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“Bequiet, the two of you!”MotherStrict-ezz,” snapped. “Andsilence your beast!”
“Shhh,Cade,”Andibegged him.Shewanted to get up and walk out—this was crazy!Butshe knew if she did, she would probably upsetGoodieTight-azz, and if her landlady kicked her out, she had no place else to stay.
I’lljust pretend to hit myself if they do it again,she told herself, gritting her teeth against the pain.Thenas soon as this is over,I’llgo see ifIcan find a mirror and have a look at my back.I’msure it’s not as bad as it feels!
Shehoped, anyway.
“Andnowthat we havequietagain,”MotherStrict-ezz resumed, givingAndia glare. “Wecan resume ourATONEMENTand our quest forABSOLUTION.Raiseyour branches high again and this time bring them down on yourrightshoulder and back.”
Andistarted to raise her bundle of branches again, but something was stopping her.Lookingdown, she saw thatCadehad caught the long, trailing sleeve of her atonement garment in his teeth.Hisgrip was so strong thatAndicouldn’t raise her arm.
“Cade,let go!”she whispered, but he only growled loudly.
“Willyou shush that beast?”MotherStrict-ezz demanded. “Weare trying to earnABSOLUTIONhere!”
“Er—IthinkI’dbetter take him outside,”Andisaid. “Ihaven’t had him that long and he’s still learning how to behave.Excuseme.”
“Waitfor me,I’mcoming with you!”Flow-da whispered.Thetwo of them rose and shuffled hurriedly past the many benches to the end of the hall.Asthey left,Andidropped her bundle ofPainLeafbranches on the ground but a glance behind her showed the other women in the congregation were all beating themselves with the stinging plants—their backs already oozing green blood.
Allbut one of the women was facing forward—GoodieTight-azz had her head turned around and was glaring atAndiandFlow-da angrily.Andipretended not to notice as she hurried to get out of theNewOrdermeeting hall.
She’dhad as much of theNOmeeting as she could take—and more than enough craziness to last her a lifetime!
28
CADE
Cadelooked worriedly down at his female’s bleeding back.Whyhad she hurt herself?Whyhad she deliberately inflicted pain and wounds on her beautiful skin?
Hedidn’t understand at all—except it seemed to have something to do with theSourWoman, who had a tight, puckered face and owned the rooms they had gone to stay in.
Cadedidn’t like theSourWoman.Shelooked at his female as though she was angry with her all the time.Also, her smell was sour and wrong.Shesmelled of anger and pent up frustration—like everything inside her had gone rotten years ago.
Beingnear theSourWomanwas bad for his female—Cadeknew that now.Hewanted to get her away from theSourHousewhere theSourWomanlived.Butfor now, he mostly wanted to heal her.Heknew that by licking her wounds he could close them—his body could always heal the body of his mate.Buthow could he convince her to let him heal her?
Hewould have to wait and choose his moment, he thought.Thenext time he got her alone, he would heal her.Inthe meantime, he would keep a close eye on her and be sure she didn’t hurt herself again!
29
ANDI
Andihad seen documentaries about the flagellants ofMedievaltimes—mostly monks who felt like their sins were so bad they had to beat themselves until they were bloody to make up for them.Thatwas what the weirdNewOrderatonement ritual reminded her of.
Suddenlythe brownish stains on the atonement garment she’d been given to wear made sense.
“They’reblood stains!”Andimuttered to herself, feeling her stomach roll as she looked down at the light blue garment.TheNewOrderwomen beat themselves until they bled on a regular basis!Thatwould also explain the many tiny white scars she’d seen onGoodieTight-azz’s back—and the backs of many of the other women as well.
“Ugh—that wasawful!”Flow-da exclaimed, when they at last stepped out into the weak, bluishZo’rathiansunshine. “Ihad no idea that kind of thing was going on in there orIneverwould have agreed to go to that nasty meeting!”
“Soyour friend who was in theNewOrdernever saidanythingabout it?”Andiasked, as she carefully stripped off the heavy white glove and laid it on the steps of the meeting hall.
“No, never!”Flow-da shook her head, her eyes wide. “Eithershe was ashamed to tell me, or they’ve gotten a lot worse since she got kicked out and moved up to theMoon.”
“Thatwas cult-like behavior!”Andiremarked. “God, my back stings!”
“Letme see.”Flow-da had her turn around.Assoon as she sawAndi’sback, she gave a little hiss of sympathy. “Ohdear—your skin must be more sensitive than aZo’rathian’s.Itlooks like somebody cut you all up!”
“That’swhat it feels like, too,”Andiadmitted. “Letme look at your back.”
