Sacrifice (Ritual Sins #2)

18. Rose

18

Rose

I woke to a dull ache in my head, and my eyelids felt heavy as I tried to blink the sleep away. The cool leather beneath me was unfamiliar, the soft hum of a car engine vibrating through the seat. I groaned and tried to move, but my wrists were bound tightly behind my back, rope digging into my skin with a sharp bite.

Panic flooded my veins as I glanced around. The light from the dashboard barely illuminated the interior, but I could make out Sebastian slumped beside me in the back seat, completely unconscious. His head was lolled to one side, and his breaths were shallow but steady.

I shifted and squirmed, heart pounding painfully fast, but my restraints held firm. I looked to the front again, and this time, I saw Adam Thorne in the front seat, his silhouette framed by the faint glow of passing streetlights. He was driving in silence, his posture unnervingly calm.

My mind raced, trying to piece together how he’d caught us. The room. The champagne. The men. That had to be it. Somehow, he’d traced us, drugged us, and sent people to spirit us out of the hotel.

But how?

I swallowed the panic rising in my throat. I had to stay calm. Had to find a way out of this situation. Sebastian had swallowed a lot more of the laced champagne than me, so I doubted he was going to wake up anytime soon. That left it up to me.

I shifted yet again, straining against the ropes binding my wrists. Adam’s cold gaze flickered to the rearview mirror, catching my movement.

“Don’t bother,” he said, voice cold and detached. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“How… how did you find us?” I croaked, blinking rapidly to stop the exhausted haze from descending upon me again.

He briefly glanced over his shoulder, smiling thinly. “It was because of you , my dear. By the way, what’s your real name? I assume it’s not really Mina.”

“Rose,” I muttered.

“Rose. How sweet.” He let out a derisive snort and went on. “You know, I honestly believed your little story at first. I felt very stupid when I finally figured out what was going on.”

“You said it was because of me. What gave me away?”

“Your accent,” he replied, glancing at me again. “At first, I took you at your word when you said you were from Montreal. But it kept nagging at my brain for hours afterwards. I knew it was familiar for some other reason. Then it finally hit me. It wasn’t a Quebec accent at all. It was an Alderwood one.”

“Oh,” I said in a small voice.

“I realized then that you had to be working with Sebastian,” Adam went on. “After all, he’s been spending so much time up in Alderwood lately. Much to his detriment, in the end. Just like his mother.”

“So… you followed me after I left your house earlier?”

He chuckled. “I didn’t do it myself. I pay guys to do things like that for me. The grunt work, as they say,” he replied. “But yes, they followed you after you were done with your little cleaning scheme, and they saw you get into a car with my son. Then they tracked you both to that hotel.”

“But how did you drug us? We checked with the front desk. The champagne—”

“Was given to everyone,” he finished for me. He hesitated for a few seconds, rubbing his jaw with one hand. “I suppose you wouldn’t understand this, coming from a community where money isn’t much of a concept. But out here in the real world, money can buy you almost anything, including power and influence. And I happen to have a hell of a lot of money.”

“So you paid the hotel workers to do it?”

“Not exactly. Too many loose ends and liabilities that way,” he replied. “I contacted the manager and arranged a meeting. As soon as he heard my name, he jumped at the chance to clear his schedule for me. The Thorne name commands a lot of respect around these parts, you see.”

“Because of all your money, I presume,” I said in a hollow voice.

“Exactly. You’re a fast learner, Rose.” Adam glanced back at me with another thin smile. “Anyway, I told the manager I was branching out from the healthcare industry to the hospitality business. Said I’d just bought a vineyard and wanted to give out free bottles of champagne to his guests. All he had to do in return was let me know how everyone liked it.”

I raised a brow. “And he actually believed that?”

Adam chuckled again. “Like I said, money buys you power and influence. So yes, he believed me. His only question was: why did I choose that hotel in particular for the free samples?” he said breezily. “I told him that it’s my son’s favorite place to stay in the city, and in fact, he just so happened to be there as we spoke. Then I asked if he could do me a favor and deliver a very special bottle to his suite.”

I frowned. “But you didn’t know which suite we were in.”

“No, because Sebastian was smart enough to pay cash and use a fake name. But I have photos of him on my phone, as most parents do. The manager showed the girl at the front desk, and she confirmed the room number. After that, it was just a matter of getting someone to deliver the drugged bottle to you and then getting you both out of there via the freight elevator once you’d been knocked out.”

“How did you know we’d accept the bottle?”

“I didn’t. I simply made an educated guess and assumed you would both be in the mood to celebrate after your little coup,” he replied. “With the laptop, I mean. Nice job on finding it. It’s a shame you lost it again so quickly.”

I gritted my teeth. “And if we hadn’t accepted the bottle?”

