Page 173 of The Harbinger
“I see.” I raised my chin in a slow nod, then waited for a few heartbeats before asking the next question. “Are you sad she’s gone?”
“No,” he said immediately.
“Why?”
He huffed as if it were preposterous to feel sadness for her death. “She was a prophet, but her loyalty was misguided,” he said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him. “And she was hypocritical, always trying to maintain her dignity and respect in the church.” He paused, his eyes distant. “But it doesn’t matter now. I’ll see her in the Great Fires soon enough.”
“What’s that?”
His gaze drew up to mine, and warmth spread through me. “Hell, Mia. We believe Hell is a realm of great power and potential, not a punishment. If you gain favor with the infernal hierarchy, you’ll ascend to the highest level in the afterlife.”
“But that’s… I mean, okay. I’m not here to debate your belief system, but how do you know all of this stuff? Have you seen it?”
“Have you seen the heavens your god promises you?”
I reared back. “Don’t say ‘my’ God like that,” I said sharply. “I don’t even know what I believe, let alone whether or not my family is religious or how they raised me.” An image of my mother’s curly hair flashed through my mind, and my eyes began to burn.
“We’re getting off topic.”
“Sorry.” I swiped at my eyes, refusing to let them fall. “Umm.”I cleared my throat. “What test is your father… Ruslan, wanting to run?”
“It’s called the Eldritch test.”
“Okay, help me understand.” I scrunched my face and shook my head. “What is that?”
“My religion and the Christian bible are not much different, you see. In the book of Mark, it statesHewill return, but not evenHeknows the day and hour, but what isn’t written there is howHisreturn can be triggered.”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“Ina, my mama, predicted long ago that a girl would be born withHismark, andHisblood would run through her veins. That girl would be sacrificed back to him just before the new year begins. As her blood spilled, it would trigger the events forHisreturn.”
My heart stumbled double-time, and a sudden nausea sat heavy in my belly. “Whose blood?” I scoffed. “Jesus?”
He shook his head, his brows coming together as he rubbed his trimmed beard. “The Tempter, The Father of Lies, Prince of Darkness…Lucifer.”
I shot from my chair and put distance between him. “That’s insane.”
“Is it?”
“I’m an ordinary girl.” Sweat beaded along my brow. “I don’t have a mark, and I certainly don’t have special blood.” A loose tendril swung in my face. “If that were the case, I got the short end of the stick on this.”
“You’re far from ordinary.” He stood from his chair. “And you do have the mark,milaya.”He stalked towards me, his hand resting on my ribcage along my back. “Just here, a small cluster of freckles in the shape of a pentagram.”
“You believe this?” I raised my arm and glanced at his touch as if I could see through my shirt.
“I did.”
My eyes met his. “But not anymore?”
“I had you tested when you first arrived. It was negative.”
My heart seized as if he dug his fingers into my chest and ripped out my heart, then stomped on it for good measure. “That’s why you kept me?” My voice broke as I recalled how many times we’d been close. I was so desperate for human affection that I turned to the one person who gave it. But he didn’t help me out of the kindness of his twisted heart. “So you could murder me?”
“Murder is such a primal term. A decision made based on emotions and circumstance. You,malishka, weresupposedto be a sacrifice to our infernal gods.”
His nonchalant tone clawed down my spine. My teeth ground together. How could he be so flippant? How could any of them act as though a life wasn’t something to be cherished? “But I was too good of a fuck? Or did my humanity mess it up for you?”
Sacha stalked towards me. “Watch it, Mia.”