Sacrifice (Ritual Sins #2)

11. Rose

11

Rose

Shock washed over me like a cold wave, leaving me momentarily speechless. I glanced over at Sebastian to see his expression mirroring my own disbelief.

I took a slight step forward, my voice trembling as I replied. “What do you mean?”

“I meant exactly what I said,” Papa said, looking at Sebastian instead of me. “I loved her.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Sebastian growled, eyes narrowing.

Papa lowered his gaze to the ground and sighed. “It’s a very long story,” he murmured, rubbing his left temple. “But I’ll try my best to tell it.”

“Yeah, you fucking better.” Sebastian’s hands were curled at his sides now, and his eyes were glinting with fury.

“I’m sure your father told you that it was the Thorne name that got Miranda through the gate when she first approached Alderwood about her research,” Papa began. “That was true. But it wasn’t why I agreed to let her stay and do her project in the end. You see, the second I met her, I was able to stop thinking about my grief over Celeste for the first time in years. She was intelligent, beautiful, and kind. So I let her stay. The other elders weren’t happy about it, but in the end, it was my decision.”

“Of course it was,” Sebastian muttered.

“I knew it was stupid of me to pine after an outsider woman,” Papa went on. “She couldn’t stay. Not forever, anyway. And yet, I found myself falling for her anyway. After a time, I realized she was beginning to feel the same way about me.”

“Bullshit,” Sebastian snarled.

“It’s the truth,” Papa said, lifting a conciliatory palm. “Please believe me. Her marriage wasn’t going particularly well. Your father wasn’t pleased with the amount of time she spent on her career. He thought she should’ve given it up when you came along, Sebastian. After all, he had plenty of money to take care of her.”

“But she didn’t want to do that,” I said, nodding slowly. Even though I was very young when Miranda was here, I remembered how dedicated she was to her work.

Papa nodded. “That’s right. I was different from Adam. I actually admired her mind and strong work ethic,” he said. He turned his attention back to Sebastian. “And I knew she wasn’t neglecting you. She spent far more time with you than he did. She was a wonderful mother.”

“I know,” Sebastian gritted out.

“Anyway…” Papa hesitated and scrubbed a hand over his face. “We had a brief affair. She felt terribly guilty over it. Even though things weren’t going well with Adam, she’d never seen herself as a cheater. And yet, that was exactly what we were doing. Cheating. She was going behind her husband’s back, and I was betraying my Covenant brethren by consorting with an outsider.”

“I can’t believe it,” I said softly, shaking my head.

I’d always known my father had a soft spot for Miranda, but never in a million years would I have suspected that they’d been sharing a bed while she was here. Then again, I was only a child at the time, completely innocent in the ways of the world, and they’d probably hidden it very well. Not just from me, but from the entirety of the Covenant.

“I tried to convince her to leave Adam,” Papa went on. “I wanted her to stay. Live with us. Join the Covenant, even though it would be unprecedented to have an outsider do that.”

“You really thought she’d do such a thing?” Sebastian asked sharply. “You thought she’d give up everything to live here forever?”

“I thought we could make it work somehow. I told her she could bring you with her, because I knew she’d never leave you behind, and I didn’t want her to do that anyway. I was so looking forward to meeting you, Sebastian. Being a family with you. The four of us together.” Papa paused again, shaking his head. “Of course, it was all a silly, futile dream. A delusion. Miranda didn’t want to leave the outside world. She rebuffed me, and I tried to let it go. Tried to forget my feelings so she could continue with her work. But then… someone told her how to get to the forbidden cave.”

“Me, I presume?” I asked, brows rising. I didn’t recall doing that at all. All I remembered was being afraid of the cave.

“Yes. Even though you were such a tiny little thing back then, you were already running around the woods every day, learning every inch of them like the back of your hand. We could barely keep track of you. Miranda knew that, and she took advantage of it in the end, when she asked you to show her exactly where the cave was.”

Sebastian took a step forward, squaring his shoulders. “Rose was just a child back then,” he said in a low voice. A furious gleam had entered his gaze. “Are you seriously trying to claim that it was her fault my mother died because she took her to that cave and showed her the truth of this place?”

“No, of course not. It wasn’t just that. Allow me to finish, please,” Papa said. “As I was saying, Rose showed her where the cave is. Back then, we had no doors or locks in there, because the cave is so remote and well-guarded by traps that outsiders have never had the slightest chance of stumbling upon it, even if they happened to be on our land. So, because of that, once Miranda was taken there by Rose, she immediately discovered what we’d been doing. How we kept our community running, in more ways than one. After that, she immediately left Alderwood. She didn’t tell me what she’d seen, but one of the alchemists saw her and informed me and the other elders. So… we knew that she knew.”

“Then you tracked her down and killed her.” Sebastian’s nostrils flared. “That’s what you meant when you came to the door that night. You told her that she’d ‘let the Darkness out’. You were letting her know that you were aware that she’d been in the cave.”

Papa raised his palm again. “No. You misunderstand me. We went to the house that night to save her. Not to kill her.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Sebastian growled. “Do you ever stop lying?”

“I know you’ve never believed our version of events,” Papa said evenly. “But it’s the truth. We knew how much danger she was in, and we wanted to keep her safe.”

“From what?” I asked, tipping my head.

“Not what. Who ,” Papa replied. “One of the people who has benefited the most from what goes in the forbidden cave.”

“Who?” Sebastian shouted. “Just fucking tell me!”

“I thought you were smart, Sebastian,” Papa said, fixing him with a cool, unwavering gaze. “You still haven’t figured it out?”

“Don’t be cruel, Papa,” I snapped. “Just tell us who Miranda was in danger from.”

He swallowed audibly and took a step backward, as if he were anticipating the effect his next words would have on us. “It was Adam,” he said, staring at Sebastian. “Your father.”