Sacrifice (Ritual Sins #2)

20. Rose

20

Rose

One year later

I sat stiffly on the edge of the white couch, staring out at the water as the film crew finished setting up. The sun was glinting off the waves, casting shimmering light through the windows of the house Sebastian and I now called home.

It was usually very peaceful here, away from the city and the chaos of the past year. But right now, peace felt quite far away. Today, I was going to dig up the darkest chapter of my life, and the whole world was eventually going to see it on the streaming documentary ‘ Murder in the High Peaks: The Miranda Thorne Story’ .

Well, perhaps not the whole world, but still millions of people. I was being paid very well for doing the streaming special, though, as one of the so-called leading figures in the true crime story that had captivated the nation over the last year. Sebastian had been offered a spot in the documentary too, but he’d declined it.

I’d actually declined the first offer as well, due to my desire for privacy, but then the studio came back and offered me even more money, and I decided I couldn’t say no to such an enormous sum. One of the very first things I’d learned about the outside world was just how important money was for survival, and the second thing I’d learned was the importance of being able to support myself. Sebastian always helped, and he always told me he’d be there for me, but after everything I’d gone through, I’d learned to prepare for the worst anyway. Just in case.

I also wanted the means to contribute to our life. I hadn’t yet obtained a proper job, as my Alderwood teaching qualifications had no validity out here in the ‘real’ world. On top of that, my name was still on everyone’s lips due to the media furor over the Alderwood/Thorne case, and most places weren’t interested in hiring a media spectacle.

I was slowly getting there, though. Over the last six months, I’d been working part-time on an official teaching qualification via an online college that Sebastian had found for me. It was all very overwhelming, learning how to use computers, internet services, and other forms of technology while studying for my degree at the same time, but I had no choice. I was out here in the world now, and I had to learn how to exist in it. It wasn’t all bad, either. There were many wonderful new things for me to learn and try.

I shifted on the couch, and my fingers pinched at my arm, a nervous habit I’d never been able to shake.

“You okay, baby?” Sebastian asked, his voice soft but steady. He stood by the corner of the room, arms crossed and eyes fixed on me with quiet concern. There was a protectiveness in his stance, like he was ready to step in and force the crew to leave if things got too intense for me.

I nodded, even though my stomach was twisted in knots. “I’m fine.”

Sebastian gave me a small smile, pride and worry mingling in his expression. “You’re really brave for doing this,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”

The director gave a nod to the camera crew, signaling they were almost ready to begin. The lights above me flickered to life, casting everything in an artificial glow. I took a deep breath, steadying myself as the sound technician clipped a small microphone to my shirt. In just a few moments, the cameras would roll.

“Rosamund… oh wait, sorry. You prefer Rose, don’t you?” the director said, glancing at her notes.

I smiled and nodded. “Yes, but either is fine, really.”

“I just wanted to reiterate before we begin: this isn’t going to be like the regular interviews you might’ve seen on TV before,” she said. “The interviewer will still be here asking questions or prompting you to talk about certain things, but you’ll be looking at the camera right next to me when you speak, and you’ll address that. Not her. That way, it’ll look as if you’re speaking directly to the audience when they watch the special.”

I nodded. “Got it.”

“The footage will be spliced and edited by our team later to fit into certain parts of the documentary, so if it seems like we’re bringing up certain issues or question prompts in a strange order, that’s why. Also, don’t worry about giving ‘perfect’ answers. Even if you make a mistake and need to reword something, or you get nervous and say ‘um’ a hundred times, it really doesn’t matter. It can all be fixed or polished in editing.”

“Understood.”

“If anything feels too intense, let us know, and we can pause,” the director added. “Trust me, we all understand how strange and difficult this must be for you—to go from a world with no TV to being on TV in such a short period of time. It’s a lot of pressure.”

I nodded. “It’s quite a strange feeling. But I think I’ll be all right.”

“Great. Ready to go?”

I looked at Sebastian, and he gave me a reassuring smile. I nodded again. “Ready.”

I clasped my hands in my lap and waited. The director took her place behind the camera, and the interviewer, a woman with sharp eyes and a soft voice, sat across from me, a notebook in her lap.

“All right, Rose, we’re rolling,” the director said.

