Page 38 of Wolf, Willow, Witch
“Well, now would be a good time to spill the fuckin’ tea,” she hissed.
“You were right.”
“Obviously. About which part?”
Lincoln hushed her and nodded in the direction Phillip pointed.
The string lights dimmed and vanished. Shadows stretched and flickered. Half-melted pillar candles gilded the snowy ground, and the preserve became an outdoor cathedral, silent except for the crunchy footsteps growing nearer. No one spoke. No one moved. The energy soured, turning the air like a day-old corpse. Tehlor leaned against Lincoln and clutched her purse.
You. Chills scaled her arms. Tehlor watched the pair come into view. Amy led a girl—nineteen, maybe twenty—by the elbow.Sophia. She was swathed in white, like a bride, wearing a long-sleeved dress with a high, high neckline. Her snow boots were cheap and tattered, clearly second-hand, and a head of beautiful, waist-length curls fell around her. Brunette, same as her sister. They shared a small nose and thin mouth.
“For she will keep the Lord, and the Lord will keep her. For she will carry what others cannot, and by the grace of God, defy death. Holder of old, conduit of deceit—you are the messenger, the lamb, and the light.” Phillip raised his arm high, opening his palm toward the sky. “And the Lord will keep us.”
The congregation spoke as one. “And the Lord will keep us.”
Tehlor swallowed hard. Sophia’s gaunt face held a ferocity she’d only ever seen in herself. Desperation, fear, rage. She stared straight ahead, mouth set tight, brow cinched with concentration, and trembled at Amy’s side. No tears fell from her glassy eyes, but the thick sheen gave her away. Gave them all away.
“She’s terrified,” Tehlor whispered.
Lincoln hummed. “She’s pissed,” he corrected. “Feel that?”
“Yes,” she spat. Of course, she felt it. Roiling, destabilizing magic. Power like a vacuum, suckling at any nearby source, shredding energy, unmaking hope.
Amy held Sophia in a white-knuckled grip. She smiled at Tehlor, though, as if they shared the same excitement, mania,faith. As if Tehlor had subscribed to whatever devotional Amy had mainlined for long enough to… to give up.
“Kimberly,” Phillip said, offering a warm smile to a woman at the front of the gathering. “C’mon, darlin’.”
A woman with a tidy blonde bob walked up to the trough. She placed one foot into the still water, shivered, then followed with the other. She cast a nervous smile around the group and sank down, submerged to her shoulders in the shock tank. Tehlor anticipated chatter, but the Haven congregation stayed entirely quiet. Everyone stared, electrified but completely still, like mannequins in a horror movie. Tehlor gripped Lincoln’s hand.
Phillip stood at the top of the trough and touched the crown of Kimberly’s head. “I hereby baptize you in the name of the Father…” He swept his free hand above her. “And the son, and the Holy Spirit…” Made the sign of the cross. “As Jesus rose, we too shall rise.” Then he shoved Kimberly beneath the water.
Tehlor waited for her to breach. For Phillip to lift his hand and introduce the newest Haven initiate. But Daniel stepped around the back of the shock tank and leaned over, setting his hand on the woman’s chest. Phillip gripped Kimberly’s shoulder and trapped her.Oh.Tehlor held her breath, watching the water shift. At first, Kimberly made tiny, uncomfortable movements. Tapping her fingers. Lifting and lowering her legs. A minute went by. Kimberly gripped the sides of the trough before reaching outward, grappling for someone, anyone. After that, she flailed. Water splashed over the sides of the tank. Phillip held her under, enduring her wild arms, and Daniel braced, dodging desperate kicks.
A muted, waterlogged sound came and went, a shout or plea, before Kimberly went still.
Someone gasped. Another person whispered, “The Lord will keep her.”
Everything inside Tehlor saidget the fuck outandrunandthis is not what we prepared for, but she locked her knees and kept her expression neutral.Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t—
Amy manhandled Sophia toward the edge of the trough and grabbed the girl’s wrist, forcing her closer. Sophia growled and tried to yank away, but a brittle hush made her wince. She relented, allowing Amy to guide her open palm into the water.
“The Lord will keep her!” Phillip shouted.
The congregation followed. “The Lord will keep her!”
Black tendrils snaked across Sophia’s eyes, diving into her pupils. In a rush, her wide gaze turned black as night. Her head snapped backward, and her mouth peeled open. The lace collar framing her jaw trembled under the weight of a silent scream, but the sound still ricocheted inside Tehlor’s head. She heard it—Sophia’s guttural howl mingling with a thousand unrecognizable voices—and squeezed her eyes shut. Noises filtered through. Bones, chewed. Wings, beating. Eagles, shrieking. Teeth, gritted. When she cracked her eyes open again, Sophia’s bottom jaw had stretched low enough to hint at breakage. Wind whipped through the gazebos, causing lit wicks to quiver.
Kimberly shot forward, spitting up a lungful of water, and the Haven congregation erupted into applause. Shouting, prayer, and a chorus ofhallelujahfilled the air. Amy’s broad smile dimpled her face. Phillip grinned triumphantly, hoisting Kimberly out of the trough. The freshly baptized woman steadied herself. She stood, sopping wet, and glared at the ground, hollow-eyed—different. Rose nodded, her smile brutal and cold, and shifted her attention to Tehlor.
“Thought so,” Lincoln breathed out.
Tehlor reached into her purse and cupped her shaky hand around Gunnhild.
“Holy mother, you will carry Haven’s light,” Phillip said, wrapping a fresh towel around the shell of the woman he’d drowned moments prior. “The Lord blesses those who are obedient, for the devout find themselves in the presence of miracles!”
Creeping sickness spread through Tehlor, turning her stomach.Mother. Carry. Miracles.
She choked. “He’s… These women are—”
