Page 15 of Sacrifice

She nodded. “It happens once a month. The last one didn’t work for me, unfortunately, but my husband and I are trying again tonight.”

“To conceive, I presume.”

“Yes.” She looked at Rose again, eyes glimmering with smug pride. “It really is such a shame you can’t ever be a mother, Rosamund. I think you’d besogood at it.”

“Rose can do whatever the fuck she wants with her body,” I growled, unable to stop myself from defending her.

Anaïs turned back to me with wide eyes. “What did you say?”

Rose let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry, Anaïs. Ever since you rescued Sebastian from that terrible injury, he’s been taking medicine that the outsider doctors gave him. Papa said the medicine can make people say all sorts of strange, untoward things, and that we should just accept it and forgive him.”

It was the perfect response, playing right into Anaïs’s arrogance and desire to be recognized.

“Oh. I see.” She nodded curtly. “Well… of course I forgive you, Sebastian. I can’t imagine how awful your suffering must have been.”

“Yes. But I’msothankful you were there to save me.”

Anaïs beamed, swelling with pride all over again. Behind her back, Rose rolled her eyes, and I grinned.

As expected, Anaïs took my smile to be aimed at her, and she threaded her right arm through the crook of my elbow. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll help you walk.”

I turned to look at Rose, wondering if she’d be jealous, but her expression suggested that she was fit to burst into laughter at any second.

I knew we still needed to talk and figure out a plan to get her the fuck out of here, but we couldn’t be alone for now, thanks to Anaïs’s simpering presence. And yet somehow… that was okay. We had two days to figure this shit out. A few hours of food prep couldn’t hurt, especially if it was going to make Rose smile and laugh; something she hadn’t done in weeks.

Nothing made me happier than seeing her happy.

“All right, girls,” I said, lips curving into another smile. “Let’s go make some fucking pies.”

5

Rose

The roaring bonfiredanced alongside the people of Alderwood, casting flickering shadows over them as they laughed and chattered over the music.

I sat on a nearby log with an empty wine chalice in my hand, watching the proceedings with a pang of sadness in my heart. It was the last time I’d ever see my fellow villagers drinking and dancing together in the ritual clearing. The last time I’d see the Covenant’s great altar, adorned with antlers, flowers, and bones. The last time I’d watch expectant couples make their way down the path to the ritual hut, faces glowing with excitement for their future babies.

So many lasts.

But when Sebastian got me out of here—and I knew he would—there would be countless firsts for me in the outside world. I was scared, naturally, but I was also filled with excitement at the prospect.

Sebastian finally managed to shake the villager who’d spent the last hour talking his ear off, and he made his way over to the log and sank down next to me. “Looks like we’re alone again,” he murmured, hand resting next to mine without touching it.

My lips curved in a faint smile. “It’s about time.”

“Now you can finally finish what you were saying earlier,” he said, eyeing the elders by the bonfire to ensure they weren’t paying attention to us. “About why you came back.”

I gnawed at my bottom lip, insides churning as I considered the tumultuous last few days. “I honestly believed it was the right thing to do. I thought the Entity might forgive me for not being a virgin anymore,” I said softly. “And I knew they needed a sacrifice for the Tetrad.”

“You thought it had to be you.”

“Yes. But as soon as I returned, everything felt wrong. They treated me like some sort of criminal,” I said, shaking my head. “I was locked up behind the cathedral, and then they forced me into a Confession.”

Sebastian’s hand clenched into a fist on the log, and his eyes flashed with fury. “I wanted to kill them when I heard about it,” he muttered. “I still do.”

“I know.” I inhaled deeply and continued my story. “When they did the proving ritual afterwards, I was so sure I’d be caught. So sure they’d feel between my legs and realize I was no longer pure. But then… you were right. They had no idea at all.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” he replied, rubbing his jaw.

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