31. Luna
LUNA
The arena is too quiet.
No cheers. No chants. Only the trudge of boots retreating as Thorne’s body is carried away. Heads bowed. Hands folded. Reverence where there should be celebration. The Sanctum doesn’t know what to make of it. Neither do I.
Father steps forward, his voice pitched to shake the air. “We have lost a son. We have lost strength. But we endure, as we always have.”
His words wash over the people, but they don’t rise to meet him. Their eyes are heavy, their shoulders hunched. The more he talks, the more their silence swells.
I see their faces. Nothing but grief and confusion. Like they’ve already started to doubt.
That should bring me peace, but it doesn’t.
Father lowers his head with a dramatic sigh that’s not nearly as grief-stricken as he thinks it is. “But balance must be restored. My daughter, Luna, has issued her own grievance, and if peace is to come to the Shadow Sanctum, it must be honored. Though it breaks my heart.”
Raven steps into the circle with her hands clasped at her waist. She’s preparing the ritual words, her lips already moving.
Then Father turns to me. His eyes glisten. His arms open.
The crowd expects me to meet him, so I do.
His embrace is strong, fatherly. To them, it must look like love. To me, it feels like a trap snapping shut.
A sudden sting bites my side, sharp and cold. My breath catches. I stiffen, and a sound breaks from my throat before I can smother it.
His hand squeezes mine to steady me. His sleeve brushes my ribs, and I feel the press of metal against flesh. A needle.
Panic surges hot, but my body won’t obey my command to shove away. The weakness spreads too quickly. My knees wobble, my lungs grow tight.
“Forgive me, sweetheart,” he whispers against my ear.
I want to scream, but my lips won’t part. My jaw locks. All I can do is endure the weight of his voice, the heat of his breath.
He tilts my face against his chest like a man shielding his daughter from the crowd. To them, it must look tender.
Inside, I’m already unraveling.
Raven’s voice rises over us. “Brothers and sisters, keepers of the flame. Tonight we gather to cleanse our home of negative energy thrust upon us by corruption. The strong shall endure, and the weak shall fall.”
My vision swims. The circle tilts. Father’s grip on my hand is the only thing keeping me upright, and I hate him for it.
“I love you,” he murmurs, lips brushing my cheek. “I’ve always loved you.”
The words turn my stomach more than the poison ever could.
When he lets go, the absence of touch nearly topples me. I stumble, catch myself, force my chin high. My body burns, my muscles slacken, but I lock my knees and stare ahead.
I can feel the crowd watching. Waiting.
I find Sawyer in the sea of faces. His eyes widen. For a heartbeat, all my walls crack. He sees me. He knows.
Then I pull the stone back over my face.
Raven finishes her speech, her voice echoing through the square. “By blood and by trial… let the ceremony begin.”