“Ladies,” she said, and the room fell silent. “You will each be called in turn. When you hear your name, you will enter through this door.” She gestured to it. “What happens inside is up to you and your Reaper.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. I still had no idea what the third and final trial was actually about. All I knew was the name.Anteros.
I’d read a long time ago that Eros was the Greek god of love, so I could only assume Anteros was the opposite of that… and that didn’t bode well for me. In fact, it scared the hell out of me.
“Miss Ashworth,” Mrs. Astor called.
The girl who'd received a commendation with me at the second trial stepped forward. Mrs. Astor opened the door for her, and she disappeared through it.
It closed behind her with a heavy thud.
We waited for several minutes, but she didn't come back out. The room was silent except for the occasional rustle of silk or the quiet intake of breath. Then Mrs. Astor finally opened the door again.
“Miss Fontaine.”
Another girl stepped forward and vanished through the doorway. She didn't return either.
One by one, names were called, and one by one, girls in white gowns walked through that door and didn't come back. The antechamber grew emptier, and the tension grew thicker.
“Miss Birch.”
Madeline shot me another nervous glance. Then she walked to the door with her head held high, and I watched her disappear.
Now there were only three of us left. Then two. Then just me, standing alone in the vast antechamber.
Mrs. Astor looked at me. “Miss Calloway.”
I took a breath and walked forward on shaking legs. The door swung open, and I stepped through, heart hammering as it closed behind me with a heavy thud.
The chamber beyond looked ancient; far older than the ritual chamber where the Eleusinian ceremony had taken place. Thewalls were stone, carved with intricate patterns that might’ve been decorative or might’ve been some long-dead language, and torches flickered in iron sconces, casting dancing shadows across the vaulted ceiling.
The room was circular, and tiered stone seating rose up on all sides like an amphitheater. Every seat was filled.
The entire Council sat in the front row. Behind them were rows and rows of Club members in dark suits. All watching. All waiting.
In the center of the chamber, standing alone on the stone floor, was Julian.
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit that made him look like something out of a different era. Dark and devastating and dangerous. His eyes found mine the moment I stepped through the door, and everything else fell away.
For a moment, neither of us moved. We just looked at each other across the ancient stone floor while a hundred pairs of eyes watched us.
Then Julian crossed the space between us in long strides and stopped just in front of me, close enough that I could see the rise and fall of his chest and the tension in his jaw. He was nervous.
He'd always told me the only thing that ever scared him was the thought of losing me. So if he was scared now, it could only mean one thing. He was about to risk exactly that.
“Violet,” he said, deep voice finally breaking the silence. “Anteros was the ancient Greek god of requited love. The kind that is returned and bound by equal devotion. The Club took his name for this ritual for that very reason.”
As he spoke, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small velvet box.
Oh my god…
Suddenly everything was clicking into place in my head. The Anteros ritual wasn’t really a ritual at all. It was a marriage proposal.
I’d known for a long time that the Selection girls and their Reapers got engaged eventually, but I’d always assumed it happened after the training and trials were finished. I’d never imagined that the proposal itself was the final trial.
Julian’s words from four weeks ago flashed in my mind again.It’s not really a trial at all. At least not for you. But it could still be very hard for you. Or it could be easy.
He’d said that because it was about a choice. A massive, life-altering decision that could be very hard or very easy, depending on my personal feelings.
