Page 39 of The Shadow Sanctum

“I admire you, Father. I wish…” I open my eyes and suck in a breath. “I wish I was as merciful as you… But I beg you, please. Please, Daddy, show that same mercy for Aiden.”

He breaks away from me in an instant, his face turning from soft to hard. I know the answer before he spits it from his mouth.

“No.”

“He was following my orders. This was my fault. Please, let me take the full punishment for a crime that was mine and mine alone. Please.”

His eyes narrow. “You don’t seriously think I’m going to execute you?”

When I don’t answer, he scoffs. “Don’t be stupid.”

“I am a Shadow Sanctum member beholden to the same laws as⁠—”

“You’re my daughter.”

I stand up straighter, my heart quickening. “So was Zephyr… And I killed her.”

“I don’t care,” he says immediately, the revelation either not a revelation or of no importance.

I rear back, snow sloshing beneath my feet. Father’s eyes run over me, taking in my shock before his features soften and he comes toward me with his hands raised, inviting me into an embrace. When I don’t accept the invitation, he takes both my shoulders and frowns inches from my lips. Too close.

I wish Sawyer were here.

I don’t know why I have that thought, but I do.

“You’re my number two,” Father says to me, smoothing my hair back. “You’re the most important person in my life… I need you, my sweet girl.” He kisses my forehead, his lips lingering for a second longer than they should. “I will always show you mercy… But only you.”

He lets go of me but leaves his colony of imaginary ants to run along the back of my neck. “Let this be a lesson for you.”

Father frowns like it pains him to kill my friend who knows all his secrets. And is willing to tell them. He gives me a pat on the shoulder, turns, and starts back toward the Nurturer’s compound to read to the young girls.

Most he will claim are children.

One he will claim as mature beyond her years, and what an honor it must be for her to be seen as such.

I close my eyes, press my fist to my mouth, and scream, the first crackle of thunder joining me.

CHAPTER 14

SAWYER

Rain.

So much goddamn rain.

Angel and I shiver as we hurry through the sloshed snow, our heads lowered as we search for shelter.

I didn’t know rain could be this much worse than snow, but the trees do little to slow it down, and it’s even colder soaking through our clothes. It turns the world into a gray, churning mess, thick sheets of water blurring our vision and slicking the ground beneath us.

We’ve made it past the road and over the peak of the hill, so the ground is even more dangerous here. I can hardly fucking see, but I still manage to make out the slope ahead.

“Watch your footing,” I call out, eyeing the way the earth dips sharply down, disappearing into the mist. The incline is steep, and the mud is already giving way in places, crumbling down in slow, lazy streaks.

Angel, of course, ignores me. He continues on ahead, hands over his eyes to shield them.

“How the hell do we get out of this fucking rain?” he yells a fourth time.

There’s an edge to his voice, an anxiety I recognize but not from him. There’s something truly frightening about isolation.