The interviewer leaned forward slightly, her tone gentle but direct. “Could you describe what happened to Adam Thorne on the night he died?” she asked. “What you saw and what you heard, all in your own words.”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to breathe evenly. I had practiced this, rehearsed it in my mind a hundred times, and even repeated the same story to the police on many occasions. But now that the cameras were rolling, the words felt stuck in my throat.

I took a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, and finally spoke up. “So much of that night is blurry for me,” I began. “One of the reasons for that is because earlier that day, Adam Thorne kidnapped me and drugged me with something that I’ve since learned is a powerful anesthetic named Propofol. It’s usually used in surgeries, so an average person wouldn’t be able to get their hands on it. But Adam owned a hospital, so it was a lot easier for him.”

“Of course.”

“When I woke up again, it was around midnight, and I was in Alderwood’s main ritual clearing with Sebastian, who had also been drugged earlier. Adam knew that Sebastian had learned the truth about Miranda, along with all the other illegal things his family was up to, you see. He wanted him gone, but he didn’t want to do it with his own hands, so he thought he could convince the Covenant to do it for him.”

“To kill Sebastian, that is.”

“Yes. He, along with the other Thorne family members, had been bullying my father and the Covenant elders into covering up their crimes for many years. I suppose this was just one more crime to add to the pile, in his eyes.” I paused and slowly shook my head. “But my father—and the rest of the Covenant—had no intention of hurting Sebastian. When Adam realized this, he became enraged and pulled out a gun.”

“What happened then?”

“Sebastian ran to him and tried to grab the weapon to stop him from hurting anyone. Lots of others tried to disarm him too, so there was a huge scuffle. The gun went off, and the sound scared many others in the clearing, including myself. I ran and hid behind an altar. Because of that, it was hard for me to see everything that was going on. It was also quite dark, and there was smoke in the air from the bonfire. That’s another reason why so much of that night is a blur to me—so many faces and bodies, all shouting and crying and running around in the dark.”

The interviewer nodded. “Go on.”

“By the time the dust settled, as they say, Adam was dead. I saw him lying in a pool of blood in the clearing, completely still, and I knew he was gone.” I slowly shook my head. “In all the fighting and chaos, someone had taken the Covenant’s ceremonial dagger and stabbed him.”

“But you didn’t actually see who did it?”

I shook my head again and told the same story that I’d told to the police and FBI agents at least fifty times. “No, I didn’t see who did it. Like I said, there were just too many people running around, either trying to get away from the area or trying to stop Adam from firing the gun again. It was all a blur, and it happened so fast, too.”

The interviewer leaned forward again, looking right at me with those sharp eyes. “It’s strange, isn’t it? The police interviewed every single person who was there that night—over a thousand people—and not a single one of them claimed to have seen who stabbed Adam.”

“It sounds a little strange at first, but I don’t think it’s actually strange when you think about it. Most of the people were panicking and focusing on getting themselves and their families out of the clearing. And as I said before, it was dark and smoky. Difficult to see.”

“But someone knows who did it. At the very least, whoever stabbed him knows they did it.”

I nodded. “Yes, that’s true. But I suppose we’ll never know who it was, because no one has come forward.”

I was never going to admit the truth—that I’d seen Sebastian kill his own father by plunging a dagger into his neck while he lay pinned and helpless on the ground.

I knew he’d end up in prison for a long time, despite all the extenuating circumstances, and I couldn’t bear to see that happen. No one else in the Covenant seemed to want Sebastian to go away for what he’d done, either. Without us even asking, they’d all remained tightlipped about what really happened. Even Ana?s, gossip queen that she was, hadn’t said a single word to incriminate Sebastian when she was interviewed about the events of that night.

Sebastian had actually wanted to come clean at first, but I’d convinced him otherwise. The way I saw it, his father got exactly what he deserved in the end. On top of that, I thought Sebastian had already been punished enough by living in a sort of mental prison for the last two decades; grieving over his mother’s murder while never seeing any justice served.

In the end, he agreed not to say anything to the police, but not for the same reasons as me. He wanted to be here for me and keep me safe now that I was out in the world, and he couldn’t do that if he was serving a prison sentence.

