“And then?”
He closes his eyes.
“They were corrected.”
“With what?” I whisper.
His lips tremble, and his tongue darts out to moisten them.
“Whatever was required.”
“And the baby?” I press. “I saw the pictures.”
His eyes pop open.
“The mother was defiled,” he snaps suddenly. “She was impure.”
The room goes dead still.
“She was chosen,” he continues, voice gaining strength. “Her womb was compromised by outside contamination.”
“Outside contamination,” I repeat faintly.
“She let a man touch her who wasn’t sanctioned. The child carried sin.”
My hands go cold.
“So you removed it,” I say.
He lifts his chin.
“We preserved the sanctity of the covenant.”
I stare at him.
“You cut a baby out of her.”
“It was mercy,” he hisses. “Better than letting corruption spread.”
The word mercy makes something in my chest crack. I don’t realize I’m shaking until Elias’s hand comes to rest lightly against my shoulder.
“Is that enough, Little Sapphire?” he asks, his lips by my ear, his warm breath warming my icy cold skin.
“Yes,” I say decisively. The reporter in me is satisfied. The other part of me, the survivor of her own nightmare? She wants blood.
Standing up, I move the chair away before extending a shaky hand to Cole.
“May I have a knife, please?”
The knife thrower blinks at me before his lips stretch into a slow grin.
“What kind do you need, Blue?”
“Something good for removing vile appendages.”
Logan whistles, leaning back against the trailer wall.
“Little bird has some fire. I like it.”
