AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Finding my sister, Hannah, and Caroline on the hill made it more enjoyable to be there. But I noticed we were being stared at by the other Chosen wives—except for Carissa, who was once again by herself. She jolted when I approached, then her eyes widened. What was wrong? Did I do something to make her uncomfortable?
Jayne put her arms around me, and I hugged her. “I feel so beat up, Sloane. Bruised in places I didn’t know I could be bruised.”
“Is it me?” Caroline didn’t smile, which was different than usual. “Or are people really staring at us right now?”
“It’s not you.” Hannah shrugged. “But I’m used to being stared at like I have two heads. I’ve been having visions since I was thirteen, and unlike Sloane, I didn’t hide them. I’m afraid you’ve aligned yourself with the not-cool crowd.”
Caroline rolled her eyes. “I think you’ll find me to be slightly shallower than you think. I’m not saying I’m not shallow. I completely am, but only because I hold myself to high standards, and I like when others do, too. Still, I recognize that’s a me problem not a you problem, but you three aren’t getting rid of me. I like it where I am. Well, with you three. Not with my husbands, who stare at me like they might prefer it if I went poof and vanished.”
I was sure she exaggerated. “They came after you to save you from the wizards.”
“Yes, they did, but frankly, that was surprising. Still, why did those wizards want us? That’s not something, apparently, they’ve ever done before.”
Movement caught my attention, and I looked over my shoulder. It wasn’t that I wasn’t enjoying my visit with the ladies—I really was—but my husbands were somewhere getting ready to take down dragons. It seemed bizarre to sit around gabbing while they prepared for battle. I couldn’t even see them. Are they okay?
Behind me, trying to stay hidden but failing, stood one of the strange ladies who had been there during the ritual. In fact, I recognized her as the older one who I’d saved. What was she doing behind the tree? I stepped away from my group to approach her, half expecting her to take off like a skittish rabbit and run for a bush somewhere, but she didn’t leave. Instead, she reached out her hands to grab my arm when I finally got close to her. Beneath her strange veil, I could see her eyes were wide and almost wild looking.
“Sloane!” She squeezed my arm and then looked around. “You have to understand something. You’re not supposed to, but you need to know things about the ritual.”
About the ritual? There were lots of things I would like to know about that. “What specifically do I need to know about it?”
“It’s not just a ritual. It’s…it’s an offering.” She looked down and let go of me. “Just know that. And this time he said yes. He said yes to all of you, but especially to you.”
Her words didn’t make any sense. “Who is he? I don’t understand. What was offered?”
An arm came around my shoulders as Carissa slid up next to me. “What are you doing?” She spoke to the woman, her head tilted curiously. “There are things that simply aren’t done. They make things worse, which you know. Or at least, you should, because you’re the one who has been doing this the longest. Joan, it’s enough. Leave Sloane alone. She’s fine. She’s matched with the strongest men here.”
Joan, okay, that’s her name. Obviously, Carissa knew what Joan meant, somehow. I waited for one of them to enlighten me, but instead, they just stared at each other. Okay, enough. “Ladies, someone start talking about this in a way I understand.”
The old woman glared daggers at Carissa. “There is always an offering and…”
“They’re here.” One of the Chosen I didn’t know screamed, and we all turned to look. Wheeling above us through the sky, I could see the two monsters I’d seen in my visions. Before, they were further into the city, and it had been a little bit later in the evening.
But we caught them before they entered the city. That has to be better, doesn’t it?
I rushed to see a gathering of Warriors shooting arrows at the flying monsters, but the arrows weren’t meant to bring the things down. I doubted they even pierced their skin. No, the arrows attached a netting around the flying beasts in the sky.
Oh, are they capturing them? “Is this normal?” I looked for Carissa, but she stood by herself again, not with me. If she seemed surprised about the capture, then she didn’t show it. In fact, she looked a little bit bored. I stared at the capture, but I felt the opposite of bored, because the guys—mine and all the others—were pulling the monsters down from the sky. They tugged, and despite the loudest roars I’ve ever heard, they were coming down. They spit their fire, but with nothing to catch near them, the flames didn’t do much. With the ropes tangled around their necks, they couldn’t spit fire at any humans on the ground, either.
I covered my mouth with my hand. The horrible creatures would have killed all of us—I’d seen it, felt it, and experienced every second of it. Yet it was also awful. I didn’t want them to hurt us, but I didn’t like them being pulled out of the sky, either. With the mothman, there had been a battle and the creature dealt a lot of pain on its way down. The ones who attacked us the last time actually attacked.
What is the matter with me? I rapidly blinked. I didn’t care about the monster. I didn’t feel for it. Monsters wanted to kill us.
I rubbed at my eyes, and Hannah nudged me. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” I really didn’t.
She shook her head. “How does that work?”
“I don’t know.”
Hannah never answered because the first monster hit the ground hard. Her husbands brought it down, so one of them grabbed his bow and arrow and shot it right through the eye. The monster flopped on the ground for a second before it perished. I wiped at the tears and tried to pretend I hadn’t, for just a second, cried. What is the matter with me?
“Wow.” Hannah whispered. “That was…impressive.” One of them looked up and grinned at her. That’s right. She’s never seen them fight. She’d been here this whole time, and she hadn’t yet had any visions.
They hadn’t shown her yet what they could do.
She walked toward them, and I stepped back. Yes…it was really impressive to see your own Warriors fulfill their life’s work.
