Two men in executioner hoods drag someone forward. Their captive is a man in a suit. He’s gagged and struggling, his hair standing on end as he thrashes in their arms. They muscle him forward and force him to his knees near the pool in front of the priest and the Devil. Both officiants step back, leaving only Sarah and Asmodeus.
Sarah steps in front of the man, who fights harder when he sees her. Asmodeus moves to help hold him down and bend him back over the pool.
My insides turn to lead. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I have the feeling it’s not going to be good.
Lucy rolls her wheelchair forward and hands Sarah a dagger. Silver glints as she turns it over in her hands. She looks so frail in her simple white dress.
But her face is calm when she steps forward, gripping the knife. A tremor runs through me, and Jaeger holds me fast.
She leans in and says something to the man. He shakes his head but can’t move much more than that. Asmodeus rips the man’s shirt open, baring an expanse of pale flesh, and nods to Sarah.
With both hands, she raises the knife high and slams it into the victim’s chest.
14
Elodie
Blood sprays,spattering Sarah’s solemn face.
I grit my teeth so hard they ache, fighting a scream. I cringe against Jaeger, my stomach full of acid.
Death doesn’t come quickly. Sarah’s strength wasn’t enough to push the knife deep enough. The man’s throat strains as he screams into his gag. He tries to move, but the Fraternitas members holding him are strong enough to make sure he doesn’t budge.
It’s Asmodeus who ends it. He moves behind Sarah, reaching around her to take hold of the blade, his large hands covering Sarah’s smaller ones. His muscles strain as he uses his strength to shove the knife all the way in.
The victim’s head lolls on his shoulders. He convulses, and the men holding him release him, letting him fall into the pool. Dark blood wells up around the dagger and pours from the wound, blending with the water.
Sarah steps back with clenched hands that are red to the wrist. Her white dress is bright with blood.
Asmodeus turns to her. He touches her face and takes a handful of blonde hair into his fist. He leaves traces of red everywhere he touches.
“Together in life. Bound by death,” the priest intones. Asmodeus leads Sarah to the side. They grip each other’s hands over a silver bowl, and Lucy pours a goblet of bloody water over their joined hands, filling the bowl.
“Courage, little demon,” he tells her, and she jerks her head in a nod. Her blonde hair hangs in clumps, the strands dark red where they’ve soaked up the blood.
“The ritual includes blood, water, and fire,” Jaeger whispers, and I jolt. I’ve almost forgotten he’s here. “We commit ourselves to each other and Fraternitas.”
I bite my lip, remembering his brand.
“Sarah is claimed, and now she is bound to Fraternitas as much as Asmodeus bound her to him.”
Because she’s complicit, I realize. She’s committed murder in front of all of them.
The masked men are fishing the body out of the water now. I can’t watch anymore.
I face Jaeger. “Why did you show me this?” My voice is barely a whisper.
He picks me up and carries me up the stairs. It’s a relief to leave, but as he carries me down a dark tunnel, I lose it.
I wriggle, wrenching myself out of his arms. My arms are tied together, but my feet are free. He lets me down, and I stumble on the cold stone. The balls fall from my sex, bouncing and rolling across the floor, but I barely notice.
I half run, half limp away from Jaeger and everything he’s brought me to. But it’s dark, and I don’t know the way. And Jaeger never had any trouble hunting me.
I end up in a dimly lit room built of polished stone. There are markings on the wall with names etched in the marble, eachlabeled with a skull. It’s a mausoleum, a place for the Fraternitas dead.
Jaeger’s shadow fills the doorway before he steps in.
“You wanted me to see this,” I babble. “You brought me here, made me watch. And now I’m complicit, too.”
