The Year of the Witching (32 page)

“I hate this,” said Ezra, his breath warm against her face. “I hate that I’m chained up here. That I can’t help you. That I’m going to be here in shackles while you’re cut by him, claimed by him.”

“What’s done is done,” Immanuelle whispered. “This time, let me help you. Let me fight for you.”

Ezra didn’t answer as he slipped his arms from around her. His fingers found her face, her cheek, then skimmed down to her jaw, the soft dip of her chin. He traced a fingertip along the line of her bottom lip, then angled closer. He pressed a kiss to her upper lip, then her lower one.

He said, “All
right.”

I have seen the beasts of the wood. I have seen the spirits that lurk between the trees and swam with the demons of the deep water. I have watched the dead walk on human feet, kept company with the cursed and the crucified, the predators and their prey. I have known the night and I have called it my friend.

—M
IRIAM
M
OORE

IMMANUELLE KNELT IN
the middle of her bedroom, hands clasped, dressed in the pale silks of her cutting gown. She was supposed to be praying, but her thoughts were not with the Father. As she crouched there on the floor, the occurrences of the past few days flashed through her mind like the bright beginnings of a headache.

Ezra’s sham of a trial had come and gone, as had the sentencing that followed it. Like Immanuelle, he had been indicted on all counts, but she’d heard no word beyond that. She knew only that he was still alive and jailed somewhere below in the catacombs of the Haven. She could only hope they were treating him with more kindness than they had her. Not that it mattered for much longer.

In the days leading up to her cutting, she had traced and retraced the reversal sigil—in the soft crook of her inner elbow, on walls and tables, and into the pillows she slept on at night. And every time she made that mark—committing it to memory over and over again—she prepared herself for the sacrifice at hand. The sacrifice she would make the night of her cutting, when she was called to her husband’s bed. She felt there was some poetic
justice in it all. That seventeen years after Miriam had taken up the Prophet’s holy dagger, Immanuelle would take up that very same blade and carve the sigil that would reverse the curses her mother had wrought all those years ago.

Tonight, in the wake of her cutting, she would act.

When the Prophet’s wives came to collect her, Immanuelle was ready. She walked barefoot through the corridors of the Prophet’s home and out to the wagon that awaited her in front of the Haven. She clambered onto the front bench—the other brides piling in behind her—and together they made the long, silent trip to the cathedral.

All the pyres were burning again. The fires had been fed with fresh timber, so the red flames now climbed high, lighting their way.

When they arrived at the cathedral, there were no crowds to greet them. No glowing lanterns. No music or merriment. No fanfare. In this eerie silence, Immanuelle stepped down from the wagon and onto the cold packed dirt of the front drive. She lingered at the threshold of the cathedral as the rest of the brides milled about behind her. Perhaps she ought to have prayed in that moment—to something, to anyone—but all she thought to do was conjure a curse:

Let those who have raised a hand to me reap the harm they sow. Let the shadows snuff their light. Let their sins defy them.

The cathedral door swung open before she had the chance to finish. She was greeted by dancing torchlight, the blurred faces of the congregation gazing at her, expectant. Among the crowd was the Moore family, Martha and Abram, Glory, and Anna, who held Honor cradled to her chest in a nest of shawls and blankets. There were dozens of Outskirters present also, occupying the pews at the back of the cathedral. Immanuelle could only assume they were there as a matter of diplomacy. This was, after all, the first
time in Bethel’s age-old history that a prophet had wed one of their own. The ceremony was nothing short of historic, and it only made sense that they’d be there to witness it.

Immanuelle walked alone down the center aisle. She took the steps two at a time, the train of her gown trailing behind her, then climbed up onto the altar. The stone was cold and sticky, as though some servant had neglected to sop up the mess of the last Sabbath slaughter.

She stretched herself across the altar, arms spread wide. The Prophet loomed over her, dagger in hand. They exchanged their vows woodenly, Immanuelle muttering the words that would bind her to him—flesh and bone, soul and spirit—forever.

A sacrifice as real as any.

When the proceedings were finished, the Prophet took his dagger from around his neck, wrapping his hand around the hilt. As he lowered the blade to her forehead, Immanuelle didn’t flinch.

LATER, THE OTHER
wives bandaged Immanuelle in a dark room at the back of the cathedral, tending her wounds with anointing oil that stung so badly tears sprang to her eyes. Blood slipped down her nose as Esther bound her brow with strips of gauze. Her head throbbed as if the Prophet had carved his mark into her skull, not her flesh.

She belonged to him now. She was his, and he was hers. A creed of flesh and blood, a bond she had never wanted.

When she was sufficiently cleaned up, Esther and Judith materialized by her side. Together they led her through the cathedral, past the threshold, and down the stairs to the feast where the Prophet—draped in all his holy robes and finery—sat waiting for her.

If Leah’s cutting had been a celebration, this seemed little
more than a funeral feast. The guests sat stiffly at the tables, as if they’d been forced there at knifepoint. The Outskirters occupied tables of their own, stone-faced and silent, their unease almost palpable. There was no chatter, no laughter or song. In the distance, the pyres burned high, their flames licking the starless sky, keeping the darkness at bay.

Standing in the shadows at the cusp of the feast, flanked by guardsmen, was Vera. Her head had been shaved, as was Protocol for those in contrition, and she wore a pale garment that looked more like a slip than a proper dress, the fabric far too thin, given the night’s cold. She’d lost weight and looked weak, but when Immanuelle locked eyes with her, she squared her shoulders and gave a stern nod as if to say:
It’s time.

The Prophet grasped Immanuelle’s knee as she sat beside him, his cold fingers pressing through the folds of her underskirts. “My bride.”

