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“You’ve taken up with a god. I very much doubt you’ve suffered much.”

Carefully removing the hot venison from the pan, I pile the meat on a napkin-covered plate to cool. “No god is capable of sparing us from suffering. Haven’t you heard the story of Jesus?”

“No, and I don’t care to.”

“I didn’t plan to preach.” I wipe my hands on a nearby towel and cross my arms. “Look, I’ve got stuff to do. I don’t really have time to entertain.”

“Did you know there’s a reward on your head?” she asks, ignoring me.

The question comes as a shock that I do my best to tamp down. “What?”

“Legion is offering a reward. Anyone who turns you over will be given provisions that are hard to come by out here. Food, supplies, and a chance to live within Szolen.”

“How do you know this?”

“Word spreads quickly, when such a prize is up for offer.”

“So, that’s why you’re here. To turn me over.”

“No. I’m here to ask you where you come from.” She lowers the blade, abandoning her nail-cleaning. “You weren’t born out here, that much I know.”

“And how do you know?”

“Because you’re not cynical. You still have this glint in your eye, like the world is a wonderful place.”

“I have no misconceptions about what this world is. It’s true, I’ve not lived the life you have, but that doesn’t make me unaware. To answer your question, though, I’m from Szolen.”

“The wall. And how did you find yourself on this side of it?”

“I was kicked out. Exiled to a convent.”

“Convent.”

“Sisters of Mercy.”

“I know that place well.” The peeling back of her lip to a snarl says she knows it far better than I do. “That’s no convent.”

“Well, obviously, I never made it there. I was kidnapped before I arrived. What do you know of it?”

Mouth sealed, she stares off for a moment, as if my question is too complicated for a simple answer. “A while back, my younger sister, Anais, became very ill. My mother couldn’t keep her fever down.” The tone of her voice is more somber than before, telling me this story probably isn’t going to have a happy ending. “We knew of the convent as something of a sanctuary for women out on the Deadlands. Back then, it was just the three of us trying to survive. So we took her there, in hopes they could make her well again.” Lilith double blinks, as if to stave off tears, and I catch the bob of a swallow in her throat. “She was severely dehydrated, and we were all hungry. The nuns took us in, but nothing was as it seemed. They took Anais to some part of the convent where we weren’t allowed to go. For days, they kept her there, only feeding us small bits of her progress. We were monitored, but fed and clothed. Then, one day, someone came to tell us that she’d contracted a contagious virus.” She stares off, eyes vacant, as if she’s been transported back to that day. “Worse than the Dredge. Of course, we weren’t allowed to see her. All they showed was some images they played on a moving box.”

A television, I’m guessing. A form of technology that most outside Szolen wouldn’t be familiar with anymore.

“Her eyes were so bloodshot, they looked black. Lifeless. Soulless.” Shaking her head, she frowns. “The innocent glint in them had faded away to something I didn’t recognize anymore. She was growling and snarling, banging against the walls of her room. Like an animal. They told us she’d be a danger to herself. To everyone. The old woman who ran the place told us it was best to put her down. Like a fucking rabid dog. So they did.”

“They let you go?”

“My mother, yes. They wanted to keep me. To teach me about your God. My mother made a deal with them. She would find another young girl to take my place there.”

“And did she?”

“Yes. It so happens she found two orphaned teenagers roaming the Deadlands in search of food. A brother and sister. And because she delivered two children, instead of one, and the girl was so beautiful, they released me. But it wasn’t until much later that I learned what they really did at that place.” Eyes lost in thought, she frowns harder. “That was no convent. It was hell.”

“How did you find out what they do?”

“Years ago, we raided a truck that was leaving the facility. We received word it was to be intercepted by marauders. We got to it first. A young girl was trapped in the back of that truck, and she was terrified. She told us of the things they did in that place. There’s a part of the convent that they call Purgatory. They do horrific things to the prisoners there.”

Purgatory. My mind rewinds back to the day Jack presented the Alpha that had supposedly murdered my father.