“Serves him right,” Emma said. “He obviously doesn’t understand the concept of loyalty.”
“Exactly!” Callista brightened. “I’m glad you see it that way. You’re going to fit right in here, Agata.”
Emma gave her a fake-ass, self-righteous smile that she wassogood at. Satisfied, Callista picked up her tray and said, “I have to get back to the university, keep up appearances, but I’m proud the four of you are fitting in so well. If you need anything, just ask. We all have to look out for each other.”
She hurried off. Alexei put his head in his hands and moaned.
“I know this has to be triggering for you,” Kiara said, and she began to rub his back.
“It’s living in a nightmare,” he replied. “I hope we find the stone soon.”
Kiara frowned. After our poor supper, we were called to a mandatory meeting. Everyone in the cult had to appear, no exceptions— save for Callista, who’d gained special favor from the acolytes.
We were brought back to the large chamber we’d first entered. The four of us took seats as far away from that horrible stone table as we could.
I looked around, then leaned in to whisper to Alexei. “Where are all the children? I haven’t seen one since we’ve gotten here.”
His mouth thinned. “They’re here. They’re kept hidden, away from their parents. I’m sure we’ll discover where they are at some point.”
My innards twisted, remembering what Alexei said about his childhood, and the wicked things they did to the children here.
“We can’t possibly leave without helping those kids,” Emma whispered, and the four of us nodded.
“Agreed. We’ll find a way to help,” Kiara said.
Though how, I wasn’t sure. Our first priority was getting our hands on the griffin stone, but if we found it before we discovered where the children were being kept, how could we escape without saving them?
Acolyte Vesper began the sermon from the large bench that was above all the chairs. He spread his arms wide and asked, “What does Droga require of us, my brothers and sisters? He only requires our lives— our souls, our sacrifices. If Droga asks it, we must give it to him. We, his servants, are his voice here on this Earth. And if you refuse anything we acolytes ask of you, are you not denying the will of the dark god himself?”
There were noises of agreement, and Vesper went on. “We know the world is cruel and unjust. What you may experience up there, on the surface, is a life of vile sinfulness, so much worse than the good deeds Droga would have you do down here.”
Vesper pointed up to the ceiling, and to the city above. “We all know that Droga is coming back someday. At some point, he will be resurrected, awakened by the Worldweaver’s blood. We know the day is coming very soon.”
Emma shifted uncomfortably beside me, and I laid a hand on her knee, to comfort her and to keep her in place.
“When Droga comes back, he will rain misery upon this world such like none of us have ever seen,” Vesper boomed. “Cities will burn. Fae will drown in their own blood. Droga will tear out the entrails of the unbelievers with his antlers, and crush the bones of their children under his hooves. He will singe the flesh off their bones, and torture their loved ones as they stew in their own urine. Anyone who has not pledged their lives to Droga will perish, and be sentenced to an eternity of punishment. Droga will smite all those who have not agreed to follow him, and after, he will lead our people into a world of new hope and paradise.”
I became sick as Vesper continued to rant, seemingly taken away by his own words. “We are Droga’s chosen people. He will reunite us with our loved ones, and bring us into a paradise, a dark world run by the Unseelie fae. We will live forever on this new Earth, handmade by Droga himself in a land of comfort and peace. He will reward us for being faithful with eternal riches, but be warned— those who choose to walk away from Droga’s mercy shall face punishment. They will not be forgiven, and will meet the same faith as the unbelievers who chose to follow other gods.”
The sermon went on, and on. Most of it was filled with warnings about the incoming apocalypse and promises of doom. My organs grew sour the longer he spoke. Anyone who was brave enough to consider leaving would be scared off the idea by the fire and brimstone talk. Nobody wanted to be damned, and to so many people in this room who didn’t know any better, being abused by the acolytes was preferable than spending an eternity in hell.
After hours of this ranting, I was almost about to spring out of my seat and walk out— as dangerous as I knew that would be. But then Vesper raised his hand, and said, “We know all this is true, because we have proof. Droga has bestowed upon us a great gift.”
Acolyte Xantha came forward, holding a long wooden case. She knelt before Vesper, as if offering a sword to a king. He popped the case open. From within the case, Acolyte Vesper withdrew a long priestess staff, made of gnarled and twisted wood. As he held the staff up to the light, gasps resonated throughout the room, and I caught sight of the glittering yellow citrine set at the top of the staff.
The griffin stone.I reached for Emma’s hand, and she squeezed back, acknowledging she knew.
Vesper held up the staff to the room. Kiara and Alexei were on edge, as if posed to spring and grab it at any moment.
“This staff was once the cane of our founder, Lady Hargrave, who established the Black Claw hundreds of years ago,” Vesper announced. “It was lost to time, but after centuries, we have found it. With this staff, we will lead the family into a new era of power.”
Applause rang out within the hall, and I caught on. Vesper had the stone, and he knew what it was, but he didn’t know how to access its power.
But he didn’t want to give it up to Elijah, either. He wanted to keep it for himself. I wasn’t sure if the story he’d told the cult was true. He was playing the stone off as a part of an ancient priestess staff, so if word got back to the king, Elijah would dismiss it as some radical religious artifact, and not what he and Gabby were looking for.
Vesper quieted the room. “However, in order to access the power of the staff, a sacrifice must be made to Droga,” he announced.
The room had gone deadly quiet, permeated with the scent of fear. “One of you will be strong enough to unlock the staff’s power,” Vesper boomed. “To become an offering is a great honor. Only one who has a strong line of Unseelie blood will be able to unleash the magic within the staff.”