“Then I would’ve found some other way to get to you both.” He flashed a wolfish grin at me in the rearview mirror. “It was only a matter of time.”

I swallowed hard. “So what happens now? Are you planning to kill your own son just to keep his mouth shut about everything you’ve done?”

The grin instantly slipped from his face. “He hasn’t left me with much of a choice, has he?” he said in a low voice.

“I can’t believe you would do such a thing to your own blood,” I muttered. “How can you even think of it?”

Adam suddenly slammed on the brakes, sending the car to a screeching halt on the edge of the road. He turned to me, eyes flashing. “You think I want to do this?” he shouted. “You think I want to hurt my own son?”

I glowered at him. “Yes. Clearly.”

“ No . I never wanted anything like this!”

“But you’re still planning to do it, aren’t you? Just like what happened with your wife,” I said, raising my brows. “I think that says it all about what you really want in the end. You only care about yourself.”

He was silent for a long moment, face etched with a mixture of emotions. “It’s basic self-preservation, Rose. Human nature,” he finally said, turning back to face the wheel. “I love Sebastian, just like I loved my wife. But I love myself too, and I can’t let myself spend the rest of my life in prison. You’d understand if you were in my position, with your back right up against the wall. You’d do anything to escape it. Anything. Anyone who says otherwise is a self-righteous liar.”

I opened my mouth to refute his claim, but I closed it again when I remembered my desperation to escape Sebastian’s underground cell after I found myself trapped down there. At the time, I felt like I would do absolutely anything to escape the cruel confinement. I’d even resorted to attempted murder.

Would I hurt or kill my own loved ones to save myself, though?

No. I drew the line there, and I hoped most other people would too.

“You’re wrong,” I murmured. “It’s not human nature. Killing your own wife and son to avoid prison is despicable. It’s not understandable at all .”

Adam scoffed. “I’m not wrong, Rose. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out here,” he said. As he spoke, he tapped one finger against his chin. “Rose… Rose ,” he went on. “Why is your name suddenly ringing a bell?”

“I don’t know. It’s quite a common name.”

He snapped his fingers. “I know! You’re little Rosie from my wife’s notes, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I said softly. “Augustus Trudeau is my father.”

Adam let out a short bark of laughter. “Wow. What a turn of events. My son ends up involved with his daughter,” he said, shaking his head. “Jesus fucking Christ…”

“Tell me something,” I said, squirming against my bonds again. “After you killed Miranda, why did you spend so many years telling anyone who listened that it was my father? Why did you create such problems for our village when you knew we weren’t responsible?”

He snorted. “Well, at first, I thought my plan to frame Augustus and his little cult buddies would actually work. Then, when my brothers got involved and decided to cover everything up for the sake of our business, I couldn’t exactly go to the police or media and say something like: ‘Oh, I’ve suddenly changed my mind, and I now believe that someone else killed my wife’. It would seem odd. Suspicious.”

“But you could’ve just left us alone.” I narrowed my eyes. “Instead, you stirred up outsider resentment against us for decades.”

Adam glanced at me again. “You’re right. I could’ve kept my mouth shut and let the public hatred die down after a while. But the damage was already done, for the most part, and to be honest… I wanted to hurt your father as much as possible. You know why, I presume.”

“Because of the affair.”

“Yes. If he didn’t want me to ruin his life, then maybe he shouldn’t have stolen my fucking wife.”

“He didn’t steal her. She wasn’t a possession of yours, and she went to him of her own volition.”

He scoffed again. “I guess I see things differently.”

I finally gave up my struggle against the ropes. Adam was right—I wasn’t going anywhere. I was tied too tightly.

“Where are we?” I asked, attempting to lift my head enough to see out of the window opposite me.

“We’re nearly in Pinecrest Falls.”

“Wait… what? Really?”

Adam nodded and looked at the dashboard. “We’ve been driving for five and a half hours now.”

“Why are you taking us there?”

“For two reasons. Firstly, as I said earlier, I really don’t want to kill my own son, so I’m going to get your dad to do me one last favor.”

My blood chilled. “You want my father to kill Sebastian?”

“Yes, and I have a feeling he’ll agree to do it.”

I shook my head. “He won’t.”

“Oh, I think he will. He despises me, and the feeling is mutual, but we’ve been connected for all these years by the old coverup,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll realize the necessity of maintaining that coverup by disposing of Sebastian now that he’s become aware of it all.”

I sucked down a deep breath. “You’re wrong. My father likes Sebastian. He won’t hurt him.”

“We’ll just have to agree to disagree on this, little Rosie. I think he’ll do as I ask. After all, I know you people aren’t exactly averse to a bit of human sacrifice.”

