Bellinor burst through the door a moment later, a worried look on his face as he strode over to the bed.
“He’s hurt!” she cried, Rul’s tight hold on her finally letting up, though that didn’t stop the fear from racing through her.
“I’m fine,” he groaned, the lie blatant from the stiffness in his muscles and the distorted expression on his face.
“You’re not fine.”
Her voice was raspy as Rul released her hand, the room still shaking like a great quake was upon them. He pushed himself up, circling his arms around her as everything vibrated with terrible energy.
“What is going on?” she asked for what felt like the hundredth time, frightened by the way le Jardin continued to shudder violently.
Rul and Bellinor glanced at each other, as if neither one were eager to answer.
“Le Voile hungers,” Bellinor said, which explained nothing.
“And what does that mean?”
Anger was bubbling in her chest, heating her skin and tensing her muscles. She refused to feel the tenderness in Rul’s grasp, pulling away from him and shuffling to the end of the bed, wrapping her arms around her knees as if making herself smaller would help her escape.
“It means someone must be delivered to le Voile. Le Jardin is in danger. Le Voile doesn’t just let us live peacefully here. There is always a sacrifice.”
Isabelle sucked in a breath, the meaning apparent as she stared at them with wide eyes.
“I’mthe sacrifice,” she whispered, her chest clenching with despair.
Celeste was right.
She had let lust into her heart, and she was dancing with the devils. Devils who had only brought her here to feed her to the Veil.
“No, no, of course not!” Rul said, holding his hands up, the pained grimace still on his face. “It’s impossible to know when le Voile will hunger, though usually it’s not this close to the last feeding.”
“You’refeedingpeople to it? Goddess…”
“Wearen’t doing anything,” Bellinor growled, stepping closer to the bed, but not making a move to touch her.
“I should never have believed you. Either of you. I should never have betrayed the moon mother,” she murmured, clasping her hands together in a desperate prayer.
She had forsaken the Goddess, and in her heart, she knew the Goddess had forsaken her.
Now Bellinor’s brows furrowed, his glare deadly.
“Your moon mother is the one who created this place. The one who feeds le Voile. This is allherdoing.”
It felt like she had been punched in the gut, all the breath taken from her lungs in a single instant.
“What are you talking about?”
“Why do you still care so much about her?” Bellinor asked. “She who has taken everything from you but given you nothing in return.”
“That’s not true!”
“You sacrifice everything for her, and all she does is make you feel worthless when you have so much to offer.”
“The moon mother is the only one who deserves my love. And if she sent you to this place, then it’s because you belong here.”
Bellinor and Rul’s eyes both widened in tandem.
“She lied to you,” Bellinor growled, his hatred for Celeste palpable. “She is nothing more than a witch.”
