Page 116 of Twisted Truths
“You’re lying,” she says cooly. “Who are you? Why do you look familiar? You’re not a Circle member. Gabriel wouldn’t trust you with something so important.”
“How did you know Gabriel would be here tonight?” I ask, my eyes darting to his brother before landing back on her.
I need to keep her talking until Gabriel gets here.
Hadley sobs quietly into my chest, grieving the loss of her sister all over again. My heart aches for her. She thought Madeline died from complications from childbirth, but she was murdered. Rage builds inside me at the number of lives that have been ruined by the insanity cultivated by this cult.
“I saw him with Isaac,” Sierra says with a soft smile. “I knew he’d come back for me. We are destined to be together.”
Her eyes drop to Franklin again, and I swallow hard,inching forward. She’s unpredictable, and I’m terrified of what she might do to him.
“Gabriel wants to stop the Ritual of Illumination because he knows this child is not the true Divine Light. I overhead them talking in the woods. The child’s mother lied to us. She tricked him into getting her pregnant. She was impure, and she paid the ultimate price.”
My breathing stops. “What did you just say?”
“I would do anything for Gabriel,” she continues, her voice light and dreamy as she brushes a strand of hair from Franklin’s forehead with eerie tenderness. “Anything. I cleared the path. I made space, and he still choseher.”
“Did you do something to Zara?” My voice is weak as I stare at my nephew.
It doesn’t make sense. There’s no way someone her size would be able to murder my entire family on her own.
She throws her head back and laughs maniacally, causing Franklin to startle and start crying. “I didn’t have to do anything to Zara. She had her own shadows closer to home.”
My stomach drops. What the fuck does that mean? Her delusion seems to be spiralling.
Sierra shifts her grip on my nephew in an attempt to soothe him. It’s not rough, but it’s not careful either.
“Please,” I say, stepping forward slowly, my hands up. A small movement catches the corner of my eye, but I don’t take my eyes off Sierra and Franklin. “Give him to me. Let me help you.”
She shakes her head, rage and pain mixing into a terrifying, twisted mask. “I don’t need your help. I’m going to prove my loyalty to Gabriel and put a stop to the ritual by getting rid of the deceiver. He will realise my devotion, and we will conceive the true Divine Light.”
Hadley cries out as Sierra picks up a candle from thewindowsill and moves to set fire to the blanket covering my nephew. I lunge for her as the door bursts open.
I wrench Franklin from Sierra just as Isaac grabs Sierra’s arm, knocking the candle across the room in the process. Gabriel stands frozen in the doorway, his eyes wide as the candle rolls into the cluster surrounding the bassinet. One topples, then another, and we watch in stunned silence as the flames catch the carpet alight, the candles falling like dominoes.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
HADLEY
Sierra lets out a high-pitched keening sound as she leaps off the rocking chair towards Nash and Franklin. Everything happens in slow motion. Before I can even think about what I’m doing, I grab a lamp off the chest of draws and throw it at Sierra. It catches her on the temple, and she crumples to the ground.
Smoke fills the room as the flames quickly spread, catching hold of Sierra’s cotton dress. I’m frozen to the spot as I watch the fire consuming an unconscious Sierra, the stench of burning flesh filling the room.
“Woah, there, little possum,” Nash says, grabbing me around the waist with one arm, while still holding onto Franklin with the other. He pulls me towards the door while Gabriel helps Isaac.
We’re all coughing as we race down the hallway and out the back door, taking cover in the bushland that surrounds the property. Rather than going back to the path and through the cemetery, the same way we came in, we cut through the thick trees until we reach the river.
Thankfully, there is a shallow part we use to cross, and we dash into the tree line on the other side. We don’t dare to turn on a torch for fear of being caught, but there’s just enough light from the moon cutting through the branches that we can make out where we are going.
I stick close to Nash and Franklin, leading them and pushing low-hanging branches out of the way. Isaac is right behind us, stumbling occasionally through the undergrowth. His breaths are heavy and uneven, and he’s clearly battling a concussion from Sierra’s attack. Gabriel flanks the rear, checking over his shoulder every few seconds like he’s expecting someone to break through the trees after us.
Gabriel finally breaks the tense silence, his voice low and sharp.
“What the hell happened back there with Sierra?”
Isaac lets out a low groan and slows to a walk, unable to talk and run at the same time. “She showed up about ten minutes before you guys were supposed to. Just walked straight through the back door like she belonged there, talking this insane crap about how she was finally going to make you proud, and how she was going to ‘pave the way’ for us. I think she said something about creating therealDivine Child.”
I glance back at Gabriel, but his face is unreadable in the dim light.
