Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“No,” my father breathes. “You don’t want to know about this shit. All you’re going to do is dwell on it. It’s going to sit in your mind and eat at you.”
“I want to know,” I tell him. “I can’t stand the thought of going into this unprepared. I need to know what’s going to happen. What they’ll do to me. If I’ll get anything to dull the pain of it or if Zade is just going to go for it. The more I can mentally prepare for this, the more at ease I’ll be. I’m already scared enough, the last thing I want is to be unprepared.”
“Are you sure?” Nikolai asks. “What will happen in our sacred fortress will not be pretty. I’m not sure it is something anyone could possibly prepare for.”
“I want to know,” I repeat.
“Very well,” Nikolai says. “On the night of the sixtieth moon, you will be brought to our fortress dressed in white, symbolizing the innocence of your youth and your sacrifice. We will circle you, among those who have ruled before. Then in the hour before dawn, you will offer yourself to Zade. Your bare chest will be exposed, and as the flames roar around our fortress, Zade will plunge his knife into your chest. From here it will be quick. Your bones will be broken to make way for his hands, and as your heart still beats, he will tear it from your body and offer it as his sacrifice.”
Silent tears stream down my face, the fear locking around my throat and making it impossible to breathe. “How quickly will I die?”
Nikolai shrugs his shoulders. “I am not sure, child. I have only witnessed this sacrifice once before. She passed out from the pain as her rib cage was cracked open, so she didn’t feel it as Lawson tore her heart from her chest. She bled out quickly. However, I can’t guarantee that you will have the same response. You may pass out and go quietly, or you may feel every excruciating second of it.”
My father curses, and as I look up, I realize just how tightly he’s gripping the bars. His knuckles are white, matching his ghostly complexion, but I do what I can to try and ignore it. I know if I don’t get these answers now, I might never have the strength to ask again. “What will happen to my body after the ritual?”
“You will be buried in Empire’s tomb, among those who have also offered their lives as a sacrifice.”
I scoff. “You’re confused. I’m not offering anything. It’s being stolen from me.”
“However you wish to word it is your business,” Nikolai tells me, a bite in his tone, clearly not fond of Empire’s culty bullshit practices being called out. “The ritual is considered sacred and therefore not widely spoken of among our people. They know their leader must make a sacrifice, but many will never know what that is. Due to this, you will have a closed burial with only those closest to you welcome.”
“You mean, you won’t be sharing with the world what your people are going to do to an innocent life, and then you’re going to bury me away where no one will ever find me.”
“Empire is a powerful society,” Nikolai tells me. “If we made careless decisions such as leaving heartless bodies out for the world to see, we would have crumbled years ago. We have learned to protect ourselves and do what’s necessary to keep the authorities from sniffing around.”
Clenching my jaw, I try to take a calming breath and see it from his side. I get it, I honestly do. If Empire was careless with this bullshit, someone would have busted this operation wide open years ago, and these assholes would already be rotting in cells. Or better yet, dead. But there’s no denying the idea of my body being discarded in some unmarked grave, hidden away for the rest of eternity, doesn’t sit well with me. Hell, I downright won’t accept it.
“Okay,” I say, moving on, knowing this isn’t a fight that’s worth having with Nikolai. After all, if Sawyer is right, he’ll face the private trial with The Circle and be dead within days. This is something I’ll have to talk to Zade about. “What about my heart? After it’s torn from my body, what will Zade do with it?”
Nikolai forces a smile across his face and meets my stare through the bars. “Your heart will remain on a pedestal in our sacred fortress during Zade’s reign. It will be perfectly preserved, and then burned with Zade’s body when he ultimately passes.”
Tears stream down my face, falling from my jaw and dropping to my collarbone as overwhelming grief claims me. “There’s gotta be a loophole. Something in the archives that will save her,” my father’s broken tone cuts through the silence.