“At first, the police suspected that Sebastian may have done it. Revenge for Adam killing his mother,” the interviewer said, tilting her head slightly to one side. “And from what we’ve seen while researching public opinion on this case, a lot of people on true crime forums still theorize it was him.”

I shook my head and peered directly into the camera. “Sebastian tried to disarm Adam, so he definitely fought him, but he didn’t kill him.”

“How can you know that if you didn’t see who did it?”

“By the time Adam was killed, Sebastian had left the fray and joined me by the altar,” I said. “My father had been shot by one of the two bullets that Adam fired, and we were trying to save him.”

A sympathetic tone entered the interviewer’s voice. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Rose.”

I swallowed the hard lump that had appeared in my throat. “Thank you.”

“Let’s move on to a different subject for now,” she said. “There are so many layers to this story beyond murder. Affairs, drug dealing, baby trafficking, embryo stealing, an isolated sect with extremist practices that include human sacrifice and mutilation… it’s a lot for anyone to comprehend and deal with, let alone for someone who actually lived through it all. So how have you coped with it since you left Alderwood and joined the so-called outsiders?”

The interview continued from there, stretching on for what felt like hours. Finally, the bright lights dimmed, and the interviewer set her notebook down, offering a sympathetic smile.

"I think we’ve got everything we need, Rose. You did great."

I exhaled deeply, the tension slowly releasing from my shoulders. Sebastian was by my side in an instant, his hand resting on my shoulder.

"You were amazing, baby," he said softly, his voice full of pride.

I nodded and smiled, mind still swirling with the weight of everything I’d just relived on camera. Sometimes, my life felt like a story that had happened to someone else, because it was all so wild and crazy… and those were just the parts I admitted out loud.

The other parts—the truly dark ones—I kept hidden away in my mind, never to be spoken about. Like my time in Sebastian’s underground prison cell, for instance.

Even if I never forgot the cruel, violent things he’d done to me in the past, none of it mattered anymore. I’d forgiven him for everything, wholly and utterly, because he’d saved me. When I was on the verge of giving up, he pulled me right out of the darkness, risking life and limb for me without any regard for himself.

“This is purely out of interest, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” the interviewer said, leaning forward as the rest of the crew scurried around to pack things up. “I was just wondering—do you still have contact with any of the other ex-Covenant members?”

I nodded. “Yes. Now that Alderwood doesn’t really exist anymore, the community has been forced to join the outside world, and it’s been a huge adjustment for all of them, as you can imagine. So we have a support group. Once a week, we have a big meeting in the city, and a lot of us attend that to chat or offer advice or help on certain matters. Even things as basic as going to the grocery store can be hard, because it’s all so different from what we grew up with.”

“Understandable.”

“For those of us who’ve managed to figure out the internet, there’s also a big group chat,” I went on. “That’s very useful too, and it’s nice to stay connected to the community. Especially since it was just us for so long. Quite a few of us had never even seen an outsider before the last year.”

“I can’t even imagine what it’s been like for all of you.” She slowly shook her head. “But you seem to be adjusting really well. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Thank you. I’ve had a lot of help from Sebastian,” I said, smiling faintly. “Others in the community have also received a lot of help from the outside world. Donations, housing, educational opportunities, medical care, and so on. It’s been amazing. And it’s not just about the material things. It’s all the people who’ve stepped up to help us navigate the new world even though we were all strangers to them at first, and the organizations that’ve offered aid too. It’s such an amazing outpouring of support. It’s really helped us all in starting to rebuild our lives.”

She nodded slowly. “One more question. I know Alderwood doesn’t exist anymore, in the sense that the community is gone, but the village itself still exists. We filmed a lot of material up there for the doc,” she said. “Have you gone back at all, since everything happened?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I might one day. Right now, the memories are still a little too fresh. Too raw.”

“I totally understand.” The interviewer gave me a sympathetic smile. “Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair now. Your beautiful home is all yours again.”

Sebastian saw her out, and then he returned to my side, wrapping me up in his arms. “You were amazing,” he murmured against my ear. “I know I already said that, but I wanted to say it again.”

“Thank you.” My cheeks glowed with happiness. “You’re amazing too.”

He drew back. “You must be hungry after all that, right?”

“Starved.” I groaned. “I didn’t have any breakfast or lunch because I was too nervous about the interview. My stomach was in knots all day.”

