Page 68 of Wrath

She steps closer, until she’s within reaching distance, and he pulls her to him, pressing his forehead against her stomach. My heart twists as she begins to cry, running her fingers through his already dishevelled hair. “Please,” he sobs.

I hold my hand out to Martha, and she gives me the bleach. I remove the cap, but before I can use it, Wynter raises her hand, slamming it down and piercing his neck with the shard of glass. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, “but you can’t live in this world with me.”

His hands release her, and he clasps his neck. Confusion plays out on his face as he tries to hold the wound closed. Wynter takes a few steps back, staring at her bloodied hands, and I move in, gripping his hair and tipping his head back so he’s staring up at me. “You saw her naked one too many times,” I tell him, squeezing the bottle and pouring bleach into his eyes. He cries out, trying to wipe them clean but smearing it over his face. The second it touches his open wound, he screams, and I cover his mouth so all he can do is inhale the strong chemical into his nose. Satisfaction brings a calm feeling that settles into my bones. I never thought this would be possible, and yet here we are, winning the war.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

WYNTER

Itake a seat next to Anna, still staring at my hands. I’m shaking uncontrollably, and Anna smiles, gently taking my hands and using a cloth to wipe them. “It’s the adrenaline,” she explains.

“Am I a monster?” I whisper.

She shakes her head, glancing back when Cornelius is dragged from the pew begging for his life. “No, you’re a survivor of something terrible,” she says. “We all are.”

“But I didn’t feel sad,” I admit. “I felt good when I stuck that glass into him.”

She nods. “It’s called empowerment. You’re finally taking back what you should have had all along.”

The warriors begin to beat both Adrian and Cornelius, all their frustrations flowing freely. “I don’t know what to do next,” I mutter.

She tucks my hair behind my ear and sits straighter. “You gave us the strength to make a stand,” she says. “So, now, we stick together and leave this place behind.”

“I don’t know what’s beyond those gates.”

“It’s not as bad as what’s behind them.”

I stay seated, staring at my father hanging limply, as the others begin to carry the bodies down into the crypt. Alex knows a room beyond it where the forefathers hid other bodies. Wrath joins me, and we sit in silence for a few moments, the gravity of the situation settling in. “Are you sad because you loved Silas?” he eventually asks.

I turn to him. “No. Of course not.”

“Because I’d understand?—”

I cup his face. “I don’t love Silas and I’m not sad he’s dead. I’m sad it came to this, that we’ve been forced to do this, to have blood on our hands.”

“It was the final time,” he says, taking my hand in his.

“We have to tell the villagers,” I say, and I feel him stiffen. “There are too many bad men here, hiding behind this fake place created by those monsters. The women here should have the choice of freedom.”

“They might not be grateful, Wynter,” says Abe, rejoining us. Wrath shifts closer to me and almost smiles. “They’ll be scared.”

“Aren’t we all?” I ask. “I know I’m terrified.”

“Are you going to tell them what happened?” he asks.

I shake my head, pushing to stand. “No. We all need to shower and freshen up. When the village wakes, we will meet them at the town hall and say that the forefathers have left us.”

Zeus is cutting the ropes from my father, and he falls into a bloodied heap on the floor, groaning. “Should I finish him?” he asks, looking to me for guidance.

I shake my head. “No. Let him die slowly amongst the rotting bodies he sent down there.”

Martha begins to squirt bleach onto the floor as he’s taken away, and Jaycee appears with a bucket of water and a brush. Between them, they wash away the blood.

I take a breath. “Let’s go back to our rooms and clean up,” I say. “We will meet in the village hall at sunrise.”

“Should I spread the word in the village?” asks Martha, and I nod.

Wrath takes my hand before I can walk away. “Where are you going?”

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