Something passes over his face, and he seems to shut down, withdrawing from the conversation. “Death Incarnate. Their leader, essentially. The one they want to maintain order and…pick who dies.”
“Whodies?” My stomach flips, panic seizing my bones.
“They use sacrifice to appease the god they’ve erected. Incarnate and his Maiden act as a vessel connecting life and death, and the sacrifices keep the cycle going. Well, that and the sex.”
“So it’s all true then? All the rumors, all the stuff people whisper about?” I swallow, trying to make sense of the information and wondering just how Jean-Louis ties in. “That day in the forest…”
“I had nothing to do with whatever that was. Until last night, I was doing my best to keep my involvement at a minimum.” he says, his jaw flexing. “Though thisiswhy I advised you to stay out of the forest. I was trying to keep you away from them. Said I’d investigate the new girl myself just to keep them off your trail.”
“But why exactly? What do they want with me specifically?”
“It’s not that they want you. It’s that they’d go out of their way to keep you from being my Maiden.” He grabs an apricot from the fruit bowl on the corner of his desk, rolling it in his hands. “The very first Incarnate and Maiden are rumored to have been Cronus and Manon Dupont. That was why they wore masks: to obscure his involvement. The current members arefearful of what it’d mean to have history repeat itself in that way, especially since they believe your family wants to destroy Avernia as an institution anyway, which would cut off all their power in Fury Hill.”
I sit forward, wrapping my arms around my stomach. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t dredging up all the terrible memories I’ve worked so hard at ignoring and that it didn’t feel like I’m in way over my head here.
Maybe I should tuck tail and run. Rid myself of the problems once and for all. No way would any of this touch me under my parents’ watch. Dad would never let it.
But that would mean abandoning Sutton and my siblings to fend for themselves, and I don’t want to be the girl who only cares about herself anymore.
“You can’t leave, can you?” I ask softly. “That’s why you were there last night, why you participate. Why you said you’d be their leader officially.”
“Yes. But something you should know, Elle, is that no one who joins gets to leave. You’re in it for life, which is why I’m sorry for dragging you into this. Had I not intervened last night, they’d have…” He trails off, squeezing the fruit until it starts to smush, juices spilling over his fingers. “The harm they would have caused as some sort of message… I would not have been able to bear it. I am not a strong enough man to stand idly by while you suffer.”
The cut on Sabrina’s shoulder flashes in my mind. Would it have been worse for me, being an Anderson?
“It isn’t your fault,” I say, the urge to mention that it’s his father’s on the tip of my tongue, but he stalks around the desk, gripping my chin in one hand before I can.
He forces me to look up, meeting his eyes. “Itisthough. Do you understand exactly what I’ve forced you into?”
I swallow. “It’s just role-play, right?”
“No.” He plants his hands on the arms of my chair, leaning down until his green eyes look like flames, burning bright enough to see from outer space. “It isn’t. The Maidenbelongsto Incarnate. It’s the equivalent of a marriage pact. An oath bound by consuming each other’s blood, then marked by sex before the Director and her cronies.”
My breath hitches when he toys with a piece of my hair. The way he reaches out tentatively, a hesitance lacing his actions, and gently takes a strand between his fingers.
“It isn’t technically legal, but the city would uphold it regardless. Especially for a Dupont.” He looks up, meeting my gaze once more. “There’s a reason I’ve never wished to fulfill the Incarnate position, other than the fact that it requires sentencing innocent people to their demise.”
But I just forced his hand.
His jaw clenches, a muscle thumping as he averts his eyes. I reach out, softly flattening my palm against his cheek and chin, and pull his face back toward me.
“This is not something I can ask you to take on,” he says in a low voice, lacing his fingers through mine. “I didn’t want you near any of this.”
“I’m a lot more resilient than you think. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
“The Maiden holds Incarnate’s heart in her hands. She is required not to break it.”
Why does it feel like we’re not talking about Death’s Teeth anymore?
“Because of the oath,” I supply, breathless.
His gaze dips to my mouth. “Yes. The oath.”
I lick my lips, my chest heating at the implication.
His movement is staggered as he leans in, swallowing thickly. I twist my fingers in my lap to keep from grabbing him, forcing myself to wait patiently for once. It’s been so long since we lastkissed that I’m starting to forget the slant of his lips on mine, the force of his breath against my chin, my nose?—
A knock on the office door sends us springing apart; Sutton launches to the other side of the room, immediately snatching a stack of papers as a blond faculty member sticks her head in.