“I figured as much, so I organized something special for dinner.” He winked. “A picnic down at the cove with all the very best foods the city has to offer, which will be delivered right here in—” He paused and glanced at his phone. “Ten minutes.”

“Wow.” My eyes widened. “I’m never going to get used to that.”

“Ordering stuff from the city?”

“Yes. It’s crazy to me. We don’t even live near a restaurant, but you just click a button on your phone and bam, food appears.”

Sebastian laughed. “It does sound a little crazy when you put it like that. But it’s convenient, right?”

“Very.” I took his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you for planning this, by the way. I love picnics.”

“I know.” Sebastian grinned, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “You deserve to have something you love after such a big, stressful day.”

I smiled, feeling warmth spread through my chest. He always knew how to make things better; how to lift the weight when things started to get heavy. “I could really use the fresh air, too,” I said. “It’s so nice by the water.”

“Sure is. We’ll head down as soon as the food arrives,” he said, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’ll just be you and me.”

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, imagining the peacefulness of the cove, far away from the cameras, the questions, and the past. “I can’t wait.”

Sebastian’s hand lingered at the side of my face, his thumb brushing lightly across my cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He kissed my forehead gently. I was about to tilt my face up to kiss him properly when a soft chime from his phone signaled the arrival of the food. “Looks like our picnic has arrived,” he said, pulling me to my feet.

We headed outside, where a delivery person stood with a huge basket overflowing with bags and neatly packed containers. Sebastian took the basket and briefly went back inside to grab a blanket, glasses, and cutlery, and then he returned, eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Ready for the biggest and best meal you’ve ever had?” he asked, leading the way toward the winding path down to the private cove. “I ordered everything I could possibly think of for you to try.”

“I can see that,” I said, motioning to the heavily laden basket. “It looks like you’ve got enough food in there to feed an entire village.”

He laughed and led me down toward the water. The sun had already started its descent, casting a warm golden hue over everything. It felt like a moment outside of time; a rare reprieve from the chaos that had consumed our lives for so long.

As we reached the cove, Sebastian laid out a blanket, and I kicked off my shoes, enjoying the feel of the cool sand beneath my feet. The sound of gentle waves lapping against the shore was like music to my ears.

I’d never been to a beach while I was living up in Alderwood, but I’d always dreamed of it, and now I was fortunate enough to live right next to one. I’d painted it many times—that was still my favorite hobby—and each time it looked different, depending on the weather or time of day. I loved trying to capture those differences on the canvas, experimenting with different colors and brushes to capture the ever-changing environment.

Of course, nothing I painted could compare to the experience of actually being here—the sound of the lapping waves and squawking gulls, the smell of the sea breeze, the constant play of light across the surface of the water. It was incredible. Quite literally a dream come true for me.

Sebastian began unpacking the food, revealing an array of treats that smelled heavenly. “This looks amazing,” I said, practically salivating at the sight.

He grinned. “Like I said, I got a lot for you to try.”

“But surely I can’t try it all.” I eyed the brown paper bags on the edge of the blanket. “You’ve only unpacked half of it, and it already looks like too much.”

“You can just have a little taste of everything. Then you can pick your absolute favorite.”

“Good idea.” I pointed to a pale green biscuit. “What’s this?”

“A pistachio macaron from New York’s top bakery.” Sebastian picked it up and pressed it to my lips. “Like I said… only the best for my girl.”

I nibbled at it and let out a groan of delight. “Oh my god. I’ve already decided. This is my favorite thing,” I said after I’d chewed and swallowed.

Sebastian watched me with a grin as I took a bite, clearly enjoying the way I savored each morsel. “Wait until you try the salted caramel éclair.”

As we ate, the sky began to change hues, transitioning from warm golds to cooler shades of pink and purple. I took a deep breath, letting the salty sea air fill my lungs.

“This is perfect,” I murmured, moving closer to Sebastian. “I could spend the whole night here.”

He wrapped an arm around me, holding me close as the darkness began to settle around us. “Here’s to a perfect night,” he said. “Well… almost perfect.”

I glanced quizzically at him. “Almost?”

He smiled. “You still haven’t tried everything,” he said, gesturing to the unopened bags.