Immanuelle gripped the arm of her chair to keep herself from bolting. She shifted her gaze down to the table. Before her, a porcelain plate heaped with blackened vegetables, graying slabs of meat, and a small mug full of mead beside it. She raised the mug to her mouth. One sip for luck, then another for bravery. She’d need both in the coming hours.

Those who were seated at the table watched the Prophet and Immanuelle with what she could only describe as veiled disgust. Their discontent so palpable it hung on the air like a pall.

It was clear that they had expected an immediate end to the plague upon her cutting. But the dark was as thick as it ever was, and the night was unbroken. The seal carved between her brows had not been enough to draw back the plague, as the Prophet had promised it would be.

Halfway through the abysmal feast, the Prophet rose to speak,
as if he knew he needed to seize control of his flock before he lost their trust forever. “Through forgiveness, through atonement, through purging and pain, we make ourselves clean. Today, my bride, my wife, Immanuelle Moore, has bled for her sins. She has suffered, and now she is clean.”

The flock raised their voices on command.
“For the glory of the Father.”

The Prophet paused to cough into his sleeve. When he spoke again his voice was gravelly. “But my bride isn’t the only one in need of grace. Before this day is done, another will be atoned for and forgiven. Another sinner will be cleansed by the Father’s mercy.” He paused—eyes closed, mouth open—as if he was trying to gather the strength he needed to continue. “Bring me my son.”

The cathedral doors swung open and Immanuelle’s heart stopped, panic cleaving clean through her. She watched in horror as two apostles ushered Ezra past the cathedral threshold and down the stairs. He staggered, his boots trailing through the dirt as they dragged him to his father. Apostle Isaac forced him to his knees with a well-placed strike between the shoulders. He fell to the ground, his head hanging inches above his father’s feet.

“Ezra Chambers.” The Prophet peered down at his son, eyes aglow with the light of the purging pyre. “Do you repent?”

Ezra didn’t move. He gripped the dirt with both hands, like he was trying to anchor himself. At last he said, “I have nothing to repent for.”

“Very well,” said the Prophet, nodding. “May the Father have mercy on your soul.”

Immanuelle’s heart thrashed behind her ribs. She was on her feet in an instant, standing so quickly her chair toppled behind her. “What is the meaning of this?”

No one else moved. No one spoke. No one made a sound, save
for Esther, who cried out with a ragged shriek. But the Prophet didn’t dignify her with so much as a glance. His eyes were locked on Immanuelle. Not his son, the guards, or the flock.

Her.

And it was to her the Prophet spoke to when he said, “Take him to the pyre.”

The guards didn’t make the mistake of hesitating again. They hauled Ezra up by either arm and dragged him to his feet. The Prophet trailed behind them like a shadow as they made their way toward the fire.

“No!” Immanuelle sprang after them, straining toward the guards, toward Ezra, her hands outstretched as if she could snatch him back. She had always known it would come to this, but she’d never expected it to happen so soon. She thought she had a little time, if nothing else, but she was wrong. “You promised Ezra would be spared,” she said, though she knew her protests were in vain. “We had a deal!”

“Immanuelle, please.” Ezra’s voice was tired, resigned. “It’s done now. Enough.”

Immanuelle didn’t heed him. She ran after them, tripping on the hem of her cutting gown as she went.

“You’re a tyrant!” She trailed the Prophet so closely, she clipped his heels with her slippers. “You’re a liar! You’re a madman! You promised me he’d be safe.” She caught his sleeve and yanked it so hard she ripped the velvet.
“You promised!”

The Prophet turned on her then, drew back his hand, and slapped her. Immanuelle fell back, her head spinning, and crashed into a nearby bench. She heard Ezra cry her name again, his voice ringing in her ears.

“We had a deal,” she whimpered, pushing herself up from the dirt. Shadows swam before her eyes. She tasted blood. “You promised.”

The Prophet stared at the hand he’d slapped her with, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d done, what she’d made him do. “I am fulfilling that promise. I told you I wouldn’t harm him. That’s why I’m going to free his soul and save him from the hellfire.”

Immanuelle tried to rise to her feet but staggered. “You gave me your word.”

“My word is the Scripture, and the Scripture demands blood atonement.” With that, the Prophet nodded to the guards again, and at his bidding, they dragged Ezra to the foot of the nearest purging pyre, his boots carving tracks through the dirt. Once there, they seized his arms and forced him back, flinching as the flames churned and roared before them.

Fire licked across Ezra’s back. He cried out in pain.

Immanuelle realized then that the Prophet had never meant for his son to live. He would protect himself above anyone else, even if it meant surrendering his son to the pyre’s flames and watching him burn.

The Prophet turned to face his flock. “Sins must be atoned for by blood and burning. That is our oldest and most important law. Blood for blood. Ash to ash. That is what the Father demands, and that’s what we will give Him tonight.”

“Then take me.”

No one heard her above the roar of the purging fire.

But the second time Immanuelle spoke, she was screaming.
“Take me instead!”

Ezra stumbled to his knees as the guards released him, struck the dirt with a dull
thud
. His shirt was smoking, already singed by the touch of the flames.

And Immanuelle knew then that she had to end it. Either she acted now, or not at all.

She drew forward, moving past the Prophet. “I offer myself as a sacrifice. My life for Ezra’s.”

To this, there was no jeering, no wails or curses. Every soul in that congregation—man, woman, and child—sat silent, as still as tombstones in a graveyard.

All except Glory Moore, who let out a long, high cry that cleaved the night in two. Abram attempted to fold the girl into his arms, but she thrashed and struggled so violently even Anna couldn’t ease her. “No!” she shrieked, and her voice echoed across the plains.
“No!”