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“Are we ready?” she asks. “Is Cas joining us?”
The three of us look at him in question and he blushes, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, I’m not really sure what to do. I don’t want to mess anything up.”
“Nonsense!” Mom tsks, walking over to hug him. “You can’t mess it up unless you’re here with a closed heart. There’s not much for us to do anyway, Laurel takes care of most of it. We just kneel, repeat what she says, and follow instructions.”
“I can do that,” he smiles. “Just show me where.”
“Laurel, do you mind if I have one second?” Mom asks sheepishly. “I need to use the little girl’s room before we start.”
“Sure, I’ll finish up here.”
I take my place behind the altar and begin lighting the dozens of candles while we wait for her to return. Cas asks if he can help but Sil tells him no. Even the lighting of the candles is a part of the ceremony, and I have to do it myself. As High Priestess, it is my duty to bring light into the world as an example to others. The number of candles both allows the light to shine bright, and teaches that patience and dedication is required to achieve that goal.
I’m down to the last few candles when the door opens behind me and Sil gasps loudly. Cas curses and I whip around to figure out what they’re staring at.
The Reverant is here. And he’s got a knife to my mom’s throat.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mom is forcing her features to look as if she’s remaining calm, but I can detect the fear in her eyes from across the room. What scares me the most, though, is the Reverant. I’m obviously worried about my mom, but more than that is the state he’s in and the wild look on his face. His skin has sallow sheen to it, and though his eyes are lined with dark circles they seem almost bright with insanity.
“Did you truly think you could worship your whore goddess under my nose? Nothing happens in this temple without my knowledge!” Out of the corner of my eye I can see Cas attempt to take a step closer to his father, but that only makes him angry. Pulling the blade tighter to Mom's throat he screams, “Do not move! I will kill her, Castor. What happens now depends on you. Do you want to let it be quick, or painful?”
Freezing in place and raising his hands in surrender, Cas does his best to distract him so that I can make some slight movements of my own. “We can leave, Dad. We’ll just go, and you’ll never have to see us again.”
“You actually think that I’d allow my own son to leave and forsake our Radiant Father? I would be disgraced! I would lose the confidence of my flock.”
“Your flock?” Cas scoffs. “I thought they were the Bright God’s flock.”
“They worship him because I tell them to. They follow me, and they’ll continue to do so! Especially after tonight. After tonight He will bless me further, beyond measure I’m sure!”
“What happens tonight?” Cas and I share a look, and I give him a barely discernible nod to indicate that I’m ready to take action.
“Tonight, Castor, we sacrifice one of these whores to our god, and kill the rest. And you will help, because you desecrated His temple with this filth.”
“Wait,” I call, “I’m High Priestess. Take me instead of my mom.” I don’t have to hide the quiver in my voice because I’m honestly terrified that he’ll kill her anyway. You can’t bargain with crazy.
“No!” all three of my companions call out in unison.
“Don’t you dare!” Mom calls, giving me her infamous glare. “You stay up there!”
“High Priestess? Son, you have outdone yourself this time. Not only have you betrayed me and your brethren, you’re doing it with the worst of them all? I should have known that you would fail me this spectacularly.” His attention shifts from Cas to me and back again, and he nods as if he was having an internal conversation and came to a decision. “Ok. Come down here slowly. If you do anything I don’t like I won’t wait to kill her.”
I move slowly towards him, hands hidden in the folds of the fabric of my robe. Both the Reverant and Mom watch me closely as I descend the few steps leading up to the stage. Mom obviously wants to kill me herself, but she doesn’t know that I’m prepared for him. When I'm close enough to the Reverant for him to grab me, he snarls as he shoves Mom away from him and roughly grabs my arm, jerking me into the same position she was in. I can feel the pressure of the sharp knife edge, but thankfully he doesn’t cut my skin. Yet. I look at Cas and widen my eyes in a way that tells him I want to keep him talking for a few more moments. I need his focus elsewhere.
Taking my que, he begins talking again. “So what is your plan, Dad? Can you really perform human sacrifice? Kill a person, just because she worships a different god?”
“Of course I can, just like our ancestor before me. He realized the danger these priestesses posed, so he eradicated them." He pauses, chuckling madly. "Well, obviously not eradicated since these harlots are still practicing their filth, but his sacrifice of the High Priestess brought the Father’s light and blessing then. He stripped her down, tied her to the altar, and cut her open so she would slowly bleed to death. I’m simply repeating history for the betterment of humanity.”
“Well, you know what they say,” I quip. “History rarely repeats itself.”
The knife at my throat dips a fraction with his confusion, and I use that opportunity to strike. I shove my left hand into the small gap dropping his hand created and push it away, actually achieving some distance because I took him by surprise. While he’s focused on that hand, I whip my right hand out of the folds of my robe and stab the needle of the syringe I prepared into his thigh. His scream echoes through the temple, and thankfully instead of tightening his grip on me he flails his arms out wide. I duck out of his hold and run towards Cas and my moms, not willing to give him another chance to grab me.
“What did you do?” he bellows. “How dare you insult me in my temple!” His words start to trail off the longer he speaks, ultimately finishing with a confused slur. The hand holding the knife has dropped to his side and he’s wobbling back and forth as if he’s fighting to stay standing.
Which he is, no doubt. Ketamine is a bitch.
Shaking his head to clear it, he attempts to take a step forward while raising the knife once more, but when his foot touches the ground he drops. We watch him, waiting a minute to make sure he’s not going to jump up like some horror movie villain, but eventually Cas begins moving forward. He steps slowly and carefully to avoid the hand that is still lightly holding the knife and reaches out with his foot to nudge him. When he doesn’t move he hits me with a megawatt smile and kicks him straight in the stomach.
