in front of them and bodies rigid as boards.

“Albert said your dream-seer was correct,” I said. “She was taken by the Entity.”

Augustus smiled thinly. “Yes, that’s what she told us. But truthfully, the circumstances of her disappearance and subsequent return remain... murky.”

Fuck.They were onto me. Rose, too.

“How so?” I asked before tipping my head back to drain the tea.

“Her story seemed fantastical, given what we know, but we put her through a Confession and found that she was indeed telling the truth.”

A mix of shock and horror scattered like buckshot into my chest, followed by a rising inferno of fury as I recalled Rose’s description of the Covenant’s confession process. These sick, twisted assholes had fucking tortured her. Publicly, too, to add a layer of humiliation to her suffering. Yet somehow, she’d made it through unscathed.

That’s my girl.

“What’s the issue, then?” I asked, cocking my head.

“Well, the thing is, despite what she told us, we know she wasn’t taken by the Entity.”

Ah, fuck.

---