I gritted my teeth. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course I do. I read my wife’s notes, remember? I know all about your weird throat-cutting ceremonies.”

“They aren’t performed to cover up crimes!”

“Doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is: you people aren’t averse to violence. So it won’t take much to convince your father—or someone else from Alderwood—to take care of the Sebastian problem.”

The Sebastian problem. That was how Adam was already referring to his own son. Already detaching himself from their relationship like it never meant anything at all. He was truly the worst kind of monster.

“What’s the other reason?” I asked in a hollow voice.

“Hm?”

“You said you’re taking us to Pinecrest Falls for two reasons.”

“Ah, right. Well, as I said before, I figured out that you’re from Alderwood, so I decided to return you to your home. That’s all right with you, isn’t it?”

Another chill shot through my veins. “No. I… I can’t go back there.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t.”

“Rose, dear, you’re going to have to do better than that if you want to convince me not to take you back to Alderwood,” Adam said in a saccharine tone. “After all, I can’t exactly have you running around out here in the real world, telling anyone who listens about all the things I’ve done, can I? So I think it’s best you go home.”

“Please…. I just… I really can’t be there. We can work something out. Sebastian and I will go away, and we won’t say a word about anything. You don’t have to kill him or take me home.”

Adam slowed the car to a stop, more delicately this time. Then he smiled, drumming his fingertips on the steering wheel. “Now I’m interested,” he said. “Very, very interested.”

“In what?”

He looked back at me, forehead wrinkling. “I’d like to know why you’re so hellbent on never returning to Alderwood.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Adam’s expression darkened. “Tell me, or I’ll shoot you up with another dose of those sedatives, and you’ll be back in your little village before you know it.”

I gulped. “Tonight is the final night of the Tetrad.”

“The what ?”

“It’s the fourth blood moon, four months in a row.”

“And?”

“I’ll be sacrificed at midnight if I go back to Alderwood. I left because I didn’t want to do it anymore, and my father allowed it. But if I return… they’ll all think I changed my mind, and it will happen,” I said in a tremulous voice. “Even if I keep saying no… it will happen. I just know it.”

Adam stared at me for a moment, seemingly stupefied. Then he started laughing, deep and low, the sound filling the car in a way that made my skin crawl. It wasn’t the kind of laugh that came from genuine amusement. It was something darker, something unfathomably cruel.

“This is too good,” he said, shaking his head. “Really… too good. I think you’ve just made my life a hundred times easier.”

“How?”

He ignored me and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. Then he leaned back and showed it to me. “Is this still your father’s number?”

I stared at the digits on the screen. “I don’t know.”

“Shit. Of course you don’t,” he muttered. “Never mind. I’m sure it’s probably the same.”

With that, he fell silent and pressed a green button on the phone screen. The car filled with a faint ringing sound, followed by the familiar crackle of my father’s voice. “Adam Thorne. Is that really you?”

“Certainly is, old friend,” Adam said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He pressed another button on the phone and spoke up again. “Listen, I have someone with me who I’m sure you’d love to hear from. You’re on speakerphone now.”

“What?” my father said. His voice was much louder and clearer now.

“Papa!” I cried out. “Don’t listen to him!”

“Rosamund?”

“Yes, Papa! Please, don’t listen to anything this man says!”

“Adam, what’s going on?” My father’s voice was rising with panic. “Why on earth do you have my daughter?”

Adam laughed. “A little birdy told me something, Augustus. Apparently, you have a big sacrifice coming up later tonight.”

Papa was silent for a long moment. “We did. But our plans have changed.”

“A forced change, from what I hear. Little Rosie changed her mind, didn’t she?”

“It’s none of your business, Adam.”

“Oh, but it is. See, I have a little proposition for you, old friend.”

“Stop calling me that,” Papa said tersely. “We are not friends.”

“Fine.” Adam’s voice went cold. “I have Sebastian with me. It seems he and his little girlfriend figured everything out. About Miranda, and everything else too.”

My father let out a long, weary sigh. “Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“Then you understand my problem. And as you know, my problems are your problems, thanks to the deal we made twenty years ago.”

“The deal my people were forced into, you mean. To cover your crime.”

Adam scoffed. “Oh, please. It kept you all out of trouble too. You know the government wouldn’t allow Alderwood to exist anymore if they knew what you were growing up there.”

My father went quiet again for a long moment. “What do you want, Adam?” he finally said.

“Rose has changed her mind about being your sacrifice tonight,” he replied. “She wants to do it.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he reached into the center console, produced a black pistol, and waved it at me in a silent warning. Then he waved it at Sebastian’s still-unconscious form. I clamped my mouth shut, tears welling in my eyes.