I patted my stomach. “All right. I think I’m ready for round two of the food extravaganza.”

He reached into the closest bag and started pulling out smaller bags and containers. “So, in this one, we have the éclair I mentioned earlier,” he said, handing me a small pastry. “You can try that first. It’s from the—”

“From the very best bakery?” I finished for him, flashing him a teasing grin.

He chuckled. “I’ve been saying that a lot, haven’t I?” he said. “But it’s the truth. I only ever want to give you the best, baby.”

“I know, and I absolutely love you for that,” I said before popping the entire pastry in my mouth. It was just as delicious as he told me it would be.

As I blissfully chewed, staring up at the stars in the sky, Sebastian unpacked the rest of the bag, narrating the process as he went. “This is the best sushi, the best mushroom arancini, the best pumpkin and feta tartlet, and this right here… this is the very best ring from the best jeweler in town.”

“Hm?” I gave him another quizzical look. Then my eyes widened as I realized he was on one knee, holding out an open ring box with a delicate, sparkling ring inside.

“There’s one more thing I was hoping you’d like to try,” he said, voice thick with emotion.

I stared at the ring, its brilliance reflecting the starlight. My heart raced, and tears sprang to my eyes as I looked back at Sebastian, who was gazing at me with a mixture of hope and adoration.

“Rose,” he began, his voice steady despite the vulnerability in his gaze. “Will you marry me?”

I nodded as a joyful sob escaped my lips. “Yes!” I choked out through the emotion that had instantly clogged my throat.

Sebastian’s face broke into an overjoyed smile as he slid the ring onto my finger. Then he stood up, pulling me into a tight embrace. “I love you so much,” he muttered against the shell of my ear.

“I love you too,” I replied, tilting my head back to look up at him.

I rose up on my tiptoes and kissed him, and he instantly opened his lips to mine, tongue pushing inside. I cradled his jaw in my hands, kissing him deeper, hungrily sucking on his tongue. When I finally broke away, my panting breaths and the hot flush of my skin wordlessly conveyed four words to him. I want you. Now.

I could tell he felt the same. Could feel his hard cock pressing against my lower belly as he leaned down to nip at my earlobe. One big hand moved down to the front of my pants, unclasping the top button before slowly pulling down the zip. I gasped as his thumb rubbed slow circles on my clit, taunting me, making me beg.

“Please,” I whimpered. I wanted him so badly it hurt.

He let out a low groan and dragged me down to the blanket, sending cups and containers flying across the sand. My clothes flew to meet them seconds later, along with his shirt. I bit my lip, clenching with need as he unbuckled his belt and pulled his cock out of his pants, rubbing the head over my clit in the same slow, expert circles his thumb had traced over me moments ago.

Part of me knew I should feel dirty or ashamed, because this wasn’t Alderwood. People in the real world didn’t have sex outside on the ground. At least not from what I’d seen. I didn’t care, though. I liked things rough and dirty, and so did Sebastian.

He pulled his cock away and shoved two fingers in my already-dripping pussy, curling them against the spot that made me cry out with bliss.

“Please, Sebastian,” I panted. “More.”

His cock replaced his fingers, and my own fingers curled on the blanket beside me as I gasped and moaned my pleasure. Sebastian fucked me like a madman, pulling me higher and higher until I was swept over the edge of a leg-shaking orgasm, screaming and gasping for air.

“Fuck, I love you so much,” he ground out, finding his own release inside me. Before I could reply, his lips crushed mine in another searing kiss, and then he collapsed beside me, chest heaving as he caught his breath.

As we lay there, tangled together on the blanket beneath the night sky, I let the steady sound of his heartbeat lull me and calm my own racing heart. The ring on my finger kept catching the moonlight, glimmering in the corner of my eye. It felt like more than a symbol of love. It also felt like a symbol of everything we’d fought and overcome together. A beacon of light after so much darkness threatening to swallow us.

Here, with Sebastian, it couldn’t touch us. Not anymore.

“No more darkness,” I whispered against his chest.

“No,” he murmured back to me, briefly pressing his lips to my head. “It’s all because of you, baby.”

“Because of me?”

“Yes.” He kissed the top of my head again. “You’re the light, Rose. My light. And you always will be.”