I couldn’t survive another.
But Father wasn’t done.
He paced slowly around me, the bottom of his robe whispering across the floor.
“Something has changed you, corrupted you,” he mused. “You lookhappy,” he spat the last word as though it offended him. “Your purity has been compromised.”
“No,” I whispered, throat tight. “It’s not—”
He struck again.
Harder.
I choked on a small cry, my hands quivering violently, tears blurring my vision.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
I tried. My head swam as I lifted my eyes to his.
He crouched in front of me, lowering himself until we were eye level. Then, his voice went soft—dangerously soft. “Tell me who is corrupting you.”
“I’m not—no one is—Father, you’re wrong—” My breath stuttered. “You’re wrong.”
He stared at me with a slow, spreading smile—one that split his face like a crack in glass.
“Oh,” he whispered. “My son, I am never wrong.”
He touched my cheek with his fingertips, the gentleness making my stomach twist more than the blows had.
“You truly think I cannot see the shadows growing in you? The distraction. The longing.” His thumb brushed beneath my eye. “You think I do not know the look of someone who has tasted forbidden comfort?”
My blood turned to ice.
Heknew, knew.
Maybe not everything, but enough.
“You aremine,” he yelled. “MyVessel.Myoffering to the Light. No one touches what is sacred. No one touches what ismine!”
I swallowed a sob. “Father,” I cried, “I’m still yours—”
He grabbed my jaw so suddenly and harshly that my teeth clicked together. “Confess,” he said. “Now.”
My thoughts tangled desperately. I couldn’t confess. I just couldn’t. If he found out it was Jace—he would kill him.
I looked into my father’s eyes, pleading, but his grip only tightened.
“You think you can hide your sin from me? Imadeyou. If you have given yourself, I will know it. If someone has touched you, I will carve their name from your throat if I must.”
Cold panic roared up my spine. “Father, please—please don’t—”
He released my jaw only to stand abruptly, stepping behind me again. “I offered mercy,” he said. “But if gentleness will not pull truth from you…”
“No,” I whispered. “Father, please, I—”
“You will kneel upright,” he said quietly. “And you will keep your arms up at your sides. If they lower, I will strike you again.”
My body shook as I obeyed.