“But, as you know, I currently have her in my possession,” Adam went on. “I’m willing to give her back to you so you can have your weird little moon sacrifice tonight. It sounds like it’s important to you. In return for that favor, I need you to carry out a second sacrifice.”

“Sebastian, I presume,” Papa said stiffly.

“Bingo. When the police come sniffing around, as they’re bound to do, we’ll just say he must’ve gotten lost hiking up there in the wilderness. Sad, but not unheard of. People go missing in the High Peaks all the time, don’t they?”

“This is your son we’re discussing, Adam. Not just any person.”

Adam narrowed his eyes, even though my father couldn’t see him. “I’m well aware of that. But he’s going to cause serious problems if he goes to the police with what he knows. That affects you and the Covenant as well as me and my family, so you’re going to need to do us another solid. Do what it takes to maintain the coverup.”

Papa fell silent yet again. After a painstakingly long moment, he uttered two words in a low murmur. “I understand.”

“So you’ll help me?” Adam asked, cocking his head. “You’ll make the necessary sacrifice?”

“Yes.”

My heart sank. “Papa, no !”

My father ignored me and went on. “I’ll have some men meet you down at the trailhead to carry them up to the village.”

“Sounds good. I’m not far from there now,” Adam said smoothly, raising his brows as he leaned back and waved the gun in my face again. “How long will it take for your men to arrive?”

“Wait.” My father coughed to clear his throat. “I have some terms I want to discuss first.”

“Terms? What fucking terms?”

“I don’t think you truly understand what it means to sacrifice a child, Adam. So if we’re going to do this colossal favor for you, then I must insist that you be there. To watch. To comprehend all that you’ve asked for.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No. You’ll be there, or it won’t happen. Then you’ll have to do the dirty work yourself.”

Adam chuckled softly. “Jesus, you must think I’m a total moron,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re obviously just trying to lure me up to Alderwood so you can kill me too. That way you can finally get your revenge against me for everything I’ve done to you.”

“That’s not true, though I can certainly understand why you’d jump to that conclusion,” Papa said evenly. “No harm will come to you here. I only want you to witness the sacrifice, as I already explained.”

Adam scratched his chin. “Why the hell should I trust a word you say?”

“I’ve protected your terrible secret for all these years, haven’t I?” Papa said. “Even though it destroyed the reputation of the Covenant, I stayed silent.”

“Don’t act like that wasn’t also for your own benefit. If you’d ever told the outside world the truth about me, your village would no longer exist, and you and your Covenant friends would be rotting in prison for your part in the drug scheme.”

Papa sighed. “I suppose that’s true. But you can trust me, just as you’ve trusted me all these years despite the division between us,” he said. “If you come here to observe the sacrifices tonight, I promise you that I will not hurt or kill you. I swear it.”

Adam narrowed his eyes. “That’s a very sneaky way to word things, Augustus. You might not hurt me… but someone else could.”

“No one from the Covenant will hurt or kill you. Not a single member will so much as touch a hair on your head. I swear this upon the Entity,” Papa said. “You know I would never, ever break a vow to the Entity. And if it makes you feel safer, you may bring some sort of weapon with you.”

“Oh, believe me, I’d do that even without your permission,” Adam replied.

“Right. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes, I believe we do. One wrong move from any of your people, and I’ll start shooting.”

“Understood. My men will meet you in one hour at the bottom of the trail.”

“Great. See you soon, old friend.” Adam let out a snort of amusement as he ended the call. Then he turned back to me. “See? I knew he’d agree.”

Tears welled in my eyes, and a lump in my throat prevented me from speaking properly. “I hate you,” I choked out. “You’re a monster.”

He rolled his eyes and leaned over to the glove compartment. “I really don’t want to listen to this whiny bullshit for the next hour,” he said, rifling around inside it. “So, let’s get you dosed again, shall we?”

“No!” I wriggled around in the seat again, eyes wide as saucers as I watched him produce a small syringe filled with a pale yellow liquid. “Don’t! Please!”

He ignored my pleas, tapping the syringe lightly. My heart pounded in my chest as I fought against the restraints to no avail, my vision blurring with tears.

“Please, don’t!” I begged, my voice breaking.

But he only smirked, leaning closer. I flinched as he grabbed my arm, his grip painfully tight as he found a vein. The sharp sting of the needle pierced my skin, and I felt the cold liquid flood my bloodstream.

A wave of dizziness hit me instantly. The world around me started to blur, my head spinning as my muscles went slack. I tried to keep my eyes open, but my eyelids felt impossibly heavy.

“S-Sebastian,” I whispered, my voice barely audible now.

His slumped body blurred in front of me as darkness began to creep in at the edges of my vision. My limbs grew numb, and the last thing I heard was the soft hiss of Adam’s laughter as everything faded away, pulling me into unconsciousness once more.